Mid-Miocene cooling and the extinction of tundra in continental Antarctica
A major obstacle in understanding the evolution of Cenozoic climate has been the lack of well dated terrestrial evidence from high-latitude, glaciated regions. Here, we report the discovery of exceptionally well preserved fossils of lacustrine and terrestrial organisms from the McMurdo Dry Valleys s...
Published in: | Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , |
Format: | Text |
Language: | English |
Published: |
National Academy of Sciences
2008
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2495011 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18678903 https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0802501105 |
id |
ftpubmed:oai:pubmedcentral.nih.gov:2495011 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftpubmed:oai:pubmedcentral.nih.gov:2495011 2023-05-15T14:02:12+02:00 Mid-Miocene cooling and the extinction of tundra in continental Antarctica Lewis, Adam R. Marchant, David R. Ashworth, Allan C. Hedenäs, Lars Hemming, Sidney R. Johnson, Jesse V. Leng, Melanie J. Machlus, Malka L. Newton, Angela E. Raine, J. Ian Willenbring, Jane K. Williams, Mark Wolfe, Alexander P. 2008-08-05 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2495011 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18678903 https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0802501105 en eng National Academy of Sciences http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2495011 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18678903 http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0802501105 © 2008 by The National Academy of Sciences of the USA Freely available online through the PNAS open access option. Physical Sciences Text 2008 ftpubmed https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0802501105 2013-09-02T03:18:44Z A major obstacle in understanding the evolution of Cenozoic climate has been the lack of well dated terrestrial evidence from high-latitude, glaciated regions. Here, we report the discovery of exceptionally well preserved fossils of lacustrine and terrestrial organisms from the McMurdo Dry Valleys sector of the Transantarctic Mountains for which we have established a precise radiometric chronology. The fossils, which include diatoms, palynomorphs, mosses, ostracodes, and insects, represent the last vestige of a tundra community that inhabited the mountains before stepped cooling that first brought a full polar climate to Antarctica. Paleoecological analyses, 40Ar/39Ar analyses of associated ash fall, and climate inferences from glaciological modeling together suggest that mean summer temperatures in the region cooled by at least 8°C between 14.07 ± 0.05 Ma and 13.85 ± 0.03 Ma. These results provide novel constraints for the timing and amplitude of middle-Miocene cooling in Antarctica and reveal the ecological legacy of this global climate transition. Text Antarc* Antarctica McMurdo Dry Valleys Tundra PubMed Central (PMC) McMurdo Dry Valleys Transantarctic Mountains Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 105 31 10676 10680 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
PubMed Central (PMC) |
op_collection_id |
ftpubmed |
language |
English |
topic |
Physical Sciences |
spellingShingle |
Physical Sciences Lewis, Adam R. Marchant, David R. Ashworth, Allan C. Hedenäs, Lars Hemming, Sidney R. Johnson, Jesse V. Leng, Melanie J. Machlus, Malka L. Newton, Angela E. Raine, J. Ian Willenbring, Jane K. Williams, Mark Wolfe, Alexander P. Mid-Miocene cooling and the extinction of tundra in continental Antarctica |
topic_facet |
Physical Sciences |
description |
A major obstacle in understanding the evolution of Cenozoic climate has been the lack of well dated terrestrial evidence from high-latitude, glaciated regions. Here, we report the discovery of exceptionally well preserved fossils of lacustrine and terrestrial organisms from the McMurdo Dry Valleys sector of the Transantarctic Mountains for which we have established a precise radiometric chronology. The fossils, which include diatoms, palynomorphs, mosses, ostracodes, and insects, represent the last vestige of a tundra community that inhabited the mountains before stepped cooling that first brought a full polar climate to Antarctica. Paleoecological analyses, 40Ar/39Ar analyses of associated ash fall, and climate inferences from glaciological modeling together suggest that mean summer temperatures in the region cooled by at least 8°C between 14.07 ± 0.05 Ma and 13.85 ± 0.03 Ma. These results provide novel constraints for the timing and amplitude of middle-Miocene cooling in Antarctica and reveal the ecological legacy of this global climate transition. |
format |
Text |
author |
Lewis, Adam R. Marchant, David R. Ashworth, Allan C. Hedenäs, Lars Hemming, Sidney R. Johnson, Jesse V. Leng, Melanie J. Machlus, Malka L. Newton, Angela E. Raine, J. Ian Willenbring, Jane K. Williams, Mark Wolfe, Alexander P. |
author_facet |
Lewis, Adam R. Marchant, David R. Ashworth, Allan C. Hedenäs, Lars Hemming, Sidney R. Johnson, Jesse V. Leng, Melanie J. Machlus, Malka L. Newton, Angela E. Raine, J. Ian Willenbring, Jane K. Williams, Mark Wolfe, Alexander P. |
author_sort |
Lewis, Adam R. |
title |
Mid-Miocene cooling and the extinction of tundra in continental Antarctica |
title_short |
Mid-Miocene cooling and the extinction of tundra in continental Antarctica |
title_full |
Mid-Miocene cooling and the extinction of tundra in continental Antarctica |
title_fullStr |
Mid-Miocene cooling and the extinction of tundra in continental Antarctica |
title_full_unstemmed |
Mid-Miocene cooling and the extinction of tundra in continental Antarctica |
title_sort |
mid-miocene cooling and the extinction of tundra in continental antarctica |
publisher |
National Academy of Sciences |
publishDate |
2008 |
url |
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2495011 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18678903 https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0802501105 |
geographic |
McMurdo Dry Valleys Transantarctic Mountains |
geographic_facet |
McMurdo Dry Valleys Transantarctic Mountains |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctica McMurdo Dry Valleys Tundra |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctica McMurdo Dry Valleys Tundra |
op_relation |
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2495011 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18678903 http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0802501105 |
op_rights |
© 2008 by The National Academy of Sciences of the USA Freely available online through the PNAS open access option. |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0802501105 |
container_title |
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |
container_volume |
105 |
container_issue |
31 |
container_start_page |
10676 |
op_container_end_page |
10680 |
_version_ |
1766272332099223552 |