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Near-tropical Early Eocene terrestrial temperatures at the Australo-Antarctic margin, western Tasmania

journal contribution
posted on 2023-05-17, 13:41 authored by Carpenter, RJ, Gregory JordanGregory Jordan, Macphail, MK, Hill, RS
A worldwide greenhouse warm climate prevailed in the Early Eocene, and nowhere was warming more dramatic than at high latitudes. Sea-surface temperatures of ~34 °C have been estimated for a site at paleolatitude 65°S on the East Tasman Plateau of the southwest Pacifi c Ocean, but these estimates require independent validation, including from terrestrial proxies. Here we determine a near-tropical terrestrial mean annual temperature estimate of ~24 °C at sea level for an Early Eocene site in Tasmania, Australia, using three proxies based on welldated estuarine plant fossils. This estimate is lower than the nearby sea estimates to the east, but similarly suggests that, as in the southwest Pacifi c, Early Eocene climates in the eastern Australo-Antarctic region were warmer than inferred elsewhere at high latitudes, including on the Antarctic Peninsula. Such data are essential for improving our understanding of climatic and biotic evolution in the Southern Hemisphere.

Funding

Australian Research Council

History

Publication title

Geology

Volume

40

Pagination

267-270

ISSN

0091-7613

Department/School

School of Natural Sciences

Publisher

Geological Soc America

Place of publication

Po Box 9140, Boulder, USA, Co, 80301-9140

Rights statement

Copyright 2012 Geological Society of America

Repository Status

  • Restricted

Socio-economic Objectives

Expanding knowledge in the environmental sciences

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