Citation:

PANGAEA.992726 (DOI registration in progress)

Name: Calcium isotopes (δ44Ca) of stalagmite HS4 in Heshang Cave, Central China
Published: 2026-03-16
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Keywords: Archaeological cultures; Calcium isotopes; Central China; speleothem; trace elements

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Published: 2026-03-16

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Abstract:

Stalagmite calcium (d44Ca) isotope data was used to reconstruct regional paleorainfall amount in the Central China between 4.6 kyr BP and 3.5 kyr BP. The stalagmite (HS4) was collected from Heshang Cave in the Middle Yangtze Valley, Central China (30º27′N, 110º25′E, 294 m.a.s.l). HS4 Stalagmite length in this study ranges between 112.63 and 151.03 cm. The working half of HS4 was slabbed. Micro drilling of 343 continuous samples was undertaken by using a New-Wave Micromill. Every eighth sample was measured for d44Ca. The measurement resolution is ~25 years. The data was measured using a Nu Instruments multicollector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (MC-ICP-MS) at the University of Oxford, Department of Earth Sciences in 2016.

Keyword(s):

Archaeological cultures; Calcium isotopes; Central China; speleothem; trace elements

Related to:

Liao, Jin; Day, Christopher; Hu, Chaoyong; Liu, Y; Henderson, Gideon M (2026): Precise chronology of hydrological changes at ∼4.2 kyr in Central China to assess the impact of flooding on Neolithic societies. National Science Review, 13(2), nwaf567, https://doi.org/10.1093/nsr/nwaf567

References:

Owen, R A; Day, C C; Hu, C-Y; Liu, Y-H; Pointing, M D; Blättler, Clara L; Henderson, G M (2016): Calcium isotopes in caves as a proxy for aridity: Modern calibration and application to the 8.2 kyr event. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 443, 129-138, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2016.03.027

Funding:

National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC), grant/award no. 41731177

National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC), grant/award no. 41902185

Coverage:

Latitude: 30.450000 * Longitude: 110.416700

Minimum DISTANCE: 115.70 cm * Maximum DISTANCE: 147.06 cm

Event(s):

Heshang_Cave_HS4 * Latitude: 30.450000 * Longitude: 110.416700 * Elevation: 294.0 m * Location: Yangtze Valley, Central China * Method/Device: Speleothem sample (SPS)

Parameter(s):

#	Name	Short Name	Unit	Principal Investigator	Method/Device	Comment
1	Sample number	Sample no		Liao, Jin
2	AGE	Age	ka BP	Liao, Jin	Age, Uranium-Thorium	Geocode – Measured with: Multicollector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (MC-ICP-MS), Nu Instruments, Plasma
3	Age, error	Age e	±	Liao, Jin	Age, 14C calibration OxCal (Ramsey, 2008)	2 standard deviation (2SD), 2 sigma
4	DISTANCE	Distance	cm	Liao, Jin	Measured	Geocode – From top of HS4
5	δ44/42 Ca	δ44/40 Ca	‰	Liao, Jin	Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (ICP-MS), Attom, Nu Instruments	With respect to NIST SRM 915A
6	δ44/42 Ca, error	δ44/40 Ca e	±	Liao, Jin	Calculated, 2 standard deviation (2SD)	With respect to NIST SRM 915A; 2 sigma
7	Rayleigh fractional model, crystallization	f		Liao, Jin	According to Owen et al. (2016)	Fraction of dissolved Ca remaining in solution
8	Rayleigh fractional model, crystallization, error	f e	±	Liao, Jin	Calculated, 2 standard deviation (2SD)	Fraction of dissolved Ca remaining in solution; 2 sigma
9	Precipitation, annual total	Precip annual tot	mm/a	Liao, Jin	According to Owen et al. (2016)	Derived rainfall calculated by the fraction of dissolved Ca remaining in solution
10	Precipitation, annual total, error	Precip annual total e	±	Liao, Jin	Calculated, 2 standard deviation (2SD)	Derived rainfall calculated by the fraction of dissolved Ca remaining in solution; 2 sigma

License:

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC-BY-4.0)

Status:

Curation Level: Enhanced curation (CurationLevelC)

Size:

344 data points

Data

Download dataset as tab-delimited text — use the following character encoding:

