Abstract
Clumped isotope thermometry (T(∆47)) of soil carbonates provides an
estimate of soil temperature at the time of mineral formation.
Historically, that temperature has been interpreted to represent a
warm-season soil temperature based on modern calibration studies largely
done in (very) coarse-grained soils. Additionally, T(∆47) gives us an
estimate of the oxygen isotope composition of soil water (δ18Ow) in the
past, but previous calibration work has not generated independent δ18Ow
datasets with which to understand these archives. Here, we present a
modern calibration study of pedogenic carbonate clumped isotope
thermometry in three soils in Colorado and Nebraska, USA, that have a
fine-medium grain size, contain clay, and are representative of many
carbonate-bearing paleosols preserved in the rock record. At two of the
three sites, Briggsdale, CO and Seibert, CO, T(∆47) overlaps with mean
annual air temperature (MAAT), and the calculated δ18Ow overlaps within
uncertainty with measured δ18Ow at carbonate bearing depths. At the
third site in Oglala National Grassland, NE, mean T(∆47) is 9 – 10°C
warmer than MAAT, and the calculated δ18Ow has a significantly higher
isotope value than any observations of δ18Ow. At all three sites, even
in the fall season, δ18Ow values at carbonate bearing depths indicate
little to no evaporative enrichment of heavy isotopes. Moreover, δ18Ow
values overlap with precipitation isotope values from spring
precipitation. Altogether, these data indicate that soil grain size
affects pedogenic carbonate formation, and highlight a need for
continued research in modern systems that emulate key features of the
geologic record.