Carbon and oxygen isotope composition of pedogenic CaCO3 from soil profiles in Nevada and New Mexico,U.S.A. |
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| Authors: | Leonard Robert Gardner |
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| Institution: | Department of Geology, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208, U.S.A. |
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| Abstract: | Stable carbon and oxygen isotope measurements have been obtained from ten calcareous soil profiles developed on noncalcareous parent materials in Nevada and New Mexico. Despite the number of variables that can affect the isotopic composition of soil carbonate, most of these profiles show remarkably little variation in δ 13C and δ 18O with depth. This tendency towards uniformity is attributed to the fact that pedogenic carbonate forms by the incremental accumulation of a large number of small aliquots of CaCO3. As the number of aliquots of CaCO3 increases, the composition of their sum, which is the calcareous horizon itself, tends to converge to the long-term average of the individual aliquots. A mathematical model is presented to show how the time required for convergence is affected by the amplitude and period of aliquot variation and the extent of dissolution and reprecipitation of previously deposited carbonate. Calculations further indicate that in some cases the variation in δ 18O of soil carbonates may be moderated by the opposing effects of temperature change on the H2OCaCO3 fractionation factor and on the extent of evapotranspiration.The data of this study indicate that soil carbonates from sites within a homogeneous climatic region show relatively little site-to-site variation in δ 18O as compared to geographical variation in δ 13C. This suggests that the δ 18O of soil carbonates is primarily controlled by broad climatic factors (rainfall composition and temperature) whereas site factors (e.g., soil CO2) have a strong effect on δ 13C. In Nevada and New Mexico the δ 18O of Pleistocene calcareous profiles is 2.0–4.0‰ lighter than that of nearby Holocene soil carbonate, suggesting that old well-developed profiles may have formed dominantly under cooler pluvial conditions. |
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