Isotopic evidence (He,B, C) for deep fluid and mud mobilization from mud volcanoes in the Caucasus continental collision zone

The Caucasian orogenic wedge formed as a consequence of the closure of the Tethyan Ocean, and numerous fields of active mud volcanoes pepper the area adjacent to the Black and Caspian Seas. Stable isotope ratios of boron, helium, and carbon have been measured for gas, fluid and sediment samples from active mud volcanoes of Taman Peninsula and Georgia to estimate the sources and mobilization depths of the fluid phase and mud. Boron concentrations in mud volcano fluids were found to be 5–35× higher than seawater. Fluid isotope ratios vary between ¹¹B=22 and 39, while isotope ratios of the smectite- and illite-rich extruded mud are considerably depleted in heavy ¹¹B (¹¹B=–8 to +7). B contents of these muds are ~8× higher than modern marine sediments. This suggests that liquefaction prior to mud volcanism was accompanied by both B enrichment and isotope fractionation, most likely at an intermediate depth mud reservoir at 2–4 km.The hydrocarbon-generating source beds to the mud volcanoes are located at 7 to >10 km depth in the folded Maikop Formation and are of proposed Oligocene–Miocene age. The most likely mechanism is re-hydration of these shales by both hydrocarbons and a geochemically mature fluid from greater depth within the orogenic wedge. Such a deep fluid source is supported by our results from gas analyses, which imply an admixture of minor amounts (less than 1%vol) of ³He (Georgia), thermogenic ¹³C in methane as well as "ultraheavy" ¹³C in CO₂ (both Taman and Georgia). The overall results attest active local flow of geochemically different fluids along deep-seated faults penetrating the two study areas in the Caucasian orogenic wedge, with the waters as well as the gases coming from below the Maikop Formation.     

The Origin of Paleokarst in the Huanglong Formation of the Eastern Sichuan Basin: Evidence from δ13C, δ18O and 87Sr/86Sr

Karst rocks from the Huanglong Formation exposed at the margin of the Eastern Sichuan Basin can be divided into four types:slightly corroded, moderately corroded porous, intensely corroded brecciated and intensely corroded and replaced secondary calcic karstic rocks. The carbon, oxygen and strontium isotope compositions of the various karst rocks are analyzed systematically and compared to rocks without karst corrosion. The results indicate that(1) the Huanglong Formation in the eastern Sichuan Basin was a restricted bay supplied and controlled by freshwater in which mudmicrite and mud-dolomicrite exhibit low δ13C and δ18O values and high 87Sr/86 Sr ratios;(2) all types of karstic rocks in the paleokarst reservoirs of the Huanglong Formation in the research area are affected by atmospheric freshwater with the δ13C and δ18O values and 87Sr/86 Sr ratios in the original formation approaching those of atmospheric freshwater, which reflects ancient hydrological conditions, fluid properties, isotopic source and the fractionation effect;(3) the intensely corroded and replaced secondary limestone is affected by a variety of diagenetic fluids, often reflected by δ13C and δ18O values, while the 87Sr/86 Sr ratios exhibit the strong degree of the corrosion;(4) after comparing the 87Sr/86 Sr ratios of each type of karst rock, the diagenetic fluids are determined to be mainly atmospheric freshwater, and depending on the strength of corrosion, and the low 87Sr/86 Sr ratio fluids in the layer will participate in the karst process. The carbon, oxygen, and strontium isotopes of different karstic reservoirs can provide meaningful geochemical information for forecasting and evaluating the development and distribution rules of the Huanglong Formation at the margin of the eastern Sichuan Basin in time and space.     

