Terrestrial biomarker isotope records of late Quaternary climate and source-to-sink sediment transport processes in southwestern Taiwan

Abstract

Fluvial sediments are important archives of paleoenvironments. However, variations in sediment production and transport processes greatly influence sediment geochemistry and resultant interpretations of ancient conditions. Tectonically-active tropical regions are particularly sensitive to climate feedbacks because these areas are often characterized by high precipitation rates, rapid erosion and short sediment residence times. We analyzed the hydrogen and carbon isotope composition of plant-derived n-alkanes (δ²H_n-alkane and δ¹³C_n-alkane) in sediment cores along the Gaoping River-submarine canyon system in southwestern Taiwan to examine climatic and geomorphic controls on isotope geochemical signatures of fluvial sedimentary archives. These records span the last ∼26 kyr and provide critical insight into the temporal and spatial variations in sedimentary biomarker isotopes within a source-to-sink system. Isotope data are coupled with new results from an iCESM 1.2 Earth System Model of precipitation isotopes during the last glacial-interglacial cycle. Biomarker isotope and modeling results support two important conclusions. First, biomarker isotope values change by ∼10 to 15‰ in δ²H_n-alkane and ∼1 to 2‰ δ¹³C_n-alkane in offshore SW Taiwan through the late Quaternary deglaciation. These shifts are consistent with iCESM predictions and other records from the South China Sea and are best explained by a shift in isotope hydrology due to regional warming and biologic responses to increased atmospheric pCO₂. Second, the δ²H_n-alkane of biomarkers preserved in onshore sediments proximal to the mountain range is ∼15 to 20‰ more negative than biomarkers deposited in offshore sites, and the temporal change in carbon isotopes exceeds that observed in the offshore deposits. The onshore core locality is proximal to the orogen and characterized by a mean elevation > 1 km compared to the offshore site, which has a mean catchment elevation of ∼500 m. These data show that depositional setting and catchment hypsometry strongly bias the geochemical signature of sediments transported through the river system. The magnitude of isotopic variability generated by catchment geometry and sediment integration greatly exceeds the change associated with warming during deglaciation. This result suggests that catchment integration processes may play a similar or larger role in shaping fluvial geochemical records in tropical mountain systems than climatic factors.