Persistent Near–Tropical Warmth on the Antarctic Continent During the Early Eocene Epoch
The warmest global climates of the past 65 million years occurred during the early Eocene epoch (about 55 to 48 million years ago), when the Equator–to–pole temperature gradients were much smaller than today and atmospheric carbon dioxide levels were in excess of one thousand parts per million by vo...
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Online Access: | https://digitalcommons.montclair.edu/earth-environ-studies-facpubs/471 https://doi.org/10.1038/nature11300 |
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ftmontclairstuni:oai:digitalcommons.montclair.edu:earth-environ-studies-facpubs-1470 2023-07-23T04:15:04+02:00 Persistent Near–Tropical Warmth on the Antarctic Continent During the Early Eocene Epoch Pross, Jörg Contreras, Lineth Bijl, Peter K. Greenwood, David R. Bohaty, Steven M. Schouten, Stefan Bendle, James A. Röhl, Ursula Tauxe, Lisa Raine, J. Ian Huck, Claire E. Van De Flierdt, Tina Jamieson, Stewart S.R. Stickley, Catherine E. Van De Schootbrugge, Bas Escutia, Carlota Brinkhuis, Henk Escutia Dotti, Carlota Klaus, Adam Fehr, Annick Williams, Trevor Bendle, James A.P. Carr, Stephanie A. Dunbar, Robert B. Gonzèlez, Jhon J. Hayden, Travis G. Iwai, Masao Jimenez Espejo, Francisco J. Katsuki, Kota Soo Kong, Gee 2012-08-02T07:00:00Z https://digitalcommons.montclair.edu/earth-environ-studies-facpubs/471 https://doi.org/10.1038/nature11300 unknown Montclair State University Digital Commons https://digitalcommons.montclair.edu/earth-environ-studies-facpubs/471 doi:10.1038/nature11300 Department of Earth and Environmental Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works text 2012 ftmontclairstuni https://doi.org/10.1038/nature11300 2023-07-03T21:48:47Z The warmest global climates of the past 65 million years occurred during the early Eocene epoch (about 55 to 48 million years ago), when the Equator–to–pole temperature gradients were much smaller than today and atmospheric carbon dioxide levels were in excess of one thousand parts per million by volume. Recently the early Eocene has received considerable interest because it may provide insight into the response of Earth’s climate and biosphere to the high atmospheric carbon dioxide levels that are expected in the near future as a consequence of unabated anthropogenic carbon emissions. Climatic conditions of the early Eocene ‘greenhouse world’, however, are poorly constrained in critical regions, particularly Antarctica. Here we present a well–dated record of early Eocene climate on Antarctica from an ocean sediment core recovered off the Wilkes Land coast of East Antarctica. The information from biotic climate proxies (pollen and spores) and independent organic geochemical climate proxies (indices based on branched tetraether lipids) yields quantitative, seasonal temperature reconstructions for the early Eocene greenhouse world on Antarctica. We show that the climate in lowland settings along the Wilkes Land coast (at a palaeolatitude of about 70° south) supported the growth of highly diverse, near-tropical forests characterized by mesothermal to megathermal floral elements including palms and Bombacoideae. Notably, winters were extremely mild (warmer than 10°C) and essentially frost–free despite polar darkness, which provides a critical new constraint for the validation of climate models and for understanding the response of high–latitude terrestrial ecosystems to increased carbon dioxide forcing. Text Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica East Antarctica Wilkes Land Montclair State University Digital Commons Antarctic The Antarctic East Antarctica Wilkes Land ENVELOPE(120.000,120.000,-69.000,-69.000) Nature 488 7409 73 77 |
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Montclair State University Digital Commons |
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ftmontclairstuni |
language |
unknown |
description |
