Temperate rainforests near the South Pole during peak Cretaceous warmth
The mid-Cretaceous period was one of the warmest intervals of the past 140 million years1,2,3,4,5, driven by atmospheric carbon dioxide levels of around 1,000 parts per million by volume6. In the near absence of proximal geological records from south of the Antarctic Circle, it is disputed whether p...
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ftunivnorthumb:oai:nrl.northumbria.ac.uk:42650 2023-05-15T13:44:52+02:00 Temperate rainforests near the South Pole during peak Cretaceous warmth Klages, Johann P. Salzmann, Ulrich Bickert, Torsten Hillenbrand, Claus-Dieter Gohl, Karsten Kuhn, Gerhard Bohaty, Steven M. Titschack, Jürgen Müller, Juliane Frederichs, Thomas Bauersachs, Thorsten Ehrmann, Werner van de Flierdt, Tina Pereira, Patric Simões Larter, Robert D. Lohmann, Gerrit Niezgodzki, Igor Uenzelmann-Neben, Gabriele Zundel, Maximilian Spiegel, Cornelia Mark, Chris Chew, David Francis, Jane E. Nehrke, Gernot Schwarz, Florian Smith, James A. Freudenthal, Tim Esper, Oliver Pälike, Heiko Ronge, Thomas A. Dziadek, Ricarda Afanasyeva, V. Arndt, J. E. Ebermann, B. Gebhardt, C. Hochmuth, K. Küssner, K. Najman, Y. Riefstahl, F. Scheinert, M. 2020-04-02 text https://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/42650/ https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-2148-5 https://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/42650/1/Klages_Salzmann_etal_Nature2020.pdf en eng Nature Publishing https://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/42650/1/Klages_Salzmann_etal_Nature2020.pdf Klages, Johann P., Salzmann, Ulrich, Bickert, Torsten, Hillenbrand, Claus-Dieter, Gohl, Karsten, Kuhn, Gerhard, Bohaty, Steven M., Titschack, Jürgen, Müller, Juliane, Frederichs, Thomas, Bauersachs, Thorsten, Ehrmann, Werner, van de Flierdt, Tina, Pereira, Patric Simões, Larter, Robert D., Lohmann, Gerrit, Niezgodzki, Igor, Uenzelmann-Neben, Gabriele, Zundel, Maximilian, Spiegel, Cornelia, Mark, Chris, Chew, David, Francis, Jane E., Nehrke, Gernot, Schwarz, Florian, Smith, James A., Freudenthal, Tim, Esper, Oliver, Pälike, Heiko, Ronge, Thomas A., Dziadek, Ricarda, Afanasyeva, V., Arndt, J. E., Ebermann, B., Gebhardt, C., Hochmuth, K., Küssner, K., Najman, Y., Riefstahl, F. and Scheinert, M. (2020) Temperate rainforests near the South Pole during peak Cretaceous warmth. Nature, 580 (7801). pp. 81-86. ISSN 1476-4687 F800 Physical and Terrestrial Geographical and Environmental Sciences Article PeerReviewed 2020 ftunivnorthumb https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-2148-5 2022-09-25T06:11:45Z The mid-Cretaceous period was one of the warmest intervals of the past 140 million years1,2,3,4,5, driven by atmospheric carbon dioxide levels of around 1,000 parts per million by volume6. In the near absence of proximal geological records from south of the Antarctic Circle, it is disputed whether polar ice could exist under such environmental conditions. Here we use a sedimentary sequence recovered from the West Antarctic shelf—the southernmost Cretaceous record reported so far—and show that a temperate lowland rainforest environment existed at a palaeolatitude of about 82° S during the Turonian–Santonian age (92 to 83 million years ago). This record contains an intact 3-metre-long network of in situ fossil roots embedded in a mudstone matrix containing diverse pollen and spores. A climate model simulation shows that the reconstructed temperate climate at this high latitude requires a combination of both atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations of 1,120–1,680 parts per million by volume and a vegetated land surface without major Antarctic glaciation, highlighting the important cooling effect exerted by ice albedo under high levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic South pole South pole Northumbria University, Newcastle: Northumbria Research Link (NRL) Antarctic South Pole The Antarctic Nature 580 7801 81 86 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Northumbria University, Newcastle: Northumbria Research Link (NRL) |
op_collection_id |
ftunivnorthumb |
language |
English |
topic |
F800 Physical and Terrestrial Geographical and Environmental Sciences |
spellingShingle |
F800 Physical and Terrestrial Geographical and Environmental Sciences Klages, Johann P. Salzmann, Ulrich Bickert, Torsten Hillenbrand, Claus-Dieter Gohl, Karsten Kuhn, Gerhard Bohaty, Steven M. Titschack, Jürgen Müller, Juliane Frederichs, Thomas Bauersachs, Thorsten Ehrmann, Werner van de Flierdt, Tina Pereira, Patric Simões Larter, Robert D. Lohmann, Gerrit Niezgodzki, Igor Uenzelmann-Neben, Gabriele Zundel, Maximilian Spiegel, Cornelia Mark, Chris Chew, David Francis, Jane E. Nehrke, Gernot Schwarz, Florian Smith, James A. Freudenthal, Tim Esper, Oliver Pälike, Heiko Ronge, Thomas A. Dziadek, Ricarda Afanasyeva, V. Arndt, J. E. Ebermann, B. Gebhardt, C. Hochmuth, K. Küssner, K. Najman, Y. Riefstahl, F. Scheinert, M. Temperate rainforests near the South Pole during peak Cretaceous warmth |
