Temperate rainforests near the South Pole during peak Cretaceous warmth

Johann P. Klages (), Ulrich Salzmann, Torsten Bickert, Claus-Dieter Hillenbrand, Karsten Gohl, Gerhard Kuhn, Steven M. Bohaty, Jürgen Titschack, Juliane Müller, Thomas Frederichs, Thorsten Bauersachs, Werner Ehrmann, Tina Flierdt, Patric Simões Pereira, Robert D. Larter, Gerrit Lohmann, Igor Niezgodzki, Gabriele Uenzelmann-Neben, Maximilian Zundel, Cornelia Spiegel, Chris Mark, David Chew, Jane E. Francis, Gernot Nehrke, Florian Schwarz, James A. Smith, Tim Freudenthal, Oliver Esper, Heiko Pälike, Thomas A. Ronge and Ricarda Dziadek
Additional contact information
Johann P. Klages: Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung
Ulrich Salzmann: Northumbria University
Torsten Bickert: University of Bremen
Claus-Dieter Hillenbrand: British Antarctic Survey
Karsten Gohl: Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung
Gerhard Kuhn: Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung
Steven M. Bohaty: University of Southampton
Jürgen Titschack: University of Bremen
Juliane Müller: Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung
Thomas Frederichs: University of Bremen
Thorsten Bauersachs: Christian-Albrechts-University
Werner Ehrmann: University of Leipzig
Tina Flierdt: Imperial College London
Patric Simões Pereira: Imperial College London
Robert D. Larter: British Antarctic Survey
Gerrit Lohmann: Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung
Igor Niezgodzki: Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung
Gabriele Uenzelmann-Neben: Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung
Maximilian Zundel: University of Bremen
Cornelia Spiegel: University of Bremen
Chris Mark: Trinity College Dublin
David Chew: Trinity College Dublin
Jane E. Francis: British Antarctic Survey
Gernot Nehrke: Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung
Florian Schwarz: Northumbria University
James A. Smith: British Antarctic Survey
Tim Freudenthal: University of Bremen
Oliver Esper: Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung
Heiko Pälike: University of Bremen
Thomas A. Ronge: Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung
Ricarda Dziadek: Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung

Nature, 2020, vol. 580, issue 7801, 81-86

Abstract: Abstract The mid-Cretaceous period was one of the warmest intervals of the past 140 million years1–5, driven by atmospheric carbon dioxide levels of around 1,000 parts per million by volume6. In the near absence of proximal geological records from south of the Antarctic Circle, it is disputed whether polar ice could exist under such environmental conditions. Here we use a sedimentary sequence recovered from the West Antarctic shelf—the southernmost Cretaceous record reported so far—and show that a temperate lowland rainforest environment existed at a palaeolatitude of about 82° S during the Turonian–Santonian age (92 to 83 million years ago). This record contains an intact 3-metre-long network of in situ fossil roots embedded in a mudstone matrix containing diverse pollen and spores. A climate model simulation shows that the reconstructed temperate climate at this high latitude requires a combination of both atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations of 1,120–1,680 parts per million by volume and a vegetated land surface without major Antarctic glaciation, highlighting the important cooling effect exerted by ice albedo under high levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide.

Date: 2020
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DOI: 10.1038/s41586-020-2148-5

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