Paleohydrological Proxies for Anchialine Cave Systems

每年，数以千计的加拿大人参观尤卡坦半岛的玛雅里维埃拉，在逗留期间住在大型度假村，通常是在附近的露天公园游泳。大多数人没有意识到，这些中心是一个巨大的地下洞穴系统的入口点，这个系统延伸到他们的度假村下面，是当地居民的重要地下水来源。由于地下水开采和废物污染，这些地下水正受到人类发展的越来越大的威胁。地下水对更大范围的因素也非常敏感，如全球海平面上升，预计到21世纪末将达到100万米，但也对气候变化的其他影响(例如。降雨量、飓风频率)。*地下水对过去的人口也很重要。在全新世早期，当北纬的冰川消退时，12-13,000年前的古美洲人˜已经到达尤卡坦山脉，在洞穴中发现了他们的许多骨骼。这些尤卡坦半岛的早期居民可能是在寻找地下水时死亡的，他们在洞穴中迷路了，或者掉进了坑里(例如。NAIA，《环球邮报》，2014年5月16日)。地下水对古典玛雅人和他们庞大的人口中心也很重要(例如，Chichen Itza，Coba)，但我们几乎没有关于过去地下水状况的信息(即其盐度或潜力)或多少，以及它可能何时被玛雅人使用。*我们对这些洞穴的沉积物堆积的研究将重建过去10,000年来地下水的潜力(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、化学和生物成分包含了地下水随时间推移的特征的证据，但很少有人致力于这一主题的研究。这项研究的结果将有助于关于早期古美人如何以及何时迁徙到尤卡坦半岛的重要考古学问题，也有助于关于经典玛雅人在公元8和9世纪因干旱而衰落的辩论。尤卡坦地区玛雅社会的兴衰与气候的潮湿和干旱有关，尽管这种关系在空间上的复杂性仍未得到解释。这项拟议的研究将有助于这场辩论，因为饮用水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更多信息。这项跨学科研究(地球科学和考古学)的成果将使我们能够更好地了解含水层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.**