Atmospheric CO2 effect on stable carbon isotope composition of terrestrial fossil archives
The 13C/12C ratio of C3 plant matter is thought to be controlled by the isotopic composition of atmospheric CO2 and stomatal response to environmental conditions, particularly mean annual precipitation (MAP). The effect of CO2 concentration on 13C/12C ratios is currently debated, yet crucial to reco...
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ftuloxford:oai:ora.ox.ac.uk:uuid:2d75334f-4bef-44ae-bb4d-e020ccfee5f1 2023-05-15T16:39:07+02:00 Atmospheric CO2 effect on stable carbon isotope composition of terrestrial fossil archives Hare, V Loftus, E Jeffrey, A Ramsey, C 2018-02-08 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-017-02691-x https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:2d75334f-4bef-44ae-bb4d-e020ccfee5f1 eng eng Nature Publishing Group doi:10.1038/s41467-017-02691-x https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:2d75334f-4bef-44ae-bb4d-e020ccfee5f1 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-017-02691-x info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess CC Attribution (CC BY) CC-BY Journal article 2018 ftuloxford https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-017-02691-x 2022-06-28T20:08:46Z The 13C/12C ratio of C3 plant matter is thought to be controlled by the isotopic composition of atmospheric CO2 and stomatal response to environmental conditions, particularly mean annual precipitation (MAP). The effect of CO2 concentration on 13C/12C ratios is currently debated, yet crucial to reconstructing ancient environments and quantifying the carbon cycle. Here we compare high-resolution ice core measurements of atmospheric CO2 with fossil plant and faunal isotope records. We show the effect of pCO2 during the last deglaciation is stronger for gymnosperms (-1.4 ± 1.2‰) than angiosperms/fauna (-0.5 ± 1.5‰), while the contributions from changing MAP are -0.3 ± 0.6‰ and -0.4 ± 0.4‰, respectively. Previous studies have assumed that plant 13C/12C ratios are mostly determined by MAP, an assumption which is sometimes incorrect in geological time. Atmospheric effects must be taken into account when interpreting terrestrial stable carbon isotopes, with important implications for past environments and climates, and understanding plant responses to climate change. Article in Journal/Newspaper ice core ORA - Oxford University Research Archive Nature Communications 9 1 |
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Open Polar |
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ORA - Oxford University Research Archive |
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ftuloxford |
language |
English |
description |
The 13C/12C ratio of C3 plant matter is thought to be controlled by the isotopic composition of atmospheric CO2 and stomatal response to environmental conditions, particularly mean annual precipitation (MAP). The effect of CO2 concentration on 13C/12C ratios is currently debated, yet crucial to reconstructing ancient environments and quantifying the carbon cycle. Here we compare high-resolution ice core measurements of atmospheric CO2 with fossil plant and faunal isotope records. We show the effect of pCO2 during the last deglaciation is stronger for gymnosperms (-1.4 ± 1.2‰) than angiosperms/fauna (-0.5 ± 1.5‰), while the contributions from changing MAP are -0.3 ± 0.6‰ and -0.4 ± 0.4‰, respectively. Previous studies have assumed that plant 13C/12C ratios are mostly determined by MAP, an assumption which is sometimes incorrect in geological time. Atmospheric effects must be taken into account when interpreting terrestrial stable carbon isotopes, with important implications for past environments and climates, and understanding plant responses to climate change. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Hare, V Loftus, E Jeffrey, A Ramsey, C |
spellingShingle |
Hare, V Loftus, E Jeffrey, A Ramsey, C Atmospheric CO2 effect on stable carbon isotope composition of terrestrial fossil archives |
author_facet |
Hare, V Loftus, E Jeffrey, A Ramsey, C |
author_sort |
Hare, V |
title |
Atmospheric CO2 effect on stable carbon isotope composition of terrestrial fossil archives |
title_short |
Atmospheric CO2 effect on stable carbon isotope composition of terrestrial fossil archives |
title_full |
Atmospheric CO2 effect on stable carbon isotope composition of terrestrial fossil archives |
title_fullStr |
Atmospheric CO2 effect on stable carbon isotope composition of terrestrial fossil archives |
title_full_unstemmed |
Atmospheric CO2 effect on stable carbon isotope composition of terrestrial fossil archives |
title_sort |
atmospheric co2 effect on stable carbon isotope composition of terrestrial fossil archives |
publisher |
Nature Publishing Group |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-017-02691-x https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:2d75334f-4bef-44ae-bb4d-e020ccfee5f1 |
genre |
ice core |
genre_facet |
ice core |
op_relation |
doi:10.1038/s41467-017-02691-x https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:2d75334f-4bef-44ae-bb4d-e020ccfee5f1 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-017-02691-x |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess CC Attribution (CC BY) |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-017-02691-x |
container_title |
Nature Communications |
container_volume |
9 |
container_issue |
1 |
_version_ |
1766029449076146176 |