Articles | Volume 20, issue 21
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-4433-2023
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-4433-2023
Research article
 | 
07 Nov 2023
Research article |  | 07 Nov 2023

Climatic controls on leaf wax hydrogen isotope ratios in terrestrial and marine sediments along a hyperarid-to-humid gradient

Nestor Gaviria-Lugo, Charlotte Läuchli, Hella Wittmann, Anne Bernhardt, Patrick Frings, Mahyar Mohtadi, Oliver Rach, and Dirk Sachse

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Cited articles

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Bertassoli, D. J., Häggi, C., Chiessi, C. M., Schefuß, E., Hefter, J., Akabane, T. K., and Sawakuchi, A. O.: Controls on the distributions of GDGTs and n-alkane isotopic compositions in sediments of the Amazon River Basin, Chem. Geol., 594, 120777, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemgeo.2022.120777, 2022. 
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We analyzed how leaf wax hydrogen isotopes in continental and marine sediments respond to climate along one of the strongest aridity gradients in the world, from hyperarid to humid, along Chile. We found that under extreme aridity, the relationship between hydrogen isotopes in waxes and climate is non-linear, suggesting that we should be careful when reconstructing past hydrological changes using leaf wax hydrogen isotopes so as to avoid overestimating how much the climate has changed.
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