500,000-year stable carbon isotopic record from Devils Hole, Nevada
Coplen TB, Winograd IJ, Landwehr JM, Riggs AC. 1994. 500,000-year stable carbon isotopic record from Devils Hole, Nevada. Science. 263(5145):361-365
The authors analyzed a 36-centimeter core of vein calcite taken from Devils Hole in Death Valley National Park. This mineral deposit precipitated continuously from calcite-supersaturated ground water over the past 500,000 years, providing a record of the paleoclimate during the mid-to-late Pleistocene. The significance of the detailed record of carbon-13 variations represented in this core sample is discussed. However, the authors were not able to determine if the variations reflect changes in density of vegetation in local uplands, global changes in carbon-13 of atmospheric CO2, or an unknown factor. The authors expected carbon-isotope buffering to equalize the carbon-13 content of dissolved inorganic carbon with the aquifer carbonate rocks and this did not occur.
- Type
- Journal Article
- Authors
- Coplen, Tyler; Winograd, Isaac; Landwehr, Jurate; Riggs, Alan
- Units
- DEVA , LAKE , WRD
- Keywords
- Absence (Biodiversity), Aquifers, Basin and Range Province, c 12, C 13, Calcite, Carbon, Carbon (C), Carbonates, Cenozoic, Cores, Death Valley National Park CA NV, Devils Hole, Devils Hole Death Valley National Park CA NV, Geochemistry, Geology, Glacial Environment, Global Climate Change, Great Basin, Ground Water, Hydrochemistry, interglacial environment, Isotopes, Movement, Nevada, North America, Nye County Nevada, Pahranagat Valley, Paleoclimatology, Paleoecology, Paleoenvironment, Paleohydrology, Physical Sciences, Pleistocene, Presence (Biodiversity), Quaternary, Radioactive Waste, Recharge, Sediment Cores, Sheep Range, Site Exploration, Southern Nevada, Spring Mountains, Stable Isotopes, Statistical Analysis, Taxa Links To References, time series analysis, Upper Quaternary, Vascular Plant, Vegetation, veins, Waste Disposal, WRBIB