Co-evolutions of temperature and monsoonal precipitation patterns from the latest Pleistocene to the mid-Holocene in Japan: Carbonate clumped isotope record of a stalagmite

Abstract Quantitative paleotemperature reconstruction is a challenging and important issue in paleoenvironmental studies, for which carbonate clumped isotope (Δ 47 ) thermometry is a promising approach. Here we analyzed Δ 47 values from 66 layers of OT02 stalagmite from Ohtaki Cave in central Japan, covering two separate time intervals (2.6–8.8 and 34.8–63.5 ka) to reconstruct terrestrial temperature and meteoric δ 18 O records. The average Δ 47 temperature of the Holocene portion of this stalagmite was 16.3°C ± 5.6°C and the average of the latest Pleistocene portion was 9.7°C ± 4.6°C. Δ 47 thermometry also revealed that the coldest intervals (5°C–10°C) correspond to the Heinrich stadials HSs4–6, and the warmest interval (up to 19.9°C ± 6.0°C) in middle Holocene (approximately 6–5 ka) accompanied by the Hypsithermal climate optimum. We also reconstructed past meteoric δ 18 O by subtracting the temperature effect from stalagmite δ 18 O. Average meteoric δ 18 O was − 8.22‰ ± 0.99‰ VSMOW in the Holocene and − 8.81‰ ± 0.84‰ in the latest Pleistocene. Over centennial timescales, meteoric δ 18 O was lower during colder periods, such as Heinrich stadials and the cooling event around 7 ka, and higher in warmer periods, such as Hypsithermal warming. These relations indicated synchronicities of terrestrial paleotemperature and paleoprecipitation in our study region. A temperature dependency of total 18 O fractionation from sea water to precipitation is a likely reason for the negative correlation between temperature and meteoric δ 18 O. Additionally, East Asian summer monsoon (EASM) brought larger rainfall of high δ 18 O during the warm periods, whereas larger snow/rainfall of low δ 18 O brought from East Asian winter monsoon (EAWM) in colder periods. δ 18 O of OT02 had thus reflected changes in terrestrial temperature and meteoric δ 18 O, which are both strongly related to EASM and EAWM conflicting in a centennial timescale.