Isotope Stage 11, the “super-Interglacial”, from a North Norwegian Speleothem

Abstract

A high resolution isotope profile (142 points in 75 mm) from LP-6, a corroded flowstone slab from Lapphullet cave at Mo i Rana, Norway, close to the Arctic Circle, is dated by nine TIMS U-series dates to isotope stages 13 and 11. The dates are in perfect stratigraphic order, putting the main growth periods of the speleothem at 502 ka, and 380-420 ka. Termination V occurred shortly before 421 ±10 ka, probably between 423 and 430 ka, an estimate that coincides with the orbitally tuned SPECMAP date. The duration of isotope stage 11 interglacial is at least 27 to 45.5 kyrs (depending on the growth model used) supporting the longer of the published estimates of ∼30-40 kyrs (McManus et al., 1999).