TY - JOUR

T1 - Vegetation response to exceptional global warmth during Oceanic Anoxic Event 2

AU - Heimhofer, Ulrich

AU - Wucherpfennig, Nina

AU - Adatte, Thierry

AU - Schouten, Stefan

AU - Schneebeli-Hermann, Elke

AU - Gardin, Silvia

AU - Keller, Gerta

AU - Kentsch, Sarah

AU - Kujau, Ariane

N1 - Funding information: This study was supported by DFG grant HE4467/4-1 and 4-2 to U.H. S.S. was supported by the Netherlands Earth System Science Center funded by the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science. We gratefully acknowledge Marc Floquet, Katharina Müller, Jean Cors, Pauline Rais, and Alexander Brandt for their assistance during field work in SE France and Christiane Wenske for analytical support. We thank Stefan Huck for comments on an earlier version of the manuscript.

PY - 2018/9/20

Y1 - 2018/9/20

N2 - The Cenomanian–Turonian Oceanic Anoxic Event (OAE2; ~94.5 million years ago) represents an episode of global-scale marine anoxia and biotic turnover, which corresponds to one of the warmest time intervals in the Phanerozoic. Despite its global significance, information on continental ecosystem response to this greenhouse episode is lacking. Here we present a terrestrial palynological record combined with marine-derived temperature data (TEX86) across an expanded OAE2 section from the Southern Provençal Basin, France. Despite high TEX86-derived temperature estimates reaching up to 38 °C, the continental hinterland did support a diverse vegetation, adapted to persist under elevated temperatures. A transient phase of climatic instability and cooling during OAE2 known as Plenus Cold Event (PCE) is marked by the proliferation of open, savanna-type vegetation rich in angiosperms at the expanse of conifer-dominated forest ecosystems. A rise in early representatives of Normapolles-type pollen during the PCE marks the initial radiation of this important angiosperm group.

AB - The Cenomanian–Turonian Oceanic Anoxic Event (OAE2; ~94.5 million years ago) represents an episode of global-scale marine anoxia and biotic turnover, which corresponds to one of the warmest time intervals in the Phanerozoic. Despite its global significance, information on continental ecosystem response to this greenhouse episode is lacking. Here we present a terrestrial palynological record combined with marine-derived temperature data (TEX86) across an expanded OAE2 section from the Southern Provençal Basin, France. Despite high TEX86-derived temperature estimates reaching up to 38 °C, the continental hinterland did support a diverse vegetation, adapted to persist under elevated temperatures. A transient phase of climatic instability and cooling during OAE2 known as Plenus Cold Event (PCE) is marked by the proliferation of open, savanna-type vegetation rich in angiosperms at the expanse of conifer-dominated forest ecosystems. A rise in early representatives of Normapolles-type pollen during the PCE marks the initial radiation of this important angiosperm group.

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85053680267&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1038/s41467-018-06319-6

DO - 10.1038/s41467-018-06319-6

M3 - Article

C2 - 30237441

AN - SCOPUS:85053680267

VL - 9

JO - Nature Communications

JF - Nature Communications

SN - 2041-1723

M1 - 3832

ER -