Resumen de Seasonal and decadal stable isotope evolution recorded by recent tufa deposited on artificial substrates in the Monasterio de Piedra Natural Park (NE Spain)
María Cinta Osácar Soriano, María Concepción Arenas Abad, Marta Vázquez-Urbez, Carlos Sancho Marcén, Luis Francisco Auqué Sanz, Gonzalo Martín Pardo Tirapu, Sonja Lojen, Neven Cukrov
Identification of six-month intervals in carbonate deposits formed on tablets installed in several fluvial subenvironments of the Monasterio de Piedra Natural Park, from 1999 to 2009, allowed six-monthly stable-isotope analysis of such records. Slight differences in ä13C and ä18O exist between stromatolites (fast-flowing water areas) and moss-bearing deposits (cascades). Sediment ä13C values did not show clear regular variations through time. A chiefly cyclic pattern of sediment ä18O values reflected the seasonal variations in temperature.The calculated water temperature values were consistent with measured air and water temperature values. The increasing tendency of air temperature is closely reflected by the estimated temperature tendencies. The isotopic results stress the validity of the seasonal variation pattern detected through thickness measures, and underscore the environmental significance of tufas, which accounts for the use of this type of analysis in climate interpretation from ancient tufa records.
