Declining moisture availability on the Antarctic Peninsula during the Late Eocene
Paleobotanical data have indicated that the Antarctic landscape shifted from a beech (Nothofagus)-dominated forest to a more sparsely vegetated taiga-like woodland and tundra during the Late Eocene, coincident with progressive cooling and glacial growth. Reduced moisture availability may have contri...
Published in: | Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology |
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ftlouisianastuir:oai:digitalcommons.lsu.edu:geo_pubs-2053 2023-06-11T04:06:33+02:00 Declining moisture availability on the Antarctic Peninsula during the Late Eocene Griener, Kathryn W. Nelson, David M. Warny, Sophie 2013-08-01T07:00:00Z https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/geo_pubs/1054 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2013.05.004 unknown LSU Digital Commons https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/geo_pubs/1054 doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2013.05.004 Faculty Publications δ C 13 Antarctica Eocene Moisture availability Nothofagidites Nothofagus text 2013 ftlouisianastuir https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2013.05.004 2023-05-28T18:17:27Z Paleobotanical data have indicated that the Antarctic landscape shifted from a beech (Nothofagus)-dominated forest to a more sparsely vegetated taiga-like woodland and tundra during the Late Eocene, coincident with progressive cooling and glacial growth. Reduced moisture availability may have contributed to this vegetation change, but there is limited evidence for assessing the Late Eocene hydrologic regime. We evaluated the relationship between Nothofagus δ13C and moisture availability by determining δ13C of modern Nothofagus pollen, sporopollenin, and leaves and comparing these results to precipitation data. To assess plant moisture availability and vegetation composition just prior to the Eocene-Oligocene boundary, we measured δ13C of fossil Nothofagus sporopollenin (Nothofagidites) from the SHALDRIL 3C cores (which date to ~35.9My) and evaluated these results in the context of temporal variation in pollen assemblages from the same sediments. Values of carbon isotope discrimination ({increment}) for modern Nothofagus sporopollenin range between 18.1 and 22.4‰. These values are positively correlated with precipitation amount, as well as pollen and leaf {increment}, which suggests that fossil sporopollenin {increment} records the level of plant moisture availability. {increment} values obtained from Nothofagidites sporopollenin from the SHALDRIL 3C sediments range between 17.9 and 20.2‰ and generally decline through time. These results suggest a decrease in plant moisture availability on the Antarctic Peninsula during the Late Eocene, perhaps as a result of declining precipitation and/or soil moisture. Therefore, moisture stress experienced by Nothofagus likely contributed to the shift to a more sparsely vegetated Late Eocene landscape. Our results show that carbon isotopic analysis of pollen from C3 plants may aid understanding how variations in moisture availability contribute to shifts in plant community composition in the paleorecord. © 2013 Elsevier B.V. Text Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Antarctica taiga Tundra LSU Digital Commons (Louisiana State University) Antarctic The Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 383-384 72 78 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
LSU Digital Commons (Louisiana State University) |
op_collection_id |
ftlouisianastuir |
language |
unknown |
topic |
δ C 13 Antarctica Eocene Moisture availability Nothofagidites Nothofagus |
spellingShingle |
δ C 13 Antarctica Eocene Moisture availability Nothofagidites Nothofagus Griener, Kathryn W. Nelson, David M. Warny, Sophie Declining moisture availability on the Antarctic Peninsula during the Late Eocene |
topic_facet |
δ C 13 Antarctica Eocene Moisture availability Nothofagidites Nothofagus |
description |
Paleobotanical data have indicated that the Antarctic landscape shifted from a beech (Nothofagus)-dominated forest to a more sparsely vegetated taiga-like woodland and tundra during the Late Eocene, coincident with progressive cooling and glacial growth. Reduced moisture availability may have contributed to this vegetation change, but there is limited evidence for assessing the Late Eocene hydrologic regime. We evaluated the relationship between Nothofagus δ13C and moisture availability by determining δ13C of modern Nothofagus pollen, sporopollenin, and leaves and comparing these results to precipitation data. To assess plant moisture availability and vegetation composition just prior to the Eocene-Oligocene boundary, we measured δ13C of fossil Nothofagus sporopollenin (Nothofagidites) from the SHALDRIL 3C cores (which date to ~35.9My) and evaluated these results in the context of temporal variation in pollen assemblages from the same sediments. Values of carbon isotope discrimination ({increment}) for modern Nothofagus sporopollenin range between 18.1 and 22.4‰. These values are positively correlated with precipitation amount, as well as pollen and leaf {increment}, which suggests that fossil sporopollenin {increment} records the level of plant moisture availability. {increment} values obtained from Nothofagidites sporopollenin from the SHALDRIL 3C sediments range between 17.9 and 20.2‰ and generally decline through time. These results suggest a decrease in plant moisture availability on the Antarctic Peninsula during the Late Eocene, perhaps as a result of declining precipitation and/or soil moisture. Therefore, moisture stress experienced by Nothofagus likely contributed to the shift to a more sparsely vegetated Late Eocene landscape. Our results show that carbon isotopic analysis of pollen from C3 plants may aid understanding how variations in moisture availability contribute to shifts in plant community composition in the paleorecord. © 2013 Elsevier B.V. |
format |
Text |
author |
Griener, Kathryn W. Nelson, David M. Warny, Sophie |
author_facet |
Griener, Kathryn W. Nelson, David M. Warny, Sophie |
author_sort |
Griener, Kathryn W. |
title |
Declining moisture availability on the Antarctic Peninsula during the Late Eocene |
title_short |
Declining moisture availability on the Antarctic Peninsula during the Late Eocene |
title_full |
Declining moisture availability on the Antarctic Peninsula during the Late Eocene |
title_fullStr |
Declining moisture availability on the Antarctic Peninsula during the Late Eocene |
title_full_unstemmed |
Declining moisture availability on the Antarctic Peninsula during the Late Eocene |
title_sort |
declining moisture availability on the antarctic peninsula during the late eocene |
publisher |
LSU Digital Commons |
publishDate |
2013 |
url |
https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/geo_pubs/1054 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2013.05.004 |
geographic |
Antarctic The Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic The Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Antarctica taiga Tundra |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Antarctica taiga Tundra |
op_source |
Faculty Publications |
op_relation |
https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/geo_pubs/1054 doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2013.05.004 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2013.05.004 |
container_title |
Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology |
container_volume |
383-384 |
container_start_page |
72 |
op_container_end_page |
78 |
_version_ |
1768378559134433280 |