Terrestrial biome distribution in the Late Neogene inferred from a black carbon record in the northeastern equatorial Pacific.

ABSTRACT: The appearance and expansion of C4 plants in the Late Cenozoic was a dramatic example of terrestrial ecological change. The fire hypothesis, which suggests fire as a major cause of C4 grassland is gaining support, yet a more detailed relationship between fire and vegetation-type change remains unresolved. We report the content and stable carbon isotope record of black carbon (BC) in a sediment core retrieved from the northeastern equatorial Pacific that covers the past 14.3 million years. The content record of BC suggests the development process of a flammable ecosystem. The stable carbon isotope record of BC reveals the existence of the Late Miocene C4 expansion, the 'C4 maximum period of burned biomass' during the Pliocene to Early Pleistocene, and the collapse of the C4 in the Late Plei

SUBMITTER: Kim D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5015089 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature