Oxygen isotope composition of annually banded modern and mid-Holocene travertine and evidence of paleomonsoon floods, Grand Canyon, Arizona, USA

Gary R. O'Brien; Darrell S. Kaufman; Warren D. Sharp; Viorel Atudorei; Roderic A. Parnell; Laura J. Crossey

doi:10.1016/j.yqres.2005.12.001

Oxygen isotope composition of annually banded modern and mid-Holocene travertine and evidence of paleomonsoon floods, Grand Canyon, Arizona, USA

Gary R. O'Brien, Darrell S. Kaufman, Warren D. Sharp, Viorel Atudorei, Roderic A. Parnell, Laura J. Crossey

Earth and Sustainability

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

58 Scopus citations

Abstract

Holocene and modern travertine formed in spring-fed Havasu Creek of the Grand Canyon, Arizona, was studied to determine the factors governing its oxygen-isotope composition. Analysis of substrate-grown travertine indicates that calculated calcite-formation temperatures compare favorably with measured water temperatures, and include silt-rich laminae deposited by monsoon-driven floods. Ancient spring-pool travertine is dated by U-series at 7380 ± 110 yr and consists of 14 travertine-silt couplets of probable annual deposition. One hundred eighty high-resolution δ¹⁸O analyses of this mid-Holocene sample average -11.0‰ PDB. The average value for modern travertine is ∼0.5‰ lower, perhaps because mid-Holocene temperature was higher or there was proportionally greater summer recharge. δ¹⁸O cyclicity in the mid-Holocene travertine has average amplitude of 1.9 ± 0.5‰ PDB, slightly less than the inferred modern-day annual temperature range of Havasu Creek. The annual temperature range might have been reduced during the 14-yr interval compared to present, although other non-temperature factors could account for the muted annual variation. Silt-rich laminae within isotopically lower calcite in the modern and mid-Holocene travertine verifies the seasonal resolution of both samples, and suggests that similar temperature-precipitation conditions, as well as monsoon-generated summer floods, prevailed in the mid-Holocene as they do throughout the Grand Canyon region today.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	366-379
Number of pages	14
Journal	Quaternary Research
Volume	65
Issue number	3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yqres.2005.12.001
State	Published - May 2006

Keywords

Grand Canyon
Holocene paleoclimate
Monsoon
Oxygen isotopes
Travertine

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous)
Earth-Surface Processes
General Earth and Planetary Sciences

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10.1016/j.yqres.2005.12.001

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@article{402ab41bbe334562998e5c47ed14f453,

title = "Oxygen isotope composition of annually banded modern and mid-Holocene travertine and evidence of paleomonsoon floods, Grand Canyon, Arizona, USA",

abstract = "Holocene and modern travertine formed in spring-fed Havasu Creek of the Grand Canyon, Arizona, was studied to determine the factors governing its oxygen-isotope composition. Analysis of substrate-grown travertine indicates that calculated calcite-formation temperatures compare favorably with measured water temperatures, and include silt-rich laminae deposited by monsoon-driven floods. Ancient spring-pool travertine is dated by U-series at 7380 ± 110 yr and consists of 14 travertine-silt couplets of probable annual deposition. One hundred eighty high-resolution δ18O analyses of this mid-Holocene sample average -11.0‰ PDB. The average value for modern travertine is ∼0.5‰ lower, perhaps because mid-Holocene temperature was higher or there was proportionally greater summer recharge. δ18O cyclicity in the mid-Holocene travertine has average amplitude of 1.9 ± 0.5‰ PDB, slightly less than the inferred modern-day annual temperature range of Havasu Creek. The annual temperature range might have been reduced during the 14-yr interval compared to present, although other non-temperature factors could account for the muted annual variation. Silt-rich laminae within isotopically lower calcite in the modern and mid-Holocene travertine verifies the seasonal resolution of both samples, and suggests that similar temperature-precipitation conditions, as well as monsoon-generated summer floods, prevailed in the mid-Holocene as they do throughout the Grand Canyon region today.",

keywords = "Grand Canyon, Holocene paleoclimate, Monsoon, Oxygen isotopes, Travertine",

author = "O'Brien, {Gary R.} and Kaufman, {Darrell S.} and Sharp, {Warren D.} and Viorel Atudorei and Parnell, {Roderic A.} and Crossey, {Laura J.}",

