Atmospheric CO2 decline during the Pliocene intensification of Northern Hemisphere glaciations

被引:212
作者
Bartoli, Gretta [1 ]
Hoenisch, Baerbel [2 ]
Zeebe, Richard E. [3 ]
机构
[1] ETH, Inst Geol, CH-8092 Zurich, Switzerland
[2] Columbia Univ, Lamont Doherty Earth Observ, Earth Inst, Palisades, NY 10964 USA
[3] Univ Hawaii Manoa, Dept Oceanog, Sch Ocean & Earth Sci & Technol, Honolulu, HI 96822 USA
来源
PALEOCEANOGRAPHY | 2011年 / 26卷
关键词
BORON ISOTOPIC COMPOSITION; CARBON-DIOXIDE CONCENTRATION; CARIBBEAN SEA; ICE-SHEET; SEAWATER MG/CA; POLAR OCEAN; PH PROXY; CLIMATE; ONSET; STRATIFICATION;
D O I
10.1029/2010PA002055
中图分类号
P [天文学、地球科学];
学科分类号
07 ;
摘要
Several hypotheses have been put forward to explain the onset of intensive glaciations on Greenland, Scandinavia, and North America during the Pliocene epoch between 3.6 and 2.7 million years ago (Ma). A decrease in atmospheric CO2 may have played a role during the onset of glaciations, but other tectonic and oceanic events occurring at the same time may have played a part as well. Here we present detailed atmospheric CO2 estimates from boron isotopes in planktic foraminifer shells spanning 4.6-2.0 Ma. Maximal Pliocene atmospheric CO2 estimates gradually declined from values around 410 matm to early Pleistocene values of 300 mu atm at 2.0 Ma. After the onset of large-scale ice sheets in the Northern Hemisphere, maximal pCO(2) estimates were still at 2.5 Ma + 90 mu atm higher than values characteristic of the early Pleistocene interglacials. By contrast, Pliocene minimal atmospheric CO2 gradually decreased from 310 to 245 matm at 3.2 Ma, coinciding with the start of transient glaciations on Greenland. Values characteristic of early Pleistocene glacial atmospheric CO2 of 200 mu atm were abruptly reached after 2.7 Ma during the late Pliocene transition. This trend is consistent with the suggestion that ocean stratification and iron fertilization increased after 2.7 Ma in the North Pacific and Southern Ocean and may have led to increased glacial CO2 storage in the oceanic abyss after 2.7 Ma onward.
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页数:14
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