Articles | Volume 16, issue 6
https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-16-2533-2020
© Author(s) 2020. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-16-2533-2020
© Author(s) 2020. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
23 Dec 2020
Research article |
| 23 Dec 2020
| 23 Dec 2020
Pliocene expansion of C4 vegetation in the Core Monsoon Zone on the Indian Peninsula
Marine Chemistry & Geochemistry, Woods Hole Oceanographic
Institution, Woods Hole, MA 02543, USA
Liviu Giosan
Geology & Geophysics, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA 02543, USA
Yongsong Huang
Department of Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Sciences, Brown
University, Providence, RI 02912, USA
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Subject: Vegetation Dynamics | Archive: Marine Archives | Timescale: Pleistocene
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Short summary
Over the past 20 Myr, there has been a dramatic global increase in plants using C4 photosynthetic pathways. We analyze C and H isotopes in fatty acids of leaf waxes preserved in marine sediment from the Bay of Bengal to examine changes in photosynthesis in the Core Monsoon Zone of the Indian Peninsula over the past 6 Myr. The observed increase in C4 vegetation from 3.5 to 1.5 Ma is synchronous with C4 expansions in northwest Australia and East Africa, suggesting regional hydroclimate controls
Over the past 20 Myr, there has been a dramatic global increase in plants using C4...
