Pedogenic Carbonate Geochemistry and Isotopes from Central Botswana

Central Botswana pedogenic carbonates provide stable carbon (δ13C) and oxygen (δ18O) isotope values and manganese (Mn) and iron (Fe) concentrations. The dataset, authored by Ferdinand J. Dina Ebouel and last updated in May 2026, contains measurements from four pedosedimentary sections (SC01–SC04) to reconstruct past vegetation and hydrology.

Use Cases

• Reconstructing past vegetation dynamics based on δ13C values indicative of C4 savannah and C3 shrub ecosystems.
• Analyzing local hydrological variability based on δ18O values and Mn/Fe ratios marking freshwater input and waterlogging.
• Identifying episodic fluvial events based on decoupled redox signals (high Mn/Fe with enriched δ18O) in carbonate nodules.
• Investigating soil geochemical processes based on Mn and Fe concentrations in carbonate features versus host matrices.

Strengths

• Contains specific geochemical measurements, including δ13C values ranging from -3.17‰ to -0.24‰ and δ18O values from -5.52‰ to -3.39‰.
• Reports elemental concentrations with precise ranges, such as Fe in soil profiles from 2.68% to 7.47% and Mn in nodules up to 0.22%.
• Data is structured around four distinct pedosedimentary sections (SC01–SC04), providing a comparative framework.
• Released under a permissive CC-BY-4.0 license for reuse.

Limitations

• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• The dataset is very small (20.2 KB), indicating limited scope.

Provenance

Source

figshare

Collection Method

Laboratory analysis of pedogenic carbonate samples.

Time Range

null

Freshness

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

Geography

Central Botswana