Collaborative Research: A High Resolution Speleothem Record of Holocene, Last Glacial, and Last Interglacial Climate and Vegetation from the North American Mid-Continent

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This award uses funds to help obtain a 130,000-year high-resolution record of climate from speleothems in the mid-continent of North America. The primary field site, Crevice Cave, Missouri, was located south of the former Laurentide Ice Sheet during the past interglacial-glacial cycle. The researchers hypothesize that the site is well situated to record changes in mid-continent climate, global climate variability, and vegetation changes during interglacial-glacial cycles. Previous studies by the researchers indicate that speleothems from Crevice Cave have grown continuously over tens of thousands of years. The researchers expect to produce a high-resolution stable isotope record, dated by the Thorium-230 technique, from the North American mid-continent covering most of the last interglacial-glacial cycle. This research will provide a unique educational experience for graduate and undergraduate students and will help improve our knowledge of Holocene climate variability of North America from a new paleoclimate data archive.