A groundwater isoscape (δD, δO) for Mexico

Numerous studies have shown that precipitation isocapes drive δD and δ¹⁸O patterns in surficial waters and in terrestrial food webs. While the GNIP (Global Network for Isotopes in Precipitation) dataset provided a key foundation for linking precipitation-terrestrial isoscapes globally, it has insufficient spatial coverage in many countries like Mexico. To overcome this limitation, we hypothesized that shallow phreatic groundwaters in Mexico could be used as an isotopic integrator of long-term seasonally weighted precipitation inputs to the landscape to aid in calibrating spatial H and O isotope datasets for terrestrial, biological and hydrological research. Groundwater was sampled from 234 sites in Mexico at ~ 50 km latitudinal spacing to obtain high spatial resolution and country-wide coverage for the construction of a groundwater isoscape. Our data revealed that shallow groundwater infiltration in Mexico appears largely unaffected by evaporation and reflects seasonally weighted precipitation inputs. These precipitation inputs are primarily biased to summertime when highest rainfall occurs, but a small degree of post-precipitation evaporation revealed a lower d-excess zone that corresponded to the interior semi-arid ecozone. We developed a predictive general linear model (GLM) for hydrogen and oxygen isotopic spatial patterns in Mexican groundwater and then compared the results to a validation subset of our field data, as well external data reported in the literature. The GLM used elevation, latitude, drainage basin (Atlantic vs. Pacific), and rainfall as the most relevant predictive variables. The GLM explained 81% of the overall isotopic variance observed in groundwater, 68% of the variance within our validation subset, and 77% of the variance in the external data set. Our predictive GLM is sufficiently accurate to allow for future ecological, hydrological and forensic isoscape applications in Mexico, and may be an approach that is applicable to other countries and regions where GNIP stations are lacking.     

The dynamics of central Main Ethiopian Rift waters: Evidence from δD, δO and Sr/Sr ratios

Water samples from cold and geothermal boreholes, hot springs, lakes and rivers were analyzed for δD, δ¹⁸O and ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr compositions in order to investigate lake water–groundwater mixing processes, water–rock interactions, and to evaluate groundwater flow paths in the central Main Ethiopian Rift (MER) of the Ziway–Shala basin. Different ranges of isotopic values were recorded for different water types: hot springs show δ¹⁸O −3.36 to +3.69 and δD −15.85 to +24.23, deep Aluto-Langano geothermal wells show δ¹⁸O −4.65 to −1.24 and δD −12.39 to −9.31, groundwater wells show δ¹⁸O −3.99 to +5.14 and δD −19.69 to +32.27, whereas the lakes show δ¹⁸O and δD in the range +3.98 to +7.92 and +26.19 to +45.71, respectively. The intersection of the Local Meteoric Water Line (LMWL: δD = 7 δ¹⁸O + 11.2, R² = 0.94, n = 42) and the Local Evaporation Line (LEL: δD = 5.63δ¹⁸O + 8, n = 14, R² = 0.82) was used to estimate the average isotopic composition of recharge water into the basin (δD = −5.15 and δ¹⁸O = −2.34). These values are depleted if compared with the modern-day average precipitation, presumably indicating paleo-groundwater components recharged during previous humid climatic phases. The measured stable isotope values indicate that the geothermal wells, some of the hot springs and groundwater wells mainly consist of meteoric water. The Sr isotopic signatures in all waters are within the range of the Sr isotopic composition of the rift basalts and rhyolites. The variability of Sr isotopic data also pinpoints complex water–rock interaction and mixing processes in groundwater and surface water. The ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratio ranges from 0.70445 to 0.70756 in the hot springs, from 0.70426 to 0.70537 in two deep geothermal wells, and from 0.70673 to 0.70721 in the rift lakes Ziway, Langano, Shala and Awasa. The radiogenic composition recorded by the lakes indicates that the input water was predominantly affected by progressive interaction with rhyolitic volcanics and lacustrine sediments.     

Antarctic Ice‐Core Water (USGS49) – A New Isotopic Reference Material for δ2H and δ18O Measurements of Water

As a result of the scarcity of isotopic reference waters for daily use, a new secondary isotopic reference material for international distribution has been prepared from ice‐core water from the Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station. This isotopic reference material, designated as USGS49, was filtered, homogenised, loaded into glass ampoules, sealed with a torch, autoclaved to eliminate biological activity and measured by dual‐inlet isotope‐ratio mass spectrometry. The δ²H and δ¹⁸O values of USGS49 are ?394.7 ± 0.4 and ?50.55 ± 0.04 mUr (where mUr = 0.001 = ‰), respectively, relative to VSMOW, on scales normalised such that the δ²H and δ¹⁸O values of SLAP reference water are, respectively, ?428 and ?55.5 mUr. Each uncertainty is an estimated expanded uncertainty (U = 2u_c) about the reference value that provides an interval that has about a 95% probability of encompassing the true value. This isotopic reference material is intended as one of two isotopic reference waters for daily normalisation of stable hydrogen and oxygen isotopic analysis of water with an isotope‐ratio mass spectrometer or a laser absorption spectrometer. It is available by the case of 144 glass ampoules or as a set of sixteen glass ampoules containing 5 ml of water in each ampoule.     

