Pollen and stable carbon (d13C) and hydrogen (dD) isotope ratios of terrestrial plant wax from the South Atlantic sediment core, ODP Site 1085, is used to reconstruct Miocene to Pliocene changes of vegetation and rainfall regime of western southern Africa. Our results reveal changes in the relative amount of precipitation and indicate a shift of the main moisture source from the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean during the onset of a major aridification 8 Ma ago. We emphasise the importance of declining precipitation during the expansion of C4 and CAM (mainly succulent) vegetation in South Africa. We suggest that the C4 plant expansion resulted from an increased equator-pole temperature gradient caused by the initiation of strong Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation following the shoaling of the Central American Seaway during the Late Miocene.
Rommerskirchen, Florian; Condon, Tegan; Mollenhauer, Gesine; Dupont, Lydie M; Schefuß, Enno (2011): (Table 1) TOC content, BIT, TEX86 and UK'37 indices, and sea surface temperature reconstruction for the middle Miocene to Pliocene of ODP Hole 175-1085A. doi:10.1594/PANGAEA.770426
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Fonte
Supplement to: Dupont, Lydie M; Rommerskirchen, Florian; Mollenhauer, Gesine; Schefuß, Enno (2013): Miocene to Pliocene changes in South African hydrology and vegetation in relation to the expansion of C4 plants. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 375, 408-417, doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2013.06.005
