PP53C-2371
Changes in Precipitation Sources over Glacial/Interglacial MIS 11 and 12 Examined by Δ17O of SiO2 Obtained from Diatoms along the Valles Caldera Lake Core, NM

Friday, 18 December 2015
Poster Hall (Moscone South)
Jordan Gibbons, University of New Mexico Main Campus, Albuquerque, NM, United States
Abstract:
Quantitative estimates of the isotopic composition of paleo-lake water have been made using 18O/16O (ẟ18O) in diatom silica (Dodd and Sharp, GCA, 2010). Post-mortem diatom silica equilibrates with ambient lake water within six months, chronicling the bulk oxygen isotope composition of the lake and resulting in silica that is near the quartz-water fractionation line (Dodd et al, GGG, 2012). The δ18O values of lacustrine diatoms from the Valles Caldera, NM, vary by ~25‰ between glacial and interglacial periods and suggest a collapse of the summer monsoon that currently provides 50% of the modern precipitation in NM. Triple oxygen isotope measurements of diatom silica may serve as a proxy for the isotopic composition of the lake water and as an estimate of paleo-humidity over the precipitation source. The deuterium excess parameter (d= ẟD - 8 ẟ18O) has been used along ice cores as a source relative humidity index, but is difficult to make in lake sediments. Instead, high precision 17O-excess (∆17O) measurements (=ẟ17O ‑ 0.528 ẟ18O) may provide paleo-humidity information. Landais et al. (GRL, 2008) found a ∆17O difference of 0.02‰ in the Vostok ice core between glacial and interglacial times, interpreted as a function of changing relative humidity of the precipitation source. A 0.03‰ change was observed in glacial (∆17O=-0.22‰) and interglacial (∆17O=-0.19‰) diatom silica along the Valles Caldera lake core. Further information regarding the δ18O value of meteoric water can be calculated from paired δ18O-δ17O measurements. The combined δ18O-δ17O values of interglacial diatoms suggest a δ18Ometeoric water value of -9‰. Modern δ18O value of monsoonal precipitation in NM is ~-10‰. The δ18O of glacial diatoms suggest a δ18Ometeoric water = -20‰. Modern δ18O value of winter precipitation in NM is ~-20‰. These results suggest that the seasonality of precipitation in New Mexico can be inferred based on changes in the relative humidity of the precipitation’s source.