Paleohydrological Proxies for Anchialine Cave Systems

每年，成千上万的加拿大人参观尤卡坦半岛的玛雅里维埃拉，住在大型度假胜地，在逗留期间经常在附近的天然井游泳。大多数人都没有意识到，这些天然井是一个巨大的地下洞穴系统的入口，这个洞穴系统延伸到他们的度假村下面，是当地居民重要的地下水来源。由于地下水开采和废物污染，这些地下水正受到人类发展日益严重的威胁。地下水对更大尺度的因素也非常敏感，比如全球海平面上升（预计到21世纪末海平面将上升1米），以及气候变化的其他影响（例如海平面上升）。降水，飓风频率)。地下水对过去的人类也很重要。在全新世早期，当北纬地区的冰川正在消退时，大约12- 13000年前的古美洲人已经到达了尤卡坦半岛，在洞穴中发现了许多他们的骨骼。尤卡坦半岛的这些早期居民很可能是在寻找地下水的过程中丧生的，他们在洞穴中迷路了，或者掉进了坑里。《环球邮报》，2014年5月16日)。地下水对古典玛雅和他们庞大的人口中心也很重要。Chichen Itza, Coba)，但我们对过去的地下水状况（即其盐度或可饮用性）、多少以及玛雅人可能在何时使用地下水知之甚少。我们对这些洞穴沉积物积累的研究将重建过去1万年地下水的可饮用性（盐度），并了解含水层如何响应气候和海平面变化。我们的研究表明，洞穴沉积物及其物理、化学和生物组成包含了地下水特征的证据，但很少有研究专门针对这一主题。这项研究的结果将有助于解答关于早期古美洲人是如何以及何时迁移到尤卡坦半岛的重要考古学问题，但也有助于对公元8世纪和9世纪干旱导致古典玛雅衰落的争论。尤卡坦半岛玛雅社会的兴衰与气候的湿润和干燥期有关，尽管这种关系在空间上的复杂性仍未得到解释。拟议的研究将有助于这场辩论，因为可饮用地下水的可用性尚未被考虑，并可能提供关于经典玛雅人口中心空间格局的额外信息。这项跨学科研究（地球科学和考古学）的成果将使我们更好地了解含水层是如何受到气候和海平面变化的影响，并更好地预测未来的反应

Every year, thousands of Canadians visit the Yucatan Peninsula's Maya Riviera staying at large resorts often swimming in nearby cenotes during their stay. Most are not aware that these cenotes are entry points for a vast subterranean cave system that extends beneath their resorts and is important groundwater source for the local population. This groundwater is coming under increased threat from human development through groundwater extraction and waste contamination. Groundwater is also very sensitive to larger scale factors such as global sea-level rise which is predicted to be 1m by the end of the 21st century but also other effects of climate change (eg. precipitation, frequency of hurricanes). ***Groundwater was important for past populations as well. In the early Holocene, when glaciers in northern latitudes were retreating Paleoamericans ˜12-13,000 yrs ago had already arrived in the Yucatan and many of their skeletons have been found in the caves. These early inhabitants of the Yucatan likely died in search of groundwater, getting lost in the cave or falling into pits (eg. Naia, Globe and Mail, May 16th, 2014). Groundwater was also important for the Classic Maya and their large population centers (eg. Chichen Itza, Coba) during the 3rd-10th c. AD but we have little information on past groundwater condition (i.e. its salinity or potability) or how much, and when it may have been used by the Maya. ***Our research on sediments accumulations from these caves will reconstruct the potability (saltiness) of the groundwater over the past 10,000 years and understand how the aquifer responded to climate and sea-level changes. Our research has shown that cave sediments and their physical, chemical and biological composition contain evidence of groundwater characteristics through time but there is little research devoted to the subject. The outcomes from this research will contribute to important archaeological questions on how and when early Paleoamericans migrated to the Yucatan, but also contribute to the debate on the decline of the Classic Maya with droughts in the 8th and 9th c. AD. The rise and fall of Mayan societies in the Yucatan have been linked with climatically wet and dry periods, although there is spatial complexity in this relationship that remains unexplained. The proposed research will contribute to this debate, as the availability of potable groundwater hasn't been considered and may provide additional information on the spatial patterning of Classic Mayan population centers. The outcomes of this interdisciplinary research (earth science and archaeology) will allow us to better understand how the aquifer was affected by climate and sea-level changes and better predict future response.**