Search publications of the members of the Royal Belgian institute of natural Sciences
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Paleoclimate in continental northwestern Europe during the Eemian and early Weichselian (125-97 ka): Insights from a Belgian speleothem
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A 500-year seasonally resolved δ<sup>18</sup>O and δ<sup>13</sup>C, layer thickness and calcite aspect record from a speleothem deposited in the Han-sur-Lesse cave, Belgium
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Contribution of an accurate growth rate reconstruction of a stalagmite from the kanaan cave-lebanon to the understanding of humidity variations in the levant during the MIS 5
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Lead concentrations and isotope ratios in speleothems as proxies for atmospheric metal pollution since the industrial revolution
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Niphargus: A silicon band-gap sensor temperature logger for high-precision environmental monitoring
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Paleoclimate reconstruction in the Levant region from the petrography and the geochemistry of a MIS 5 stalagmite from the Kanaan Cave, Lebanon
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Reconstruction of MIS 5 climate in the central Levant using a stalagmite from Kanaan Cave, Lebanon
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Sequence of events from the onset to the demise of the Last Interglacial: Evaluating strengths and limitations of chronologies used in climatic archives
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The climate variability in northern Levant over the past 20,000 years
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Late-glacial and holocene climate reconstruction as inferred from a stalagmite - grotte du Père Noël, Han-sur-Lesse, Belgium
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Monitoring of a fast-growing speleothem site from the Han-sur-Lesse cave, Belgium, indicates equilibrium deposition of the seasonal &delta;18O and &delta;13C signals in the calcite
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Mid- to late Holocene Indian Ocean Monsoon variability recorded in four speleothems from Socotra Island, Yemen
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Monitoring climatological, hydrological and geochemical parameters in the Père Noël cave (Belgium): Implication for the interpretation of speleothem isotopic and geochemical time-series
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Paleoclimate reconstruction in the Levant region from the geochemistry of a Holocene stalagmite from the Jeita cave, Lebanon
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Water release patterns of heated speleothem calcite and hydrogen isotope composition of fluid inclusions
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Geochemistry of sclerosponges and bivalves
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Mg, Sr and Sr isotope geochemistry of a Belgian Holocene speleothem: Implications for paleoclimate reconstructions
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Calculation of past dead carbon proportion and variability by the comparison of AMS <sup>14</sup>C and TIMS U/Th ages on two Holocene stalagmites
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Holocene climate variability in Europe: Evidence from ?<sup>18</sup>O, textural and extension-rate variations in three speleothems
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Limits of calcium isotopes diagenesis in fossil bone and enamel
- Diagenesis has been recognized for decades to significantly alter the trace elements biogenic signatures in fossil tooth enamel and bone that are routinely used for paleobiological and paleoenvironmental reconstructions. This signature is modified during diagenesis according to a complex continuum between two main processes, addition and substitution. For an additive-like, or early diagenesis, the trace elements biogenic profiles can be restored by leaching secondary minerals, but this technique is inefficient for a substitutive-like, or extensive diagenesis for which secondary trace elements are incorporated into the biogenic mineral. This scheme is however unclear for Ca, the major cation in tooth enamel and bone hydroxylapatite, whose stable isotope composition (δ44/42Ca) also conveys biological and environmental information. We present a suite of leaching experiments for monitoring δ44/42Ca values in artificial and natural fossil enamel and bone from different settings. The results show that enamel δ44/42Ca values are insensitive to an additive-like diagenesis that involves the formation of secondary Ca- carbonate mineral phases, while bone shows a consistent offset toward 44Ca-enriched values, that can be restored to the biogenic baseline by a leaching procedure. In the context of a substitutive-like diagenesis, bone exhibits constant δ44/42Ca values, insensitive to leaching, and shows a REE pattern symptomatic of extensive diagenesis. Such a REE pattern can be observed in fossil enamel for which δ44/42Ca values are still fluctuating and follow a trophic pattern. We conclude that Ca isotopes in fossil enamel are probably not prone to extensive diagenesis and argue that this immunity is due to the very low porosity of enamel that cannot accommodate enough secondary minerals to significantly modify the isotopic composition of the enamel Ca pool.
