Temperate rainforests near the South Pole during peak Cretaceous warmth.

Autor: Klages JP; Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung, Bremerhaven, Germany. Johann.Klages@awi.de., Salzmann U; Department of Geography and Environmental Sciences, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK., Bickert T; MARUM-Center for Marine Environmental Sciences, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany., Hillenbrand CD; British Antarctic Survey, Cambridge, UK., Gohl K; Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung, Bremerhaven, Germany., Kuhn G; Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung, Bremerhaven, Germany., Bohaty SM; School of Ocean and Earth Science, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK., Titschack J; MARUM-Center for Marine Environmental Sciences, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany.; Marine Research Department, Senckenberg am Meer, Wilhelmshaven, Germany., Müller J; Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung, Bremerhaven, Germany.; MARUM-Center for Marine Environmental Sciences, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany.; Faculty of Geosciences, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany., Frederichs T; MARUM-Center for Marine Environmental Sciences, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany.; Faculty of Geosciences, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany., Bauersachs T; Institute of Geosciences, Christian-Albrechts-University, Kiel, Germany., Ehrmann W; Institute for Geophysics and Geology, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany., van de Flierdt T; Department of Earth Science and Engineering, Imperial College London, London, UK., Pereira PS; Department of Earth Science and Engineering, Imperial College London, London, UK.; Department of Marine Sciences, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden., Larter RD; British Antarctic Survey, Cambridge, UK., Lohmann G; Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung, Bremerhaven, Germany.; MARUM-Center for Marine Environmental Sciences, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany.; Environmental Physics, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany., Niezgodzki I; Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung, Bremerhaven, Germany.; ING PAN-Institute of Geological Sciences, Polish Academy of Sciences, Biogeosystem Modelling Laboratory, Kraków, Poland., Uenzelmann-Neben G; Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung, Bremerhaven, Germany., Zundel M; Faculty of Geosciences, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany., Spiegel C; Faculty of Geosciences, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany., Mark C; Department of Geology, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland.; School of Earth Sciences, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland., Chew D; Department of Geology, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland., Francis JE; British Antarctic Survey, Cambridge, UK., Nehrke G; Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung, Bremerhaven, Germany., Schwarz F; Department of Geography and Environmental Sciences, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK., Smith JA; British Antarctic Survey, Cambridge, UK., Freudenthal T; MARUM-Center for Marine Environmental Sciences, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany., Esper O; Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung, Bremerhaven, Germany., Pälike H; MARUM-Center for Marine Environmental Sciences, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany.; Faculty of Geosciences, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany., Ronge TA; Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung, Bremerhaven, Germany., Dziadek R; Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung, Bremerhaven, Germany.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Nature [Nature] 2020 Apr; Vol. 580 (7801), pp. 81-86. Date of Electronic Publication: 2020 Apr 01.
DOI: 10.1038/s41586-020-2148-5
Abstrakt: The mid-Cretaceous period was one of the warmest intervals of the past 140 million years 1-5 , driven by atmospheric carbon dioxide levels of around 1,000 parts per million by volume 6 . In the near absence of proximal geological records from south of the Antarctic Circle, it is disputed whether polar ice could exist under such environmental conditions. Here we use a sedimentary sequence recovered from the West Antarctic shelf-the southernmost Cretaceous record reported so far-and show that a temperate lowland rainforest environment existed at a palaeolatitude of about 82° S during the Turonian-Santonian age (92 to 83 million years ago). This record contains an intact 3-metre-long network of in situ fossil roots embedded in a mudstone matrix containing diverse pollen and spores. A climate model simulation shows that the reconstructed temperate climate at this high latitude requires a combination of both atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations of 1,120-1,680 parts per million by volume and a vegetated land surface without major Antarctic glaciation, highlighting the important cooling effect exerted by ice albedo under high levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide.
Databáze: MEDLINE
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