Late Holocene (0–2.4 ka BP) surface water temperature and salinity variability, Feni Drift, NE Atlantic Ocean

Planktonic foraminiferal Mg/Ca ratios and oxygen isotopic compositions of a spliced sediment record from Feni Drift, NE Atlantic Ocean (box core M200309 and piston core ENAM9606) trace late Holocene sea surface temperature (SST) and salinity changes over the past 2400 years. At this location, the variability of SST and oxygen isotopic composition of seawater (δ¹⁸O_w) reflects variable northward advection of warm and saline surface waters, which appears linked to climate variability over the adjacent European continent. Our records reveal a general long-term cooling trend. Superimposed on this overall trend, partly higher temperatures and salinities from 180 to 560 AD and 750 to 1160 AD may be ascribed to the Roman and Medieval Warm Periods, respectively. Subsequently, our record displays highly variable surface water conditions; the main Little Ice Age SST minimum is restricted to the 15th and 16th centuries AD. Pervasive multidecadal- to centennial-scale variability throughout the sedimentary proxy records can be partly attributed to solar forcing and/or variable heat extraction from the surface ocean caused by shifts in the prevailing state of the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). High salinities in the 17th and 18th centuries are considered to reflect tropical anomalies linked to a southward shift of the Intertropical Convergence Zone, propagating across the North Atlantic Ocean.     

Hydrothermal alteration of oceanic crust in the West Philippine Sea Basin (Ocean Drilling Program Leg 195, Site 1201): inferences from a mineral chemistry investigation

Summary Secondary minerals of a 91 meters-thick sequence of pillow basalts cored during ODP Leg 195 (Site 1201, West Philippine Basin) were investigated to reconstruct the hydrothermal alteration history and regime. The basement was first buried by red clays, and then by a thick turbidite sequence, thereby isolating it from seawater. The basalts are primitive to moderately fractionated, texturally variable from hypocrystalline and spherulitic to intersertal, sub-ophitic and intergranular. Relic primary minerals are plagioclase, clinopyroxene and opaques. Hydrothermal alteration pervasively affected the basalts, generating secondary clay minerals (mostly glauconite, minor Al-saponite and Fe-beidellite), iddingsite, Ca–Na-zeolites, minor alkali-feldspar and calcite. The secondary mineral paragenesis and mutual relationships suggest that the hydrothermal alteration occurred under zeolite-facies conditions, at temperatures <100–150°C. The main phase of alteration occurred under oxidizing conditions, with a high seawater/rock ratio, in an open-circulation regime, at temperatures of 30–60°C, with precipitation of abundant glauconite and iddingsite. A later stage of alteration occurred at ca. 70°C, with precipitation of abundant Ca–Na-zeolites and minor calcite, in a more restricted circulation regime as a consequence of basement burial under the sedimentary cover, which supplied an altered, Ca-rich and Mg–K-sulfate-poor water causing precipitation of almost pure calcite.     

Determination of Radiogenic 87Sr/86Sr and Stable δ88/86SrSRM987 Isotope Values of Thirteen Mineral,Vegetal and Animal Reference Materials by DS‐TIMS

