| Title | Exploring the climatic impact of the continental vegetation on the Mesozoic atmospheric CO2 and climate history |
| Author | Donnadieu, Y.; Goddéris, Y.; Bouttes, N. |
| Author Affil | Donnadieu, Y., Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement (LSCE), Gif-sur-Yvette, France. Other: Laboratoire des Mécanismes et Transferts en Géologie (LMTG), France |
| Source | Climate of the Past, 5(1), p.85-96, . Publisher: Copernicus, Katlenburg-Lindau, International. ISSN: 1814- 9324 |
| Publication Date | 2009 |
| Notes | In English. Published in Climate of the Past Discussion, 29 September 2008, http://www.clim-past.net/5/85/2009/cp-5-85- 2009.pdf; accessed in November, 2009. 41 refs. GeoRef Acc. No: 296653 |
| Index Terms | biogeography; geochemical cycles; isotopes; oxygen isotopes; oxygen; paleoclimatology; paleoecology; weathering; assemblages; Berriasian; boundary conditions; carbon dioxide; Carnian; Cenomanian; chemical weathering; climate forcing; Cretaceous; geochemical cycle; GEOCLIM; glacial environment; global; interglacial environment; isotope ratios; Jurassic; Lower Cretaceous; Lower Jurassic; Lower Triassic; Maestrichtian; Mesozoic; O-18; O-18/O-16; paleogeography; paleohydrology; paleotemperature; Plantae; Rhaetian; sea- surface temperature; Senonian; silicates; stable isotopes; terrestrial environment; Toarcian; Triassic; two-dimensional models; Upper Cretaceous; upper Liassic; Upper Triassic; world ocean |
| Abstract | In this contribution, we continue our exploration of the factors defining the Mesozoic climatic history. We improve the Earth system model GEOCLIM designed for long term climate and geochemical reconstructions by adding the explicit calculation of the biome dynamics using the LPJ model. The coupled GEOCLIM-LPJ model thus allows the simultaneous calculation of the climate with a 2-D spatial resolution, the coeval atmospheric CO2, and the continental biome distribution. We found that accounting for the climatic role of the continental vegetation dynamics (albedo change, water cycle and surface roughness modulations) strongly affects the reconstructed geological climate. Indeed the calculated partial pressure of atmospheric CO2 over the Mesozoic is twice the value calculated when assuming a uniform constant vegetation. This increase in CO2 is triggered by a global cooling of the continents, itself triggered by a general increase in continental albedo owing to the development of desertic surfaces. This cooling reduces the CO2 consumption through silicate weathering, and hence results in a compensating increase in the atmospheric CO2 pressure. This study demonstrates that the impact of land plants on climate and hence on atmospheric CO2 is as important as their geochemical effect through the enhancement of chemical weathering of the continental surface. Our GEOCLIM-LPJ simulations also define a climatic baseline for the Mesozoic, around which exceptionally cool and warm events can be identified. |
| URL | http://www.clim-past.net/5/85/2009/cp-5-85-2009.pdf |
| Publication Type | journal article |
| Record ID | 64001774 |