Abstract
The early Eocene (~55 to 49 Ma) was characterized by long-term, high global temperatures and elevated atmospheric pCO2 levels (ca. 1000 ppm to more than 2000 ppm). Superimposed on top of this long-term warmth were a series of abrupt high pCO2 (>2000 ppm) and high temperature events. This greenhouse world may be used as an analogue for the future response of the biosphere and global carbon cycle to recent anthropogenic, atmospheric CO2 emissions. A major uncertainty, however, is the response of high polar latitudes to these climate conditions. Here we show evidence of early Eocene warmth measured from terrestrial, bacteria-derived tetraethers at IODP Site U1356, situated along the Wilkes Land margin in East Antarctica. The presence of soil bacteria-derived hopanes and higher plant n-alkanes in drillcores obtained from this site are also used to help understand the terrestrial Antarctic climate evolution in a warmer world. Methyl-branched and cyclised tetraether compounds are derived from terrestrial, soil bacteria. The number of branches and cycles are related directly to the environmental temperature and pH. These compounds indicate that temperatures on Eastern Antarctica likely exceeded 22°C during the Eocene. These temperatures reflect locally sourced terrestrial material input from a variety of elevations along the coastal plain and from the hinterland. A local source region is supported by the palynological and neodymium isotope records and by the presence of hopanes that suggest input from terrigenous soil and/or wetland environments. In particular, the existence of the C31 (17α,21β) homohopane within a relatively immature hopane assemblage is reported at Site U1356 and suggests the presence of methane-producing, wetland environments on Antarctica. Compound-specific carbon isotopes analyzed on the bacterial derived hopanes are used to characterize changes in wetland carbon cycling and methanogenesis. Local adiabatic lapse rate and precipitation amount calculated from the Eocene runs of the Community Climate System Model version 3 and Antarctic topographic modelling are used to constrain the source region for the warm terrestrial temperatures and soil/wetland inputs
| Original language | English |
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| Pages | PP33B-1920 |
| Number of pages | 1 |
| Publication status | Published - 5 Dec 2011 |
| Event | AGU Fall Meeting 2011 - San Francisco, USA Duration: 5 Dec 2011 → 9 Dec 2011 |
Conference
| Conference | AGU Fall Meeting 2011 |
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| City | San Francisco, USA |
| Period | 5/12/11 → 9/12/11 |