Torner, Judit; Cacho, Isabel; Stoll, Heather M; Moreno, Ana; Grimalt, Joan O; Sierro, Francisco Javier; Fornós, Joan J; Cheng, Hai; Edwards, R Lawrence (2025): U–Th Dating of the RAT Speleothem from Menorca Island (387–209 ka) [dataset]. PANGAEA, https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.986506
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Published: 2025-10-10 • DOI registered: 2025-11-08
Abstract:
This dataset comprises U-Th dating results from the RAT speleothem. The data were used to reconstruct past climate variability in the western Mediterranean region over the interval 387 to 209 ka, encompassing several glacial terminations (TIV, TIII, and TIIIa). The speleothem was collected in winter 2011 from Murada Cave, located on Menorca Island (39°57′58″N; 3°57′53″E). Element isolation was performed according to Shen et al. (2002) and Cheng et al. (2009). U-Th dating was conducted using a multi-collector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (MC-ICP-MS) with parallel ion-counting (Finnigan Neptune) at the University of Minnesota and Xi'an Jiaotong University. Age-depth models were calculated with the StalAge package in R (Scholz and Hoffmann, 2011).
Related to:
Torner, Judit; Cacho, Isabel; Stoll, Heather M; Moreno, Ana; Grimalt, Joan O; Sierro, Francisco Javier; Fornós, Joan J; Cheng, Hai; Edwards, R Lawrence (2025): New age constraints for glacial terminations IV, III, and III.a based on western Mediterranean speleothem records. Climate of the Past, 21(2), 465-487, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-21-465-2025
References:
Cheng, Hai; Edwards, R Lawrence; Broecker, Wallace S; Denton, George H; Kong, Xinggong; Wang, Yongjin; Zhang, Rong; Wang, Xianfeng (2009): Ice Age Terminations. Science, 326(5950), 248-252, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1177840
Scholz, Denis; Hoffmann, Dirk L (2011): StalAge – An algorithm designed for construction of speleothem age models. Quaternary Geochronology, 6(3-4), 369-382, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quageo.2011.02.002
Shen, Chuan-Chou; Edwards, R Lawrence; Cheng, Hai; Dorale, Jeffrey A; Thomas, Rebecca B; Moran, S Bradley; Weinstein, S E; Edmonds, H N (2002): Uranium and thorium isotopic and concentration measurements by magnetic sector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Chemical Geology, 185(3-4), 165-178, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0009-2541(01)00404-1
Funding:
Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI), grant/award no. CTM2013-48639-C2-1-R: OPERA - Forzamiento oceánico en la variabilidad de precipitaciones sobre Iberia y respuesta de ecosistemas marinos al CO2 antropogénico
Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI), grant/award no. PID2022-138010OB-I00: MORIA - Extensión e impacto de las aguas mediterráneas en el Atlántico Norte: variabilidad presente y pasada usando isótopos de neodimio
Coverage:
Latitude: 39.950967 * Longitude: 3.950883
Date/Time Start: 2011-11-03T14:54:00 * Date/Time End: 2011-11-03T14:54:00
Minimum DEPTH, sediment/rock: 0.0075 m * Maximum DEPTH, sediment/rock: 0.5150 m
Event(s):
Parameter(s):
| # | Name | Short Name | Unit | Principal Investigator | Method/Device | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sample number | Sample no | Torner, Judit | |||
| 2 | DEPTH, sediment/rock | Depth sed | m | Torner, Judit | Geocode | |
| 3 | Sample code/label | Sample label | Torner, Judit | |||
| 4 | Uranium-238 | 238U | µg/kg | Torner, Judit | MC-ICP-MS Thermo-Finnigan Neptune | |
| 5 | Uranium-238, standard deviation | 238U std dev | ± | Torner, Judit | ±2 SD | |
| 6 | Thorium-232 | 232Th | µg/kg | Torner, Judit | MC-ICP-MS Thermo-Finnigan Neptune | |
| 7 | Thorium-232, standard deviation | 232Th std dev | ± | Torner, Judit | ±2 SD | |
| 8 | Thorium-230/Thorium-232 atomic ratio | 230Th/232Th atom | Torner, Judit | MC-ICP-MS Thermo-Finnigan Neptune | atomic x10-6 | |
| 9 | Thorium-230/Thorium-232 atomic ratio, standard deviation | 230Th/232Th atom std dev | ± | Torner, Judit | ±2 SD | |
| 10 | δ234 Uranium | δ234U | ‰ | Torner, Judit | MC-ICP-MS Thermo-Finnigan Neptune | measured; d234U = ([234U/238U]activity - 1)x1000. |
| 11 | δ234 Uranium, standard deviation | δ234U std dev | ± | Torner, Judit | ±2 SD; measured dU234 | |
| 12 | Thorium-230/Uranium-238 activity ratio | (230Th/238U) | Torner, Judit | MC-ICP-MS Thermo-Finnigan Neptune | ||
| 13 | Thorium-230/Uranium-238 activity ratio, standard deviation | (230Th/238U) std dev | ± | Torner, Judit | ±2 SD | |
| 14 | Age, dated | Age dated | ka | Torner, Judit | MC-ICP-MS Thermo-Finnigan Neptune | uncorrected age, 230Th |
| 15 | Age, dated, standard deviation | Age dated std dev | ± | Torner, Judit | ±2 SD; uncorrected age | |
| 16 | Age, dated | Age dated | ka | Torner, Judit | MC-ICP-MS Thermo-Finnigan Neptune | Corrected 230Th ages assume the initial 230Th/232Th atomic ratio of 4.4 ±2.2 x10^-6. Those are the values for a material at secular equilibrium, with the bulk earth 232Th/238U value of 3.8. The errors are arbitrarily assumed to be 50%. |
| 17 | Age, dated, standard deviation | Age dated std dev | ± | Torner, Judit | ±2 SD; corrected age | |
| 18 | δ234 Uranium | δ234U | ‰ | Torner, Judit | MC-ICP-MS Thermo-Finnigan Neptune | initial; calculated based on 230Th age (T), i.e., d234Uinitial = d234Umeasured x el234xT. |
| 19 | δ234 Uranium, standard deviation | δ234U std dev | ± | Torner, Judit | ±2 SD; initial dU234 | |
| 20 | Age, dated | Age dated | ka BP | Torner, Judit | MC-ICP-MS Thermo-Finnigan Neptune | based on corrected 230Th age; B.P. stands for "Before Present" where the "Present" is defined as the year 1950 A.D. |
| 21 | Age, dated, standard deviation | Age dated std dev | ± | Torner, Judit | ±2 SD; ka BP |
License:
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC-BY-4.0)
Status:
Curation Level: Enhanced curation (CurationLevelC)
Size:
820 data points