Isotope measurements of single ostracod valves and gastropod shells for climate reconstruction: evaluation of within-sample variability and determination of optimum sample size

Sediment cores from Lakes Punta Laguna, Chichancanab, and Petén Itzá on the Yucatan Peninsula were used to (1) investigate “within-horizon” stable isotope variability (δ¹⁸O and δ¹³C) measured on multiple, single ostracod valves and gastropod shells, (2) determine the optimum number of individuals required to infer low-frequency climate changes, and (3) evaluate the potential for using intra-sample δ¹⁸O variability in ostracod and gastropod shells as a proxy measure for high-frequency climate variability. Calculated optimum sample numbers (“n”) for δ¹⁸O and δ¹³C in the ostracod Cytheridella ilosvayi and the gastropod Pyrgophorus coronatus vary appreciably throughout the cores in all three lakes. Variability and optimum “n” values were, in most cases, larger for C. ilosvayi than for P. coronatus for δ¹⁸O measurements, whereas there was no significant difference for δ¹³C measurements. This finding may be explained by differences in the ecology and life history of the two taxa as well as contrasting modes of calcification. Individual δ¹⁸O measurements on C. ilosvayi in sediments from Lake Punta Laguna show that samples from core depths that have high mean δ¹⁸O values, indicative of low effective moisture, display lower variability, whereas samples with low mean δ¹⁸O values, reflecting times of higher effective moisture, display higher variability. Relatively dry periods were thus consistently dry, whereas relatively wet periods had both wet and dry years. This interpretation of data from the cores applies to two important periods of the late Holocene, the Maya Terminal Classic period and the Little Ice Age. δ¹⁸O variability during the ancient Maya Terminal Classic Period (ca. 910–990 AD) indicates not only the driest mean conditions in the last 3,000 years, but consistently dry climate. Variability of δ¹³C measurements in single stratigraphic layers displayed no relationship with climate conditions inferred from δ¹⁸O measurements.