Towards an understanding of magnetic mineralogy in speleothems from South America

Paleoclimate studies on speleothems commonly use oxygen isotopes as a record of precipitation variability and carbon isotopes to document soil, vegetation, and atmospheric processes. Magnetic minerals in speleothems record complementary paleoclimate information but need to be interpreted within the context of the particular geographic and geologic setting in which a karst environment occurs. This study surveys 23 caves in South America (7°N to 25°S latitude). The present-day climate is dominated by a monsoon regime, with variable precipitation between 50 to 800 mm/month covering different biomes, therefore making South America a good candidate to explore the properties of magnetic minerals at the tropical/subtropical climate. We share a database of magnetic properties from 23 stalagmites samples (90 specimens), 4 soil samples (34 specimens) and 2 limestone samples (15 specimens). Measured rock magnetic parameters include magnetic susceptibility, natural, anhysteretic, and isothermal remanent magnetization...