Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-8ctnn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T20:40:35.807Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Dissolved Gas Paleotemperatures and 18O Variations Derived from Groundwater Near Uitenhage, South Africa

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

T. H. E. Heaton ,
A. S. Talma  and
J. C. Vogel
T. H. E. Heaton
Affiliation:
Natural Isotopes Division, National Physical Research Laboratory, CSIR, P.O. Box 395 Pretoria 0001, South Africa
A. S. Talma
Affiliation:
Natural Isotopes Division, National Physical Research Laboratory, CSIR, P.O. Box 395 Pretoria 0001, South Africa
J. C. Vogel
Affiliation:
Natural Isotopes Division, National Physical Research Laboratory, CSIR, P.O. Box 395 Pretoria 0001, South Africa
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Under the near-ideal hydrologic conditions provided by the Uitenhage artesian aquifer, reliable estimates of paleotemperatures were obtained by measurement of the dissolved N2 and Ar in groundwater, confidently dated in the range 28,000 yr B.P. to the present using 14C. The mean annual air temperature in this area during the last glaciation is calculated to have been, on average, 1/2°C lower than during the Holocene. The change in the 18O/16O ratio of the groundwater, corrected for changes in ocean water, amounted to 0.4‰ per °C.

Type
Original Articles
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 25 , Issue 1 , January 1986 , pp. 79 - 88
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

