SGER: Collaborative Research: Timing of Late Holocene Changes in Summer Indian Monsoon Intensity as Recorded in Mineralogic Changes in Speleothems, Pokhara Valley, Central Nepal

University Of Iowa, Iowa City IA

Investigators

Abstract

This award is for an exploratory operation to investigate mineralogic changes in Holocene and modern speleothems from caves in the Seito River Valley, Nepal, in order to increase understanding of late Holocene Indian summer monsoon variability. In well- vented, dolomitic caves, calcite stalagmites indicate humid conditions while aragonite stalagmites record relatively arid cave conditions and accompanying in-cave evaporation. In many cases, deposition of calcite formed during precipitation-laden summer monsoons alternates with aragonite formed from reduced drip rates at the end or between monsoons. In order to better quantify the relationship between changes in speleothem mineralogy and climate, the project will perform cage fluid chemical studies (elemental and isotopic) and elemental analyses of the speleothems, as well as increase the geographic coverage of sampled caves.