1 Sample no	2 Age [ka BP]	3 Age e [±]	4 Distance [cm]	5 δ44/40 Ca [‰]	6 δ44/40 Ca e [±]	7 f	8 f e [±]	9 Precip annual tot [mm/a]	10 Precip annual total e [±]
HS4-I-3	4.595	80	147.06	0.15	0.06	0.55	0.05	811	93
HS4-I-11	4.571	78	146.32	0.08	0.06	0.61	0.06	949	143
HS4-I-19	4.546	75	145.58	0.11	0.06	0.58	0.06	880	116
HS4-I-27	4.522	72	144.85	0.18	0.06	0.52	0.05	770	80
HS4-I-35	4.496	71	144.13	0.11	0.06	0.59	0.06	887	119
HS4-I-43	4.469	72	143.40	0.14	0.06	0.55	0.05	826	98
HS4-I-51	4.441	72	142.68	0.09	0.06	0.60	0.06	922	132
HS4-I-59	4.412	74	141.95	0.12	0.06	0.57	0.05	860	110
HS4-I-67	4.380	80	141.23	0.20	0.06	0.51	0.05	747	73
HS4-I-75	4.347	85	140.46	0.31	0.06	0.42	0.04	639	45
HS4-I-83	4.314	91	139.72	0.12	0.06	0.57	0.05	866	111
HS4-I-91	4.291	92	138.97	0.12	0.06	0.58	0.05	869	113
HS4-II-3	4.274	90	138.23	0.20	0.06	0.50	0.05	743	72
HS4-II-11	4.257	88	137.48	0.12	0.06	0.57	0.05	856	108
HS4-II-19	4.240	86	136.74	0.20	0.06	0.51	0.05	745	73
HS4-II-27	4.222	84	135.99	0.29	0.06	0.44	0.04	656	49
HS4-II-35	4.192	85	135.09	0.21	0.06	0.50	0.05	737	70
HS4-II-43	4.164	86	134.25	0.26	0.06	0.46	0.04	684	56
HS4-II-51	4.139	87	133.49	0.25	0.06	0.47	0.04	693	58
HS4-II-59	4.113	87	132.73	0.25	0.06	0.46	0.04	686	56
HS4-II-67	4.089	87	131.89	0.13	0.06	0.56	0.05	843	104
HS4-II-75	4.068	88	131.12	0.19	0.06	0.51	0.05	751	74
HS4-II-83	4.047	88	130.39	0.06	0.06	0.63	0.06	1005	166
HS4-II-91	4.027	88	129.66	0.18	0.06	0.52	0.05	769	80
HS4-III-3	4.007	88	128.92	0.11	0.06	0.58	0.06	882	117
HS4-III-11	3.986	89	128.20	0.08	0.06	0.61	0.06	936	138
HS4-III-19	3.966	87	127.47	0.14	0.10	0.56	0.09	832	167
HS4-III-27	3.946	82	126.73	0.02	0.10	0.67	0.11	1120	363
HS4-III-35	3.926	76	126.00	0.07	0.10	0.62	0.10	969	251
HS4-III-43	3.905	70	125.27	0.07	0.10	0.62	0.10	976	256
HS4-III-51	3.885	64	124.54	0.03	0.10	0.66	0.10	1082	334
HS4-III-59	3.863	59	123.81	0.01	0.10	0.69	0.11	1179	413
HS4-III-67	3.818	59	123.08	0.15	0.10	0.55	0.09	817	158
HS4-III-75	3.774	60	122.35	0.10	0.10	0.59	0.09	903	208
HS4-III-83	3.730	60	121.62	0.08	0.10	0.61	0.10	936	229
HS4-III-91	3.686	61	120.88	0.05	0.10	0.64	0.10	1021	288
HS4-IV-3	3.641	61	120.15	0.08	0.10	0.61	0.10	942	233
HS4-IV-11	3.597	62	119.42	0.02	0.10	0.67	0.11	1132	373
HS4-IV-19	3.579	59	118.65	0.11	0.10	0.58	0.09	877	192
HS4-IV-27	3.569	57	117.91	0.33	0.08	0.41	0.05	626	56
HS4-IV-35	3.558	53	117.18	0.29	0.08	0.44	0.06	658	66
HS4-IV-43	3.548	51	116.44	0.15	0.08	0.54	0.07	807	122
HS4-IV-51	3.531	59	115.70	0.20	0.08	0.51	0.06	748	98