Activators of Luminescence in Speleothems as Source of Major Mistakes in Interpretation of Luminescent Paleoclimatic Records

TL;DR

This paper reviews how various activators influence speleothem luminescence and highlights the risks of misinterpreting paleoclimatic data without understanding the luminescence's organic origins.

Contribution

It identifies six types of speleothem luminescence and emphasizes the necessity of confirming organic origins to accurately interpret paleoclimatic records.

Findings

Six types of speleothem luminescence identified

24 activators of calcite luminescence studied

Reliable paleoclimatic records require organic luminescence verification

Abstract

This work summarizes the main results of the operation of the International Program Luminescence of Cave Minerals of the commission on Physical Chemistry and Hydrogeology of Karst of UIS of UNESCO in the field of activators of speleothem luminescence. It discusses Activators of Luminescence in Speleothems as a source of major mistakes in the interpretation of luminescent paleoclimatic records. It demonstrates the existence of 6 types of luminescence of speleothems and cave minerals in dependence of the type of the luminescence center and its incorporation in the mineral. 24 different activators of photoluminescence of speleothem calcite and 11 of aragonite are studied. This paper demonstrates that it is impossible to produce reliable Paleotemperature or Past Precipitation records from luminescence of speleothems without establishing the organic origin of the entire luminescence of the particular sample.