The intention of the Research Unit is to understand the basic mechanisms which control speleothem growth and composition by a combined application of field and laboratory experiments. In particular, the impact of kinetic fractionation processes on the oxygen isotope signal will be quantified. The knowledge of these basic mechanisms will allow for the first time to obtain high resolution information about the intensity of precipitation and temperature in the past from stalagmites. Hereby, speleothems will advance to a precisely dated continental archive providing quantitative climate information.
By the application to late quaternary speleothems we will reconstruct the temporal and spatial variability of precipitation and temperature on a supra-regional scale. These data will represent an important basis for prognostic climate modelling.
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