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The Holocene
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Trace element variations in coeval Holocene speleothems from GB Cave, southwest England

Mark S. Roberts

Department of Earth Sciences, Open University, Walton Hall, Milton Keynes MK7 6AA, UK; Natural Environment Research Council, Polaris House, North Star Avenue, Swindon SN2 1EU, UK

Peter L. Smart

School of Geographical Sciences, University of Bristol, University Road, Bristol BS8 1SS, UK

Chris J. Hawkesworth

Department of Earth Sciences, Open University, Walton Hall, Milton Keynes MK7 6AA, UK

William T. Perkins

Nicholas J.G. Pearce

Institute of Earth Studies, University College of Wales, Aberystwyth, Dyfed SY23 3DB, UK

We report trace element (Mg, Sr and Ba) records based on laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) from three coeval Holocene speleothems from Great Chamber in GB Cave, southwest England. The trace element records are placed on a common timescale on the basis of a suite of TIMS 230Th-234U ages. This permits assessment of the reproducibility of the trace element record in coeval speleothems. The trace element records are not coherent, raising dobuts over the reliability of individual trace element records as potential archives of palaeoenvironmental information. Mg/Sr in speleothem calcite has been proposed as a potential palaeothermometer as Mg partitioning into calcite from water is temperaturedependent, while Sr partitioning into calcite is temperature-independent. However, we present the results of calculations which demonstrate that the observed Mg/Sr values in the three stalagmites cannot have been produced by Holocene temperature changes alone and that other processes must play a dominant role. We present a model which suggests that the observed trace element variations in the three speleothems reflect hydrological mixing of waters in the epikarstic zone above the cave which have interacted with two geochemi cally distinct source rocks (calcite and dolomite).

Key Words: Speleothem • caves • trace elements • inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry • LA-ICP-MS • uranium-series dating • TIMS • Holocene

The Holocene, Vol. 9, No. 6, 707-713 (1999)
DOI: 10.1191/095968399672615014
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 The HoloceneHome page
D. K. Richter, T. Gotte, S. Niggemann, and G. Wurth
REE3+ and Mn2+ activated cathodoluminescence in lateglacial and Holocene stalagmites of central Europe: evidence for climatic processes?
The Holocene, July 1, 2004; 14(5): 759 - 768.
[Abstract] [PDF]