A new sea-level record for the Neogene/Quaternary boundary reveals transition to a more stable East Antarctic Ice Sheet.

Sea-level rise resulting from the instability of polar continental ice sheets represents a major socioeconomic hazard arising from anthropogenic warming, but the response of the largest component of Earth's cryosphere, the East Antarctic Ice Sheet (EAIS), to global warming is poorly understood. Here we present a detailed record of North Atlantic deep-ocean temperature, global sea-level, and ice-volume change for ∼2.75 to 2.4 Ma ago, when atmospheric partial pressure of carbon dioxide (pCO2) ranged from present-day (>400 parts per million volume, ppmv) to preindustrial (<280 ppmv) values. Our data reveal clear glacial-interglacial cycles in global ice volume and sea level largely driven by the growth and decay of ice sheets in the Northern Hemisphere. Yet, sea-level values during Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 101 (∼2.55 Ma) also signal substantial melting of the EAIS, and peak sea levels during MIS G7 (∼2.75 Ma) and, perhaps, MIS G1 (∼2.63 Ma) are also suggestive of EAIS instability. During the succeeding glacial-interglacial cycles (MIS 100 to 95), sea levels were distinctly lower than before, strongly suggesting a link between greater stability of the EAIS and increased land-ice volumes in the Northern Hemisphere. We propose that lower sea levels driven by ice-sheet growth in the Northern Hemisphere decreased EAIS susceptibility to ocean melting. Our findings have implications for future EAIS vulnerability to a rapidly warming world.

Persistent near-tropical warmth on the Antarctic continent during the early Eocene epoch.

The warmest global climates of the past 65 million years occurred during the early Eocene epoch (about 55 to 48 million years ago), when the Equator-to-pole temperature gradients were much smaller than today and atmospheric carbon dioxide levels were in excess of one thousand parts per million by volume. Recently the early Eocene has received considerable interest because it may provide insight into the response of Earth's climate and biosphere to the high atmospheric carbon dioxide levels that are expected in the near future as a consequence of unabated anthropogenic carbon emissions. Climatic conditions of the early Eocene 'greenhouse world', however, are poorly constrained in critical regions, particularly Antarctica. Here we present a well-dated record of early Eocene climate on Antarctica from an ocean sediment core recovered off the Wilkes Land coast of East Antarctica. The information from biotic climate proxies (pollen and spores) and independent organic geochemical climate proxies (indices based on branched tetraether lipids) yields quantitative, seasonal temperature reconstructions for the early Eocene greenhouse world on Antarctica. We show that the climate in lowland settings along the Wilkes Land coast (at a palaeolatitude of about 70° south) supported the growth of highly diverse, near-tropical forests characterized by mesothermal to megathermal floral elements including palms and Bombacoideae. Notably, winters were extremely mild (warmer than 10 °C) and essentially frost-free despite polar darkness, which provides a critical new constraint for the validation of climate models and for understanding the response of high-latitude terrestrial ecosystems to increased carbon dioxide forcing.

Eocene cooling linked to early flow across the Tasmanian Gateway.

The warmest global temperatures of the past 85 million years occurred during a prolonged greenhouse episode known as the Early Eocene Climatic Optimum (52-50 Ma). The Early Eocene Climatic Optimum terminated with a long-term cooling trend that culminated in continental-scale glaciation of Antarctica from 34 Ma onward. Whereas early studies attributed the Eocene transition from greenhouse to icehouse climates to the tectonic opening of Southern Ocean gateways, more recent investigations invoked a dominant role of declining atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations (e.g., CO2). However, the scarcity of field data has prevented empirical evaluation of these hypotheses. We present marine microfossil and organic geochemical records spanning the early-to-middle Eocene transition from the Wilkes Land Margin, East Antarctica. Dinoflagellate biogeography and sea surface temperature paleothermometry reveal that the earliest throughflow of a westbound Antarctic Counter Current began ~49-50 Ma through a southern opening of the Tasmanian Gateway. This early opening occurs in conjunction with the simultaneous onset of regional surface water and continental cooling (2-4 °C), evidenced by biomarker- and pollen-based paleothermometry. We interpret that the westbound flowing current flow across the Tasmanian Gateway resulted in cooling of Antarctic surface waters and coasts, which was conveyed to global intermediate waters through invigorated deep convection in southern high latitudes. Although atmospheric CO2 forcing alone would provide a more uniform middle Eocene cooling, the opening of the Tasmanian Gateway better explains Southern Ocean surface water and global deep ocean cooling in the apparent absence of (sub-) equatorial cooling.

Volcanic ash layers illuminate the resilience of Neanderthals and early modern humans to natural hazards.

Marked changes in human dispersal and development during the Middle to Upper Paleolithic transition have been attributed to massive volcanic eruption and/or severe climatic deterioration. We test this concept using records of volcanic ash layers of the Campanian Ignimbrite eruption dated to ca. 40,000 y ago (40 ka B.P.). The distribution of the Campanian Ignimbrite has been enhanced by the discovery of cryptotephra deposits (volcanic ash layers that are not visible to the naked eye) in archaeological cave sequences. They enable us to synchronize archaeological and paleoclimatic records through the period of transition from Neanderthal to the earliest anatomically modern human populations in Europe. Our results confirm that the combined effects of a major volcanic eruption and severe climatic cooling failed to have lasting impacts on Neanderthals or early modern humans in Europe. We infer that modern humans proved a greater competitive threat to indigenous populations than natural disasters.

Atmospheric CO2 forcing on Mediterranean biomes during the past 500 kyrs.

