Atmospheric CO2 From Pliensbachian Jurassic was 900 PPM

Early Jurassic (late Pliensbachian) CO2 concentrations based on stomatal analysis of fossil conifer leaves from eastern Australia

Authors:

M. Steinthorsdottir and V. Vajdab

Abstract:

The stomatal index (a measure of stomatal density) of an extinct Australian Early Jurassic araucariacean conifer species, Allocladus helgei Jansson, is used to reconstruct the atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration (pCO2) in the Early Jurassic. The fossil leaves are preserved in a single bed, palynologically dated to late Pliensbachian (~ 185–183 Mya). Atmospheric pCO2 is estimated from the ratios between the stomatal index of A. helgei and the stomatal indices of three modern analogues (nearest living equivalent plants). CO2 concentration in the range of~750–975ppm was calibrated from the fossil material, with a best-estimated mean of~900ppm. The new average pCO2 determined for the late Pliensbachian is thus similar to, although~10% lower, than previously inferred minimum concentrations of~1000, based on data from the Northern Hemisphere, but may help constrain pCO2 during this period. Our results are the first pCO2 estimates produced using Jurassic leaves from the Southern Hemisphere and show that i) palaeo-atmospheric pCO2 estimates are consistent at a global scale, though more investigations of Southern Hemisphere material are required, and ii) that the stomatal proxy method can now be used without the context of relative change in pCO2 when applying the correct methodology.