High-resolution isotope records of early Holocene rapid climate change from two coeval stalagmites of Katerloch Cave, Austria

Using a well constrained modern calibration between air temperature and δ18O of precipitation for the study area and cave monitoring data (confirming speleothem deposition in Katerloch reflecting cave air temperature), a maximum cooling by ca 3 °C can be inferred at 8.2 and 9.1 kyr, which is similar to other estimates, e.g., from Lake Ammersee north of the Alps. The O isotopic composition of meteoric precipitation, however, is a complex tracer of the hydrological cycle and these temperature estimates do not take into account additional effects such as changes in the source area or synoptic shifts. Apart from that, the relative thickness of the seasonally controlled lamina types in the Katerloch stalagmites remains rather constant across the intervals comprising the isotopic anomalies, i.e. the stalagmite petrography argues against major shifts in seasonality during the early Holocene climate excursions.