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A high-resolution record of early Paleozoic climate.

ABSTRACT: The spatial coverage and temporal resolution of the Early Paleozoic paleoclimate record are limited, primarily due to the paucity of well-preserved skeletal material commonly used for oxygen-isotope paleothermometry. Bulk-rock [Formula: see text] datasets can provide broader coverage and higher resolution, but are prone to burial alteration. We assess the diagenetic character of two thick Cambro-Ordovician carbonate platforms with minimal to moderate burial by pairing clumped and bulk isotope analyses of micritic carbonates. Despite resetting of the clumped-isotope thermometer at both sites, our samples indicate relatively little change to their bulk [Formula: see text] due to low fluid exchange. Consequently, both sequences preserve temporal trends in [Formula: see text] Motivated by this result, we compile a global suite of bulk rock [Formula: see text] data, stacking overlapping regional records to minimize diagenetic influences on overall trends. We find good agreement of bulk rock [Formula: see text] with brachiopod and conodont [Formula: see text] trends through time. Given evidence that the [Formula: see text] value of seawater has not evolved substantially through the Phanerozoic, we interpret this record as primarily reflecting changes in tropical, nearshore seawater temperatures and only moderately modified by diagenesis. Focusing on the samples with the most enriched, and thus likely least-altered, [Formula: see text] values, we reconstruct Late Cambrian warming, Early Ordovician extreme warmth, and cooling around the Early-Middle Ordovician boundary. Our record is consistent with models linking the Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event to cooling of previously very warm tropical oceans. In addition, our high-temporal-resolution record suggests previously unresolved transient warming and climate instability potentially associated with Late Ordovician tectonic events.

SUBMITTER: Goldberg SL

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8017688 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:Most studies on the biological effects of future climatic changes rely on seasonally aggregated, coarse-resolution data. Such data mask spatial and temporal variability in microclimate driven by terrain, wind and vegetation, and ultimately bear little resemblance to the conditions that organisms experience in the wild. Here, I present the methods for providing fine-grained, hourly and daily estimates of current and future temperature and soil moisture over decadal timescales. Observed climate data and spatially coherent probabilistic projections of daily future weather were disaggregated to hourly and used to drive empirically calibrated physical models of thermal and hydrological microclimates. Mesoclimatic effects (cold-air drainage, coastal exposure and elevation) were determined from the coarse-resolution climate surfaces using thin-plate spline models with coastal exposure and elevation as predictors. Differences between micro and mesoclimate temperatures were determined from terrain, vegetation and ground properties using energy balance equations. Soil moisture was computed in a thin upper layer and an underlying deeper layer, and the exchange of water between these layers was calculated using the van Genuchten equation. Code for processing the data and running the models is provided as a series of R packages. The methods were applied to the Lizard Peninsula, United Kingdom, to provide hourly estimates of temperature (100 m grid resolution over entire area, 1 m for a selected area) for the periods 1983-2017 and 2041-2049. Results indicated that there is a fine-resolution variability in climatic changes, driven primarily by interactions between landscape features and decadal trends in weather conditions. High-temporal resolution extremes in conditions under future climate change were predicted to be considerably less novel than the extremes estimated using seasonally aggregated variables. The study highlights the need to more accurately estimate the future climatic conditions experienced by organisms and equips biologists with the means to do so.

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A high-resolution record of early Paleozoic climate.

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