Clumped isotope evidence for Early Jurassic extreme polar warmth and high climate sensitivity
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Abstract
Periods of high atmospheric CO 2 levels during the Cretaceous–early Paleogene (∼ 140 to 34 Myr ago) were marked by very high polar temperatures and reduced latitudinal gradients relative to the Holocene. These features represent a challenge for most climate models, implying either higher-than-predicted climate sensitivity to atmospheric CO 2 or systematic biases or misinterpretations in proxy data. Here, we present a reconstruction of marine temperatures at polar (> 80 ∘ ) and middle (∼ 40 ∘ ) paleolatitudes during the Early Jurassic (∼ 180 Myr ago) based on the clumped isotope (Δ 47 ) and oxygen isotope ( δ 18 O c ) analyses of shallow buried pristine mollusc shells. Reconstructed calcification temperatures range from ∼ 8 to ∼ 18 ∘ C in the Toarcian Arctic and from ∼ 24 to ∼ 28 ∘ C in Pliensbachian mid-paleolatitudes. These polar temperatures were ∼ 10–20 ∘ C higher than present along with reduced latitudinal gradients. Reconstructed seawater oxygen isotope values ( δ 18 O w ) of −1.5 ‰ to 0.5 ‰ VSMOW and of −5 ‰ to −2.5 ‰ VSMOW at middle and polar paleolatitudes, respectively, point to a significant freshwater contribution in Arctic regions. These data highlight the risk of assuming the same δ 18 O sw value for δ 18 O-derived temperature from different oceanic regions. These findings provide critical new constraints for model simulations of Jurassic temperatures and δ 18 O sw values and suggest that high climate sensitivity has been a hallmark of greenhouse climates for at least 180 Myr.
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- Authors
- Letulle, T., Suan, G., Daëron, M., Rogov, M., Lécuyer, C., Vinçon-Laugier, A., Reynard, B., Montagnac, G., Lutikov, O., & Schlögl, J.
- Affiliations
- Lyon 1 Université (FR)
- Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique et aux Énergies Alternatives (FR)
- Russian Academy of Sciences (RU)
- Corresponding author
- Reynard, Bruno
- Venue
- Climate of the Past
- Publisher
- Copernicus GmbH
- Published
- 2022-03-04
- Volume
- 18
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 435-448
- ISSN
- 1814-9324 (ISSN-L)
- 1814-9332
- OpenAlex
- W4220869237
- Cited by
- 11
- References
- 13
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 3 · 2022: 1
- FWCI
- 0.86
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Climate of the past (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- HAL (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Funders
- Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR-18-CE31-0020)
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (205700)
- Russian Foundation for Basic Research (21-55-15015)
- Agentúra na Podporu Výskumu a Vývoja (APVV 17-0555)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Atmospheric Science › Geology and Paleoclimatology Research
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Paleontology › Paleontology and Stratigraphy of Fossils
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Global and Planetary Change › Climate variability and models
- Keywords
- Lower Jurassic, climate sensitivity, greenhouse microclimate, clumped isotopes, calcification temperature, mollusk shells, seawater oxygen isotopes, latitudinal temperature gradient, Toarcian, Pliensbachian, paleoclimate reconstruction
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