Stable isotope paleoclimatology of the earliest Eocene using kimberlite-hosted mummified wood from the Canadian Subarctic

摘要

The recent discovery of well-preserved mummified wood buried within a subarctic kimberlite diamond mine prompted a paleoclimatic study of the early Eocene "hot-house" (ca. 53.3 Ma). At the time of kimberlite eruption, the Subarctic was warm and humid producing a temperate rainforest biome well north of the Arctic Circle. Previous studies have estimated that mean annual temperatures in this region were 4-20 degrees C in the early Eocene, using a variety of proxies including leaf margin analysis and stable isotopes (delta C-13 and delta O-18) of fossil cellulose. Here, we examine stable isotopes of tree-ring cellulose at sub annual to annual-scale resolution, using the oldest viable cellulose found to date. We use mechanistic models and transfer functions to estimate earliest Eocene temperatures using mummified cellulose, which was well preserved in the kimberlite. Multiple samples of Piceoxylon wood within the kimberlite were crossdated by tree-ring width. Multiple proxies are used in combination to tease apart likely environmental factors influencing the tree physiology and growth in the unique extinct ecosystem of the Polar rainforest. Calculations of interannual variation in temperature over a multidecadal time-slice in the early Eocene are presented, with a mean annual temperature (MAT) estimate of 11.4 degrees C (1 sigma = 1.8 degrees C) based on delta O-18, which is 16 degrees C warmer than the current MAT of the area (-4.6 degrees C). Early Eocene atmospheric delta C-13 (delta C-13(atm)) estimates were -5.5 (+/- 0.7) parts per thousand. Isotopic discrimination (Delta) and leaf intercellular pCO(2) ratio (c(i)/c(a)) were similar to modern values (Delta = 18.7 +/- 0.8 %; c(i)/c(a) D 0.63 +/- 0.03 %), but intrinsic water use efficiency (Early Eocene iWUE = 211 +/- 20 mu mol mol(-1)) was over twice the level found in modern high-latitude trees. Dual-isotope spectral analysis suggests that multidecadal climate cycles somewhat similar to the modern Pacific Decadal Oscillation likely drove temperature and cloudiness trends on 20-30-year timescales, influencing photosynthetic productivity and tree growth patterns.