Abstract
This study focuses on the concentration of major and trace elements in the diluted acetic acid-soluble fraction of SG-1 core lacustrine sediments from the western Qaidam Basin (Tibetan Plateau) in order to explore the potential of applying bulk carbonate analysis to tracing paleolake evolution and climate change. The SG-1 core sediments are considered highly suited to the exploration of the paleoenvironmental significance of bulk carbonate geochemistry, because most carbonates in the core are authigenic in origin. Based on a principal component analysis of the elemental composition of diluted acetic acid leachate, four major components with distinct characteristics have been extracted, accounting for ~80% of the total variance. The first and most important component is associated with a high positive loading of Mn, P, Y, Sc and rare earth elements (REE); the second component is characterized by a high positive loading of Ca, Sr, and U; the third component displays a high negative loading of Mg, Li, and B; and the fourth component is associated with a relatively high positive loading of Fe, V and Cr. After considering the geochemical behavior of these element assemblies during acid leaching, we have concluded that these four components contain information indicative of watershed climate conditions, carbonate precipitation, lake water salinity and iron oxide content, respectively. Reconstructions of watershed climate change and paleolake evolution using the component scores are comparable to those reconstructed from other independent proxy records, indicating a long-term trend of lake shrinkage and climatic drying since ~2.7Ma with abrupt drying events at ~2.5Ma, ~1.8Ma, ~1.2Ma and ~0.6Ma. Our results suggest that lake carbonates bear more information about watershed climate and lake evolution than expected, and that occurrences of some elements, in particular trace elements, in the diluted acetic acid leachate are not solely and necessarily linked to carbonate minerals.
Published Version
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