Stable isotope record and its palaeoenvironmental interpretation for a late Middle Pleistocene speleothem from Victoria Fossil Cave, Naracoorte, South Australia

A speleothem from Victoria Fossil Cave, South Australia, provides a continu ous stable isotope record from 185 to 157 ka. Oxygen isotope analysis indic ates that, at commencement of deposition, mean annual temperatures were muc h lower than at present and that between 178 and 162 ka regional surface te mperatures were similar to today. Such high temperatures during an intersta dial are surprising but may be attributable to increased continentality due to low sealevels. Carbon isotope analysis indicates the presence of an act ive vegetation cover dominated by C3 plants during the interstadial while a sparse vegetation dominated by C4 grasses appears to have been dominant du ring full-glacial conditions. Variations in moisture availability and Veget ation productivity are probably closely related to stages in the precession al cycle. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.