There is growing concern on the survival of Mediterranean forests under the projected near-future droughts as a result of anthropogenic climate change. Here we determine the resilience of Mediterranean forests across the entire range of climatic boundary conditions realized during the past 500 kyrs based on continuous pollen and geochemical records of (sub)centennial-scale resolution from drillcores from Tenaghi Philippon, Greece. Using convergent cross-mapping we provide empirical confirmation that global atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) may affect Mediterranean vegetation through forcing on moisture availability. Our analysis documents two stable vegetation regimes across the wide range of CO2 and moisture levels realized during the past four glacial-interglacial cycles, with abrupt shifts from forest to steppe biomes occurring when a threshold in precipitation is crossed. Our approach highlights that a CO2-driven moisture decrease in the near future may bear an impending risk for abrupt vegetation regime shifts prompting forest loss in the Mediterranean region.

Palynological data for the Late Glacial and Holocene (14.5-0 ka BP) from Füramoos, Southern Germany.

We here present high-resolution palynological data from the Füramoos peat bog, located in the alpine foreland of Southern Germany. The data represent raw pollen counts of major arboreal pollen as well as agricultural indicator taxa for the Late Glacial and Holocene (14.5 ka BP to present) at Füramoos with an average temporal resolution of 100 years (50 years during critical intervals). The data are also provided as percentages, which are calculated based on the total sum of pollen grains, excluding pollen grains of sedges (Cyperaceae) and strictly aquatic taxa. The data yield insight into the vegetation dynamics in Central Europe in response to climatic and anthropogenic forcing, which are an integral part of the original research article (Kern et al., 2021). Considering its high temporal resolution and the robust age-depth model, the dataset is ideally suited to be included in regional syntheses of vegetation dynamics in Central Europe from the Late Glacial onwards. In addition to the data, we provide a detailed description of the Füramoos site and detail the palynological processing and analysing techniques used.

XRF core scanning yields reliable semiquantitative data on the elemental composition of highly organic-rich sediments: Evidence from the Füramoos peat bog (Southern Germany).

X-ray fluorescence core scanning (XRF-CS) has become a standard tool in paleoenvironmental studies. Allowing rapid, inexpensive and non-destructive analysis of the elemental composition of sediment cores at high spatial resolution, it is ideally suited for the reconstruction of short-term climatic change. However, its applicability to cores consisting of peat and other highly organic-rich sediments has yet remained poorly explored. We have therefore investigated the application of XRF-CS to two cores consisting of ombrotrophic peat and of fen peat and organic-rich muds of Late Glacial-Holocene and Eemian age, respectively, from a peat bog in Southern Germany using an Avaatech 4th-generation XRF core scanner. The XRF-CS-derived distributions of elements widely used in (paleo)environmental research (i.e., Al, Ca, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, S, Si, and Ti) were systematically compared to the results of inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry analyses. For the Late Glacial-Holocene peat core, XRF-CS yielded reliable semiquantitative data for the majority of the investigated elements (i.e., Ca, Fe, K, Mn, S, Si, and Ti), with R2 ≥ 0.5. XRF-CS of the Eemian fen peat and organic-rich muds yielded reliable data for Al, K, S, and Ti (R2 ≥ 0.5) and, to a lesser extent, for Fe (R2 = 0.46). and Si (R2 = 0.25). This indicates that XRF-CS allows to semiquantitatively reconstruct the distribution of the majority of paleoclimatically relevant elements in peat and other highly organic-rich sediments. Hence, XRF-CS is well suited to complement the analytical toolbox for the paleoenvironmental study of such sediments.

Southern Ocean warming and Wilkes Land ice sheet retreat during the mid-Miocene.

Observations and model experiments highlight the importance of ocean heat in forcing ice sheet retreat during the present and geological past, but past ocean temperature data are virtually missing in ice sheet proximal locations. Here we document paleoceanographic conditions and the (in)stability of the Wilkes Land subglacial basin (East Antarctica) during the mid-Miocene (~17-13.4 million years ago) by studying sediment cores from offshore Adélie Coast. Inland retreat of the ice sheet, temperate vegetation, and warm oligotrophic waters characterise the mid-Miocene Climatic Optimum (MCO; 17-14.8 Ma). After the MCO, expansion of a marine-based ice sheet occurs, but remains sensitive to melting upon episodic warm water incursions. Our results suggest that the mid-Miocene latitudinal temperature gradient across the Southern Ocean never resembled that of the present day. We demonstrate that a strong coupling of oceanic climate and Antarctic continental conditions existed and that the East Antarctic subglacial basins were highly sensitive to ocean warming.

Reorganization of Southern Ocean plankton ecosystem at the onset of Antarctic glaciation.

The circum-Antarctic Southern Ocean is an important region for global marine food webs and carbon cycling because of sea-ice formation and its unique plankton ecosystem. However, the mechanisms underlying the installation of this distinct ecosystem and the geological timing of its development remain unknown. Here, we show, on the basis of fossil marine dinoflagellate cyst records, that a major restructuring of the Southern Ocean plankton ecosystem occurred abruptly and concomitant with the first major Antarctic glaciation in the earliest Oligocene (~33.6 million years ago). This turnover marks a regime shift in zooplankton-phytoplankton interactions and community structure, which indicates the appearance of eutrophic and seasonally productive environments on the Antarctic margin. We conclude that earliest Oligocene cooling, ice-sheet expansion, and subsequent sea-ice formation were important drivers of biotic evolution in the Southern Ocean.