The warmest global climates of the past 65 million years occurred during the early Eocene epoch (about 55 to 48 million years ago), when the Equator–to–pole temperature gradients were much smaller than today and atmospheric carbon dioxide levels were in excess of one thousand parts per million by volume. Recently the early Eocene has received considerable interest because it may provide insight into the response of Earth’s climate and biosphere to the high atmospheric carbon dioxide levels that are expected in the near future as a consequence of unabated anthropogenic carbon emissions. Climatic conditions of the early Eocene ‘greenhouse world’, however, are poorly constrained in critical regions, particularly Antarctica. Here we present a well–dated record of early Eocene climate on Antarctica from an ocean sediment core recovered off the Wilkes Land coast of East Antarctica. The information from biotic climate proxies (pollen and spores) and independent organic geochemical climate proxies (indices based on branched tetraether lipids) yields quantitative, seasonal temperature reconstructions for the early Eocene greenhouse world on Antarctica. We show that the climate in lowland settings along the Wilkes Land coast (at a palaeolatitude of about 70° south) supported the growth of highly diverse, near-tropical forests characterized by mesothermal to megathermal floral elements including palms and Bombacoideae. Notably, winters were extremely mild (warmer than 10°C) and essentially frost–free despite polar darkness, which provides a critical new constraint for the validation of climate models and for understanding the response of high–latitude terrestrial ecosystems to increased carbon dioxide forcing. |
format |
Text |
author |
Pross, Jörg Contreras, Lineth Bijl, Peter K. Greenwood, David R. Bohaty, Steven M. Schouten, Stefan Bendle, James A. Röhl, Ursula Tauxe, Lisa Raine, J. Ian Huck, Claire E. Van De Flierdt, Tina Jamieson, Stewart S.R. Stickley, Catherine E. Van De Schootbrugge, Bas Escutia, Carlota Brinkhuis, Henk Escutia Dotti, Carlota Klaus, Adam Fehr, Annick Williams, Trevor Bendle, James A.P. Carr, Stephanie A. Dunbar, Robert B. Gonzèlez, Jhon J. Hayden, Travis G. Iwai, Masao Jimenez Espejo, Francisco J. Katsuki, Kota Soo Kong, Gee |
spellingShingle |
Pross, Jörg Contreras, Lineth Bijl, Peter K. Greenwood, David R. Bohaty, Steven M. Schouten, Stefan Bendle, James A. Röhl, Ursula Tauxe, Lisa Raine, J. Ian Huck, Claire E. Van De Flierdt, Tina Jamieson, Stewart S.R. Stickley, Catherine E. Van De Schootbrugge, Bas Escutia, Carlota Brinkhuis, Henk Escutia Dotti, Carlota Klaus, Adam Fehr, Annick Williams, Trevor Bendle, James A.P. Carr, Stephanie A. Dunbar, Robert B. Gonzèlez, Jhon J. Hayden, Travis G. Iwai, Masao Jimenez Espejo, Francisco J. Katsuki, Kota Soo Kong, Gee Persistent Near–Tropical Warmth on the Antarctic Continent During the Early Eocene Epoch |
author_facet |
Pross, Jörg Contreras, Lineth Bijl, Peter K. Greenwood, David R. Bohaty, Steven M. Schouten, Stefan Bendle, James A. Röhl, Ursula Tauxe, Lisa Raine, J. Ian Huck, Claire E. Van De Flierdt, Tina Jamieson, Stewart S.R. Stickley, Catherine E. Van De Schootbrugge, Bas Escutia, Carlota Brinkhuis, Henk Escutia Dotti, Carlota Klaus, Adam Fehr, Annick Williams, Trevor Bendle, James A.P. Carr, Stephanie A. Dunbar, Robert B. Gonzèlez, Jhon J. Hayden, Travis G. Iwai, Masao Jimenez Espejo, Francisco J. Katsuki, Kota Soo Kong, Gee |
author_sort |
Pross, Jörg |
title |
Persistent Near–Tropical Warmth on the Antarctic Continent During the Early Eocene Epoch |
title_short |
Persistent Near–Tropical Warmth on the Antarctic Continent During the Early Eocene Epoch |
title_full |
Persistent Near–Tropical Warmth on the Antarctic Continent During the Early Eocene Epoch |
title_fullStr |
Persistent Near–Tropical Warmth on the Antarctic Continent During the Early Eocene Epoch |
title_full_unstemmed |
Persistent Near–Tropical Warmth on the Antarctic Continent During the Early Eocene Epoch |
title_sort |
persistent near–tropical warmth on the antarctic continent during the early eocene epoch |
publisher |
Montclair State University Digital Commons |
publishDate |
2012 |
url |
https://digitalcommons.montclair.edu/earth-environ-studies-facpubs/471 https://doi.org/10.1038/nature11300 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(120.000,120.000,-69.000,-69.000) |
geographic |
Antarctic The Antarctic East Antarctica Wilkes Land |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic The Antarctic East Antarctica Wilkes Land |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica East Antarctica Wilkes Land |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica East Antarctica Wilkes Land |
op_source |
Department of Earth and Environmental Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works |
op_relation |
https://digitalcommons.montclair.edu/earth-environ-studies-facpubs/471 doi:10.1038/nature11300 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1038/nature11300 |
container_title |
Nature |
container_volume |
488 |
container_issue |
7409 |
container_start_page |
73 |
op_container_end_page |
77 |
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1772189071569846272 |