Variations of Isotopic Composition of Carbon in the Karst Environment from Southern Poland, Present and Past

Bibliographic Data

ID9244690
AuthorsAnna Pazdur (0000-0002-6078-798X), Tomasz Goslar (0000-0002-1346-3122), Mirosława Pawlyta (0000-0001-9072-3306), Helena Hercman (0000-0002-3851-431X), Michał Gradziński (0000-0001-7866-1376)
Year1999
Volume41
Issue1
Pages81-97
Publication date1999-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueRadiocarbon (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0033-8222 • E-ISSN: 1945-5755
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0033822200019354
OpenAlexW2224945453
LanguageEN
Citations received8
References cited27

We describe a comprehensive study of carbon isotopes in several karst springs and their environs in a contemporary karst environment in the region of the Cracow-Wieluñ Upland and Western Tatra Mountains, Southern Poland. We collected samples of water, plants and carbonate deposited on aquatic plants, and obtained 13 C values and 14 C concentrations. We also investigated a group of the youngest calcium carbonates from caves where deposition is still being observed or ceased no more than a few hundred years ago. The determination of a 14 C dilution factor (q) in these carbonates allows us to determine the “true” radiocarbon ages of old speleothems from caves in the area under investigation and enables the use of old speleothems as suitable material for extending the 14 C calibration time scale, the “Absolute” age having been determined by U/Th or amino acid racemization (AAR) dating methods. Measurements of δ 13 C and 14 C concentrations were made on dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) extracted from water samples. Calculated values of q range from 0.55 to 0.68 and δ 13 C values range from −10% to −13% versus VPDB with mean values equal to 0.65 and −12%, respectively. Results indicate that the dissolution process of limestone bedrock is a closed system with the dominating contributor being biogenic carbon dioxide. Isotopic composition of carbon in contemporary plants collected at the karstic springs at 3 localities is highly diverse, with different species distinctly varying in both q and δ 13 C values. Extremely light values of 13 C (under −40%), observed in Algae and Hyloconium splendens , are correlated with 14 C concentrations that are much lower than 100 pMC. Small systematic changes of isotopic composition were found in plants of the same species collected along streams at various distances from the spring. The youngest calcium carbonates from different caves show a relatively high scatter of both δ 13 C values and 14 C concentration. The lower reservoir effect for 14 C is observed in samples with higher value of δ 13 C, indicating equilibrium conditions in the sedimentation of carbonate. Pazdur et al. (1995b) presented 14 C dating results and paleoclimatic interpretation of 170 14 C analyses of 89 speleothems from 41 caves obtained through 1994. Investigations continued until early 1997, during which time a speleothem, JWi2, was dated by 14 C, U/Th and AAR dating methods, and its stable isotope composition (δ 13 C and δ 18 O) analyzed in detail (reported here). Carbon isotope analyses indicate very large differences among results obtained by U/Th, AAR, and 14 C dating methods

Archaeology · Bedrock · Calcite · Carbon fibers · Carbonate · Carbonate rock · Cave · Geochemistry · Geography · Geomorphology · Isotopes of carbon · Karst · Mineralogy · Radiocarbon dating · Sediment · Sedimentary rock · Total organic carbon · Chemistry · Geology and Paleoclimatology Research · Karst Systems and Hydrogeology · Marine and environmental studies · Environmental Chemistry · Geology · Paleontology

Tools

Open DOISci-HubOpen Access