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- Title
Variations in the carbon isotope composition of late-Holocene plant macrofossils: a comparison of whole-leaf and cellulose trends.
- Authors
Rundgren, M.; Beerling, D.J.; Loader, N.J.
- Abstract
Stable carbon isotope measurements ( d 13 C) made on Quaternary sequences of terrestrial plant subfossils are frequently used to infer palaeoclimatic trends. However, differential decomposition of individual constituents during incorporation of plant material into lake sediments could influence these interpretations. There-fore, we investigated down-core variations in the carbon isotope composition ( d 13 C) of subfossil leaves of Salix herbacea L., and their holocellulose component, from a late-Holocene (c. 0–3300 years ago) site in northern Sweden. Locally weighted regression curves fitted to both d 13 C data sets showed similar but conserved temporal patterns of change, and there was no evidence for systematic shifts in the holocellulose yields or C:N ratios of leaves with age. Small d 13 C variations over the past 3300 years probably reflect natural variations in microclimate within the lake catchment area. This interpretation is quantitatively consistent with the variability determined from measurements made on leaves of modern S. herbacea plants growing at the same site. Overall these results imply that, under conditions of uniform decomposition, d 13 C measurements made on late-Holocene sequences of whole leaves provide an interpretation of the pattern and direction of change consistent with that obtained from holocellulose isolated from the same leaves.
- Subjects
FOSSIL plants; PALEOCLIMATOLOGY; PHYSICAL geology
- Publication
Holocene, 2000, Vol 10, Issue 1, p149
- ISSN
0959-6836
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1191/095968300674699469