- Title
- Les spéléothèmes, archives des variations paléoenvironnementales
- Creator
- Couchoud, Isabelle
- Relation
- Quaternaire Vol. 19, Issue 4, p. 255-274
- Relation
- http://quaternaire.revues.org/index4412.html
- Publisher
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
- Resource Type
- journal article
- Date
- 2008
- Description
- Speleothems have attracted increasing interest from climate-change researchers because of their strong potential as palaeoclimatic archives. Whilst most often studied for their oxygen and carbon isotopic records, speleothems host many other properties that are capable of yielding independent palaeoenvironmental information, at different scales and resolutions. This paper provides a review of these properties. The spatial distribution of speleothems and their modes of formation are first examined. Then, the different dating methods applicable to these archives are briefly discussed. Dating provides a reliable chronological framework for speleothem records of climate and environmental change, which are preserved through variations in specific properties. The natures of these properties are then examined in detail: (i) incidence and growth rates (i.e. presence/absence of growth phases, growth frequency and intensity); (ii) physico-chemical attributes, such its petrography, trace elements, and uranium and strontium isotopes; and (iii) inclusions, such as organic matter and pollen. Finally, less common features providing information on sporadic natural or anthropic events are addressed.
- Subject
- speleothems; palaeoenvironment; palaeoclimate; archive; speleothem growth rate; dating; geochemistry; trace elements; luminescence; petrography
- Identifier
- uon:4999
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/42854
- Identifier
- ISSN:1142-2904
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