Andrews, J. N., Lee, D. J. 1979 Inert gases in groundwater from the Bunter Sandstone of England as indicators of age and palaeoclimatic trends. Journal of Hydrology, 41 233 252 Google Scholar
Bath, A. H., Edmunds, W. M., Andrews, J. N. 1979 Palaeoclimatic trends deduced from the hydrochemistry of a Triassic sandstone aquifer, U.K.. Isotope Hydrology 1978, II, International Atomic Energy Agency Vienna 545 566 Google Scholar
Birch, F. 1948 The effects of Pleistocene climatic variations upon geothermal gradients. American Journal of Science, 246 729 760 Google Scholar
Blavoux, B., Olive, P. 1981 Radiocarbon dating of groundwater of the aquifer confined in the lower Triassic sandstones of the Lorraine region, France. Journal of Hydrology, 54 167 183 Google Scholar
Butzer, K. 1973 Pleistocene periglacial phenomena in southern Africa. Boreas, 2 1 11 Google Scholar
Butzer, K. 1984 Late Quaternary environments in South Africa. Vogel, J. C. Late Cainozoic Palaeoclimates of the Southern Hemisphere, Balkema Rotterdam 235 264 Google Scholar
Butzer, K. W., Fock, G. J., Stuckenrath, R., Zilch, A. 1973 Palaeohydrology of late Pleistocene Lake Alexandersfontein, Kimberley, South Africa. Nature (London), 243 328 330 Google Scholar
CLIMAP project members, 1981 Seasonal Reconstructions of the Earth's Surface at the Last Glacial Maximum, Geological Society of America Map and chart series MC-36Google Scholar
Dansgaard, W. 1964 Stable isotopes in precipitation. Tellus, 16 436 468 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harmon, R. S., Schwarcz, H. P. 1981 Changes of 2H and 18O enrichment of meteoric water and Pleistocene glaciation. Nature (London), 290 125 128 Google Scholar
Heath, G. R. 1979 Simulations of a glacial palaeoclimate by three different atmospheric general circulation models. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 26 291 303 Google Scholar
Heaton, T. H. E. 1981 Dissolved gases: Some applications to groundwater research. Transactions of the Geological Society of South Afried, 84 91 97 Google Scholar
Heaton, T. H. E. 1984a Rates and sources of 4He accumulation in groundwater. Hydrological Sciences Journal, 29 29 47 Google Scholar
Heaton, T. H. E. 1984b Dissolved ions, stable and radioactive isotopes and dissolved gases in thermal waters of South Africa—A comment. Journal of Hydrology, 72 195 199 Google Scholar
Heaton, T. H. E., Vogel, J. C. 1981 ‘Excess air’ in groundwater. Journal of Hydrology, 50 201 216 Google Scholar
Heaton, T. H. E., Talma, A. S., Vogel, J. C. 1983 Origin and history of nitrate in confined groundwater in the western Kalahari. Journal of Hydrology, 62 243 262 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
IAEA, 1981 Statistical Treatment of Environmental Isotope Data, International Atomic Energy Agency Technical Report Series 206, ViennaGoogle Scholar
Johnsen, S. J., Dansgaard, W., Clausen, H. B., Langway, C. C. 1972 Oxygen isotope profiles through the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets. Nature (London), 235 429 434 Google Scholar
Kahn, M. I., Oba, T., Ku, T. L. 1981 Paleotemperatures and the glacially induced changes in the oxygen-isotope composition of seawater during the late Pleistocene and Holocene time in Tanner basin, California. Geology, 9 485 490 Google Scholar
Klein, R. G. 1972 The late Quaternary mammalian fauna of Nelson Bay Cove: Its implications for megafaunal extinctions and environmental and cultural change. Quaternary Research, 2 135 142 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Klein, R. G. 1978 A preliminary report on the larger mammals from the Boomplaas Stone Age cave site, Cango Valley, Oudtshoorn District, South Africa. South African Archaeological Bulletin, 33 66 75 Google Scholar
Leguy, C., Rindsberger, M., Zangwill, A., Issar, A., Gat, J. R. 1983 The relation between 18O and deuterium contents of rainwater in the Negev desert and air mass trajectories. Isotope Geoscience, 1 205 218 Google Scholar
Lorius, C., Merlivat, L., Jouzel, J., Pourchet, M. 1979 A 30,000 yr isotope climate record from Antarctica ice. Nature (London), 180 644 648 Google Scholar
Mazor, E. 1972 Palaeotemperatures and other hydrological parameters deduced from noble gases dissolved in groundwaters, Jordan Rift Valley, Israel. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 36 1321 1336 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mazor, E. 1977 Geothermal tracing with atmospheric and radiogenic noble gases. Geothermics, 5 21 36 Google Scholar
Merlivat, L., Jouzel, J. 1979 Global climatic interpretation of the deuterium-oxygen-18 relationship for precipitation. Journal of Geophysical Research, 84 5029 5033 Google Scholar
Roether, W. 1970 Water-CO2 exchange set-up for the routine 18Oxygen assay of natural waters. International Journal of Applied Radiation and Isotopes, 21 379 387 Google Scholar
Rudolph, J., Rath, H. K., Sonnlag, C. 1984 Noble gases and stable isotopes in 14C-dated paleowaters from central Europe and the Sahara. Isotope Hydrology 1983, International Atomic Energy Agency Vienna Google Scholar
SAWB, 1953 Climate of South Africa: 1. Climate statistics, South African Weather Bureau, Department of Transport Pretoria Google Scholar
Schiegl, W. E., Vogel, J. C. 1970 Deuterium content of organic matter. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 7 307 313 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schulze, B. R. 1965 Climate of South Africa: 8. General Survey, South African Weather Bureau, Department of Transport Pretoria Google Scholar
Shackleton, N. J. 1977 The oxygen isotope stratigraphic record of the Late Pleistocene. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, London, B280 169 182 Google Scholar
Siegenthaler, U., Oeschger, H. 1980 Correlation of 18O in precipitation with temperature and altitude. Nature (London), 285 314 317 Google Scholar
Sugisaki, R. 1961 Measurement of effective flow velocity of groundwater by means of dissolved gas. American Journal of Science, 259 144 153 Google Scholar
Talma, A. S., Vogel, J. C., Heaton, T. H. E. 1984 The geochemistry of the Uitenhage artesian aquifer: Carbonate solution in a closed system. Isotope Hydrology 1983, International Atomic Energy Agency Vienna Google Scholar
Todd, D. K. 1959 Groundwater Hydrology, Wiley New York Google Scholar
Vogel, J. C. 1983 Isotopic evidence for the past climates and vegetation of southern Africa. Bothalia, 14 391 394 Google Scholar
Vogel, J. C., Talma, A. S., Heaton, T. H. E. 1981 Gaseous nitrogen as evidence for denitrification in groundwater. Journal of Hydrology, 50 191 200 Google Scholar
Weiss, R. F. 1970 The solubility of nitrogen, oxygen and argon in water and seawater. Deep-Sea Research, 17 721 735 Google Scholar
Yurtsever, Y., Gat, J. R. 1981 Atmospheric waters. Gat, J. R., Gonfiantini, R. Stable Isotope Hydrology, International Atomic Energy Agency Vienna 103 142 Google Scholar