Atmospheric methane, southern European vegetation and low-mid latitude links on orbital and millennial timescales
Atmospheric methane, southern European vegetation and low-mid latitude links on orbital and millennial timescales
Pollen records from marine and terrestrial sequences in southern Europe reveal a strong coherence between changes in tree populations and atmospheric methane concentrations over the last 800 thousand years. Variations in the continental hydrological balance provide a link for the observed patterns, leading to concomitant changes in southern European vegetation, and low-latitude wetland extent and methane/ volatile organic compound emissions, although additional contributions to the methane budget from extratropical sources are not excluded. Here we propose that the close coupling between low- and mid- latitude hydrological changes reflects shifts in the mean latitudinal position of the Intertropical Convergence Zone, which determines the extent to which southern Europe is dominated by subtropical or mid/high- latitude influences. This provides a conceptual framework within which to view vegetation variability in southern Europe on orbital and millennial timescales.
methane, pollen, vegetation, mediterranean, itcz, orbital, millennial
307-317
Tzedakis, P.C.
b1b47056-4b93-4619-a09e-11b9fd565ee2
Pälike, H.
b9bf7798-ad8c-479b-8487-dd9a30a61fa5
Roucoux, K.H.
ba3b47ea-477c-449b-8cf6-745b55827d8d
de Abreau, L.
0b210e53-0177-43ce-8ca6-588837922e20
30 January 2009
Tzedakis, P.C.
b1b47056-4b93-4619-a09e-11b9fd565ee2
Pälike, H.
b9bf7798-ad8c-479b-8487-dd9a30a61fa5
Roucoux, K.H.
ba3b47ea-477c-449b-8cf6-745b55827d8d
de Abreau, L.
0b210e53-0177-43ce-8ca6-588837922e20
Tzedakis, P.C., Pälike, H., Roucoux, K.H. and de Abreau, L.
(2009)
Atmospheric methane, southern European vegetation and low-mid latitude links on orbital and millennial timescales.
Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 277 (3-4), .
(doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2008.10.027).
Abstract
Pollen records from marine and terrestrial sequences in southern Europe reveal a strong coherence between changes in tree populations and atmospheric methane concentrations over the last 800 thousand years. Variations in the continental hydrological balance provide a link for the observed patterns, leading to concomitant changes in southern European vegetation, and low-latitude wetland extent and methane/ volatile organic compound emissions, although additional contributions to the methane budget from extratropical sources are not excluded. Here we propose that the close coupling between low- and mid- latitude hydrological changes reflects shifts in the mean latitudinal position of the Intertropical Convergence Zone, which determines the extent to which southern Europe is dominated by subtropical or mid/high- latitude influences. This provides a conceptual framework within which to view vegetation variability in southern Europe on orbital and millennial timescales.
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Published date: 30 January 2009
Keywords:
methane, pollen, vegetation, mediterranean, itcz, orbital, millennial
Organisations:
Ocean and Earth Science
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 64845
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/64845
ISSN: 0012-821X
PURE UUID: c7de90df-297c-473f-a718-bdeae1ac677b
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Date deposited: 16 Jan 2009
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 12:02
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Contributors
Author:
P.C. Tzedakis
Author:
H. Pälike
Author:
K.H. Roucoux
Author:
L. de Abreau
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