Was climatic cooling during the earliest Carboniferous driven by expansion of seed plants?

Chen B, Chen J, Qie W, Huang P, He T, Joachimski M, Regelous M, Pogge von Strandmann PA, Liu J, Wang X, Montanez I, Algeo TJ (2021)

Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2021

Journal

Earth and Planetary Science Letters Elsevier

Book Volume: 565

Pages Range: 116953

Article Number: 116953

DOI: 10.1016/j.epsl.2021.116953

Abstract

The expansion of land plants is considered to have played a key role in triggering the Late Paleozoic Ice Age (LPIA), but evidence linking climatic events to terrestrial floral changes is limited. Here, we generated bulk carbonate δ13C, conodont δ18O and 87Sr/86Sr profiles from the lowermost Carboniferous of South China and Vietnam in order to investigate their relationship to contemporaneous land plant evolution. Climatic cooling in the mid-Tournaisian coincided with large perturbations to the global carbon cycle and continental weathering regimes as well as with a major diversification episode among seed plants. These relationships are consistent with terrestrial floral changes triggering intensified weathering of basalts (i.e., lower 87Sr/86Sr), enhanced marine productivity (i.e., higher δ13Ccarb), and reduced atmospheric pCO2 and attendant global cooling (i.e., higher conodont δ18O). The results of our study suggest that expansion of terrestrial floras was a key driver of Early Carboniferous climate change.

Authors with CRIS profile

Michael Joachimski Lehrstuhl für Geologie (Exogene Dynamik) Marcel Regelous Geozentrum Nordbayern

Involved external institutions

Xiamen University CN China (CN) Nanjing University CN China (CN) Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) / 中国科学院 CN China (CN) Birkbeck, University of London GB United Kingdom (GB) Nanjing Institute of Geology and Paleontology CN China (CN) China University of Geosciences / 中国地质大学 CN China (CN) University of California Davis (UCDAVIS) US United States (USA) (US) University of Leeds GB United Kingdom (GB)

How to cite

APA:

Chen, B., Chen, J., Qie, W., Huang, P., He, T., Joachimski, M.,... Algeo, T.J. (2021). Was climatic cooling during the earliest Carboniferous driven by expansion of seed plants? Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 565, 116953. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2021.116953

MLA:

Chen, Bo, et al. "Was climatic cooling during the earliest Carboniferous driven by expansion of seed plants?" Earth and Planetary Science Letters 565 (2021): 116953.

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