Distributions of fatty acids in a stalagmite related to paleoclimate change at Qingjiang in Hubei,southern China  

作　　者：XIE Shucheng1,HUANG Junhua1,WANG Hongmei2,YI Yi1,HU Chaoyong1, CAI Yanjun3 & CHENG Hai4 1. Faculty of Earth Science,China University of Geosciences,Wuhan 430074,China 2. School of Environmental Studies,China University of Geosciences,Wuhan 430074,China 3. SKLLQG,Institute of Earth Environment,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Xi’an 710075,China 4. Department of Geology and Geophysics,University of Minnesota,MN55455,USA 

出　　处：《Science China Earth Sciences》2005年第9期1463-1469,共7页中国科学（地球科学英文版）

基　　金：supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant Nos.40232025 and 90211014);Fok Ying Tung Education Foundation of Ministry of Education of China(Grant No.91018)

摘　　要：Fatty acids extracted from a subtropical stalagmite at Qingjiang in Southern China’s Hubei Province were analysed using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. These n-alkanoic acids range from C14 to C26 in carbon number, maximizing at C16, with a second dominance at C22. In contrast to the stalagmite analysed, the overlying soils are characterized by the dominance of heavy-molecular-weight homologues (>C20). The n-fatty acids in the stalagmite were proposed to be contributed by both the soil ecosystems and the microbes harboring in the percolating water and the cave. The ratios of unsaturated to saturated n-fatty acids (C16:1i/C16:0, C18:1/C18:0) appear to show trends comparable with the oxygen isotope records of the stalagmite carbonate, with enhanced values associated with the cold episode such as Heinrich event 1. This paleoclimate-dependent record of the n-fatty acids might reflect microbial changes in physiology and activity in response to the temperature. This record shows somewhat difference from the previous paleoclimate signal extracted from n-alkanols and n-alkan-2-ones of the same stalagmite. The acid record fails to document the well-known Younger Dryas event which was effectively shown by the latter two biomarkers derived from soil ecosystems. This discrepancy might result from the changing biogeochemical impact on different lipid fractions as well as the varied organism populations in different ecosystems.Fatty acids extracted from a subtropical stalagmite at Qingjiang in Southern China's Hubei Province were analysed using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. These n-alkanoic acids range from C14 to C26 in carbon number, maximizing at C16, with a second dominance at C22. In contrast to the stalagmite analysed, the overlying soils are characterized by the dominance of heavy-molecular-weight homologues (>C20). The n-fatty acids in the stalagmite were proposed to be contributed by both the soil ecosystems and the microbes harboring in the percolating water and the cave. The ratios of unsaturated to saturated n-fatty acids (C16:1i/C16:0, C18:1/C18:0) appear to show trends comparable with the oxygen isotope records of the stalagmite carbonate, with enhanced values associated with the cold episode such as Heinrich event 1. This paleoclimate-dependent record of the n-fatty acids might reflect microbial changes in physiology and activity in response to the temperature. This record shows somewhat difference from the previous paleoclimate signal extracted from n-alkanols and n-alkan-2-ones of the same stalagmite. The acid record fails to document the well-known Younger Dryas event which was effectively shown by the latter two biomarkers derived from soil ecosystems. This discrepancy might result from the changing biogeochemical impact on different lipid fractions as well as the varied organism populations in different ecosystems.

关 键 词：biomarker  ecosystem  microbe  speleothem  paleoclimate  Quaternary. 

分 类 号：P532[天文地球—古生物学与地层学]