Preprints
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-724
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-724
26 Mar 2024
 | 26 Mar 2024

Locally Produced Sedimentary Biomarkers in High-Altitude Catchments Outweigh Upstream River Transport in Sedimentary Archives

Alex Brittingham, Michael T. Hren, Sam Spitzschuch, Phil Glauberman, Yonaton Goldsmith, Boris Gasparyan, and Ariel Malinsky-Buller

Abstract. Sedimentary records of lipid biomarkers such as leaf wax n-alkanes are not only influenced by ecosystem turnover and physiological changes in plants, they are also influenced by earth surface processes integrating these signals. The integration of biomarkers into the sedimentary record and the effects of integration processes on recorded environmental signals are complex and not fully understood. To determine the depositional constraints on biomarker records in a high-altitude small catchment system, we collected both soil and stream sediments along a 1000 m altitude transect (1500 – 2500 masl) in the Areguni Mountains, a subrange of the Lesser Caucasus Mountains in Armenia. We utilize the existence of a treeline at ~ 2000 masl, which separates alpine meadow above from deciduous forest below, to assess the relative contribution of upstream biomarker transport to local vegetation input in the stream. We find that average chain length (ACL), hydrogen isotope (δD) and carbon isotope (δ13C) values of n-alkanes are significantly different in soils collected above and below the treeline. However, samples collected from the stream sediments do not integrate these signals quantitively. As the stream drops below the treeline, the ACL, δD and δ13C values of n-alkanes preserved in streambed sediments reflect a bias toward n-alkanes sourced from trees. This suggests that there is either 1) minimal transportation of organic matter from the more open vegetation in higher elevations, or 2) greater production of target biomarkers by trees and shurbs found at lower elevations results in overprinting of stream signals by local vegetation. Though this latter observation may preclude using n-alkanes to measure past treeline movement in these mountains, δD values of biomarkers in fluvial deposits in these settings are more likely to record local hydrological changes rather than changes in upstream fractionation differences associated with vegetation turnover.

Publisher's note: Copernicus Publications remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims made in the text, published maps, institutional affiliations, or any other geographical representation in this preprint. The responsibility to include appropriate place names lies with the authors.
Alex Brittingham, Michael T. Hren, Sam Spitzschuch, Phil Glauberman, Yonaton Goldsmith, Boris Gasparyan, and Ariel Malinsky-Buller

Status: closed

Comment types: AC – author | RC – referee | CC – community | EC – editor | CEC – chief editor | : Report abuse
  • RC1: 'Comment on egusphere-2024-724', Joseph B. Novak, 21 Apr 2024
    • AC1: 'Reply on RC1', Alex Brittingham, 08 Jul 2024
  • RC2: 'Comment on egusphere-2024-724', Anonymous Referee #2, 17 Jun 2024
    • AC2: 'Reply on RC2', Alex Brittingham, 08 Jul 2024

Status: closed

Comment types: AC – author | RC – referee | CC – community | EC – editor | CEC – chief editor | : Report abuse
  • RC1: 'Comment on egusphere-2024-724', Joseph B. Novak, 21 Apr 2024
    • AC1: 'Reply on RC1', Alex Brittingham, 08 Jul 2024
  • RC2: 'Comment on egusphere-2024-724', Anonymous Referee #2, 17 Jun 2024
    • AC2: 'Reply on RC2', Alex Brittingham, 08 Jul 2024
Alex Brittingham, Michael T. Hren, Sam Spitzschuch, Phil Glauberman, Yonaton Goldsmith, Boris Gasparyan, and Ariel Malinsky-Buller
Alex Brittingham, Michael T. Hren, Sam Spitzschuch, Phil Glauberman, Yonaton Goldsmith, Boris Gasparyan, and Ariel Malinsky-Buller

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Latest update: 08 Dec 2024
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Short summary
Plant molecules, also called biomarkers, are a tool used for reconstructing climates in the past. In this study, we collected soils and stream sediments in a river catchment in Armenia in order to determine how these molecules move before deposition. We found that trees and grasses produce distinct biomarkers but these are not incorporated equally into stream sediments. Instead, biomarkers from deciduous trees overprint any upstream transport of grass biomarkers.