Orbital tuning and correlation of 1.7 m.y. of continuous carbon storage in an early Miocene peatland

Abstract

Research Article| October 01, 2004 Orbital tuning and correlation of 1.7 m.y. of continuous carbon storage in an early Miocene peatland David J. Large; David J. Large 1School of Chemical, Environmental and Mining Engineering, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Trevor F. Jones; Trevor F. Jones 1School of Chemical, Environmental and Mining Engineering, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Johnny Briggs; Johnny Briggs 1School of Chemical, Environmental and Mining Engineering, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Joe H.S. Macquaker; Joe H.S. Macquaker 2Department of Earth Sciences, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL, UK Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Baruch F. Spiro Baruch F. Spiro 3Department of Mineralogy, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, UK Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Geology (2004) 32 (10): 873–876. https://doi.org/10.1130/G20824.1 Article history received: 11 May 2004 rev-recd: 10 Jun 2004 accepted: 14 Jun 2004 first online: 02 Mar 2017 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Search Site Citation David J. Large, Trevor F. Jones, Johnny Briggs, Joe H.S. Macquaker, Baruch F. Spiro; Orbital tuning and correlation of 1.7 m.y. of continuous carbon storage in an early Miocene peatland. Geology 2004;; 32 (10): 873–876. doi: https://doi.org/10.1130/G20824.1 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Refmanager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentBy SocietyGeology Search Advanced Search Abstract Peatland is an important terrestrial carbon reservoir that contains >25% of soil carbon and accounts for 25%–38% of natural methane emissions. Most of this carbon is contained in postglacial boreal peat. Our understanding of the carbon cycle within this reservoir and its links to the atmosphere is therefore restricted to periods of <10 k.y. A record of the longer-term behavior of the peatland carbon reservoir under nonglacial conditions does, however, exist in thick lignite deposits formed over periods of >1 m.y. Spectral analysis of varying lignite color reveals that 120 m of early Miocene lignite from the Gippsland Basin, Australia, contains a 1.7 m.y. record of orbitally paced climate oscillations dominated by the response to obliquity. Use of the regular orbital signal indicates that the average long-term rate of peatland carbon accumulation recorded in the lignite is 27.5 g·m−2·yr−1. This rate is constant over periods of >100 k.y. and is independent of shorter-term, <10 k.y., fluctuations in climate and hydrology. Matching the lignite record to the theoretical insolation curve indicates that the lignite formed between 22.5 and 20.8 Ma. Contemporaneous long-term changes in lignite color and the 13C/12C ratios of marine foraminifera may relate to changing peatland methane flux and thus point to a link between terrestrial and marine carbon dynamics. You do not have access to this content, please speak to your institutional administrator if you feel you should have access.