Carbon isotope analysis of pedogenic carbonate (δ13CCarb) and soil organic matter (δ13CTOC) is widely applied in reconstructions of terrestrial paleovegetation. The δ13C of different archives is considered well matched and equally reflects the proportion of C3/C4 plant biomass covering the soil profile. However, modern soil and paleosol sequences provide substantial evidence that δ13CCarb and δ13CTOC do not always match, raising doubts about the accuracy of quantitative C4 plant reconstructions. Here we report paired δ13C records of pedogenic carbonates and organic matter occluded within carbonate nodules from the Shaozhai section in the central Chinese Loess Plateau (CLP). The δ13CCarb record exhibits a positive anomaly and exceeds the theoretical fractionation range with the coexisting δ13CTOC record during the expansion of C4 plants. The possibility of contamination by detrital carbonates and atmospheric CO2 affecting δ13CCarb was ruled out based on the morphological features, mineral fractions, and geochemical composition of carbonate nodules. Our study suggests that the enhanced respiration of C4 plants during pedogenic carbonate precipitation may have caused positive shifts in δ13CCarb records, supporting the hypothesis that the discrepancy in carbon sources explains the δ13CCarb positive anomaly. Thus, the δ13CCarb could reflect the maximum relative abundance of C4 plants during their metabolic peaks.

It has been unclear whether Holocene lake evolution in the Badain Jaran Desert of northwestern China, an area in which lakes are mainly recharged by groundwater, responded to climate change. In this study, we analyzed the Mg/Ca ratio and phytolith assemblages from 10 Holocene calcareous root tube samples from the desert to reconstruct changes in effective moisture and mean annual precipitation (MAP) at the millennial scale during the Holocene and to explore the factors affecting lake evolution. Our results revealed that the effective moisture at 7000–5000 cal yr BP was higher than that of 5000–2000 cal yr BP. Similarly, the MAP was higher at 7000–5000 cal yr BP (175 ± 37 to 205 ± 37 mm) than at 5000–2000 cal yr BP (145 ± 37 to 165 ± 39 mm). The expansion of the lakes during the Early Holocene would have resulted from the input of groundwater from the meltwater in the recharge area. High lake levels in the Middle Holocene corresponded to increased monsoonal precipitation and groundwater recharge. The gradual decline of lake levels in the Late Holocene indicated a relatively arid climate with decreased monsoonal precipitation and groundwater recharge.

The Channeled Scabland–Palouse region of the Pacific Northwest (PNW) of the United States preserves geomorphic and pedosedimentary records that inform understanding of late Pleistocene–Holocene paleoclimate change in a region proximal to the last glacial period Cordilleran Ice Sheet. We present a clumped (Δ47) and conventional (δ18O, δ13C) isotopic study of Palouse loess–paleosol carbonates in combination with carbonate radiocarbon (14C) dating to provide new measures of regional late–last glacial (~31–20 cal ka BP) and Holocene soil conditions. Average clumped isotope temperatures (T(Δ47)) for last glacial Palouse loess–paleosol carbonates (9±4°C) are significantly lower than those for Holocene-aged carbonates (T(Δ47)=18±2°C) in study sections. Calculated soil water δ18OVSMOW values (−16±2‰) for last glacial carbonates are also offset relative to those for Holocene-aged samples (−11±1‰), whereas calculated soil CO2 δ13CVPDB values are similar for the Holocene (−16.9±0.2‰) and late–last glacial (−16.7±1.1‰) periods. Together, these paleoclimate metrics indicate late–last glacial conditions of pedogenic carbonate formation in the C3 grassland soils of the Palouse were measurably colder (9±5°C) than during the Holocene and potentially reflect a more arid last glacial paleoclimate across the Palouse, findings in agreement with previous proxy studies and climate model simulations for the region.

