Ostracod Mg/Sr/Ca and ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr geochemistry from Tibetan lake sediments: Implications for early to mid-Pleistocene Indian monsoon and catchment weathering

Ostracod Mg/Sr/Ca and ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr geochemistry from Tibetan lake sediments: Implications for early to mid-Pleistocene Indian monsoon and catchment weathering. Boreas, 10.1111/j.1502-3885.2010.00184.x. ISSN 0300-9483 Lacustrine sediment serves as a valuable archive for tracing catchment weathering processes associated with past climatic and/or tectonic changes. High-resolution records of fossil ostracod Mg/Ca, Sr/Ca and ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios from a lake sediment core from the central Tibetan Plateau reveal a temporal link between lake-water chemistry and catchment weathering and distinct monsoonal oscillations over the early to mid-Pleistocene. Between 2.01 and 0.95Ma, lake-water chemistry was dominated by a high proportion of carbonate weathering related to variations in the Indian monsoon, resulting in relatively low and constant ostracod ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr but obvious fluctuations in Mg/Ca, Sr/Ca and δ¹⁸O. Across the mid-Pleistocene transition (MPT), a significant increase in ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr and frequently fluctuating ratios of ostracod Mg/Ca, Sr/Ca and δ¹⁸O are coincident with increases in both Chinese loess grain size and Arabian Sea lithogenic flux. This correlation indicates an increased glaciation and a strong monsoon seasonal contrast over the plateau. The increase in lake-water ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr across the MPT highlights a change in catchment weathering patterns, rather than one in climate-enhanced weathering intensity, with an increased weathering of ⁸⁷Sr-rich minerals potentially induced by marked extensive glaciation and strong seasonality in the central plateau.