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Dissolved Gas Paleotemperatures and 18O Variations Derived from Groundwater Near Uitenhage, South Africa

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

T. H. E. Heaton ,
A. S. Talma  and
J. C. Vogel
T. H. E. Heaton
Affiliation:
Natural Isotopes Division, National Physical Research Laboratory, CSIR, P.O. Box 395 Pretoria 0001, South Africa
A. S. Talma
Affiliation:
Natural Isotopes Division, National Physical Research Laboratory, CSIR, P.O. Box 395 Pretoria 0001, South Africa
J. C. Vogel
Affiliation:
Natural Isotopes Division, National Physical Research Laboratory, CSIR, P.O. Box 395 Pretoria 0001, South Africa
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Abstract

Under the near-ideal hydrologic conditions provided by the Uitenhage artesian aquifer, reliable estimates of paleotemperatures were obtained by measurement of the dissolved N2 and Ar in groundwater, confidently dated in the range 28,000 yr B.P. to the present using 14C. The mean annual air temperature in this area during the last glaciation is calculated to have been, on average, 1/2°C lower than during the Holocene. The change in the 18O/16O ratio of the groundwater, corrected for changes in ocean water, amounted to 0.4‰ per °C.

Type
Original Articles
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 25 , Issue 1 , January 1986 , pp. 79 - 88
Copyright
University of Washington

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