Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-v9fdk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-05T06:51:41.029Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Biogeochemical Characteristics of Lacustrine Sediments Reflecting a Changing Alpine Neotropical Ecosystem during the Pleistocene

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Germán Mora ,
Lisa M. Pratt ,
Arnoud Boom  and
Henry Hooghiemstra
Germán Mora
Affiliation:
Department of Geological Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana
Lisa M. Pratt
Affiliation:
Department of Geological Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana
Arnoud Boom
Affiliation:
Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics (IBED), Research Group Palynology and Paleo/Actuo-ecology and Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ), Department of Marine Biogeochemistry and Toxicology, Faculty of Science, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Henry Hooghiemstra
Affiliation:
Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics (IBED), Research Group Palynology and Paleo/Actuo-ecology, Faculty of Science, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Continuous lacustrine deposits of the Funza-II core from the Bogotá basin, Colombia (5°N74°W) record late Pleistocene climatic variations, providing an opportunity to assess the influence of glacial–interglacial climate changes on alpine ecosystems in equatorial South America. Biogeochemical response of this tropical alpine system to climate change was inferred from changes in elemental concentrations and ratios and isotopic signatures in the upper 120 m of the lacustrine Funza core.

Values of δ13Corg exhibit eight abrupt, positive shifts that are thought to reflect rapid expansions of C4 grasses in the tropical Andes and algal blooms. One of these excursions, interpreted to correspond to C4 vegetation expansion, occurred in sediments accumulated during the last glaciation (∼30,000–50,000 yr B.P.) and implies a downslope shift of the upper Andean treeline, regardless of prevailing temperatures.

Sedimentary carbon/sulfur ratios are low and indicate significant sequestering of sulfur. Monosulfides are the dominant constituent of sedimentary sulfur during relatively humid intervals, when increased supply of iron caused by enhanced weathering favored the formation of monosulfide minerals under strongly reducing conditions. In contrast, organosulfur compounds dominate the sedimentary sulfur-species in relatively drier intervals when mildly reducing conditions and limited iron input promoted the diagenetic incorporation of sulfur in organic matter. Dry events inferred from the sulfur record typically correlate with glacial maxima, whereas glacial terminations are usually associated with wet periods.

Keywords

biogeochemistrytropical ecosystemsC4 plantssulfurPleistocence climate
Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 58 , Issue 2 , September 2002 , pp. 189 - 196
Copyright
University of Washington

