摘要：There are two avenues for comparing speleothem-derived climate proxy data against instrumental climate measurements: Via speleothems that have grown through the 20th century, and by carrying out dripwater monitoring studies. Both provide opportunities to investigate how speleothem geochemistry responds to changes in intra- and inter-annual variations in climatic parameters. Much work remains to understand these processes in general, and it is becoming increasingly apparent that such exercises are necessary to understand processes in individual caves, owing to the broad variation in climatic, geological and geomorphic environments that host speleothems. Here, we provide an overview of recent research findings from several cave sites in southwest Australia. Multiple geochemical proxies (δ18O, δ13C, P, U, Mg, Sr, Ba and Na) from calcite speleothems from this region have provided the longest duration (80 complete years from 1911-1992) calibration dataset between speleothem geochemistry and the instrument climate record. We use this case study of modern speleothem δ18O and trace elements to provide examples of techniques for calibration and to highlight the importance of carrying out such investigations.