This work presents new ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr and δ^88/86Sr_SRM987 isotopic values of thirteen mineral, vegetal and animal reference materials. Except for UB‐N, all our results are consistent with previously published data. Our results highlight intermediate precisions among the best presently published and a non‐significant systematic shift with the calculated δ^88/86Sr_SRM987 mean values for the three most analysed reference materials in the literature (i.e., IAPSO, BCR‐2 and JCp‐1). By comparison with the literature and between two distinct digestions, a significant bias of δ^88/86Sr_SRM987 values was highlighted for two reference materials (UB‐N and GS‐N). It has also been shown that digestion protocols (nitric and multi‐acid) have a moderate impact on the δ^88/86Sr_SRM987 isotopic values for the Jls‐1 reference materials suggesting that a nitric acid digestion of carbonate can be used without significant bias from partial digestion of non‐carbonate impurities. Different δ^88/86Sr_SRM987 values were measured after two independent Sr/matrix separations, according to the same protocol, for a fat‐rich organic reference material (BCR‐380R) and have been related to a potential post‐digestion heterogeneity. Finally, the δ^88/86Sr_SRM987 value differences measured between animal‐vegetal and between coral‐seawater reference materials agree with the previously published results, highlighting an Sr isotopic fractionation along the trophic chain and during carbonate precipitation.     

Climatic and non-climatic effects on the δO and δC compositions of Lake Awassa, Ethiopia, during the last 6.5 ka

A comparison of a 6450 ¹⁴C yr δ¹⁸O and δ¹³C record of authigenic calcite from Lake Awassa, Ethiopia, with other proxy climate records in the area suggests that the lake records long-term regional climate changes. Co-varying and increasing δ¹⁸O and δ¹³C values from 4800 BP suggest an aridification of climate after the early Holocene insolation maximum. After 4000 BP, humid conditions return until after 2800 BP when δ¹⁸O increases again, reflecting more arid conditions recorded elsewhere in Ethiopia. In addition to these long-term changes, there are abrupt decreases in both δ¹⁸O_calcite and δ¹³C_calcite immediately after tephra layers. The likeliest explanation for these abrupt decreases in isotopes is the effect of tephra on the lake's catchment vegetation. δ¹⁸O, δ¹³C and lake-level measurements from Lake Awassa since the 1970s suggest that the lake is currently isotopically sensitive to short-term (annual–decadal) climate change. However, during this period, the catchment has undergone progressive deforestation that may have caused an increase in runoff. Caution is therefore required when reconstructing palaeoclimates as a contemporary lake may not always be a good analogue for lake hydrology in the past.     

The GISP2 δO Climate Record of the Past 16,500 Years and the Role of the Sun, Ocean, and Volcanoes

Measured ¹⁸O/¹⁶O ratios from the Greenland Ice Sheet Project 2 (GISP2) ice core extending back to 16,500 cal yr B.P. provide a continuous record of climate change since the last glaciation. High-resolution annual ¹⁸O/¹⁶O results were obtained for most of the current millennium (A.D. 818-1985) and record the Medieval Warm Period, the Little Ice Age, and a distinct 11-yr ¹⁸O/¹⁶O cycle. Volcanic aerosols depress central Greenland annual temperature (1.5°C maximally) and annual ¹⁸O/¹⁶O for about 4 yr after each major eruptive event. On a bidecadal to millennial time scale, the contribution of solar variability to Holocene Greenlandic temperature change is 0.4°C. The role of thermohaline circulation change on climate, problematic during the Holocene, is more distinct for the 16,500-10,000 cal yr B.P. interval. (Analogous to ¹⁴C age calibration terminology, we express time in calibrated (cal) yr B.P. (A.D. 1950 = 0 cal yr B.P.)). The Oldest Dryas/Bølling/Older Dryas/Allerød/Younger Dryas sequence appears in great detail. Bidecadal variance in ¹⁸O/¹⁶O, but not necessarily in temperature, is enhanced during the last phase of lateglacial time and the Younger Dryas interval, suggesting switches of air mass transport between jet stream branches. The branched system is nearly instantaneously replaced at the beginning of the Bølling and Holocene (at 14,670 and 11,650 cal yr B.P., respectively) by an atmospheric circulation system in which ¹⁸O/¹⁶O and annual accumulation initially track each other closely. Thermodynamic considerations of the accumulation rate-temperature relationship can be used to evaluate the ¹⁸ O/¹⁶O-temperature relationship. The GISP2 ice-layer-count years of major GISP2 climate transitions also support the use of coral ¹⁴C ages for age calibration.     

