Late Quaternary paleoenvironmental and Paleoclimate Reconstruction Using Speleothems of Samangan Cave: A Case of Kurdistan Province, Iran

Main text: The speleothems including stalagmites as an important source of information of palaeoenvironments are used to reconstruct environment changes and palaeoclimate. The purpose of this study was to reconstruct the environmental and climate changes in the west of Kurdistan province, Iran. To this end, a ۴۵ cm stalagmite sample from Samangan cave located in Divandarreh town in Kurdistan province was subjected to geochemical tests and statistical analysis. Determination of δ۱۸O and δ۱۳C along a ۴۵ cm stalagmite from Samangan shows three major environmental and climate changes including: ۱) increases in vegetation cover having C۳ plants with wetter climates with winter as possible season of precipitation and high levels of water dripped into the cave at a depth of ۳۱–۴۵cm, ۲) scattered vegetation and increased C۴ plants with the domination of very dry climates and spring as possible season of precipitation as well as a decrease in the amount of water dripped into the cave at a depth of ۱۹–۳۱cm, and ۳) increase in C۳ plants regarding the start or increase of cold-climate cereal species including wheat and barley in the area with dry climatic conditions in a depth of ۰-۱۹ cm.

کلیدواژه ها:

Stalagmite ، Stable isotopes ، Samangan cave ، Speleothem ، West Kurdistan ، Palaeoenvironments