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Late Pleistocene C4Plant Dominance and Summer Rainfall in the Southwestern United States from Isotopic Study of Herbivore Teeth

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Sean L. Connin ,
Julio Betancourt  and
Jay Quade
Sean L. Connin
Affiliation:
Biological Sciences, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Arkansas, 72701
Julio Betancourt
Affiliation:
U.S. Geological Survey, Desert Laboratory, University of Arizona, 1675 West Anklam Road, Tucson, Arizona, 85745
Jay Quade
Affiliation:
Desert Laboratory, University of Arizona, Department of Geosciences, Tucson, Arizona, 85745
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Abstract

Patterns of climate and C4plant abundance in the southwestern United States during the last glaciation were evaluated from isotopic study of herbivore tooth enamel. Enamel δ13C values revealed a substantial eastward increase in C4plant consumption for Mammuthusspp., Bisonspp., Equusspp., and Camelopsspp. The δ13C values were greatest in Bisonspp. (−6.9 to +1.7‰) and Mammuthusspp. (−9.0 to +0.3‰), and in some locales indicated C4-dominated grazing. The δ13C values of Antilocaprids were lowest among taxa (−12.5 to −7.9‰) and indicated C3feeding at all sites. On the basis of modern correlations between climate and C4grass abundance, the enamel data imply significant summer rain in parts of southern Arizona and New Mexico throughout the last glaciation. Enamel δ18O values range from +19.0 to +31.0‰ and generally increase to the east. This pattern could point to a tropical or subtropical source of summer rainfall. At a synoptic scale, the isotope data indicate that interactions of seasonal moisture, temperature, and lowered atmospheric pCO2determined glacial-age C4abundance patterns.

Keywords

quantum yieldatmospheric CO2plant macrofossilsclimate modelC and O isotopesherbivore teethglobal changeAmerican Southwestpaleoclimatemonsoon
Type
Original Articles
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 50 , Issue 2 , September 1998 , pp. 179 - 193
Copyright
University of Washington

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