Lower Triassic δC isotope curve from shallow-marine carbonates in Japan, Panthalassa realm: Confirmation of the Tethys δC curve

δ¹³C data from Tethyan sections provide evidence of profound changes in the carbon cycle during the Lower Triassic. Sections from the Panthalassa realm were investigated to establish whether these variations are also present there. In the Jurassic accretionary wedges in Japan, exotic blocks having a Panthalassan affinity, have been incorporated. The majority of the blocks are pelagic cherts but rare shallow-water carbonates are also present. We present a δ¹³C study on the Lower Triassic of a shallow-water carbonate succession deposited on a mid-oceanic seamount and accreted to the Chichibu Belt, Japan. Two sections have been measured at Kamura, central Kyushu Island. The carbon isotope curve shows depleted values across the Permian–Triassic boundary (PTB), subsequently followed by an increase to heavier values into the Dienerian, culminating in a maximum of almost +4‰ V-PDB, before a steep drop at a stratigraphic gap. Low values are recorded in the Smithian, but rise to enriched δ¹³C values > +3.5‰ near the Smithian–Spathian boundary. The observed trend of the stable carbon isotope curve from Japanese sediments mirrors the curves derived from sections in the Tethys (e.g. Italy, Iran, Turkey, Oman and the South China Nanpanjing Basin). Our results support the interpretation of this curve as representing a global trend across the PTB and in the Lower Triassic, although some distinct features are absent around the Dienerian/Smithian boundary. Profound variations of the carbon isotope curve in the Lower Triassic are presented for the first time from a marine section outside of the Tethys. They indicate severe, global changes in the Lower Triassic carbon cycle, and the causative processes must have significantly contributed to the delayed biotic recovery after the PTB. Large amounts of carbon were shifted between carbon reservoirs, most probably between shallow- and deep-ocean waters, and/or ocean and sediment. Anoxia followed by overturn of the ocean water masses may have been the mechanism which quickly altered ecological conditions in the ocean leading to variable availability of nutrients and oxygen, and changes in isotope composition of the available carbon in the surface waters that was incorporated in the precipitated carbonate.     

Isotopic (O, Sr, Nd) and trace element geochemistry of the Laouni layered intrusions (Pan-African belt, Hoggar, Algeria): evidence for post-collisional continental tholeiitic magmas variably contaminated by continental crust

The three layered intrusions studied in the Laouni area have been emplaced within syn-kinematic Pan-African granites and older metamorphic rocks. They have crystallized at the end of the regional high-temperature metamorphism, but are free from metamorphic recrystallization, revealing a post-collisional character. The cumulate piles can be interpreted in terms of two magmatic liquid lines of descent: one is tholeiitic and marked by plagioclase–olivine–clinopyroxene cumulates (troctolites or olivine bearing gabbros), while the other is calc-alkaline and produced orthopyroxene–plagioclase rich cumulates (norites). One intrusion (WL (West Laouni)-troctolitic massif), shows a Lower Banded Zone where olivine-chromite orthocumulates are interlayered with orthopyroxene-rich and olivine–plagioclase–clinopyroxene cumulates, whereas the Upper Massive Zone consists mainly of troctolitic and gabbroic cumulates. The other two massifs are more homogeneous: the WL-noritic massif has a calc-alkaline differentiation trend whereas the EL (East Laouni)–troctolitic massif has a tholeiitic one. Separated pyroxene and plagioclase display similar incompatible trace element patterns, regardless of the cumulate type. Calculated liquids in equilibrium with the two pyroxenes for both noritic and troctolitic cumulates are characterized by negative Nb, Ta, Zr and Hf anomalies and light REE enrichment inherited from the parental magmas. Troctolitic cumulates have mantle-derived δ¹⁸O (+5 to +6‰), initial ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr (Sr_i=0.7030 to 0.7054), _Nd (+5 to −1) values whereas noritic cumulates are variably enriched in δ¹⁸O (+7 to +9‰), show negative _Nd (−7 to −12) and slightly higher Sr_i (0.7040–0.7065). Based on field, isotopic ratios are interpreted as resulting from a depleted mantle source (Sr_i=0.7030; _Nd=+5.1; δ¹⁸O=+5.1‰) having experience short term incompatible element enrichment and variable crustal contamination. The mantle magma was slightly contaminated by an Archaean lower crust in troctolitic cumulates, more strongly and with an additional contamination by an Eburnian upper crust in noritic cumulates. Lower crust input is recorded mainly by Sr and Nd isotopes and upper crust input by O isotopes. This is probably due to the different water/rock ratios of these two crust types. Assimilation of low amounts (<10%) of quartz-bearing felsic rocks, coming from both lower and upper crust, can explain the rise of SiO₂ activity, the enrichment in ¹⁸O and ⁸⁷Sr and the lowering of _Nd in the noritic cumulates compared to troctolitic ones. The geodynamic model proposed to account for the Laouni tholeiitic magmatism involves a late Pan-African asthenospheric rise due to a rapid lithospheric thinning associated with functioning of shear zones, which allowed tholeiitic magmas to reach high crustal levels while experiencing decreasing degrees of crustal contamination with time.     