topic_facet |
F800 Physical and Terrestrial Geographical and Environmental Sciences |
description |
The mid-Cretaceous period was one of the warmest intervals of the past 140 million years1,2,3,4,5, driven by atmospheric carbon dioxide levels of around 1,000 parts per million by volume6. In the near absence of proximal geological records from south of the Antarctic Circle, it is disputed whether polar ice could exist under such environmental conditions. Here we use a sedimentary sequence recovered from the West Antarctic shelf—the southernmost Cretaceous record reported so far—and show that a temperate lowland rainforest environment existed at a palaeolatitude of about 82° S during the Turonian–Santonian age (92 to 83 million years ago). This record contains an intact 3-metre-long network of in situ fossil roots embedded in a mudstone matrix containing diverse pollen and spores. A climate model simulation shows that the reconstructed temperate climate at this high latitude requires a combination of both atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations of 1,120–1,680 parts per million by volume and a vegetated land surface without major Antarctic glaciation, highlighting the important cooling effect exerted by ice albedo under high levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Klages, Johann P. Salzmann, Ulrich Bickert, Torsten Hillenbrand, Claus-Dieter Gohl, Karsten Kuhn, Gerhard Bohaty, Steven M. Titschack, Jürgen Müller, Juliane Frederichs, Thomas Bauersachs, Thorsten Ehrmann, Werner van de Flierdt, Tina Pereira, Patric Simões Larter, Robert D. Lohmann, Gerrit Niezgodzki, Igor Uenzelmann-Neben, Gabriele Zundel, Maximilian Spiegel, Cornelia Mark, Chris Chew, David Francis, Jane E. Nehrke, Gernot Schwarz, Florian Smith, James A. Freudenthal, Tim Esper, Oliver Pälike, Heiko Ronge, Thomas A. Dziadek, Ricarda Afanasyeva, V. Arndt, J. E. Ebermann, B. Gebhardt, C. Hochmuth, K. Küssner, K. Najman, Y. Riefstahl, F. Scheinert, M. |
author_facet |
Klages, Johann P. Salzmann, Ulrich Bickert, Torsten Hillenbrand, Claus-Dieter Gohl, Karsten Kuhn, Gerhard Bohaty, Steven M. Titschack, Jürgen Müller, Juliane Frederichs, Thomas Bauersachs, Thorsten Ehrmann, Werner van de Flierdt, Tina Pereira, Patric Simões Larter, Robert D. Lohmann, Gerrit Niezgodzki, Igor Uenzelmann-Neben, Gabriele Zundel, Maximilian Spiegel, Cornelia Mark, Chris Chew, David Francis, Jane E. Nehrke, Gernot Schwarz, Florian Smith, James A. Freudenthal, Tim Esper, Oliver Pälike, Heiko Ronge, Thomas A. Dziadek, Ricarda Afanasyeva, V. Arndt, J. E. Ebermann, B. Gebhardt, C. Hochmuth, K. Küssner, K. Najman, Y. Riefstahl, F. Scheinert, M. |
author_sort |
Klages, Johann P. |
title |
Temperate rainforests near the South Pole during peak Cretaceous warmth |
title_short |
Temperate rainforests near the South Pole during peak Cretaceous warmth |
title_full |
Temperate rainforests near the South Pole during peak Cretaceous warmth |
title_fullStr |
Temperate rainforests near the South Pole during peak Cretaceous warmth |
title_full_unstemmed |
Temperate rainforests near the South Pole during peak Cretaceous warmth |
title_sort |
temperate rainforests near the south pole during peak cretaceous warmth |
publisher |
Nature Publishing |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
https://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/42650/ https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-2148-5 https://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/42650/1/Klages_Salzmann_etal_Nature2020.pdf |
geographic |
Antarctic South Pole The Antarctic |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic South Pole The Antarctic |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic South pole South pole |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic South pole South pole |
op_relation |
https://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/42650/1/Klages_Salzmann_etal_Nature2020.pdf Klages, Johann P., Salzmann, Ulrich, Bickert, Torsten, Hillenbrand, Claus-Dieter, Gohl, Karsten, Kuhn, Gerhard, Bohaty, Steven M., Titschack, Jürgen, Müller, Juliane, Frederichs, Thomas, Bauersachs, Thorsten, Ehrmann, Werner, van de Flierdt, Tina, Pereira, Patric Simões, Larter, Robert D., Lohmann, Gerrit, Niezgodzki, Igor, Uenzelmann-Neben, Gabriele, Zundel, Maximilian, Spiegel, Cornelia, Mark, Chris, Chew, David, Francis, Jane E., Nehrke, Gernot, Schwarz, Florian, Smith, James A., Freudenthal, Tim, Esper, Oliver, Pälike, Heiko, Ronge, Thomas A., Dziadek, Ricarda, Afanasyeva, V., Arndt, J. E., Ebermann, B., Gebhardt, C., Hochmuth, K., Küssner, K., Najman, Y., Riefstahl, F. and Scheinert, M. (2020) Temperate rainforests near the South Pole during peak Cretaceous warmth. Nature, 580 (7801). pp. 81-86. ISSN 1476-4687 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-2148-5 |
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Nature |
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