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| Titel |
Fossil plants indicate that the most significant decrease in atmospheric CO2 happened prior to the Eocene-Oligocene boundary |
| VerfasserIn |
Margret Steinthorsdottir, Amanda Porter, Aidan Holohan, Lutz Kunzmann, Margaret Collinson, Jennifer McElwain |
| Konferenz |
EGU General Assembly 2016
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| Medientyp |
Artikel
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| Sprache |
en
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| Digitales Dokument |
PDF |
| Erschienen |
In: GRA - Volume 18 (2016) |
| Datensatznummer |
250128193
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| Publikation (Nr.) |
 EGU/EGU2016-8153.pdf |
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| Zusammenfassung |
| A unique stratigraphic sequence of fossil leaves of Eotrigonobalanus furcinervis (extinct trees of the beech family, Fagaceae) from central Germany was utilized to derive an atmospheric pCO2 record with multiple data points spanning the late middle to late Eocene, two sampling levels which may be earliest Oligocene, and two samples from later in the Oligocene. Using the stomatal proxy, which relies on the inverse relationship between pCO2 and leaf stomatal density, we show that a ~40% decrease in pCO2 preceded the large shift in marine oxygen isotope records that characterizes the Eocene-Oliogocene climate transition. The results endorse the theory that pCO2 drawdown was the main forcer of the Eocene-Oligocene climate change, and a ‘tipping point’ was reached in the latest Eocene, triggering the plunge of the Earth System into icehouse conditions. |
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