Late Holocene stable isotopic (δ13C and δ15N) records of lacustrine organic matter in Guangdong Province,south China,and their palaeoenvironmental implications

This study presents the results of TOC/TN (C/N) ratio, δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N analyses of lake sedimentary organic matter (OM) from the Hedong section, western Guangdong Province in south China, with the objective to reveal the history of hydrological and ecological variations in the region influenced by both the Indian summer monsoon (ISM) and East Asian summer monsoon (EASM). Variations in δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N of sedimentary OM may be closely related to past climatic conditions, which results in variations in surface runoff, lake level, allochthonous and autochthonous sources of OM, and lake productivity. Based on the interpretation of these proxies, four periods, i.e. 4370–4100, 3700–2900, 2400–2100 and 1900–900 cal. a BP, are characterized by low lake level, weakened surface runoff and deteriorated status of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, whereas the periods 4100–3700, 2900–2400, 2100–1900 and 900–600 cal. a BP are dominated by high lake level, strengthened surface runoff, and flourishing terrestrial and aquatic plants. A remarkable positive correlation between the δ¹³C values of the section and the ENSO number record obtained from the tropical Pacific implies that the impact of the ISM is greater than that of the EASM in the study area. The abnormal correspondence between the δ¹³C and solar activity reconstructed from ¹⁰Be and ¹⁴C records in GRIP ice‐core occurred from 1500–800 and particularly from 4200–4000 cal. a BP, suggesting that these two cool and dry intervals may be caused by stronger volcanic activities that are recorded in the GISP2 and Dome C ice‐cores. This study reveals that changes in solar insolation and solar activity, as well as changes in oceanic–atmospheric circulation (e.g. the ENSO intensity) and intensive volcano eruptions may have exerted influence on late Holocene climate variability in the study area.     

Climatic vs. tectonic signals in a continental extensional basin (Teruel,NE Spain) from stable isotope (δ18O) and sequence stratigraphical evolution

Alluvial fans and shallow carbonate lakes interfered in the Teruel half‐graben during the Late Miocene–Pliocene. Tectonic influence is recorded in alluvial and lacustrine–palustrine successions, with long‐term climate changes being recorded in detail in the isotopic signatures of carbonates. Episodes of tectonic activity induced alluvial fan progradation and lake retraction in the whole basin. Three lacustrine stages have been identified, which support the idea that climate also exerted an important control on sedimentation. The transition between stages 1 and 2 occurred during a tectonically calm episode due to an increase in aridity in the Early Turolian; small fans with source areas next to the lake margin prograded, inducing lake‐shore retraction. The transition from stage 2 to 3 was caused by the superimposition of increasing tectonic activity and aridity effects. Our study demonstrates that discrimination of allogenic factors controlling sedimentation in continental closed basins is possible using sequence stratigraphy in combination with other techniques such as geochemistry of carbonates.     

