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<front>
<journal-meta>
<journal-id journal-id-type="publisher">EGUsphere</journal-id>
<journal-title-group>
<journal-title>EGUsphere</journal-title>
<abbrev-journal-title abbrev-type="publisher">EGUsphere</abbrev-journal-title>
<abbrev-journal-title abbrev-type="nlm-ta">EGUsphere</abbrev-journal-title>
</journal-title-group>
<issn pub-type="epub"></issn>
<publisher><publisher-name>Copernicus Publications</publisher-name>
<publisher-loc>Göttingen, Germany</publisher-loc>
</publisher>
</journal-meta>
<article-meta>
<article-id pub-id-type="doi">10.5194/egusphere-2026-4435</article-id>
<title-group>
<article-title>Early to Middle Holocene aridification trend in southeastern Iberia and the termination of the last North African Humid Period revealed by a multi-proxy speleothem record</article-title>
</title-group>
<contrib-group><contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Gázquez</surname>
<given-names>Fernando</given-names>
<ext-link>https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8258-1352</ext-link>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff2">
<sup>2</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Vonhof</surname>
<given-names>Hubert</given-names>
<ext-link>https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0897-8244</ext-link>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff3">
<sup>3</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Pérez-Mejías</surname>
<given-names>Carlos</given-names>
<ext-link>https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8370-9271</ext-link>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff4">
<sup>4</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Columbu</surname>
<given-names>Andrea</given-names>
<ext-link>https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5410-062X</ext-link>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff5">
<sup>5</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Giesche</surname>
<given-names>Alena</given-names>
<ext-link>https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3673-7269</ext-link>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff6">
<sup>6</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Cheng</surname>
<given-names>Hai</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff4">
<sup>4</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Martínez-García</surname>
<given-names>Alfredo</given-names>
<ext-link>https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7206-5079</ext-link>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff3">
<sup>3</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>DiMento</surname>
<given-names>Brian</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff7">
<sup>7</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Iriarte</surname>
<given-names>Eneko</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff8">
<sup>8</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Calaforra</surname>
<given-names>José María</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff2">
<sup>2</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
</contrib-group><aff id="aff1">
<label>1</label>
<addr-line>Department of Biology and Geology, Building CITE IIB, Universidad de Almería, Carretera de Sacramento s.n, La Cañada de San Urbano, 04120 Almería, Spain</addr-line>
</aff>
<aff id="aff2">
<label>2</label>
<addr-line>Andalusian Centre for Global Change- Hermelindo Castro (Engloba), Building CITE V, University of Almería, 04120 Almería, Spain</addr-line>
</aff>
<aff id="aff3">
<label>3</label>
<addr-line>Climate Geochemistry Department, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Hahn-Meitner-Weg 1, 55128 Mainz, Germany</addr-line>
</aff>
<aff id="aff4">
<label>4</label>
<addr-line>Institute of Global Environmental Change, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, China</addr-line>
</aff>
<aff id="aff5">
<label>5</label>
<addr-line>Department of Earth Sciences, University of Pisa, Via Santa Maria, 53, 56126, Italy</addr-line>
</aff>
<aff id="aff6">
<label>6</label>
<addr-line>Department of Earth Sciences, Colby College, Waterville ME 04901, USA</addr-line>
</aff>
<aff id="aff7">
<label>7</label>
<addr-line>Department of Chemistry, University of Alaska, Anchorage AK 99508, USA</addr-line>
</aff>
<aff id="aff8">
<label>8</label>
<addr-line>Área de Paleontología, Departamento de Historia, Geografía y Comunicación, Facultad de Humanidades y Comunicación, Universidad de Burgos, 09001, Burgos, Spain</addr-line>
</aff>
<pub-date pub-type="epub">
<day>07</day>
<month>08</month>
<year>2026</year>
</pub-date>
<volume>2026</volume>
<fpage>1</fpage>
<lpage>31</lpage>
<permissions>
<copyright-statement>Copyright: &#x000a9; 2026 Fernando Gázquez et al.</copyright-statement>
<copyright-year>2026</copyright-year>
<license license-type="open-access">
<license-p>This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this licence, visit <ext-link ext-link-type="uri"  xlink:href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/</ext-link></license-p>
</license>
</permissions>
