chemical element imaging for speleothem geochemistry application to a uranium bearing corallite with aragonite diagenesis to opal eastern siberia russia abstract two complementary image based microanalysis methods digital autoradiography of radioactive elements and x ray fluorescence microspectroscopy micro xrf were used to study the geochemistry of a speleothem from eastern siberia our objective was to show the interest of these micro chemical methods to investigate the distribution of u and some other elements as ca sr and si in speleothems the sample studied was a corallite concretion that formed slowly by the precipitation of minerals from moisture that had condensed underground polished sections of the sample revealed alternating laminas of gray calcite and white aragonite the concretion which is older than 400 kyr u th tims showed no signs of detrital contamination 230 th 232 th 10 000 digital autoradiography and xrf analyses indicated exceptionally high uranium contents ranging from 3 10 to more than 1300 g g 1 in different areas of the sample element maps for calcium ca uranium u strontium sr and silicon si showed inverse correlations between ca and u and between ca and si but there is a strong correlation between si and u under the optical microscope the low ca appears as corrosion voids which were found to contain uranium enriched amorphous silica replacing areas of aragonite and in some cases calcite this postgenetic amorphous and uraniferous silica is composed of two kinds of opal opal a formed by large microspheres of 30 40 m in diameter and a gray opal ct with irregular lepispheres this late opal dated around 385 412 kyr is probably due to a special volcanic event formed by uraniferous glass ashes easily soluble by meteoric waters as suggested by the presence of volcanic suite in the fine fraction of the opal opal precipitated after speleothem crystallization by evaporation or cryogenic supersaturation the study of this exceptional concretion shows the value of direct chemical imaging methods as they easily revealed the presence and distribution of u in the concretion and allowed an unusual case of opal diagenesis in a carbonate speleothem to be described given the value of speleothems as geo chronometers and recorders of environmental changes at different time scales from season to isotopic stage this methodology opens new perspectives in understanding the geochemical system and consequently the validity of radiometric datings u th and u pb especially in speleothem samples

genesis and microstratigraphy of calcite coralloids analysed by high resolution imaging and petrography abstract the genesis of calcite coralloid speleothems from lamalunga cave southern italy is here investigated from a purely petrographic perspective which constitutes the basis for any subsequent chemical investigation lamalunga cave coralloids formed on bones and debris on the floor of the cave they consist of elongated columnar crystals whose elongation progressively increases from the flanks to the tips of the coralloid forming a succession of lens shaped layers which may be separated by micrite or impurity rich layers organic molecules are preferentially concentrated toward the centre of convex lenses as highlighted by epifluorescence their occurrence on cave floor lens shaped morphology and concentration of impurities toward the apex of the convex lenses supports the hypothesis that their water supply was hydroaerosol generated by the fragmentation of cave drips evaporation and degassing preferentially occurred on tips enhancing the digitated morphology and trapping the organic molecules and impurities carried by the hydroaerosol between the growing crystals which became more elongated micrite layers that cap some coralloid lenses likely identify periods when decreasing in hydroaerosol resulted in stronger evaporation and higher supersaturation with respect to calcite of the parent film of fluid this interpretation of coralloid formation implies that these speleothems can be used to extract hydroclimate information

ground movements due to shallow tunnels in soft ground i analytical solutions this paper presents simplified closed form analytical solutions that can be used to interpret and predict ground movements caused by shallow tunneling in soft ground conditions these solutions offer a more comprehensive framework for understanding the distribution of ground movements than widely used empirical functions analytical solutions for the displacement field within the ground mass are obtained for two basic modes of deformation corresponding to uniform convergence and ovalization at the wall of a circular tunnel cavity based on the assumption of linear elastic soil behavior deformation fields based on the superposition of fundamental singularity solutions are shown to differ only slightly from analyses that consider the physical dimensions of the tunnel cavity except in the case of very shallow tunnels this work demonstrates a simplified method to account for soil plasticity in the analyses and illustrate closed form solutions for a three dimensional 3d tunnel heading a companion paper describes applications of these analyses to interpret field measurements of ground response to tunneling

