VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI VIETNAM JAPAN UNIVERSITY NGUYEN THI QUE PALEOCLIMATE RECONSTRUCTION IN NORTHERN VIETNAM IN THE DURATION 3.5-5KA USING δ18O AND δ13C IN A STALAGMITE IN NAM SON CAVE, HOA BINH PROVINCE MASTER’S THESIS VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI VIETNAM JAPAN UNIVERSITY NGUYEN THI QUE NGUYEN THI QUE PALEOCLIMATE RECONSTRUCTION IN NORTHERN VIETNAM IN THE DURATION 3.5-5KA USING δ18O AND δ13C IN A STALAGMITE IN NAM SON CAVE, HOA BINH PROVINCE MAJOR: CLIMATE CHANGE AND DEVELOPMENT CODE: 8900201.02QTD RESEARCH SUPERVISOR Dr. Nguyen Thuy Duong Hanoi, 2022 PLEDGE In writing this master’s thesis, I have read and understood the plagiarism violations. I pledge with personal honor that this research result is my own and does not violate the Regulation on prevention of plagiarism in academic and scientific research activities at VNU Vietnam Japan University (Issued together with Decision No 700/QD-ĐHVN dated 30/9/2021 by the Rector of Vietnam Japan University). I assure that this thesis is the result of my own research and has not been published.
The use of other research’s results and other documents must comply with regulations. The citations and references to documents, books, research papers, and websites must be in the list of references of the thesis. I am aware that not documenting source material or not citing clearly, correctly, and completely constitutes plagiarism. Author of the thesis Nguyen Thi Que i ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Firstly, I would like to express my gratitude to my supervisor, Dr.
Nguyen Thuy Duong, working in Vietnam Japan University, Vietnam National University in Hanoi, for her guidance and suggestions to complete this thesis. More than anything, she gave me a chance to access the new aspects in science of geology and climate change, which was very new to me. I also appreciate her take care and guidance during field trips. Secondly, I would like to thank to Ms.
An Thi Thuy, working at Vietnam national museum of nature, Vietnam academy of science and technology for her explanation about U/Th dating method and result, Dr. György Czuppon, working at the Institute for Geological and Geochemical Research, RCEAS, ELKH, Budapest, Hungary, for his explanation about the method of 13C, 18O stable isotope analyzing and instruction in StalAge model. Thirdly, I would like to thank to Dr. Nguyen Tai Tue, Vietnam National University in Hanoi, for your additional classes for stable isotopes and using stable isotopes on studying in geology and climate change.
I also thank The Vietnam National University, Hanoi research project (Grant number QG. Thái Nguyễn-Đình: “Holocene paleoclimate recorded from lake sediment in the south of Central Highlands”) for supported document, approach methods for the thesis completion. Finally, I would like to thank all friends and family for their encourage and support during research’s duration. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page PLEDGE ACKNOWLEDGMENTS LIST OF TABLES.
i LIST OF FIGURES. ii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS. The necessity of the research. The research questions and hypotheses.
Research objectives and tasks. The scope of the research. Research conceptual framework. Matrix of learning outcomes for the master’s thesis.
Overview on paleoclimate events in the Holocene. Overview on paleoclimate studies using speleothems in Asia and Vietnam. Overview on speleothem sampling and precipitation monitoring for stable isotope interpretation. MATERIALS AND METHODOLOGY.
Background of the methodology. Some principles concept. Hendy Test for evaluating the presence of isotopic equilibrium. Age determination by U-Th method.
Determination of δ13C and δ18O composition of carbonates. Determination of δD and δ18O compositions of water. Field and monitoring methods. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS.
Test of stable isotope equilibrium. The Age model. δ18O and δ13C values in the NS4 stalagmite. δ18O variation in rainwater and relationship to Precipitation in Northern Vietnam.
δ18O and δ13C value in rainwater, drip water and carbonate in Nam Son cave. Paleoclimate change in the duration 3.5-5ka in the northern Vietnam. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS .52 LIST OF TABLES Page Table 1. Research question and hypothesis of the study.
Objectives and tasks of the study. Matrix of learning outcomes for the master’s thesis. Specifications of Portable CO2 Analyzer - model 77535 AZ. Technical data of Drop counter Stalagmate.
Checking results of climate parameters. 230Th results of stalagmite NS4 from Nam Son cave (2021). Isotopic composition in drip water and rainwater in Nam Son cave. Isotopic composition in fresh carbonate in Nam Son cave.
40 i LIST OF FIGURES Page Figure 1. Research conceptual framework. Location map of studied caves and monsoon activities in China. Location of Nam Son cave.
A sketch on Nam Son Cave structure. Outside of Nam Son Cave. Climate parameters in Mai Chau District, Hoa Binh Province. Sample for U-Th dating analysis.
Principle of U/Th dating method. A Thermo Finnigan Delta Plus XP mass spectrometer. Portable CO2 Analyzer. Drip counter Stalagmate.
Checking the calcite deposition. Setting up for monitoring in Nam Son cave. Inside the Nam Son Cave. Polished section (left) and age model (right) of stalagmite NS4.
Cross-plot of Age versus depth in 2 stages. Result of δ18O and δ13C analysis and correlation. Location of Hanoi and Son La meteorological stations. Wind Frequency and Direction Rose in Hanoi and Hoa Binh.
