NOAA/WDS Paleoclimatology - Ku and Li 1998 Speleothem Isotopic Records from ShiHua Cave, Beijing, China

The isotopic compositions of oxygen and carbon and trace concentrations of magnesium and strontium in speleothems formed in limestone caves respond to climate changes outside the caves. Measurements of these properties on a stalagmite from Shihua Cave near Beijing, China, allowed reconstruction of the regional changes in precipitation, temperature and nature of vegetation. Over the last ∼ 500 years, there were fourteen precipitation cycles with a periodicity of 30–40 years, which may well reflect fluctuations in the strength of the East Asian summer monsoons reaching northeastern China. Relative to the mean temperature of this time interval, the period 1620–1900 AD was cold and periods 1520–1620 and 1900–1994 were warm. Over the last ∼ 3000-years, about eight wet/cool-dry/warm climatic cycles of 300–400 years duration occurred, the latest wet/cool half cycle corresponding to the Little Ice Age. The δ13C record registers the anthropogenic activities of fossil fuel CO2 combustion in recent decades and regional deforestation between 13 and 16 centuries when Beijing was bustling with palatial constructions and being developed into the world’s most populated city.

本存档古气候学研究数据集可从美国国家海洋和大气管理局（National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA）下属的国家环境信息中心（National Centers for Environmental Information, NCEI）获取，该中心隶属于古气候学世界数据服务（World Data Service for Paleoclimatology, WDS）。该数据集对应的NCEI研究分类为洞穴类（Cave）。数据涵盖东亚中国区域内的洞穴沉积物（speleothems）相关参数，时间覆盖范围为距今424年至距今-42年（以公历距今年份BP为计量标准）。如需了解参数及研究地点的详细信息，请查阅元数据（metadata）。使用本数据集时，请引用该研究成果。