preliminary results from u th dating of glacial interglacial deposition cycles in a silica speleothem from venezuela abstract recent explorations in cueva charles brewer a large cave in a sandstone tepui se venezuela have revealed silica biospeleothems of unprecedented size and diversity study of one a sub spherical mass of opaline silica reveals a complex laminated internal structure consisting of three narrow dark bands alternating with two wider light bands uranium thorium dating has produced 3 stratigraphically correct dates on the light bands from 298 6 mis 9 to 390 33 ka mis 11 u concentration is only 30 110 ppb initial 234u 238u ratios are high and increase over time from 1 8 to 5 3 growth rate is very low the fastest at 0 37 0 23 mm ka in mis 9 trace element and heavy metal content of the dark bands is distinctly higher than that of the light bands it is hypothesized that the dark and light bands correlate with drier glacial and wetter interglacial periods respectively and that this sample probably began to grow in mis 13 the cave is in a region that straddles a regionally important ecotone the speleothem isotopic and trace element variations may preserve a useful paleoclimatic signal this is the first published suite of u th dates from a single silica speleothem and the longest quaternary record for this region

paleokarst paleosol and rocky shore deposits at the mississippian pennsylvanian unconformity northwestern arkansas the mississippian pennsylvanian unconformity in northwestern arkansas contains pedogenically altered regolith preserved in low lying areas on paleokarst on the chesterian pitkin limestone the regolith is succeeded by transgressive rocky shore deposits of the cane hill member hale formation type morrowan pitkin cements reflect extensive meteoric phreatic diagenesis prior to karstiflcation and paleokarst features include large dissolution fragmented pitkin lithoclasts with numerous solution pipes on a low relief surface the overlying pedogenically altered regolith contains calcretized lithoclasts in clay matrix suggesting a shift from ever wet conditions to more seasonal rainfall prior to the pennsylvanian transgression that shift may represent local climatic change or short term fluctuations in mid carboniferous tropical climate the latter interpretation may support global climate models that predict warmer wetter tropics during periods of high latitude cooling basal cane hill strata consist of high energy shoreface boulder cobble conglomerate containing reworked pitkin clasts the conglomerate contains an unequivocal rockyshore community consisting of encrusting bryozoans and corals trypanites acrothoracican barnacle borings and possibly the earliest occurrence of gastrochaenolites preservation of poorly indurated paleosol beneath high energy transgressive deposits suggests very rapid transgression consistent with a glacio eustatic mechanism truncated pitkin strata were removed by karstification and subaerial erosion during the hiatus and not by erosion during transgression

speleothern luminescence intensity and spectral characteristics signal calibration and a record of palaeovegetation change abstract the intensity and spectral characteristics of speleothem luminescence are investigated for signs of any potential palaeoenvironmental signals luminescence in speleothems has been demonstrated to have an organic acid source acids being transported from the overlying soil to the speleothem via the groundwater system luminescence spectral characteristics confirm a humic fulvic acid source of the luminescence but are unable to distinguish between plant acids derived from different vegetation systems spectral characteristics also differ between solid and dissolved speleothem calcite the influence of six factors on luminescence intensity are considered changes in organic acid concentration organic acid structural type depth of the sample below the surface dilution effects through changes in water discharge rate dilution effects through changes in speleothem growth rate and the effects of luminescence quenching due to the presence of metal ions in a holocene stalagmite sample from sutherland a period of low luminescence intensity is observed which is demonstrated to correlate with periods of blanket bog expansion recorded in the regional pollen record this suggestion is supported by a study of 18 recently deposited samples from northwest europe and 5 cave water samples feeding stalagmites in a british cave when a relationship to vegetation is evident with very low luminescence intensity observed from sites overlain by blanket bog deposits this is thought to be due to both low organic acid concentrations in feedwaters and also the low luminescence efficiency of the humic acids from bog sites due to their structural characteristics

calcite and aragonite precipitation under controlled instantaneous supersaturation elucidating the role of caco3 saturation state and mg ca ratio on calcium carbonate polymorphism abstract for many decades researchers have attempted to clarify the factors controlling the precipitation of calcium carbonate polymorphs and the incorporation of mg into calcite precipitating in natural systems in this study a novel experimental approach delineates the role of instantaneous supersaturation and solution mg ca ratio in calcium carbonate mineralogy and composition the results of this study show that in solutions with different mg ca ratios the transition between the aragonite and the calcite aragonite precipitation fields is controlled by a combination of the saturation state of the solution with respect to caco3 and the mg ca ratio in solution the data show that for increasing solution mg ca ratios progressively higher supersaturation level is required for calcite precipitation the predominance of aragonite at high solution mg ca and low supersaturations is attributed to a relative decrease in calcite growth rates as a result of increasing incorporation of mg2 in the calcite lattice at higher solution mg ca ratios as suggested by abundant experimental work increasing solution mg ca decreases the growth rate of calcite while aragonite growth rates stay unaffected our experiments do demonstrate that despite decreased growth rate the percentage of mgco3 in calcite increases with increasing solution mg ca ratio as calcite growth rates decrease aragonite growth rates stay constant and it becomes the dominant mineral phase in solutions with high mg ca ratio and low supersaturations these findings are relevant to present day mineralogical distributions in carbonate systems and might be the key to elucidate the environmental conditions responsible for mineralogic changes through geologic time the observed dependence of calcium carbonate mineralogy on solution composition and supersaturation suggests that carbonate mineralogy is controlled by kinetics of growth

