δ¹³C stalagmite records from South America

Measurements of carbon isotope (δ¹³C) ratios are essential for (paleo)environmental studies, such as those regarding the carbon cycle, past food consumption by pre-historic societies, paleo-vegetation reconstructions, soil dynamics, aspects regarding animal migration and food consumption, etc. Our main goal with this study is to introduce new cave records to the speleothem community and contextualize their interpretation in a regional framework for South America during the last two millennia. The dataset presented (named δ¹³C_2k_SA) comprises thirteen new δ¹³C speleothem records that were integrated to other 12 records already published to test the influence of local hydroclimate, altitude, temperature and changing vegetation types on δ¹³C values in stalagmites. Most sites from tropical South America were dominated by C3 plants over the last two millennia and are characterized by speleothem δ¹³C values more depleted than -6 ‰. The main factors influencing δ¹³C values are associated with the local hydroclimate, followed by minor effects from temperature. Most of the isotopic records show a significant correlation between the δ¹³C and δ¹⁸O values, indicating a close relationship between local hydroclimate and atmospheric convective processes related to the South American Monsoon System.