Organic matter provenance,palaeoproductivity and bottom water anoxia during the Cenomanian/Turonian oceanic anoxic event in the Newfoundland Basin (northern proto North Atlantic Ocean)

Free and sulfur-bound biomarkers in sediments deposited in the northern proto North Atlantic (Newfoundland Basin, ODP Site 1276) during the Cenomanian–Turonian oceanic anoxic event 2 (OAE-2) were studied. The δ¹³C records of phytane and lycopane confirmed the stratigraphic position of the positive carbon isotope excursion associated with OAE-2, previously reported for total organic carbon (TOC) and β,β-homohopane. Sediments before and after the OAE-2 interval were poor in organic matter (OM) and comprised numerous gravity flow deposits. The interval itself was composed of pelagic sediments with occasionally a much higher TOC content of up to 12.7%. The OAE-2 sediments were characterized by a low amount of terrestrial OM since the dominant biological sources of the biomarkers were aquatic in origin. High hopane, pentamethylicosane (PMI), and squalane abundances in the OM-rich sediments pointed to a relatively high input of prokaryotes, partly derived from cyanobacteria, as suggested by the occasional occurrence of 2-methylhopanes. PMI comprised both the regular and irregular isomer and changes in the δ¹³C of PMI are thought to reflect contributions from methanogenic and methanotrophic archea. The high relative concentration of lycopane indicated that bottom water conditions were anoxic during large parts of the OAE-2 interval. In one horizon, trace amounts of isorenieratane provided evidence for the occasional occurrence of photic zone anoxia. Taken together, the data imply that oceanic anoxia, and probably also high productivity, reached the northernmost part of the proto-North Atlantic during OAE-2, albeit that photic zone anoxia was much less common than in the southern proto-North Atlantic.     

The Calcium Isotope Composition (δ44/40Ca) of NIST SRM 915b and NIST SRM 1486

The calcium isotopic composition of NIST SRM 915b and 1486 provided by the National Institute of Standards and Technology was analysed. The δ^44/40Ca values of the two reference materials relative to NIST SRM 915a were: NIST SRM 915b =+0.72 ± 0.04‰ and NIST SRM 1486 =?1.01 ± 0.02‰. NIST SRM 1486 did not require any chemical separation prior to measurement.     

δ18O and δ13C in fossil shells of Radix sp. from the sediment succession of a dammed palaeo‐lake in the Yarlung Tsangpo valley,Tibet, China

A series of confirmed and suspected dammed palaeo‐lake sedimentary successions is scattered within the middle Yarlung Tsangpo valley in Tibet. However, the chronology, the genesis of the dam and its location, the water level of the dammed lake, the process of dam failure and the spatiotemporal relationships between the sedimentary successions remain controversial. Here, we focus on one sedimentary succession of the suspected dammed palaeo‐lake at Xigazê. We measured the grain‐size distribution, magnetic susceptibility, organic and inorganic carbon content, and δ¹³C_org and δ¹⁵N_total ratios of the sediments. In addition, we measured the δ¹⁸O_shell and δ¹³C_shell values of modern and fossil Radix sp. shells, and the δ¹⁸O_water and δ¹³C_DIC values of the ambient water with different hydrological regimes. The results indicate that the δ¹⁸O_shell values of modern Radix sp. and the δ¹⁸O_water of the ambient water body significantly depend on its hydrological status. In addition, a strong positive relationship was observed between δ¹⁸O_shell values of modern Radix sp. shells and the δ¹⁸O_water of the ambient water on the Tibetan Plateau. According to this correlation, the δ¹⁸O_water values of the palaeo‐water body are reconstructed using the δ¹⁸O_shell values of Radix sp. fossil shells in the Xigazê section. Further, based on the δ¹⁸O_shell values of fossil Radix sp., the reconstructed δ¹⁸O_water of the palaeo‐water body and the specific habitats of Radix sp., we infer that the sedimentary succession in the Xigazê broad valley was mainly formed within the backwater terminal zone of a dammed palaeo‐lake and that the elevation of the water level of the lake was approximately 3811 m a.s.l. AMS ¹⁴C dating indicates that the deposits of the dammed palaeo‐lake were formed at about 33–22 cal. ka BP. Finally, the presence of Radix sp. fossil shells within the Xigazê section suggests that Radix sp. survived the late Last Glacial Period on the Tibetan Plateau.