<self-uri xlink:href="https://egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/2026/egusphere-2026-4435/">This article is available from https://egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/2026/egusphere-2026-4435/</self-uri>
<self-uri xlink:href="https://egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/2026/egusphere-2026-4435/egusphere-2026-4435.pdf">The full text article is available as a PDF file from https://egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/2026/egusphere-2026-4435/egusphere-2026-4435.pdf</self-uri>
<abstract>
<p>&lt;span&gt;During the Early Holocene, relatively humid conditions prevailed across northern Africa, transitioning to a drier climate by the end of the mid-Holocene. While the timing and nature of this climatic shift are well-established in the Maghreb region of Africa, uncertainties remain regarding the pace of the wet-to-dry transition in the southern Iberian Peninsula. We present a multi-proxy stalagmite record from Simarr&amp;oacute;n II cave, spanning 9.7 to 4.4 ka BP. The dataset combines stable carbon and oxygen isotopes in calcite (&amp;delta;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;sup&gt;&lt;span&gt;18&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;span&gt;O&lt;sub&gt;carb&lt;/sub&gt;, &amp;delta;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;sup&gt;&lt;span&gt;13&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;span&gt;C), Mg/Ca ratios, petrographic observations, fluid inclusion isotopes (&amp;delta;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;sup&gt;&lt;span&gt;18&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;span&gt;O&lt;sub&gt;fi&lt;/sub&gt;, &amp;delta;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;sup&gt;&lt;span&gt;2&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;span&gt;H) and TEX₈₆-derived paleotemperatures to reconstruct paleohydrological and climatic changes. From 9.7 to 4.4 ka, progressively higher &amp;delta;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&amp;sup1;⁸Ofi and &amp;delta;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&amp;sup2;H values, coupled with decreasing deuterium excess, are consistent with a gradual shift in rainfall seasonality and/or moisture sources (i.e., frontal Atlantic-type precipitation regime during the early Holocene to a more convective Mediterranean regime). This trend could be overprinted by enhanced soil and in-cave water evaporation during the late Mid-Holocene because of climate aridification. Lower &amp;delta;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;sup&gt;&lt;span&gt;18&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;span&gt;O&lt;sub&gt;carb&lt;/sub&gt;, &amp;delta;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;sup&gt;&lt;span&gt;13&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;span&gt;C, and Mg/Ca values between 9.7 and 6.0 ka also indicate relatively wet conditions during the early Holocene and part of the middle Holocene. From ~6.0 ka onward, these proxies show a progressive increase, stabilizing after ~5.5 ka, consistent with a climate shift toward more arid conditions that occurred within ~500 yrs. This is interpreted as reflecting enhanced prior calcite precipitation rates and kinetic isotope effects associated with intensified in-cave CO₂ degassing, due to the dry climate during the termination of the last North African Humid Period. Paired &amp;delta;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;sup&gt;&lt;span&gt;18&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;span&gt;O&lt;sub&gt;carb&lt;/sub&gt;&amp;ndash;&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span&gt;&amp;delta;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;sup&gt;&lt;span&gt;18&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;span&gt;O&lt;sub&gt;fi &lt;/sub&gt;paleotemperature estimates yield unrealistically high values (20&amp;ndash;30 &amp;deg;C) for most of the investigated period, further supporting non-equilibrium fractionation processes and likely in-cave water evaporation. In contrast, TEX&lt;sub&gt;86&lt;/sub&gt;-based temperatures (13&amp;ndash;17 &amp;deg;C) suggest that early&amp;ndash;mid Holocene cave temperatures were higher than present-day values in the cave (11.7 &amp;deg;C). &lt;/span&gt;</p>
</abstract>
<counts><page-count count="31"/></counts>
<funding-group>
<award-group id="gs1">
<funding-source>Consejería de Conocimiento, Investigación y Universidad, Junta de Andalucía</funding-source>
<award-id>P_FORT_GRUPOS_2023/17</award-id>
</award-group>
<award-group id="gs2">
<funding-source>Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades</funding-source>
<award-id>RYC2020-029811-I</award-id>
<award-id>CNS2025-165139</award-id>
<award-id>RED2024-153734-T</award-id>
</award-group>
<award-group id="gs3">
<funding-source>Universidad de Almería</funding-source>
<award-id>RYC2020-029811-I</award-id>
<award-id>P_FORT_GRUPOS_2023/17</award-id>
</award-group>
</funding-group>
</article-meta>
</front>
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<back>
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</article>