Precipitation, Temperature and δ18O value in Hanoi station. Result of checking correlation of variables in Hanoi station. Places of collecting cacbonate samples in Nam Son cave .41 ii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AR6 Sixth Assessment Report ASL Above Sea Level ASM Asian Summer Monsoon COP Conference of the Parties EIMF European Institute of Management and Finance GNIP Global Network of Isotopes in Precipitation IAEA International Atomic Energy Agency IPCC Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change IRMS Isotope ratio mass spectrometer IUGS The International Union of Geological Sciences NOAA National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration PLO Program Learning Outcome SSP Shared Socio-econimic Pathways iii CHAPTER 1. The necessity of the research Paleoclimatology, a term for the study of the past climates, just has been expanding in the scientific field in recent decades while systematic weather observations began in the late 1800s (Elias, 2021; Peterson, 2021), greatly aided our understanding of current and future climate by understanding of the controls and causes of past climatic variations (Mock, 2013).
Paleoclimate data can also test the accuracy of current circulation models. The contribution of paleoclimatic studies is important for human life because the climate has undenied effects on human activities through agriculture, biological system, and environmental quality. This research’s results became more essential in the condition of high-warming stories today when the current level of atmospheric carbon dioxide is the highest in human history. As NOAA’s measurements, the globally averaged annual mean CO2 concentration reached 409.4 ppm in 2019 and reached 417.81 ppm in February 2022 (NOAA, 2022).
In 2021, IPCC stated that in all scenarios assessed in AR6 (except SSP5-8.5oC threshold crosses in the early 2030s (IPCC, 2021). COP26 in 2021 again emphasized the value of research and responses related to global climate changes. Located in the Indochinese peninsula, Vietnam is one of the countries which are strongly affected by climate change. Lately, research on adaptation and mitigation has been attracting a great deal of funding in both economic and technical fields, from not only the Vietnam government but also from developed countries and global organiza- tions.
In parallel, the study of the paleoclimate proved its importance in resulting in the climate change impacts and limitations. Some climate events were recorded globally with different expressions in each specific area. Until now, the paleoclimate studies in Vietnam have been quite small compared to the world. However, multiarchives such as 1 sediments, rainwater, and speleothems were approached to interpret the paleoclimate parameters like temperature, precipitation, monsoon intensity, and humidity.
In detail, in 2016, EOS Geoscience research group at Vietnam National University, Hanoi started coring expedition in Maar Lake in Highland Vietnam for the project of paleoclimate reconstruction in Holocene and Pleistocene (EOSVNU, n. In 2018, Quan et al., by using stable isotopes in sediment, reconstructed the paleoclimate in Holocene in Red River Delta – Northern Vietnam stated 5 main periods with alternating of hot-warm, cold-dry, and warm-wet conditions. Briles et al. (2019) used the multiproxy (including pollen, macrocharcoal, geochemistry, and coprostanol) in sediments core in Quan Lan island to retrospect the climatic impact on the tropical island ecosystem in Northern Vietnam in about 3000 years of late Holocene.
Dung et al. (2020) focused on analyzing the Asian Summer Monsoon (ASM) between 30ka and 22.7ka BP through the information from a stalagmite in Son La Province, Northern Vietnam. Although some studies were implemented in northern Vietnam, there has been no study in Hoa Binh province area where the ASM effect is considered to be not similar to other regions. In the last 20 years, researchers raised out that the 4.2 ka BP climate event is one of the two biggest climate events in the Holocene at global scale (Duan et al.
Some research in the neighborhood's area in Southern China suggested the different conditions around this event. In detail, while some studies suppose the cold and dry conditions, others suppose in the opposite way of wet climate (Zhang et al., 2018; Wang et al. To continue this topic, in this thesis, author used the analysis data of a stalagmite NS4 which was collected on March 10, 2018, from Nam Son unspoiled cave in Hoa Binh province to look into paleoclimate in the duration of 5.5ka BP, before and after the 4.2 ka BP cooling event, in Northern Vietnam. On the other hand, author wishes that the result will be a reference for paleoclimate studies in Vietnam in the future.
The research questions and hypotheses Table 1. contains the research questions and hypotheses. Research question and hypothesis of the study No. Research questions Hypothesis Did the changes in stable isotope Stalagmite NS4 can record the composition (δ18O and δ13C) in 1 paleoclimate in global 4.2ka cooling sample stalagmite NS4 record the event.2 ka cooling event? Which is the main factor that δ18O value in stalagmite NS4 is mainly 2 affected to δ18O value in affected by precipitation.
stalagmite NS4? The value of δ18O and δ13C in sample How did δ18O and δ13C value in NS4, in inverse relationship, can reflect 3 sample NS4 reflect the changes in the regional changes in paleoprecipitation regional paleoclimate? and paleotemperature at 3.5-5ka BP in Northern Vietnam. Research objectives and tasks The research’s objectives and tasks as details in Table 1. Objectives and tasks of the study Objectives Tasks No. 1 Comprehend the - Achieve the knowledge of principle concepts, principles of using include the carbon and oxygen atoms structure and paleothems proxies stable isotopes, stalagmite formation process, U-Th to reconstruct dating method, stable analysis methods and paleoclimate and monitoring methods.
apply it to interprete - Literature review about the climate changes studies the δ18O and δ13C in the world, Asia and Vietnam which using values in stalagmite speleothems proxies NS4 2 Analyze the change - Collect data of temperature, precipitation, vapor of δ18O and δ13C presure, δ18O and δ13C values, from websites, mete- values through the orological stations and projects fractionation - Use R software for analyzing data (linear modeling, processes of time-series analysis and checking correlation precipitation, drip coefficient) water and deposition - Monitoring for current value of δ18O in precipitation and drip water 3 Reconstruct the - Analyze the recording ability of 4.2ka cooling event changes in paleo- in stalagmite NS4 climate at 3.5-5ka in - Analyze the changes and interprete the δ18O and northern Vietnam δ13C values in stalagmite NS4 - Consider the compatibility between the statements on climate change from stable isotope data in stalagmite NS4 with research results in Vietnam and the neighborhood area. The scope of the research This research focused on the paleoclimate from 3.0ka BP in the northern Vietnam.