ALBERT

Notes: Measurements of the ratio of deuterium to hydrogen (D/H) in stem xylem water were used to determine the relative uptake of summer precipitation by four co-occurring plant species in southern Utah. The species compared included two trees, Juniperus osteosperma and Pinus edulis, and two shrubs, Artemisia tridentata and Chrysothamnus nauseousus. There were significant differences among species in the relative use of summer precipitation. Chrysothamnus nauseosus had stem water D/H ratios in May through August 1990 that were not significantly different from that of groundwater. In contrast, the other three species had stem water D/H ratios that were intermediate between the groundwater value and summer precipitation values, indicating that a mixture of both precipitation and groundwater was being used by these species. The two tree species generally had higher D/H values than did A. tridentata indicating a higher average uptake of summer precipitation, although the roots of J. osteosperma and P. edulis may not be as responsive to small precipitation events as A. tridentata. There was a strong negative correlation between stem water D/H ratios and predawn water potential, which suggests a relationship between plant rooting pattern and water source use. In addition, water-use efficiency during photosynthetic gas exchange, calculated from leaf carbon isotope composition, differed among species and was strongly correlated with differences in the relative uptake of summer precipitation.

Notes: Photosynthetic gas exchange and the stable isotopic composition of foliage water were measured for a xylem tapping mistletoe, Phoradendron juniperinum, and its host tree, Juniperus osteosperma, growing in southern Utah. The observed isotopic composition of water extracted from foliage was compared to predictions of the Craig-Gordon model of isotopic enrichment at evaporative sites within leaves. Assimilation rates of juniper were higher and stomatal conductance was lower than the values observed for the mistletoe. This resulted in lower intercellular/ ambient CO2 values in the juniper tree relative to its mistletoe parasite. For mistletoe, the observed foliage water hydrogen and oxygen isotopic enrichment was less than that predicted by the model. In juniper, foliage water hydrogen isotopic enrichment was also lower than that predicted by the evaporative enrichment model. In contrast, the oxygen isotopic enrichment in juniper foliage water was slightly greater than that predicted for the evaporative sites within leaves. Hydrogen isotopic enrichment in mistletoe foliage shows systematic variation with stem segment, being highest near the tips of the youngest stems and decreasing toward the base of the mistletoe, where isotopic composition is close to that of stem water in the host tree. In a correlated pattern, mid-day stomatal conductance declined abruptly in mistletoe foliage of increasing age.

Notes: The Wilde Kirche reef complex (Early-Late Rhaetian) grew as an isolated carbonate structure within the shallow Kössen Basin. At the Triassic/Jurassic boundary a single brief (c. 10–50 ka) period of subaerial exposure occurred. The preserved karst profile (70 m thick) displays a vadose zone, enhanced dissolution at a possible palaeo-watertable (5–15 m below the exposure surface), and a freshwater phreatic zone. Karst porosity was predominantly biomouldic. Primary cavities and biomoulds were enlarged and interconnected in the freshwater phreatic zone; cavity networks developed preferentially in patch reef facies. Resubmergence of the reef complex allowed minor modification of the palaeokarst surface by sea floor dissolution and Fe-Mn crust deposition on a sediment-starved passive margin.Fibrous calcite (FC). radiaxial fibrous calcite (RFC) and fascicular optic calcite (FOC) cements preserved as low Mg calcite (LMC) are abundant in primary and karst dissolution cavities. FC cement is restricted to primary porosity, particularly as a synsedimentary cement at the windward reef margin. FC, RFC and FOC contain microdolomite inclusions and show patchy non-/bright cathodoluminescence. δ18O values of non-luminescent portions (interpreted as near original) are − 1.16 to − 1.82%0 (close to the inferred δ18O of calcite precipitated from Late Triassic sea water). δ13C values are constant (+3 to + 2.2%0). These observations suggest FC, RFC and FOC were originally marine high Mg calcite (HMC) precipitates, and that the bulk of porosity occlusion occurred not in the karst environment but in the marine environment during and after marine transgression. The HMC to LMC transition may have occurred in contact with meteoric water only in the case of FC cement. The most altered (brightly luminescent) portions of RFC/FOC cements yield δ18O=−2.44 to − 5.8%0, suggesting HMC to LMC alteration at up to 34°C. in the shallow burial environment at depths of 180–250 m.Abundant equant cements with δ18O =−4·1 to −7.1%0 show crisp, uniform or zoned dull luminescence. They are interpreted as unaltered cements precipitated at 33–36°C at 200–290 m burial depth, from marine-derived fluids under a slightly enhanced geothermal gradient. Fluids carrying the equant cements may have induced the HMC to LMC transition in the fibrous cements.