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Transmission of δ 13C signals and its paleoclimatic implications in Liangfeng Cave system of Guizhou Province, SW China

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Abstract

A series of samples, including vegetation, soil organic matter, soil waters, spring, bedrock, pool water, drip waters (upper-drip waters and ground-drip waters) and their corresponding speleothems were collected at Liangfeng Cave (LFC) system of Guizhou Province, southwest of China, respectively, from 2003 to 2004 year, then their stable carbon isotopes were measured and analyzed. Results reveal that vegetation is C3 type in LFC system; cave overlying δ 13C signals, including values and variations, could be transmitted to drip water (speleothem); speleothem δ 13C mainly shows a biogenic δ 13C value character (soil CO2 from plant respiration and decay); and there are remarkable seasonal variations of δ 13C values for drip water TDIC (speleothem), which are lighter at least 2.0‰ in the rainy seasons than in the dry ones. So, it could be feasible to reconstruct high-resolution changes of paleoecology and paleoclimate by using speleothem δ 13C values.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by National Key Basic Research Development Program of China (No. 2006CB403200), Orientation Project of Knowledge Innovation Program (No. kzcx2-yw-306) and International Partnership Project of Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 40721002 and 40672112). The authors would like to thank Prof. Zhou Yun-Chao, Dr. Li Ting-Yu, Dr. Xie Xing-Neng and Dr. Cheng An-Yun for their assistance in fieldwork and experimental analysis, and express our sincere gratitude to the staff of Maolan National Nature Reserve Administration for their supports. Special, thanks to editor(s) and reviewer(s).

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  1. State Key Laboratory of Environmental Geochemistry, Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 550002, Guiyang, China

    Weijun Luo & Shijie Wang

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  1. Weijun Luo
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  2. Shijie Wang
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Correspondence to Shijie Wang.

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Luo, W., Wang, S. Transmission of δ 13C signals and its paleoclimatic implications in Liangfeng Cave system of Guizhou Province, SW China. Environ Earth Sci 59, 655–661 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-009-0062-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-009-0062-0

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