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Reconstruction of Middle to Late Quaternary sea level using submerged speleothems from the northeastern Yucatán Peninsula
Author(s) -
Steidle Simon D.,
Warken Sophie F.,
Schorndorf Nils,
Förstel Julius,
SchröderRitzrau Andrea,
Moseley Gina E.,
Spötl Christoph,
Aviles Jeronimo,
Stinnesbeck Wolfgang,
Frank Norbert
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of quaternary science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.142
H-Index - 94
eISSN - 1099-1417
pISSN - 0267-8179
DOI - 10.1002/jqs.3365
Subject(s) - speleothem , stalagmite , geology , quaternary , holocene , cave , marine isotope stage , sea level , oceanography , peninsula , paleontology , physical geography , climatology , interglacial , geography , archaeology
We examined 14 subaerially deposited speleothems retrieved from submerged caves in the northeastern Yucatán Peninsula (Mexico). These speleothems grew during the Middle to Late Quaternary and were dated by 230 Th‐U techniques to provide upper depth limits for past sea levels. We report the first relative sea‐level limits for Marine Isotope Stages (MIS) 11 and 6, and present new evidence for sea‐level oscillations during MIS 5 and early MIS 1. For the latter periods, the origin of growth interruptions is evaluated by combining petrographic methods with trace element analyses. The MIS 5c sea‐level highstand probably occurred between 103.94 ± 0.58 ka and 96.82 ± 0.42 ka and must have exceeded ‐10.8 m (relative to present‐day local sea level). The minimum average rate of sea‐level fall over a 9.4 ka‐long period during the MIS 5e/5d transition is calculated from stalagmite and published coral data at 1.74 ± 0.37 m/ka. For the early Holocene, previous discrepancies with respect to a potential multimetre oscillation of local sea level were found to be challenging to reconcile with the existing speleothem data from the area.