500,000-Year Stable Carbon Isotopic Record from Devils Hole, Nevada
- 21 January 1994
- journal article
- other
- Published by American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in Science
- Vol. 263 (5145) , 361-365
- https://doi.org/10.1126/science.263.5145.361
Abstract
The record of carbon-13 (δ13C) variations in DH-11 vein calcite core from Devils Hole, Nevada, shows four prominent minima near glacial terminations (glacial-interglacial transitions) V to II. The δ13C time series is inversely correlated with the DH-11 oxygen isotope ratio time series and leads it by as much as 7000 years. The δ13C variations likely record fluctuations in the δ13C of dissolved inorganic carbon of water recharging the aquifer. How such variations are transported 80 kilometers to Devils Hole without obliteration by water-rock reaction remains an enigma. The record may reflect (i) global variations in the δ13C of atmospheric CO2 and, hence, the δ13C of continental biomass or (ii) variations in extent and density of vegetation in the southern Great Basin. In the latter case, δ13C minima at 414, 334, 246, and 133 thousand years ago mark times of maximum vegetation.Keywords
This publication has 29 references indexed in Scilit:
- Carbon isotope composition of atmospheric CO2 during the last ice age from an Antarctic ice coreNature, 1992
- Carbon isotope records from pacific surface waters and atmospheric carbon dioxideQuaternary Science Reviews, 1992
- Influence of Matrix Diffusion and Exchange Reactions on Radiocarbon Ages in Fissured Carbonate AquifersWater Resources Research, 1991
- Younger Dryas‐Style Cooling Events at Glacial Terminations I‐VI at ODP Site 658: Associated benthic δ13C anomalies constrain meltwater hypothesisPaleoceanography and Paleoclimatology, 1990
- Meltwater cooling of the Gulf of Mexico: A GCM simulation of climatic conditions at 12 kaPaleoceanography and Paleoclimatology, 1990
- Carbon isotope composition of tropical surface water during the past 22,000 yearsPaleoceanography and Paleoclimatology, 1989
- A 250,000-Year Climatic Record from Great Basin Vein Calcite: Implications for Milankovitch TheoryScience, 1988
- Relationship Between Climate and Vegetation and the Stable Carbon Isotope Chemistry of Soils in the Eastern Mojave Desert, NevadaQuaternary Research, 1988
- The δ13C of equatorial Atlantic surface waters: Implications for Ice Age pCO2 levelsPaleoceanography and Paleoclimatology, 1987
- Long-Term Variations of Caloric Insolation Resulting from the Earth's Orbital ElementsQuaternary Research, 1978