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Carbon isotope of bulk organic matter: A proxy for precipitation in the arid and semiarid central East Asia
Author(s) -
Lee Xinqing,
Feng Zhaodong,
Guo Lanlan,
Wang Lixia,
Jin Liya,
Huang Yongsong,
Chopping Mark,
Huang Daikuan,
Jiang Wei,
Jiang Qian,
Cheng Hongguang
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
global biogeochemical cycles
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.512
H-Index - 187
eISSN - 1944-9224
pISSN - 0886-6236
DOI - 10.1029/2004gb002303
Subject(s) - arid , precipitation , environmental science , isotopes of carbon , stable isotope ratio , organic matter , central asia , east asia , total organic carbon , carbon cycle , proxy (statistics) , climatology , earth science , physical geography , geology , environmental chemistry , geography , china , ecosystem , ecology , chemistry , paleontology , meteorology , physics , quantum mechanics , biology , archaeology , machine learning , computer science
Carbon isotope composition (δ 13 C) of bulk organic matter in soil and lake sediment sequences has been widely used to infer past climate changes. The specific climatic representation of the isotopic signature, however, lacks for examination. With excellent gradients of temperature and precipitation, as well as the gradients of vegetation zone, central East Asia provides an ideal background for developing the relationship between the δ 13 C and the climatic parameters. Analysis of surface soil organic matter from a transect that crosses the various climatic and vegetation zones reveals a significant linear correlation between δ 13 C and the mean precipitation from May to September yet a very poor relationship between δ 13 C and temperature. The close correlation between the δ 13 C and the precipitation is also corroborated by measurement of some C3 shrubs along the transect. Precipitation in the arid central East Asia is a key factor controlling the relative competition or the distribution of plant species with different photosynthetic pathways, thus the carbon isotope signature in the bulk organic matter. Its variation, therefore, can be recovered by measurement of δ 13 C in soils or lake sediment sequences with terrestrial organic matters.