EarthArXiv Preprints

Stalagmite carbon isotopes suggest deglacial increase in soil respiration in Western Europe driven by temperature change

Franziska Lechleitner, Christopher C. Day, Oliver Kost, Micah Wilhelm, Negar Haghipour, Gideon M. Henderson, Heather M. Stoll

Published: 2020-12-03
Subjects: Biogeochemistry, Climate, Earth Sciences, Geochemistry, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Speleology

The temperate region of Western Europe underwent dramatic climatic and environmental change during the last deglaciation. Much of what is known about the terrestrial ecosystem response to deglacial warming stems from pollen preserved in sediment sequences, providing information on vegetation composition. Other ecosystem processes, such as soil respiration, remain poorly constrained over past [...]

International disparities in open access practices of the Earth Sciences community

Olivier Pourret, David William Hedding, Dasapta Erwin Irawan, Haiyan Liu, Jonathan Tennant

Published: 2020-03-31
Subjects: Biogeochemistry, Cosmochemistry, Earth Sciences, Geochemistry, Geology, Geomorphology, Geophysics and Seismology, Glaciology, Hydrology, Library and Information Science, Mineral Physics, Other Earth Sciences, Paleobiology, Paleontology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Sedimentology, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Soil Science, Speleology, Stratigraphy, Tectonics and Structure, Volcanology

Short communication on international disparities in open access practices of the Earth Sciences community

Methane, Monsoons, and Modulation of Millennial-scale Climate

Kaustubh Thirumalai, Steven C. Clemens, Judson Partin

Published: 2019-11-21
Subjects: Climate, Earth Sciences, Hydrology, Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology, Other Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Speleology

Earths orbital geometry exerts a profound influence on climate by regulating changes in incoming solar radiation. Superimposed on orbitally-paced climate change, Pleistocene records reveal substantial millennial-scale variability characterized by trends, tipping points, and rapid swings. However, the extent to which orbital forcing modulates the amplitude and timing of these millennial variations [...]

Miniature paleo-speleothems from the earliest Ediacaran (635 Ma) Doushantuo cap dolostone in South China and their implications for terrestrial ecosystems

Tian Gan, Guanghong Zhou, Taiyi Luo, Ke Pang, Mingzhong Zhou, Weijun Luo, Shijie Wang, Shuhai Xiao

Published: 2019-09-15
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Sedimentology, Speleology, Stratigraphy

Speleothems can offer insights into terrestrial life because their formation is critically dependent on soil-microbial ecosystems. Here we report the wide distribution of miniature paleo-speleothems from the ~635 Ma Doushantuo cap dolostone in South China in order to understand the recovery of terrestrial life after the terminal Cryogenian Marinoan snowball Earth glaciation. The cap dolostone was [...]

Separating isotopic impacts of karst and in-cave processes from climate variability using an integrated speleothem isotope-enabled forward model

Pauline Treble, Mukhlis Mah, Alan David Griffiths, Andy Baker, Michael Deininger, Bryce Kelly, Denis Scholz, Stuart Hankin

Published: 2019-03-12
Subjects: Biogeochemistry, Earth Sciences, Hydrology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Speleology

Speleothem δ18O values are commonly used to infer past climate variability. However, both non-linear karst hydrological processes and in-cave disequilibrium isotope fractionation are recognised and hinder the interpretation of δ18O values. In recent years, proxy system models (PSMs) have emerged to quantitatively assess the confounding effects of these processes. This study presents the first [...]

Climatic influences on the offset between d18O of cave drip waters and precipitation inferred from global monitoring data

Andy Baker, Wuhui Duan, Mark Cuthbert, Pauline Treble, Jay Banner, Stuart Hankin

Published: 2018-03-09
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Engineering, Environmental Monitoring, Environmental Sciences, Geochemistry, Hydrology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Speleology

We present a meta-analysis of data from 22 caves and 96 drip sites from 4 continents where both the cave drip water d18O and the weighted mean d18O of precipitation have been measured. Drip water d18O is similar to the weighted mean d18O of precipitation (within ± 0.3 ‰) for sites where mean annual temperature (MAT) is less than 15 °C (85% of drips where MAT < 15 °C) and an aridity index [...]