A REVIEW OF THE PALEOHYDROLOGICAL INTERPRETATION OF CARBON AND OXYGEN ISOTOPIC-RATIOS IN PRIMARY LACUSTRINE CARBONATES

Primary carbonates are a common feature of many modern and ancient lacustrine deposits. Carbonates from hydrologically open lakes show little or no correlation between δ13C and δ18O. In short-residence-time open lakes, carbonate oxygen isotopic composition is relatively invariant and typically is closely related to the bulk isotopic composition of inflow waters to the lake. Suites of carbonates which display covarying 13C and 18O compositions precipitate from waterbodies having relatively long residence times. Where the correlation between carbon and oxygen isotopic variations is high (r{slanted equal to or greater-than} 0.7 ), the carbonates have normally precipitated from a closed lake. In addition, because of large changes in water balance, the δ18O of closed-lake carbonates usually varies over a range of several %o. Therefore, the combination of degree of covariance and spread of δ18O-values can be used to discriminate between carbonates produced in hydrologically open and closed basins. Within individual basins, covariant trends may have remarkable long-term persistence despite major environmental changes, indicating considerable stability in basin hydrology. Each closed lake has a unique isotopic identity defined by its covariant trend, which is a function of the basin's geographical and climatic setting, its hydrology, and the history of the waterbody. Any major interruption or realignment of this trend reflects a fundamental change in basin hydrology. Isotopic trends based upon the carbon and oxygen isotopic composition of primary lacustrine carbonates have several applications in palaeolimnology. The oxygen isotopic composition of open-lake carbonates may, with caution, be used as a proxy indicator of the composition of regional rainfall. Covariant trends can be used to trace the hydrological history of a basin, the evolution of individual water masses, and to correlate carbonate-bearing sediments from different parts of a basin. © 1990.