TY - JOUR
T1 - Carbon isotope of bulk organic matter
T2 - A proxy for precipitation in the arid and semiarid central East Asia
AU - Lee, Xinqing
AU - Feng, Zhaodong
AU - Guo, Lanlan
AU - Wang, Lixia
AU - Jin, Liya
AU - Huang, Yongsong
AU - Chopping, Mark
AU - Huang, Daikuan
AU - Jiang, Wei
AU - Jiang, Qian
AU - Cheng, Hongguang
PY - 2005/12
Y1 - 2005/12
N2 - Carbon isotope composition (δ13C) 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 δ13C 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 δ13C and the mean precipitation from May to September yet a very poor relationship between δ13C and temperature. The close correlation between the δ13C and the precipitation is also corroborated by measurement of some C3 shrubs along the transect. Precipitation in the and 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 δ13C in soils or lake sediment sequences with terrestrial organic matters.
AB - Carbon isotope composition (δ13C) 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 δ13C 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 δ13C and the mean precipitation from May to September yet a very poor relationship between δ13C and temperature. The close correlation between the δ13C and the precipitation is also corroborated by measurement of some C3 shrubs along the transect. Precipitation in the and 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 δ13C in soils or lake sediment sequences with terrestrial organic matters.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=33244490126&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1029/2004GB002303
DO - 10.1029/2004GB002303
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:33244490126
SN - 0886-6236
VL - 19
JO - Global Biogeochemical Cycles
JF - Global Biogeochemical Cycles
IS - 4
ER -