high resolution mapping of uranium and other trace elements in recrystallized aragonite calcite speleothems from caves in the pyrenees france implication for u series dating abstract aragonite and calcite speleothems were sampled in the cave of pierre saint martin pyrenees atlantiques france these speleothems contain significant amounts of uranium and strontium which were measured spatially and chemically by nuclear microprobe analysis sr and u distributions are highly varied with a marked contrast between aragonite and calcite because the aragonite concentrates sr and u on the other hand zn is preferentially located in calcite and in layers of organic matter trapped in caco 3 sr contents ranged from 440 to 1100 g g in the calcite and 4900 to 18 500 g g in the aragonite u concentrations show remarkably high values from 11 to 19 g g in the calcite and 89 to 350 g g in the aragonite these u and sr concentrations are amongst the highest measured in supergene speleothems deposited by infiltrating meteoric waters x ray absorption experiments with synchrotron radiation suggested that uranium was incorporated in its hexavalent oxidation state in both aragonite and calcite recrystallization from aragonite into calcite was indicated by micromorphological observations for some of the samples this recrystallization process may explain the uranium loss in neogenic calcite deposits and consequently the opening of the geochemical system which can lead to errors in age dating with the u series dating method uranium loss in recrystallized calcite is one of the important aspects to be considered in u series dating and more generally for u geochemical stability in caco 3

caco3 precipitation kinetics in waters from the great bahama bank implications for the relationship between bank hydrochemistry and whitings the source of whitings on the great bahama bank and their relationship to major changes in the chemistry of bank waters have been among the longest and most hotly debated topics in carbonate geochemistry in this paper we demonstrate that the reaction kinetics of calcite with bank waters for a given saturation state are similar to but somewhat slower 2 to 3 times than with gulf stream water the interpretation of the reaction kinetics of suspended bank sediment with bank water requires that the precipitating phase be about twice as soluble as aragonite good agreement at equivalent saturation states was found between experimental precipitation rates and those calculated for the rate of change of bank water chemistry in the region of whitings these results indicate that the dominant mode of carbonate removal is via precipitation on resuspended sediments rather than the rapid pseudo homogeneous precipitation of calcium carbonate in the water column resulting in the formation of a whiting estimates indicate that single aragonite needles may be resuspended many times over a period of decades during which they experience repeated overgrowth a major portion 98 of suspended calcium carbonate is outside the visually dramatic whitings thus as visually spectacular as they are whitings do not represent a short term locally massive precipitation of carbonate on the great bahama bank nor are they even likely to be the dominant sites of carbonate removal in this region although future refinements are needed that include seafloor processes we have at this point arrived at a mechanistic kinetic model that provides a reasonably quantitative explanation for the hydrochemistry of the carbonate system on the northern great bahama bank

calcite fabrics growth mechanisms and environments of formation in speleothems from the italian alps and southwestern ireland five fabrics were identified in alpine and irish caves on the basis of morphological and microstructural characteristics and re lated to growth mechanisms and growth environment columnar and fibrous fabrics grow when speleothems are continuously wet and from fluids at near equilibrium conditions low supersaturation sicc 0 35 through the screw dislocation mechanism the highly defective microcrystalline fabrics form at the same supersaturation range as co lumnar fabric but under variable discharge and the presence of growth inhibitors dendritic fabrics which have the highest density of crystal defects develop in disequilibrium conditions high supersaturation un der periodic very low flow regime periods that result in prolonged out gassing cave calcareous tufa forms in disequilibrium conditions only the calcite crystals of fabrics formed at low supersaturation seem to precipitate near isotopic equilibrium conditions

