Speleothems are important timekeepers of Earth’s climate history. A key advantage of speleothems is that they can be dated using U–Th techniques. Mass spectrometric methods for measuring U and Th isotopes has led to vast improvements in measurement precision and a dramatic reduction in sample size. As a result, the timing of past climate, environment, and Earth system changes can be investigated at exceptional temporal precision. In this review, we summarize the principles and history of U–Th dating of speleothems. Finally, we highlight three studies that use U–Th dated speleothems to investigate past changes to the Asian monsoon, constrain the timing of sociopolitical change in ancient civilizations, and develop a speleothem-based calibration of the 14C timescale.
Skip Nav Destination
Article navigation
Research Article|
April 01, 2021
Uranium–Thorium Dating of Speleothems
Kathleen A. Wendt;
University of Innsbruck, Institute of Geology, Innrain 52, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria
* Current address: Oregon State University, College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences, Corvallis, OR 97331, USA, E-mail: kathleen.wendt@oregonstate.edu
Search for other works by this author on:
Xianglei Li;
University of Minnesota, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, 116 Church Street SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA
E-mail: li000477@umn.edu
Search for other works by this author on:
R. Lawrence Edwards
University of Minnesota, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, 116 Church Street SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA
E-mail: edwar001@umn.edu
Search for other works by this author on:
Elements (2021) 17 (2): 87–92.
Article history
first online:
10 Jul 2021
Citation
Kathleen A. Wendt, Xianglei Li, R. Lawrence Edwards; Uranium–Thorium Dating of Speleothems. Elements 2021;; 17 (2): 87–92. doi: https://doi.org/10.2138/gselements.17.2.87
Download citation file:
You could not be signed in. Please check your email address / username and password and try again.
Email alerts
Index Terms/Descriptors
- absolute age
- actinides
- C-12
- C-14
- carbon
- Cenozoic
- chemical properties
- climate change
- closed systems
- Holocene
- isotope fractionation
- isotopes
- mass spectroscopy
- metals
- monsoons
- paleoatmosphere
- paleoclimatology
- paleoenvironment
- Quaternary
- radioactive isotopes
- solution features
- spectroscopy
- speleothems
- stable isotopes
- Th-230
- Th/U
- thorium
- U-238
- upper Holocene
- uranium
- uranium disequilibrium
Citing articles via
Related Articles
D – Goldschmidt Abstracts 2013
Mineralogical Magazine
V – Goldschmidt Abstracts 2013
Mineralogical Magazine
R – Goldschmidt Abstracts 2013
Mineralogical Magazine
F – Goldschmidt Abstracts 2013
Mineralogical Magazine
N – Goldschmidt Abstracts 2013
Mineralogical Magazine
O – Goldschmidt Abstracts 2013
Mineralogical Magazine
Related Book Content
Pliocene–Pleistocene palaeoclimate reconstruction from Ashalim Cave speleothems, Negev Desert, Israel
Advances in Karst Research: Theory, Fieldwork and Applications
Resolving discordant U–Th–Ra ages: constraints on petrogenetic processes of recent effusive eruptions at Tatun Volcano Group, northern Taiwan
Chemical, Physical and Temporal Evolution of Magmatic Systems
Rapid Holocene sea-level and climate change in the Black Sea: An evaluation of the Balabanov sea-level curve
Geology and Geoarchaeology of the Black Sea Region: Beyond the Flood Hypothesis
Geology of southeastern Barbados
Emergence and Evolution of Barbados
Implications for central Italy paleoclimate from 95,000 yr B.P. until the early Holocene as evident from Frasassi Cave speleothems
250 Million Years of Earth History in Central Italy: Celebrating 25 Years of the Geological Observatory of Coldigioco