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Andriessen, P.A.M., Helmens, K.F., Hooghiemsta, H., Riezebos, P.A., and van der Hammen, T. Absolute chronology of the Pliocene-Quaternary sediment sequence of the Bogotá area, Colombia. Quaternary Science Reviews 12, (1994). 483 501.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baker, L.A., Urban, N.R., Brezonic, P.L., and Sherman, L.A. Sulfur cycling in a seepage lake. Saltzman, E., and Cooper, W. Biogenic Sulfur in the Environment. (1989). Am. Chem. Soc, Washington. 79 100.Google Scholar
Bender, M.M. Variations on the 13C ratios of plants in relation to the pathway of photosynthetic carbon dioxide fixation. Phytochemistry 10, (1971). 1239 1244.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berner, R.A., Baldwin, T., and Holdren, G.R. Authigenic iron sulfides as paleosalinity indicators. Journal of Sedimentary Petrology 49, (1979). 1345 1350.Google Scholar
Boom, A., Marchant, R., Hooghiemstra, H., and Sinninghe Damste, J.S. CO2- and temperature-controlled altitudinal shifts of C4- and C3-dominated grasslands allow reconstruction of paleoatmospheric pCO2 . Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 177, (2002). 151 168.Google Scholar
Broccoli, A.J., and Marciniak, E.P. Comparing simulated glacial climate and paleodata: A reexamination. Paleoceanography 11, (1996). 3 14.Google Scholar
Brüchert, V., and Pratt, L.M. Contemporaneous. early diagenetic formation of organic and inorganic sulfur in estuarine sediments from St. Andrew Bay, Florida, USA. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 60, (1996). 2325 2332.Google Scholar
Bush, M.B. On the interpretation of fossil Poaceae pollen in the lowland humid neotropics. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 177, (2002). 5 17.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Canfield, D.E., Raiswell, R., Westrich, J.T., Reaves, C.M., and Berner, R.A. The use of chromium reduction in the analyses of reduced inorganic sulfur in sediments and shales. Chemical Geology 54, (1986). 149 155.Google Scholar
Cleef, A.M. The Vegetation of the Paramos of the Colombian Cordillera Oriental. (1981). J. Cramer, Vaduz.Google Scholar
Cook, R.B., Kreis, R.G., Kingston, J.C., Camburn, K.E., Norton, S.A., Mitchell, M.J., Fry, B., and Shane, L.C.K. Paleolimnology of McNearney Lake; an acidic lake in northern Michigan. Journal of Paleolimnology 3, (1990). 13 34.Google Scholar
David, M.B., and Mitchell, M.J. Sulfur constituents and cycling in water, seston, and sediment in an oligotrophic lake. Limnology and Oceanography 30, (1985). 1196 1207.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Deines, P. The isotopic composition of reduced organic carbon. Fritz, P., and Fontes, J.C. Handbook of Environmental Isotope Geochemistry. (1980). Elsevier, Amsterdam. 329 406.Google Scholar
Ganopolski, A., Rahmstorf, S., Petoukhov, V., and Claussen, M. Simulation of modern and glacial climates with a coupled global model of intermediate complexity. Nature 391, (1998). 351 356.Google Scholar
Harris, S.E., and Mix, A.C. Pleistocene precipitation balance in the Amazon Basin recorded in deep sea sediments. Quaternary Research 51, (1999). 14 26.Google Scholar
Hooghiemstra, H. Vegetational and Climatic History of the High Plain of Bogotá, Colombia: A Continuous Record of the Last 3.5 Million Years. (1984). J. Cramer, Vaduz.Google Scholar
Hooghiemstra, H., and Ran, E.T.H. Late and middle Pleistocene climatic change and forest development in Colombia: Pollen record Funza-II (2–158 m core interval). Palaeogeography, Palaeclimatology, Palaeoecology 109, (1994). 211 246.Google Scholar
Hooghiemstra, H., and Van der Hammen, T. Late Quaternary vegetation history and paleoecology of Laguna Pedro Palo (subandean forest belt, Eastern Cordillera, Colombia). Reviews of Palaeobotany and Palynology 77, (1993). 235 262.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hooghiemstra, H., Melice, J.L., Berger, A., and Shackleton, N.J. Frequency spectra and paleoclimatic variability of the high-resolution 30–1450 ka Funza I pollen record (Eastern Cordillera, Colombia). Quaternary Science Reviews 12, (1993). 141 156.Google Scholar
Huang, Y., Street-Perrott, F.A., Metcalfe, S.E., Brenner, M., Moreland, M., and Freeman, K.H. Climate change as the dominant control on glacial-interglacial variations in C3 and C4 plant abundance. Science 293, (2001). 1647 1651.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Joergensen, B.B. The sulfur cycle of a coastal marine sediment (Limfjorden, Denmark). Limnology and Oceanography 22, (1977). 814 832.Google Scholar
LaLonde, R.T. Polysulfide reactions in the formation of organosulfur compounds in the geosphere. Orr, W.L., and White, C.M. Geochemistry of Sulfur in Fossil Fuels. Am. Chem. Soc. Symposium Series (1990). 68 82.Google Scholar
Meyers, P.A., and Ishiwatari, R. Lacustrine organic geochemistry; an overview of indicators of organic matter sources and diagenesis in lake sediments. Organic Geochemistry 20, (1993). 867 900.Google Scholar
Meyers, P.A., and Lallier-Verges, E. Lacustrine sedimentary organic matter records of Late Quaternary paleoclimates. Journal of Paleolimnology 21, (1999). 345 372.Google Scholar
Mitchell, M.J., Owen, J.S., and Schindler, S.C. Factors affecting incorporation of sulfur into lake sediments: Paleoecological implications. Journal of Paleolimnology 4, (1990). 1 22.Google Scholar
Mora, G., and Pratt, L.M. Isotopic evidence for cooler and drier conditions in the tropical Andes during the last glacial stage. Geology 29, (2001). 519 522.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nriagu, J.O., and Soon, Y.K. Distribution and isotope composition of sulfur in lake sediments of northern Ontario. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 49, (1985). 823 834.Google Scholar
O'Leary, M.H. Carbon isotopes in photosynthesis. Bioscience 38, (1988). 328 336.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Petit, J.R., Jouzel, J., Raynaud, D., Barkov, N.I., Barnola, J.M., Basile, I., Bender, M., Chappellaz, J., Davis, M., Delaygue, G., Delmotte, M., Kotlyakov, V.M., Legrand, M., Lipenkov, V.Y., Lorius, C., Pepin, L., Ritz, C., Saltzmann, E., and Stievenard, M. Climate and atmospheric history of the past 420,000 years from the Vostok ice core, Antarctica. Nature 399, (1999). 429 436.Google Scholar
Pyzik, A.J., and Somer, S.E. Sedimentary iron monosulfides: Kinetics and mechanism of formation. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 45, (1981). 687 698.Google Scholar
Rice, C.A., Tuttle, M.L., and Reynolds, R.L. The analysis of forms of sulfur in ancient sediments and sedimentary rocks: Comments and cautions. Chemical Geology 107, (1993). 83 95.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Scott, L.D., and Tan, C.N. Reassessment of foraminiferal-based tropical sea surface δ18O paleotemperatures. Paleoceanography 11, (1996). 37 56.Google Scholar
Street-Perrott, F.A. Palaeo-perspectives: Changes in terrestrial ecosystems. Ambio 23, (1994). 37 43.Google Scholar
Street-Perrott, F.A., Huang, Y., Perrott, R.A., Eglinton, G., Barker, P., Khelifa, L.B., Harkness, D.D., and Olago, D.O. Impact of lower atmospheric carbon dioxide on tropical mountain ecosystems. Science 278, (1997). 1422 1426.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tyson, R.V. Sedimentary Organic Matter; Organic Facies and Palynofacies. (1995). Chapman and Hall, London.Google Scholar
Vairavamurthy, A., and Mopper, K. Geochemical formation of organosulphur compounds (thiols) by addition of H2S to sedimentary organic matter. Nature 329, (1987). 623 625.Google Scholar
van der Hammen, T., and González, E. Upper Pleistocene and Holocene climate and vegetation of the Sabana de Bogotá (Colombia). Leidse Geologische Mededelingen 5, (1960). 61 315.Google Scholar
Wedin, D.A., Tieszen, L.L., Dewey, B., and Pastor, J. Carbon isotope dynamics during grass decomposition and soil organic matter formation. Ecology 76, (1995). 1383 1392.Google Scholar
Wille, M., Hooghiemstra, H., Behling, H., van der Borg, K., and Negret, A.J. Environmental change in the Colombian subandean forest belt from 8 pollen records: The last 50 kyr. Vegetation History and Archaeobotany (2001). CrossRefGoogle Scholar