trace elements in speleothems as recorders of environmental change speleothems are now established as important palaeoenvironmental archives and contain a number of suitable proxies although trace elements have been much less widely used than oxygen and carbon isotopes the complexity of the cave environment helps to explain this since the fluids from which speleothems form vary greatly in composition in space even within a cave chamber seasonally and over longer periods understanding the forcing factors for this variability is the key to decoding the significance of the trace element records a variety of techniques are available for trace element work and it is important to understand the strengths and limitations of each and also to seek an understanding e g by micro imaging techniques of whether the elements are associated with inclusions in the caco3 or are isolated within the crystal lattice for some elements there is a more or less predictable relationship between element ratios to ca in the water and in the calcite individual trace elements may be derived from atmospheric deposition superficial deposits or bedrock and can be recycled in soil processes before being transferred to the cave some components show an instantaneous response to water infiltration whereas others are only leached by slow flowing seepage waters changing in the proportion of water from fracture fed and seepage flow aquifer compartments is an important factor in influencing trace element supply high flows lead to higher fluxes of soil derived colloidally transported elements conversely under relatively dry conditions degassing of co2 results in prior calcite precipitation upflow of the site of speleothem deposition and leads to higher ratios of sr ca and mg ca some trace element variations in speleothems over time are induced during crystal growth whereby faster growth leads to a greater departure from equilibrium element partitioning despite the demonstrated temperature dependence of mg partitioning into calcite attempts at deriving palaeotemperature records from speleothems have been so far confounded by variations in solution mg ca and or crystallographic effects a number of case studies have effectively used trace elements such as speleothem mg as records of palaeo aridity using supporting arguments from modern monitoring or covariations with other parameters such as stable isotopes sr and u isotopes can also be indicators of palaeohydrology although sr isotope variations can also reflect varying aeolian input considerable progress has been made in decoding the meaning of annual trace element variations using criteria for understanding dripwater hydrology and ph this should lead in the future to more specific interpretations of how seasonality evolves through time

testing theoretically predicted stalagmite growth rate with recent annually laminated samples implications for past stalagmite deposition annually laminated stalagmites deposited over the last 30 160 years are analysed to determine their growth rate three natural and artificial cave sites in england france and belgium were chosen for their wide range of variability in growth rate determining variables and multiple samples were taken from each site the annual nature of laminae deposition within the stalagmite calcite was confirmed by comparison to the date of cave void opening 14c analyses or by using dated event horizons measured stalagmite growth rate was determined from annual laminae thickness measurements and compared to that theoretically predicted from the chemical kinetics of the calcite precipitation reaction a good agreement is observed between empirical observations and theoretical predictions although two complicating factors variations in calcite porosity and seasonal cessation of the water supply to the samples both affect the growth rate implications for the extraction of palaeoclimate information from stalagmite growth rate are discussed

aragonite calcite relationships in speleothems grotte de clamouse france environment fabrics and carbonate geochemistry abstract in grotte de clamouse france aragonite forms in a variety of crystal habits whose properties reflect the conditions of formation prolonged degassing and evaporation yield needle aragonite which is more enriched in 18o and 13c than aragonite ray crystals which form near isotopic equilibrium at present aragonite ray crystals form at the tops of stalagmites at very low discharge 0 00035 ml min and when fluid mg ca ratio is 1 1 temperature and evaporation do not seem to have a significant role in their formation the presence of aragonite in stalagmites should be indicative of a decrease in drip rate related to either dry climate conditions or local hydrology fossil aragonite was in part replaced by calcite in a time frame 13c signal and u content and preserved aragonite relicts up to 16 weight the isotope signal of different aragonite habits may reflect conditions of formation rather than climate parameters the real extent of aragonite to calcite transformation may be underestimated when replacement calcite inherits both textural and chemical properties of the precursor

radiaxial fibrous calcites a new look at an old problem abstract marine radiaxial fibrous and fascicular optic calcites are very common but poorly understood pore filling cements in paleozoic and mesozoic marine neritic and upper bathyal limestones the main diagnostic feature of these cements is their converging or diverging crystal c axis respectively the reasons for this anomalous texture are at present unknown another controversy is due to the relative lack of occurrences in cenozoic strata and their apparent absence in quaternary marine limestones despite these uncertainties marine fibrous cements are thought by some to be amongst the best proxies for the geochemistry of ancient oceans because of the absence of metabolic effects during their precipitation applying electron backscatter diffraction analysis we here for the first time document radiaxial fibrous and subordinate fascicular optic fibrous biominerals from well preserved jurassic and cretaceous low mg calcite belemnite rostra the finding of fibrous biogenic calcites in combination with the recent description of holocene and modern fibrous calcites in stalagmites represents in the view of the authors a significant advance in carbonate research here these findings are placed in their wider processes oriented context and the significance of biogenic and speloan fibrous calcite for their marine counterparts is assessed comparing the physico chemical and organomineralic properties of different precipitation sites indicates that the diagnostic variations in the crystal c axis orientation are not related to a specific nucleation environment or substratum in contrast preliminary crystallographic analyses suggest that kinetic factors during nucleation or subtle gradients in the statistical replacements of ca 2 by mg 2 in the crystal structure may lead to local strain resulting in converging or diverging crystal c axes

