Late Pleistocene paleoclimate in the Black Hills of South Dakota from isotope records in speleothems

Two coeval speleothems from the Black Hills are used to investigate δ18O and δ13C variations within Reed’s Cave and reconstruct climate during the Wisconsin glacial period from 82 000 to 24 000 years ago. Variation in growth rates between the two speleothems reveals a strong control of hydrology and surface vegetation on isotopic variability and response of δ18O to climate. High-resolution δ18O and δ13C data show that local environmental …