Humidity estimate for the middle Eocene Arctic rain forest
- 1Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland 21218, USA
- 2Department of Biology, University of Miami, Coral Gables, Florida 33124, USA
Abstract
The exquisite preservation of fossilized Metasequoia trees that grew near 80°N latitude during the middle Eocene (ca. 45 Ma) in Nunavut, Canada, allowed for δD and δ18O analyses of cellulose, techniques previously restricted to wood <30,000 yr old. From the isotopic results, we determined that the middle Eocene Arctic atmosphere contained ∼2× the water found in the region's atmosphere today. This water vapor contributed to a middle Eocene greenhouse effect that insulated the polar region during dark polar winters.
Footnotes
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↵* jahrenjhu.edu
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- Accepted January 22, 2003.
- Received October 14, 2002.
- Revision received January 20, 2003.
- Geological Society of America
