Stable Isotope Studies of the Water Cycle and Terrestrial Environments
This volume is devoted to Earth surface environmental reconstructions and environmental changes that may be deciphered and modelled using stable isotopes along with mineralogical/chemical, sedimentological, palaeontological/biological and climatological methodologies. The book is divided into two sections, both using stable isotopes (δD, δ18O, δ13C, d15N, δ34S, clumped isotopes Δ47) in various samples and phases as the main research tool. The first section is devoted to studies focusing on the distribution of isotopes in precipitation, groundwater, lakes, rivers, springs, tap water, mine water and their relationship with terrestrial environments at regional to continental scale. In relation to this, the second section includes case studies from a range of continental settings, investigating cave deposits (stalagmites, bat guano), animal skeletons (dinosaurs, alligators, turtles, bivalves), present and past soils (palaeosols) and limestones. The sections focus on the interaction between the surficial water cycle and underground water storage with deposits acting as archives of short- to long-term climatic and environmental changes. Examples from the Early Cretaceous to present time come from Europe, Asia, Africa, North and South America.
Isotopic and time series investigations of recent stalagmites (1945–2018), Schlossberg tunnels, Graz, Austria: implications for climate change in Central Europe
Correspondence: [email protected]
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Published:October 28, 2021
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CiteCitation
Ana-Voica Bojar, Christophe Lécuyer, Octavian G. Duliu, Hans-Peter Bojar, François Fourel, 2021. "Isotopic and time series investigations of recent stalagmites (1945–2018), Schlossberg tunnels, Graz, Austria: implications for climate change in Central Europe", Stable Isotope Studies of the Water Cycle and Terrestrial Environments, A.-V. Bojar, A. Pelc, C. Lécuyer
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Abstract
For the first time, we present a decadal-scale stable isotope record (δ18O, δ13C) of 67 speleothem calcite samples coming from an artificial tunnel network located in Graz, Austria. Stable isotope data are interpreted with the help of time series (TS) analysis of mean air temperatures (MAT) and mean annual precipitations (MAP) that have been monitored and recorded in a neighbouring meteorological station. Speleothem records have proved to be very useful in reconstructing changes of environmental conditions. For studied stalagmites, which grew between 1945 and 2018, the δ18O values average −18.64‰ and range from −23‰ to −17‰ (VPDB, Vienna Pee Dee Belemnite), suggesting variable climatic conditions. The δ18O values of calcite increase along the growth axis and are correlated with high temporal resolution MAT, MAP and weighted mean annual δ18O of precipitations. For the same time interval, while the temperature TS show an increasing trend, with a steeper gradient since the 1980s, the precipitation TS presents a weak decreasing tendency. Increase in the δ13C values of speleothems from −33‰ to −24‰ (VPDB) is correlated with increasing temperature and drought, associated CO2 degassing and soil erosion over the tunnel system.
- annual variations
- atmospheric precipitation
- Austria
- C-13/C-12
- calcite
- carbon
- carbon dioxide
- carbonates
- Central Europe
- climate
- climate change
- decadal variations
- drought
- environmental analysis
- erosion
- Europe
- Graz Austria
- isotope ratios
- isotopes
- layered materials
- O-18/O-16
- oxygen
- soil erosion
- soils
- solution features
- speleothems
- stable isotopes
- stalagmites
- statistical analysis
- Styria Austria
- temperature
- temporal distribution
- time series analysis
- Schlossberg Tunnels