present day and last glacial maximum ocean thermohaline circulation in a zonally averaged coupled ocean sea ice atmosphere model abstract a simple ocean atmosphere model suitable for long term paleoclimate studies is presented it consists of a three basin zonally averaged ocean model coupled to an energy moisture balance atmospheric model and a thermodynamic sea ice model the model is used to simulate the present day climate conditions and the conditions resembling those of the last glacial maximum lgm in the first case the model has an ocean thermohaline thc circulation in which the overturning in the north atlantic is slightly more than 15 sv two methods are used to spin up the model to the lgm climate first a cool state is obtained by running the coupled model with a reduced model greenhouse effect and increased albedo but without making any explicit changes to the hydrological cycle in the second approach the model is directly set up for lgm conditions in a manner similar to the method used to simulate the present day climate in both cases the computed lgm sea surface temperatures are reasonable but only in t

controls on the spatial and temporal variability of vadose dripwater geochemistry edwards aquifer central texas abstract a 4 yr study of spatial and temporal variability in the geochemistry of vadose groundwaters from caves within the edwards aquifer region of central texas offers new insights into controls on vadose groundwater evolution the relationship between vadose and phreatic groundwaters and the fundamental influence of soil composition on groundwater geochemistry variations in sr isotopes and trace elements mg ca and sr ca ratios of dripwaters and soils from different caves as well as phreatic groundwaters provide the potential to distinguish between local variability and regional processes controlling fluid geochemistry and a framework for understanding the links between climatic and hydrologic processes the sr isotope compositions of vadose cave dripwaters mean 87sr 86sr 0 7087 and phreatic groundwaters mean 87sr 86sr 0 7079 generally fall between values for host carbonates mean 87sr 86sr 0 7076 and exchangeable sr in overlying soils mean 87sr 86sr 0 7088 dripwaters have lower mg ca and sr ca ratios and higher 87sr 86sr values than phreatic groundwaters dripwater 87sr 86sr values also inversely correlate with both mg ca and sr ca ratios mass balance modeling combined with these geochemical relationships suggest that variations in fluid compositions are predominantly controlled by groundwater residence times and water rock interaction with overlying soils and host aquifer carbonate rocks consistent differences in dripwater geochemistry i e 87sr 86sr mg ca and sr ca between individual caves are similar to compositional differences in soils above the caves while these differences appear to exert significant control on local fluid evolution geochemical and isotopic variations suggest that the controlling processes are regionally extensive temporal variations in 87sr 86sr values and mg ca ratios of dripwaters from some sites over the 4 yr interval correspond with changes in both aquifer and climatic parameters these results have important implications for the interpretation of trace element and isotopic variations in speleothems as paleoclimate records as well as the understanding of controls on water chemistry for both present day and ancient carbonate aquifers

stable isotope data as constraints on models for the origin of coralloid and massive speleothems the interplay of substrate water supply degassing and evaporation abstract many speleothems can be assigned to one of two morphological groups massive speleothems which consist of compact bulks of material and coralloids which are domal to digitate in form faster growth on protrusions of the substrate occurs in the typical growth layers of coralloids where those layers are termed coralloid accretions but it is not observed in the typical layers of massive speleothems which in contrast tend to smoothen the speleothem surface and can therefore be defined as smoothing accretions the different growth rates on different areas of the substrate are explainable by various mechanisms of caco3 deposition e g differential aerosol deposition differential co2 and or h2o loss from a capillary film of solution deposition in subaqueous environments to identify the causes of formation of coralloids rather than massive speleothems this article provides data about 13c and 18o at coeval points of both smoothing and coralloid accretions examining the relationship between isotopic composition and the substrate morphology in subaerial speleothems data show enrichment in heavy isotopes both along the direction of water flow and toward the protrusions the first effect is due to h2o evaporation and co2 degassing during a gravity driven flow of water gravity stage and is observed in smoothing accretions the second effect is due to evaporation and degassing during water movement by capillary action from recesses to prominences capillary stage and is observed in subaerial coralloids both effects coexist in smoothing accretions interspersed among coralloid ones intermediate stage thus this study supports the origin of subaerial coralloids from dominantly capillary water and disproves their origin by deposition of aerosol from the cave air on the other hand subaqueous coralloids seem to form by a differential mass transfer from a still bulk of water toward different zones of the substrate along diffusion flux vectors of nutrients perpendicular to the iso depleted surfaces finally this isotopic method has proved useful to investigate the controls on speleothem morphology and to obtain additional insights on the evolution of aqueous solutions inside caves

