Although water balance in terrestrial settings is an important climate parameter, relatively few proxies are available for reconstructing effective moisture. Here, we investigate the possibility of using sulfur speciation as a proxy for paleorainfall in sediments recovered from a large paleolake in the Bogota Basin, Colombia and spanning the past 660 k.y. Samples were digested with a mild acidic solution to extract acid-soluble sulfur minerals. Sulfur species extracted through this procedure included monosulfides, whereas sulfur in the remaining acid-insoluble fraction was found to be bound to organosulfur compounds. Monosulfide/total sulfur ratios range from 0.2 to 0.9 in the studied sediments and exhibit a cyclic distribution with depth. Low (<0.4) monosulfide/total sulfur ratios are characteristic of glacial intervals, whereas interglacial intervals exhibit both low and high ratios. Because partitioning of sulfur between monosulfides and organosulfur compounds depends on iron availability, we interpret that elevated iron delivery to the paleolake occurs at relatively high precipitation rates and results in the sequestration of sulfur in monosulfide minerals. Conversely, incorporation of sulfur into organic matter occurs at low precipitation rates when iron supply is low. Time-series analysis of sulfur ratios reveals the influence of orbital parameters (i.e., eccentricity, obliquity, and precession). Given that rainfall in the tropics is primarily associated with the passage of the Intertropical Convergence Zone, we conclude that orbital forcing exerts a significant control on the intensity or zonality of the Intertropical Convergence Zone that ultimately affects rainfall patterns in the Colombian Andes.

Abstract Zircon dates and orbital interpretation of bedding rhythms have yielded very different estimates on the duration of Middle Triassi stages. Recently, a core was drilled in Middle Triassic basin sediments at Seceda (western Dolomites) to directly compare cyclostratigraphy with geochronologic data. Detailed study of facies, sediment sources, and transport mechanisms formed the basis of the statistical analysis of bedding rhythms that are based on a grayscale scan and a gamma-ray well log. Amplitude spectrograms reveal strong frequency components at f = 0.025 cycles/cm in the main nodular limestone interval (92–64 m core depth), corresponding to the dominant 40 cm bedding thickness. Significant spectral differences were found between the grayscale and gamma-ray bedding proxies, placing doubt on the appropriateness of the use of the latter as an effective tool in cyclostratigraphy. In the uppermost part of the succession (59–45 m core depth) calciturbidites constitute more than 50% of the rock volume. If turbidites and tuffs are removed from the rock column, the spectrogram in this interval becomes much smoother and significant peaks appear at higher frequencies. The signals of this pelagic background sedimentation were extracted by bandpass filtering and show strong similarities to Milankovitch cycles in the Quaternary. According to this cyclostrati-graphic interpretation, the dominant 40 cm bedding rhythm was produced by eccentricity, and the average sedimentation rate results in ~3.6 mm/ky. This estimate is in contrast to zircon data from volcaniclastic layers that bracket this core interval and suggest a sedimentation rate of 13.5 mm/ky. As it currently stands, neither of the two interpretations is yet fully satisfactory. Although the presence of orbital variations in the Triassic analogous to those predicted for the last 20 My remains questionable owing the presumed chaotic behavior of the planets, the zircon age data have uncertainties related to their origin that remain unaccounted for and require further investigation.