The last forests on Antarctica : reconstructing flora and temperature from the Neogene Sirius Group, Transantarctic Mountains
R.L.R.O. thanks the Natural Environmental Research Council (NERC) for supporting her PhD studentship (NE/K500847/1) and BGS for CASE support. R.I. was supported by a NERC Independent Fellowship (NE/K008536/1). F.L.G was supported by a Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkin Fellowship. Fossil-bearing deposits...
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ftstandrewserep:oai:research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk:10023/12701 2023-07-02T03:29:54+02:00 The last forests on Antarctica : reconstructing flora and temperature from the Neogene Sirius Group, Transantarctic Mountains Rees-Owen, Rhian L. Gill, Fiona L. Newton, Robert J. Ivanovic, Ruza F. Francis, Jane E. Riding, James B. Vane, Christopher H. Lopes dos Santos, Raquel A. University of St Andrews. School of Earth & Environmental Sciences 2018-02-12T12:30:07Z application/pdf http://hdl.handle.net/10023/12701 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.orggeochem.2018.01.001 eng eng Organic Geochemistry Rees-Owen , R L , Gill , F L , Newton , R J , Ivanovic , R F , Francis , J E , Riding , J B , Vane , C H & Lopes dos Santos , R A 2018 , ' The last forests on Antarctica : reconstructing flora and temperature from the Neogene Sirius Group, Transantarctic Mountains ' , Organic Geochemistry , vol. 118 , pp. 4-14 . https://doi.org/10.1016/j.orggeochem.2018.01.001 0146-6380 PURE: 252026607 PURE UUID: ce9d4176-2044-493d-b599-9cf1fa0a744a Scopus: 85044624189 ORCID: /0000-0003-0520-4160/work/40797770 WOS: 000428997900002 http://hdl.handle.net/10023/12701 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.orggeochem.2018.01.001 © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Antarctica Neogene Sirius Group Terpenoid GDGT Palaeovegetation Palaeotemperature Palaeoenvironment GE Environmental Sciences QE Geology QD Chemistry NDAS SDG 15 - Life on Land GE QE QD Journal article 2018 ftstandrewserep https://doi.org/10.1016/j.orggeochem.2018.01.001 2023-06-13T18:27:19Z R.L.R.O. thanks the Natural Environmental Research Council (NERC) for supporting her PhD studentship (NE/K500847/1) and BGS for CASE support. R.I. was supported by a NERC Independent Fellowship (NE/K008536/1). F.L.G was supported by a Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkin Fellowship. Fossil-bearing deposits in the Transantarctic Mountains, Antarctica indicate that, despite the cold nature of the continent’s climate, a tundra ecosystem grew during periods of ice sheet retreat in the mid to late Neogene (17–2.5 Ma), 480 km from the South Pole. To date, palaeotemperature reconstruction has been based only on biological ranges, thereby calling for a geochemical approach to understanding continental climate and environment. There is contradictory evidence in the fossil record as to whether this flora was mixed angiosperm-conifer vegetation, or whether by this point conifers had disappeared from the continent. In order to address these questions, we have analysed, for the first time in sediments of this age, plant and bacterial biomarkers in terrestrial sediments from the Transantarctic Mountains to reconstruct past temperature and vegetation during a period of East Antarctic Ice Sheet retreat. From tetraether lipids (MBT’/CBT palaeothermometer), we conclude that the mean continental summer temperature was ca. 5 °C, in agreement with previous reconstructions. This was warm enough to have allowed woody vegetation to survive and reproduce even during the austral winter. Biomarkers from vascular plants indicate a low diversity and spatially variable flora consisting of higher plants, moss and algal mats growing in microenvironments in a glacial outwash system. Abietane-type compounds were abundant in some samples, indicating that conifers, most likely Podocarpaceae, grew on the Antarctic continent well into the Neogene. This is supported by the palynological record, but not the macrofossil record for the continent, and has implications for the evolution of vegetation on Antarctica. Publisher PDF Peer reviewed Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Ice Sheet South pole South pole Tundra University of St Andrews: Digital Research Repository Antarctic Austral East Antarctic Ice Sheet Sirius ENVELOPE(163.250,163.250,-84.133,-84.133) South Pole The Antarctic Transantarctic Mountains Organic Geochemistry 118 4 14 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of St Andrews: Digital Research Repository |
op_collection_id |
ftstandrewserep |
language |
English |
topic |
Antarctica Neogene Sirius Group Terpenoid GDGT Palaeovegetation Palaeotemperature Palaeoenvironment GE Environmental Sciences QE Geology QD Chemistry NDAS SDG 15 - Life on Land GE QE QD |
spellingShingle |
Antarctica Neogene Sirius Group Terpenoid GDGT Palaeovegetation Palaeotemperature Palaeoenvironment GE Environmental Sciences QE Geology QD Chemistry NDAS SDG 15 - Life on Land GE QE QD Rees-Owen, Rhian L. Gill, Fiona L. Newton, Robert J. Ivanovic, Ruza F. Francis, Jane E. Riding, James B. Vane, Christopher H. Lopes dos Santos, Raquel A. The last forests on Antarctica : reconstructing flora and temperature from the Neogene Sirius Group, Transantarctic Mountains |
