Records of Great Basin precipitation during MIS 11 from two Lehman Cave stalagmites

Trace elements (Mg/Ca and Sr/Ca) and stable isotopes ([delta]13C and [delta]18O) were measured in two coeval stalagmites, LC3 and BT1, from the Lehman Caves, Nevada. BT1 spans 388 to 384 ka. The LC3 record is split into two parts due to a hiatus observed through fluorescent imaging. The section prior to the hiatus spans 411 ka to 402 ka. The post-hiatus section of the stalagmite has a single age of 383 ka; an age model cannot be constructed for this part of the record. These stalagmites span Marine Isotope Stage 11 (MIS 11), a long interglacial that occurred around 424-374 ka. Comparison with more recent stalagmite records has shown prior calcite precipitation to be the dominant control on Mg/Ca and [delta]13C in the cave. The trace element and stable isotope records obtained point to an arid climate in the Great Basin during MIS 11.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2016

Author dc:creator

• Neary, Ashling

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• David McGee.

• Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences.

Statement dc:rights

• MIT theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed, downloaded, or printed from this source but further reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/114103

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/114103