New sedimentary evidence reveals a unique history of C4 biomass in continental East Asia since the early Miocene

Zhou, Bin, Bird, Michael, Zheng, Hongbo, Zhang, Enlou, Wurster, Christopher M., Xie, Luhua, and Taylor, David (2017) New sedimentary evidence reveals a unique history of C4 biomass in continental East Asia since the early Miocene. Scientific Reports, 7. 170.

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Abstract

Pyrogenic carbon (PyC) and n-alkane data from sediments in the northern South China Sea reveal variations in material from C4 plants in East Asia over the last ~19 Ma. These data indicate the likely presence of C4 taxa during the earliest part of the record analysed, with C4 species also prominent during the mid and late Miocene and especially the mid Quaternary. Notably the two records diverge after the mid Quaternary, when PyC data indicate a reduced contribution of C4 taxa to biomass burning, whereas plant-derived n-alkanes indicate a greater abundance of C4 plants. This divergence likely re ects di erences in the predominant source areas of organic materials accumulating at the coring site, with PyC representing a larger source area that includes material transported in the atmosphere from more temperate (relatively cooler and drier) parts of East Asia. Variations in the relative abundances of C3 and C4 taxa appear to be linked to a combination of environmental factors that have varied temporally and geographically and that are unique to East Asia. A major expansion of C4 biomass in warmer subtropical parts of eastern Asia from ~1 Ma and particularly from ~0.4 Ma is later than other parts of the world.

Item ID: 52103
Item Type: Article (Research - C1)
ISSN: 2045-2322
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Funders: National Key Basic Research Program of China (NKBRPC), National Natural Science Foundation of China (NNSFC), Science Fund for Creative Research Groups of NSFC (SF CRG NSFC), State Scholarship Fund of China Scholarship Council (SSFC-SC), National University of Singapore (NUS), James Cook University (JCU)
Projects and Grants: NKBRPC 2015CB953800, NNSFC 41172149, NNSFC 40802034, SF CRG NSFC 41321062, SSFC-SC 2011832365
Date Deposited: 22 Jan 2018 01:23
FoR Codes: 37 EARTH SCIENCES > 3703 Geochemistry > 370303 Isotope geochemistry @ 50%
37 EARTH SCIENCES > 3709 Physical geography and environmental geoscience > 370904 Palaeoclimatology @ 50%
SEO Codes: 96 ENVIRONMENT > 9603 Climate and Climate Change > 960304 Climate Variability (excl. Social Impacts) @ 100%
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