seasonal resolution of eastern mediterranean climate change since 34 ka from a soreq cave speleothem the combination of ion microprobe analysis of d 18 o and confocal laser fluorescent microscope imaging of annual growth bands in a soreq cave speleothem provides sub annual scale climate information between 34 and 4 ka this high resolution methodology is ideal both for comparing seasonal climate patterns across broad windows of time and examining rapid climate events such as the younger dryas termination in detail the sub annual d 18 o gradients we report represent a combination of seasonal variability in rainfall amount and air temperature a distinct change in both the pattern of fluorescent banding and the gradient of d 18 o measured in situ across single annual growth bands indicates a change in seasonal climate patterns of the eastern mediterranean region following heinrich event 1 and again after the younger dryas throughout the holocene wet winters and dry summers characterized regional climate during the younger dryas we find that regional climate may have been more arid than in the holocene but the fluorescent banding pattern indicates that the supply of dripwater to the cave was more consistent year round we suggest that a reduced gradient of seasonal precipitation occasional snowfall and vegetation differences may have all contributed to the isotope and fluorescent banding patterns observed during heinrich event 1 and the last glacial stadial detailed investigation of the younger dryas termination reveals a rapid onset of regional environmental change fluorescent band counting indicates that the younger dryas termination as recorded by rainfall in the

seasonal climate signals 1990 2008 in a modern soreq cave stalagmite as revealed by high resolution geochemical analysis article high resolution isotopic and geochemical analyses in a modern 1990 2008 soreq cave stalagmite are com pared to instrumental records of rainfall and dripwater from the cave with the aim of determining how seasonal resolutionclimateinformationistransmittedtospeleothemgeochemistry insitu micron scaleanalysis of oxygen isotope ratios 18 o and trace elements by ion microprobe in combination with a continuous linear traverse of trace element concentrations by laser ablation icp ms la icp ms allow the definition of geochem ical pathways within the cave fluorescent banding imaged by confocal laser fluorescent microscopy clfm as well as

cave aerosols distribution and contribution to speleothem geochemistry there is developing interest in cave aerosols due to the increasing awareness of their impacts on the cave environment and speleothem this paper provides the first attempt to synthesize the issues processes of cave aerosol introduction transport deposition distribution and incorporation are explored and reviewed from existing literature key issues of specific aerosol processes of distribution and production as well as cave location and morphology effects are highlighted through the presentation of preliminary monitoring data this study identifies the strong relationship between cave ventilation cave aerosols and their consequent spatial distribution the contribution of cave aerosol deposition to speleothem geochemistry is modelled and evaluated using a mass balance framework as an example speleothem trace element data from obir cave austria are compared with aerosol inputs to evaluate their significance the mass balance study demonstrates that generally under normal continuous growth and environmental conditions aerosol deposition will be of only minor importance however it highlights specific scenarios in which aerosol contributions will be significant speleothem hiatuses or slow growth high aerosol deposition and secondary microbiological feedback

environmental controls of speleothem mineralogy in a karstic dolomitic terrain soreq cave israel pleistocene speleothems of the soreq cave beth shemesh israel situated within karstic cretaceous dolomitic rocks consist of two major mineralogical types 1 monomineralic low magnesium calcite lmc 0 5 and 7 5 mol mgco 3 straw stalactites stalagmites helictites and pool deposits 2 mineralogically heterogeneous deposits in the form of conical stalactites flowstones and cave corals produced from thin flowing solution films or sprays in which lmc alternates with high magnesium calcite hmc 13 to 33 mol mgco 3 dolomite 33 50 mol mgco 3 and lmc laminations a unique feature of the type 2 is the continuous 0 50 mol range of mgco 3 sem and delta 18 o studies show that all calcites and dolomites grew by direct precipitation from local groundwater solutions lmc formation represents equilibrium precipitation from dripping water solution with mg ca 2 whereas hmc and dolomite precipitation occurred from solution films enriched in mg as the result of prior clos