Large-scale atmospheric circulation patterns determine the quantity and seasonality of precipitation, the major source of water in most terrestrial ecosystems. Oxygen isotope (δ18O) dynamics of the present-day hydrologic system in the Palouse region of the northwestern U.S.A. indicate a seasonal correlation between the δ18O values of precipitation and temperature, but no seasonal trends of δ18O records in soil water and shallow groundwater. Their isotope values are close to those of winter precipitation because the Palouse receives ∼ 75% of its precipitation during winter. Palouse Loess deposits contain late Pleistocene pedogenic carbonate having ca. 2 to 3‰ higher δ18O values and up to 5‰ higher carbon isotope (δ13C) values than Holocene and modern carbonates. The late Pleistocene δ18O values are best explained by a decrease in isotopically light winter precipitation relative to the modern winter-dominated infiltration. The δ13C values are attributed to a proportional increase of atmospheric CO2 in soil CO2 due to a decrease in soil respiration rate and 13C discrimination in plants under much drier paleoclimate conditions than today. The regional climate difference was likely related to anticyclonic circulation over the Pleistocene Laurentide and Ice Sheet.

It has been assumed that soil pendants form in a similar manner as stalactites, in which innermost laminae are the oldest and outer laminae are the youngest. This study presents a new interpretation for soil pendant development. Pahranagat Valley, Nevada, pendants contain features indicating continued precipitation through time at the clast–pendant contact, implying that the oldest deposits are not always found at the pendant–clast contact, as other studies have assumed. These features include a void at the clast–pendant contact where minerals such as calcium carbonate, silica, and/or fibrous silicate clays precipitate. In addition, fragments of the parent clast and detrital grains are incorporated into the pendant and are displaced and/or dissolved and result in the formation of sepiolite. This study indicates that pendants are complex, open systems that during and after their formation undergo chemical changes that complicate their usefulness for dating and paleoenvironmental analyses.

Holocene environmental changes in the northern Fertile Crescent remain poorly understood because of the scarcity of local proxy records in the region. In this study we investigated pedogenic (soil-formed) carbonate coatings on stones at the Pre-Pottery Neolithic site Göbekli Tepe as an indicator of local early-mid Holocene environmental changes. The 14C ages and stable isotopic composition of carbon and oxygen in thin (0.2–0.3 mm thick) pedogenic carbonate lamina indicate two main periods of coating formation: the early-Holocene (ca. 10000–6000 cal yr BP) and the mid-Holocene (ca. 6000–4000 cal yr BP). During the first period, there was an inverse relationship between δ13C and δ18O curves: a decrease in δ13C values coincide with an increase in δ18O values. For this period a trend towards higher temperatures is suggested. In the mid-Holocene, the mean rate of coating growth was 2–3 times higher than in the early Holocene. Both δ13C and δ18O reached their maximum values during this time and the direction of changes of the δ13C and δ18O curves became similar. The combination of data suggests that this period was the most humid in the Holocene and on average warmer than the early Holocene. At ca. 4000 cal yr BP secondary accumulation of carbonate ceased, presumably reflecting a shift to a more arid climate.

Reliable and precise ages of Quaternary pedogenic carbonate can be obtained with 230Th/U dating by thermal ionization mass spectrometry applied to carefully selected milligram-size samples. Datable carbonate can form within a few thousand years of surface stabilization allowing ages of Quaternary deposits and surfaces to be closely estimated. Pedogenic carbonate clast-rinds from gravels of glacio-fluvial terraces in the Wind River Basin have median concentrations of 14 ppm U and 0.07 ppm 232Th, with median (230Th/232Th) = 270, making them well suited for 230Th/U dating. Horizons as thin as 0.5 mm were sampled from polished slabs to reduce averaging of long (≥105 yr), and sometimes visibly discontinuous, depositional histories. Dense, translucent samples with finite 230Th/U ages preserve within-rind stratigraphic order in all cases. Ages for terraces WR4 (167,000 ± 6,400 yr) and WR2 (55,000 ± 8600 yr) indicate a mean incision rate of 0.26 ± 0.05 m per thousand years for the Wind River over the past glacial cycle, slower than inferred from cosmogenic-nuclide dating. Terrace WR3, which formed penecontemporaneously with the final maximum glacial advance of the penultimate Rocky Mountain (Bull Lake) glaciation, has an age of 150,000 ± 8300 yr indicating that it is broadly synchronous with the penultimate global ice volume maximum.