note = "Funding Information: This project was funded by an Organized Research Grant from Northern Arizona University, a fellowship with the Merriam-Powell Center for Environmental Research, and a student research award from the Geological Society of America. We thank Grand Canyon National Park for its support of this research, Zachary Sharp for access to the Stable Isotope Laboratory at the University of New Mexico, and Genevieve Johnson for able assistance in the Berkeley Geochronology Center Uranium Laboratory. We thank Julian Andrews, Michael Ort and anonymous reviewers of this and an earlier version, for providing valuable input to this study and improvement of the manuscript. ",

year = "2006",

month = may,

doi = "10.1016/j.yqres.2005.12.001",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "65",

pages = "366--379",

journal = "Quaternary Research",

issn = "0033-5894",

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T1 - Oxygen isotope composition of annually banded modern and mid-Holocene travertine and evidence of paleomonsoon floods, Grand Canyon, Arizona, USA

AU - O'Brien, Gary R.

AU - Kaufman, Darrell S.

AU - Sharp, Warren D.

AU - Atudorei, Viorel

AU - Parnell, Roderic A.

AU - Crossey, Laura J.

N1 - Funding Information: This project was funded by an Organized Research Grant from Northern Arizona University, a fellowship with the Merriam-Powell Center for Environmental Research, and a student research award from the Geological Society of America. We thank Grand Canyon National Park for its support of this research, Zachary Sharp for access to the Stable Isotope Laboratory at the University of New Mexico, and Genevieve Johnson for able assistance in the Berkeley Geochronology Center Uranium Laboratory. We thank Julian Andrews, Michael Ort and anonymous reviewers of this and an earlier version, for providing valuable input to this study and improvement of the manuscript.

PY - 2006/5

Y1 - 2006/5

N2 - Holocene and modern travertine formed in spring-fed Havasu Creek of the Grand Canyon, Arizona, was studied to determine the factors governing its oxygen-isotope composition. Analysis of substrate-grown travertine indicates that calculated calcite-formation temperatures compare favorably with measured water temperatures, and include silt-rich laminae deposited by monsoon-driven floods. Ancient spring-pool travertine is dated by U-series at 7380 ± 110 yr and consists of 14 travertine-silt couplets of probable annual deposition. One hundred eighty high-resolution δ18O analyses of this mid-Holocene sample average -11.0‰ PDB. The average value for modern travertine is ∼0.5‰ lower, perhaps because mid-Holocene temperature was higher or there was proportionally greater summer recharge. δ18O cyclicity in the mid-Holocene travertine has average amplitude of 1.9 ± 0.5‰ PDB, slightly less than the inferred modern-day annual temperature range of Havasu Creek. The annual temperature range might have been reduced during the 14-yr interval compared to present, although other non-temperature factors could account for the muted annual variation. Silt-rich laminae within isotopically lower calcite in the modern and mid-Holocene travertine verifies the seasonal resolution of both samples, and suggests that similar temperature-precipitation conditions, as well as monsoon-generated summer floods, prevailed in the mid-Holocene as they do throughout the Grand Canyon region today.

AB - Holocene and modern travertine formed in spring-fed Havasu Creek of the Grand Canyon, Arizona, was studied to determine the factors governing its oxygen-isotope composition. Analysis of substrate-grown travertine indicates that calculated calcite-formation temperatures compare favorably with measured water temperatures, and include silt-rich laminae deposited by monsoon-driven floods. Ancient spring-pool travertine is dated by U-series at 7380 ± 110 yr and consists of 14 travertine-silt couplets of probable annual deposition. One hundred eighty high-resolution δ18O analyses of this mid-Holocene sample average -11.0‰ PDB. The average value for modern travertine is ∼0.5‰ lower, perhaps because mid-Holocene temperature was higher or there was proportionally greater summer recharge. δ18O cyclicity in the mid-Holocene travertine has average amplitude of 1.9 ± 0.5‰ PDB, slightly less than the inferred modern-day annual temperature range of Havasu Creek. The annual temperature range might have been reduced during the 14-yr interval compared to present, although other non-temperature factors could account for the muted annual variation. Silt-rich laminae within isotopically lower calcite in the modern and mid-Holocene travertine verifies the seasonal resolution of both samples, and suggests that similar temperature-precipitation conditions, as well as monsoon-generated summer floods, prevailed in the mid-Holocene as they do throughout the Grand Canyon region today.

KW - Grand Canyon

KW - Holocene paleoclimate

KW - Monsoon

KW - Oxygen isotopes

KW - Travertine

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VL - 65

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ER -

Oxygen isotope composition of annually banded modern and mid-Holocene travertine and evidence of paleomonsoon floods, Grand Canyon, Arizona, USA

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Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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