 |
| Titel |
Atmospheric CO2 from the late Oligocene to early Miocene reconstructed from photosynthesis data and leaf characteristics of fossil plants |
| VerfasserIn |
Michaela Grein, Christoph Oehm, Wilfried Konrad, Torsten Utescher, Lutz Kunzmann, Anita Roth-Nebelsick |
| Konferenz |
EGU General Assembly 2013
|
| Medientyp |
Artikel
|
| Sprache |
Englisch
|
| Digitales Dokument |
PDF |
| Erschienen |
In: GRA - Volume 15 (2013) |
| Datensatznummer |
250080311
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Zusammenfassung |
| In the Cenozoic era, global climate changed from greenhouse to icehouse conditions. During
the Oligocene, the comparatively cool phase in the earlier part of the late Oligocene
is followed by the Late Oligocene Warming and a major glaciation event at the
Oligocene-Miocene transition (Mi-1). Various studies indicate that these climate events were
coupled to changes in atmospheric CO2 levels.
In this study, atmospheric CO2 from the late Oligocene to the early Miocene was
reconstructed by using photosynthesis data and fossil leaf characteristics. We used plant
material from various sites located in Germany and Austria comprising fossil leaves of four
angiosperm plant species: Platanus neptuni (Platanaceae), Quercus rhenana, Q. praerhenana
and Eotrigonobalanus furcinervis (all Fagaceae). A mechanistic-theoretical approach based
on stomatal parameters, photosynthesis data and gas exchange parameters was applied to
model palaeoatmospheric CO2 levels. Detailed climate data of the considered sites were
reconstructed as well since the mechanistic-theoretical approach requires climate
data as input parameters for calculating both assimilation rate and transpiration
rate.
Our results indicate a steady CO2 level of about 400 ppm for all sites and therefore
suggest a decoupling of CO2 and cooling/warming events for the considered time slices. |
|
|
|
|
|
|