Temperate rainforests near the South Pole during peak Cretaceous warmth

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

  • Johann P. Klages - , Alfred Wegener Institute - Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (Author)
  • Ulrich Salzmann - , Newcastle University (Author)
  • Torsten Bickert - , University of Bremen (Author)
  • Claus-Dieter Hillenbrand - , British Antarctic Survey (Author)
  • Karsten Gohl - , Alfred Wegener Institute - Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (Author)
  • Gerhard Kuhn - , Alfred Wegener Institute - Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (Author)
  • Steven M. Bohaty - , University of Southampton (Author)
  • Jürgen Titschack - , University of Bremen, Senckenberg am Meer (Author)
  • Juliane Müller - , Alfred Wegener Institute - Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, University of Bremen (Author)
  • Thomas Frederichs - , University of Bremen (Author)
  • Thorsten Bauersachs - , Kiel University (Author)
  • Werner Ehrmann - , Leipzig University (Author)
  • Tina Van De Flierdt - , Imperial College London (Author)
  • Patric Simões Pereira - , Imperial College London (Author)
  • Robert D. Larter - , British Antarctic Survey (Author)
  • Gerrit Lohmann - , Alfred Wegener Institute - Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, University of Bremen (Author)
  • Igor Niezgodzki - , Alfred Wegener Institute - Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Institute of Geological Sciences of the Polish Academy of Sciences (Author)
  • Gabriele Uenzelmann-Neben - , Alfred Wegener Institute - Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (Author)
  • Maximilian Zundel - , University of Bremen (Author)
  • Cornelia Spiegel - , University of Bremen (Author)
  • Chris Mark - , Trinity College Dublin (Author)
  • David Chew - , Trinity College Dublin (Author)
  • Jane E. Francis - , British Antarctic Survey (Author)
  • Gernot Nehrke - , Alfred Wegener Institute - Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (Author)
  • Florian Schwarz - , Newcastle University (Author)
  • James A. Smith - , British Antarctic Survey (Author)
  • Tim Freudenthal - , University of Bremen (Author)
  • Oliver Esper - , Alfred Wegener Institute - Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (Author)
  • Heiko Pälike - , University of Bremen (Author)
  • Thomas A. Ronge - , Alfred Wegener Institute - Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (Author)
  • Ricarda Dziadek - , Alfred Wegener Institute - Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (Author)
  • J.E. Arndt - , Alfred Wegener Institute - Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (Author)
  • C. Gebhardt - , Alfred Wegener Institute - Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (Author)
  • K. Hochmuth - , Alfred Wegener Institute - Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (Author)
  • K. Küssner - , Alfred Wegener Institute - Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (Author)
  • F. Riefstahl - , Alfred Wegener Institute - Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (Author)
  • V. Afanasyeva - , VNIIOkeangeologia, Saint Petersburg, Russia (Author)
  • Benjamin Ebermann - (Author)
  • Y. Najman - , Lancaster University (Author)
  • Mirko Scheinert - , Chair of Geodetic Earth System Research (Author)

Abstract

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.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)81-86
Number of pages6
JournalNature
Volume580
Issue number7801
Publication statusPublished - 2 Apr 2020
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

Scopus 85083070598
ORCID /0000-0002-0892-8941/work/142248899

Keywords

Library keywords