Using speleothems to constrain late Cenozoic uplift rates in karst terranes

Abstract

Abstract The utility of speleothems as environmental and geological archives has greatly expanded with recent advances in geochronology. Here we reevaluate their ability to constrain late Cenozoic uplift in karst terranes. Using combined U-Th and U-Pb speleothem chronologies for the Buchan karst along the passive margin of southeastern Australia, we calculate a maximum uplift rate of 76 ± 7 m m.y.−1 maintained over the past 3.5 m.y. The timing and extent of this process is consistent with independent constraints on Neogene uplift in Australia, possibly in response to increased plate-boundary strain with New Zealand. Speleothem chronologies provide highly precise age control on individual events and the potential for near-continuous records across long periods of geological time, complementing and expanding upon existing uplift proxies.