Pedogenic Carbonate Isotope and Elemental Data from Central Botswana

Pedogenic carbonates from four sections in Central Botswana provide elemental and isotopic archives of past environmental conditions. Stable carbon (δ¹³C) and oxygen (δ¹⁸O) isotope data, alongside manganese and iron concentrations, reveal a decoupling between stable regional climate and dynamic local hydrology. The dataset, authored by Ferdinand J. Dina Ebouel and last updated in May 2026, is shared under a CC-BY-4.0 license.

Use Cases

• Reconstructing vegetation dynamics based on δ¹³C values indicative of C4-dominated savannah and C3 shrub ecosystems.
• Analyzing local hydrological variability based on δ¹⁸O values and Mn/Fe ratios marking freshwater input and waterlogging events.
• Identifying episodic fluvial pulses and overbank flooding events based on decoupled redox signals in carbonate nodules.
• Studying elemental partitioning between soil horizons and carbonate features based on reported Mn and Fe concentrations.

Strengths

• Includes stable isotope data (δ¹³C and δ¹⁸O) with reported ranges (e.g., δ¹³C from -6.85‰ to -0.24‰).
• Reports elemental concentrations (Mn and Fe) in molar percent for both soil profiles and carbonate features, with specific ranges provided.
• Data is integrated from four distinct pedosedimentary sections (SC01–SC04), allowing for spatial comparison.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• The dataset is very small (30.6 KB), indicating a limited scope of observations.

Provenance

Source

Ferdinand J. Dina Ebouel

Collection Method

Analysis of pedogenic carbonate features and soil horizons from four pedosedimentary sections.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-05-08 05:54:17; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Central Botswana