Altitudinal effect of soil n-alkane δD values on the eastern Tibetan Plateau and their increasing isotopic fractionation with altitude

Stable isotope paleoaltimetry has provided unprecedented insights into the topographic histories of many of the world’s highest mountain ranges. However, on the Tibetan Plateau (TP), stable isotopes from paleosols generally yield much higher paleoaltitudes than those based on fossils. It is therefore essential when attempting to interpret accurately this region’s paleoaltitudes that the empirical calibrations of local stable isotopes and the relations between them are established. Additionally, it is vital that careful estimations be made when estimate how different isotopes sourced from different areas may have been influenced by different controls. We present here 29 hydrogen isotopic values for leaf wax-derived n-alkanes (i.e., δDwax values, and abundance-weighted average δD values of C29 and C31) in surface soils, as well as the δD values of soil water (δDsw) samples (totaling 22) from Mount Longmen (LM), on the eastern TP (altitude ~0.8–4.0 km above sea level (asl), a region climatically affected by the East Asian Monsoon (EAM). We compared our results with published data from Mount Gongga (GG). In addition, 47 river water samples, 55 spring water samples, and the daily and monthly summer precipitation records (from May to October, 2015) from two precipitation observation stations were collected along the GG transect for δD analysis. LM soil δDwax values showed regional differences and responded strongly to altitude, varying from‒160‰ to‒219‰, with an altitudinal lapse rate (ALR) of‒18‰ km‒1 (R 2=0.83; p<0.0001; n=29). These δDwax values appeared more enriched than those from the GG transect by ~40‰. We found that both the climate and moisture sources led to the differences observed in soil δDwax values between the LM and GG transects. We found that, as a general rule, ε wax/rw, ε wax/p and ε wax/sw values (i.e., the isotopic fractionation of δDwax corresponding to δDrw, δDp and δDsw) increased with increasing altitude along both the LM and GG transects (up to 34‰and 50‰, respectively). Basing its research on a comparative study of δDwax, δDp, δDrw(δDspringw) and δDsw, this paper discusses the effects of moisture recycling, glacier-fed meltwater, relative humidity (RH), evapotranspiration (ET), vegetation cover, latitude, topography and/or other factors on ε wax/p values. Clearly, if ε wax-p values at higher altitudes are calculated using smaller ε wax-p values from lower altitudes, the calculated paleowaterδDp values are going to be more depleted than the actual δD values, and any paleoaltitude would therefore be overestimated.