Reconstructing vapor pressure deficit from leaf wax lipid molecular distributions.

ABSTRACT: Estimates of atmospheric moisture are critical for understanding the links and feedbacks between atmospheric CO₂ and global climate. At present, there are few quantitative moisture proxies that are applicable to deep time. We present a new proxy for atmospheric moisture derived from modern climate and leaf biomarker data from North and Central America. Plants have a direct genetic pathway to regulate the production of lipids in response to osmotic stress, which is manifested in a change in the distribution of simple aliphatic lipids such as n-alkanes. The Average Chain Length (ACL) of these lipids is therefore statistically related to mean annual vapor pressure deficit (VPD_av), enabling quantitative reconstruction of VPD from sedimentary n-alkanes. We apply this trans

SUBMITTER: Eley YL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5834636 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature