2014/01/14 by Ülkü Ulusoy, Gül Anbar, Serdar Bayarı +1
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Arts and Humanities · Environmental Science · #Geology and Paleoclimatology Research #Maritime and Coastal Archaeology #Isotope Analysis in Ecology
paper · doi:10.1016/j.yqres.2013.12.005
Abstract Electron spin resonance (ESR) and 230 Th/ 234 U ages of speleothem samples collected from karstic caves located around 3000 m elevation in the Aladağlar Mountain Range (AMR), south-central Turkey, were determined in order to provide new insight and information regarding late Pleistocene climate. ESR ages were validated with the 230 Th/ 234 U ages of test samples. The ESR ages of 21 different layers of six speleothem samples were found to range mostly between about 59 and 4 ka, which cover the Marine Oxygen Isotope Stages (MIS) MIS 3 to MIS 1. Among all, only six layers appear to have deposited during MIS 8 and 5. Most of the samples dated were deposited during the late glacial stage (MIS 2). It appears that a cooler climate with a perennial and steady recharge was more conducive to speleothem development rather than a warmer climate with seasonal recharge in the AMR during the late Quaternary. This argument supports previous findings that suggest a two -fold increase in last glacial maximum mean precipitation in Turkey with respect to the present value.