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.
Multiproxy strategy for determining palaeoclimate parameters in the Ruby Ranch Member of the Cedar Mountain Formation
Correspondence: mb.suarez@ku.edu
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Published:October 28, 2021
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CiteCitation
M. B. Suarez, J. A. Knight, A. Godet, G. A. Ludvigson, K. E. Snell, L. Murphy, J. I. Kirkland, 2021. "Multiproxy strategy for determining palaeoclimate parameters in the Ruby Ranch Member of the Cedar Mountain Formation", Stable Isotope Studies of the Water Cycle and Terrestrial Environments, A.-V. Bojar, A. Pelc, C. Lécuyer
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Abstract
A multiproxy approach for evaluating palaeoclimate parameters in deep-time can result in improvements to inter-related factors affecting palaeohydrology. Here we utilize diverse geochemical tools to improve palaeoclimate estimates for the Cedar Mountain Formation (CMF). Prior research utilized stable carbon and oxygen isotopes to develop chemostratigraphic correlations to the late Aptian–early Albian, hypothesized aridity during a positive carbon isotope excursion (CIE) and estimated pCO2 through this event. This study refines estimates using petrographical analyses, bulk geochemical proxies for mean annual precipitation (MAP) and clumped isotope palaeothermometry. MAP rates range from 736 to 1042 mm a−1 with a slight decrease during the hypothesized aridity event. We interpret warm-biased temperatures (with an average of 32.9°C) that do not vary significantly through the study section. Carbonate nodules are likely to have precipitated in highly evaporative conditions as indicated by the presence of dolomite. Utilizing a simple Rayleigh fractionation model and two estimates of δ18O of water, we suggest that evaporation of 2–57% is necessary to result in an enriched end member δ18Ow. These data suggest that an increase in aridity is a result of lower MAP rates and greater evaporation during seasonal extremes. Lastly, revised pCO2 calculations suggest overestimates but indicate a shift towards greater concentrations during the positive CIE.
- Albian
- Aptian
- Arches National Park
- atmospheric precipitation
- C-13/C-12
- carbon
- carbon dioxide
- carbonates
- Cedar Mountain Formation
- chemical composition
- chemostratigraphy
- concentration
- concretions
- Cretaceous
- evaporation
- isotope ratios
- isotopes
- lower Albian
- Lower Cretaceous
- Mesozoic
- microfacies
- mineral composition
- O-18/O-16
- oxygen
- paleoclimatology
- paleohydrology
- paleosols
- paleotemperature
- precipitation
- secondary structures
- sedimentary structures
- spectra
- stable isotopes
- U/Pb
- United States
- Utah
- X-ray fluorescence spectra
- Green River Utah
- Price River
- Ruby Ranch Member