Distribution patterns and stable carbon isotopic composition of alkanes and alkan-1-ols from plant waxes of African rain forest and savanna C3 species

Vogts, Angela; Moossen, Heiko; Rommerskirchen, Florian; Rullkötter, Jürgen

doi:10.1016/j.orggeochem.2009.07.011

Cited by 235 publications

(196 citation statements)

References 57 publications

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“…Isotopic signatures of the major homologues significantly correlate (Table 1). Therefore, we focus on the n-C 31 alkane as the most abundant compound, attributed to the prevailing C 4 grass input (Vogts et al, 2009). Spectral analysis (wavelet analysis) indicates that the variability in the isotope record is not stable (Fig.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Hybrid insolation forcing of Pliocene monsoon dynamics in West Africa

2018

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Abstract. The Pliocene is regarded as a potential analogue for future climate with conditions generally warmer-thantoday and higher-than-preindustrial atmospheric CO 2 levels. Here we present the first orbitally resolved records of continental hydrology and vegetation changes from West Africa for two Pliocene time intervals (5.0-4.6 Ma, 3.6-3.0 Ma), which we compare with records from the last glacial cycle (Kuechler et al., 2013). Our results indicate that changes in local insolation alone are insufficient to explain the full degree of hydrologic variations. Generally two modes of interacting insolation forcings are observed: during eccentricity maxima, when precession was strong, the West African monsoon was driven by summer insolation; during eccentricity minima, when precession-driven variations in local insolation were minimal, obliquity-driven changes in the summer latitudinal insolation gradient became dominant. This hybrid monsoonal forcing concept explains orbitally controlled tropical climate changes, incorporating the forcing mechanism of latitudinal gradients for the Pliocene, which probably increased in importance during subsequent Northern Hemisphere glaciations.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In areas with C 4 grasses, the stable carbon isotopic compositions of the same compounds (δ 13 C wax ) provide additional information about vegetation changes and can be used to differentiate between contributions from grassy (C 4 ) and woody (C 3 ) vegetation (e.g. Vogts et al, 2009).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hybrid insolation forcing of Pliocene monsoon dynamics in West Africa

2018

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“…The δ 13 C wax is primarily used to distinguish between plants using C 3 and C 4 photosynthetic pathways (16) because C 4 plants use a CO 2 -concentrating mechanism that improves their photorespiration and water-use efficiency relative to C 3 plants (17). The δ 13 C of epicuticular waxes from C 4 plants, which are mainly tropical and warm season grasses, typically range from −14‰ to −26‰, and waxes from C 3 plants range between about −29‰ and −38‰ (18)(19)(20). Precipitation is the dominant control on the distribution of C 3 and C 4 plants through much of the tropics, such that δ 13 C wax has been widely used to reconstruct past changes in tropical hydroclimate (21,22).…”

Section: Significancementioning

confidence: 99%

Glacial forcing of central Indonesian hydroclimate since 60,000 y B.P.

Russell

Vogel

Konecky

et al. 2014

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

136

188

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The Indo-Pacific warm pool houses the largest zone of deep atmospheric convection on Earth and plays a critical role in global climate variations. Despite the region's importance, changes in Indo-Pacific hydroclimate on orbital timescales remain poorly constrained. Here we present high-resolution geochemical records of surface runoff and vegetation from sediment cores from Lake Towuti, on the island of Sulawesi in central Indonesia, that continuously span the past 60,000 y. We show that wet conditions and rainforest ecosystems on Sulawesi present during marine isotope stage 3 (MIS3) and the Holocene were interrupted by severe drying between ∼33,000 and 16,000 y B.P. when Northern Hemisphere ice sheets expanded and global temperatures cooled. Our record reveals little direct influence of precessional orbital forcing on regional climate, and the similarity between MIS3 and Holocene climates observed in Lake Towuti suggests that exposure of the Sunda Shelf has a weaker influence on regional hydroclimate and terrestrial ecosystems than suggested previously. We infer that hydrological variability in this part of Indonesia varies strongly in response to high-latitude climate forcing, likely through reorganizations of the monsoons and the position of the intertropical convergence zone. These findings suggest an important role for the tropical western Pacific in amplifying glacial-interglacial climate variability.tropical Pacific | paleoclimate | geochemistry | paleoecology

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“…We target subtropical and tropical taxa in clades most representative of plants in eastern Africa since the early Pleistocene (27,28). Leaves of subtropical and tropical plants commonly contain the leaf-lipid hentriacontane (nC 31 ) (29,30), and nC 31 is also abundant in lake sediments from Olduvai Gorge (5 4 graminoids is most negative (−146‰ ± 8‰, 95% confidence interval; n = 51). The median « 31/model value for C 3 herbs (−124‰ ± 10‰; n = 24) is more negative than for C 3 woody plants (−109‰ ± 8‰; n = 84).…”

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Water, plants, and early human habitats in eastern Africa

Magill

Ashley

Freeman

2012

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Water and its influence on plants likely exerted strong adaptive pressures in human evolution. Understanding relationships among water, plants, and early humans is limited both by incomplete terrestrial records of environmental change and by indirect proxy data for water availability. Here we present a continuous record of stable hydrogen-isotope compositions (expressed as δD values) for lipid biomarkers preserved in lake sediments from an early Pleistocene archaeological site in eastern Africa-Olduvai Gorge. We convert sedimentary leaf-and algal-lipid δD values into estimates for ancient source-water δD values by accounting for biochemical, physiological, and environmental influences on isotopic fractionation via published water-lipid enrichment factors for living plants, algae, and recent sediments. Reconstructed precipitation and lakewater δD values, respectively, are consistent with modern isotopic hydrology and reveal that dramatic fluctuations in water availability accompanied ecosystem changes. Drier conditions, indicated by less negative δD values, occur in association with stable carbon-isotopic evidence for open, C 4 -dominated grassland ecosystems. Wetter conditions, indicated by lower δD values, are associated with expanded woody cover across the ancient landscape. Estimates for ancient precipitation amounts, based on reconstructed precipitation δD values, range between approximately 250 and 700 mm·y −1 and are consistent with modern precipitation data for eastern Africa. We conclude that freshwater availability exerted a substantial influence on eastern African ecosystems and, by extension, was central to early human proliferation during periods of rapid climate change.paleohydrology | plant waxes | carbon isotopes

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Distribution patterns and stable carbon isotopic composition of alkanes and alkan-1-ols from plant waxes of African rain forest and savanna C3 species

Cited by 235 publications

References 57 publications

Hybrid insolation forcing of Pliocene monsoon dynamics in West Africa

Hybrid insolation forcing of Pliocene monsoon dynamics in West Africa

Glacial forcing of central Indonesian hydroclimate since 60,000 y B.P.

Water, plants, and early human habitats in eastern Africa

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