Temperature Reconstructions Using Speleothems

Abstract

Methods for reconstructing past temperatures from speleothems have only recently been developed. Advances in quantitative temperature proxies for speleothems are now allowing critical knowledge gaps to be filled, given the outstanding age control and wide geographical distribution of the speleothem archive. The methods of reconstructing temperatures from speleothems are diverse: they rely on concepts from geochemistry, biology, and physics, and are based on different aspects of speleothems, including water inclusions, calcite, and organic molecules. Combining the different approaches makes temperature reconstructions more robust, affords further insights into the methodologies, and provides constraints on other climate variables.