Oxygen-18 of O 2 Records the Impact of Abrupt Climate Change on the Terrestrial Biosphere

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Abstract
Planted Evidence: To understand the spatial patterns and consequences of past climate change requires the identification of reliable proxies that reflect specific aspects of those changes, such as temperature or rainfall in a given location. Also of interest are proxies for broader categories of change, such as methane production or the sources of carbon dioxide. Severinghaus et al. (p. 1431 ) present a 100,000-year-long record of the oxygen isotopic composition of atmospheric O 2 (δ 18 O atm ) extracted from air from polar ice cores. δ 18 O atm is a general measure of the strength of low-latitude terrestrial photosynthesis and thus of local rainfall because plant metabolism is controlled in large part by water availability. δ 18 O atm changes were related to Heinrich and Dansgaard-Oeschger events, two modes of abrupt climate change common over that interval, and δ 18 O atm was controlled mostly by the strength of the Asian and North African monsoons. The rapid changes observed should also help to synchronize ice core records.

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