topic_facet |
Antarctica Neogene Sirius Group Terpenoid GDGT Palaeovegetation Palaeotemperature Palaeoenvironment GE Environmental Sciences QE Geology QD Chemistry NDAS SDG 15 - Life on Land GE QE QD |
description |
R.L.R.O. thanks the Natural Environmental Research Council (NERC) for supporting her PhD studentship (NE/K500847/1) and BGS for CASE support. R.I. was supported by a NERC Independent Fellowship (NE/K008536/1). F.L.G was supported by a Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkin Fellowship. Fossil-bearing deposits in the Transantarctic Mountains, Antarctica indicate that, despite the cold nature of the continent’s climate, a tundra ecosystem grew during periods of ice sheet retreat in the mid to late Neogene (17–2.5 Ma), 480 km from the South Pole. To date, palaeotemperature reconstruction has been based only on biological ranges, thereby calling for a geochemical approach to understanding continental climate and environment. There is contradictory evidence in the fossil record as to whether this flora was mixed angiosperm-conifer vegetation, or whether by this point conifers had disappeared from the continent. In order to address these questions, we have analysed, for the first time in sediments of this age, plant and bacterial biomarkers in terrestrial sediments from the Transantarctic Mountains to reconstruct past temperature and vegetation during a period of East Antarctic Ice Sheet retreat. From tetraether lipids (MBT’/CBT palaeothermometer), we conclude that the mean continental summer temperature was ca. 5 °C, in agreement with previous reconstructions. This was warm enough to have allowed woody vegetation to survive and reproduce even during the austral winter. Biomarkers from vascular plants indicate a low diversity and spatially variable flora consisting of higher plants, moss and algal mats growing in microenvironments in a glacial outwash system. Abietane-type compounds were abundant in some samples, indicating that conifers, most likely Podocarpaceae, grew on the Antarctic continent well into the Neogene. This is supported by the palynological record, but not the macrofossil record for the continent, and has implications for the evolution of vegetation on Antarctica. Publisher PDF Peer reviewed |
author2 |
University of St Andrews. School of Earth & Environmental Sciences |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Rees-Owen, Rhian L. Gill, Fiona L. Newton, Robert J. Ivanovic, Ruza F. Francis, Jane E. Riding, James B. Vane, Christopher H. Lopes dos Santos, Raquel A. |
author_facet |
Rees-Owen, Rhian L. Gill, Fiona L. Newton, Robert J. Ivanovic, Ruza F. Francis, Jane E. Riding, James B. Vane, Christopher H. Lopes dos Santos, Raquel A. |
author_sort |
Rees-Owen, Rhian L. |
title |
The last forests on Antarctica : reconstructing flora and temperature from the Neogene Sirius Group, Transantarctic Mountains |
title_short |
The last forests on Antarctica : reconstructing flora and temperature from the Neogene Sirius Group, Transantarctic Mountains |
title_full |
The last forests on Antarctica : reconstructing flora and temperature from the Neogene Sirius Group, Transantarctic Mountains |
title_fullStr |
The last forests on Antarctica : reconstructing flora and temperature from the Neogene Sirius Group, Transantarctic Mountains |
title_full_unstemmed |
The last forests on Antarctica : reconstructing flora and temperature from the Neogene Sirius Group, Transantarctic Mountains |
title_sort |
last forests on antarctica : reconstructing flora and temperature from the neogene sirius group, transantarctic mountains |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/10023/12701 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.orggeochem.2018.01.001 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(163.250,163.250,-84.133,-84.133) |
geographic |
Antarctic Austral East Antarctic Ice Sheet Sirius South Pole The Antarctic Transantarctic Mountains |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Austral East Antarctic Ice Sheet Sirius South Pole The Antarctic Transantarctic Mountains |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Ice Sheet South pole South pole Tundra |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Ice Sheet South pole South pole Tundra |
op_relation |
Organic Geochemistry Rees-Owen , R L , Gill , F L , Newton , R J , Ivanovic , R F , Francis , J E , Riding , J B , Vane , C H & Lopes dos Santos , R A 2018 , ' The last forests on Antarctica : reconstructing flora and temperature from the Neogene Sirius Group, Transantarctic Mountains ' , Organic Geochemistry , vol. 118 , pp. 4-14 . https://doi.org/10.1016/j.orggeochem.2018.01.001 0146-6380 PURE: 252026607 PURE UUID: ce9d4176-2044-493d-b599-9cf1fa0a744a Scopus: 85044624189 ORCID: /0000-0003-0520-4160/work/40797770 WOS: 000428997900002 http://hdl.handle.net/10023/12701 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.orggeochem.2018.01.001 |
op_rights |
© 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.orggeochem.2018.01.001 |
container_title |
Organic Geochemistry |
container_volume |
118 |
container_start_page |
4 |
op_container_end_page |
14 |
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1770273379558883328 |