Changes in Climate and Moisture Availability in the Antarctic Eocene, Oligocene, and Miocene

133 Pages·2017·6.07 MB·English

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LSU Doctoral Dissertations Graduate School
2014
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Kathryn Whitney Griener
Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College
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Griener, Kathryn Whitney, "Changes in Climate and Moisture Availability in the Antarctic Eocene,
Oligocene, and Miocene: Evidence from Palynological and Stable Isotope Geochemical Analyses of the
SHALDRIL and ANDRILL Cores" (2014). LSU Doctoral Dissertations. 1519.
https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations/1519
This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It
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CHANGES IN CLIMATE AND MOISTURE AVAILABILITY IN THE
ANTARCTIC EOCENE, OLIGOCENE, AND MIOCENE:
EVIDENCE FROM PALYNOLOGICAL AND STABLE ISOTOPE
GEOCHEMICAL ANALYSES OF THE SHALDRIL AND ANDRILL CORES
A Dissertation
Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the
Louisiana State University and
Agricultural and Mechanical College
in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy
in
The Department of Geology and Geophysics
by
Kathryn Whitney Griener
B.S., Millsaps College, 2010
May 2014
For my family: Mom, Dad, Nicholas, Graham, & Daniel -
with love.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Many people have had such an important impact on my research and graduate
education - inside and out of the classroom. First, thanks to my major advisor, Sophie
Warny, who introduced me to palynology. She took a chance on a fledgling grad student
with very little background in geology. I would not be where I am without it. Sophie
and my other committee members, Huiming Bao, Phil Bart, and Mileva Radonjic,
provided guidance and advice throughout my graduate career, for which I am very
grateful. Thank you to Dave Nelson who (patiently!) gave me my first real lesson in
scientific writing and who welcomed me into his stable isotope lab at UMCES. Thank
you to Rosie Askin, who I still have never met in person, but who has taught me so
much about Antarctic palynology through the hundred or so emails we’ve exchanged
since I first came to LSU. Thanks to Brian Fry who introduced me to the world of
stable isotopes by dragooning me into taking apart a mass spectrometer my first
semester of grad school and who first encouraged me to analyze the isotopes of pollen.
Ian Raine, Lowell Urbatsch, and Jennifer Kluse were all so helpful in my mission to
obtain modern Nothofagus pollen samples and Charlotte Sjunneskog at the Antarctic
Research Facility in Florida was so helpful in obtaining Miocene and Eocene samples.
I would like to extend a special word of thanks to my labmates and classmates
past and present - Shannon Ferguson, Crawford White, Kevin Jensen, Jill Bambrick
Banks, Marie Thomas, Madison Kymes, Isil Akyuz, Carlos Santos, Sandra Garzon, and
Ben Maas. I feel so lucky to have such wonderful people as part of my grad school
experience. Thank you also to my extended family: namely, the Florida Grieners and
the Buechmann Clan, and friends, Mary Clark Rardin and Nadia Al Hashimi, for their
support and love.
Especially, I express my deepest gratitude to my my parents, brothers, and
fiancé who love me and support me through all of my endeavors and without whom
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none of this would have been possible. My dad and mom instilled in me (and still do)
a strong work ethic, a hard head, and love for the natural world. My brothers, Nicholas
and Graham, keep me grounded with their humor and good natures. And my fiancé,
Daniel, is always willing to lend an ear to any and every geologic discussion at any
time of the day or night and is a constant source of encouragement and love.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Acknowledgements .…………………………………………………………………………………........ iii
List of Tables ..…………………………………………………………………………………………........... viii
List of Figures .…………………………………………………………………………………………......... ix
List of Palynological Plates .............................................................................................................. x
Abstract …………………………………………………………………………………………………........... xi
CHAPTER 1. A brief introduction to projects and Antarctic earth science ...…. 1
1.1 Context of research ………………………………………………………………………................. 1
1.2 Dissertation style ………………………………………………………………….………................ 2
1.3 Applicability of work ……………………………………………………………………................. 2
1.4 Overview of projects and materials ……………………….………………………................ 3
1.5 Antarctic Cenozoic geology ……………………………………………………………............... 7
1.5.1 Eocene and Oligocene SHALDRIL geological background ................................ 11
1.5.2 Miocene ANDRILL 2A geological background …………………………....................... 12
1.6 Introduction to Antarctic palynology and paleobotany ............................................. 12
1.6.1 Cretaceous ................................................................................................................................ 13
1.6.2 Paleocene .................................................................................................................................. 13
1.6.3 Eocene ........................................................................................................................................ 14
1.6.4 Oligocene .................................................................................................................................. 15
1.6N.5o Lthaotefa Ogliidgiotecsene-Miocene ..................................................................................................... 16
1.6.6 A note on plant migration .................................................................................................. 17
1.7 : a key genus in Antarctic palynological studies …………............... 17
CHAPTER 2. Declining moisture availability on the Antarctic Peninsula during the
Late Eocene …………………………………………………………………………...…….......................... 20
2.1 Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... 20
2.2 Introduction …………………………………………………………………………………................ 21
2.3 Materials and methods ……………………………………………..……………………............... 23
2.3.1 Modern samples ……………………………………………………………..……....................... 23
2.3.2 SHALDRIL samples …………………………………………………………..…........................ 25
2.3.3 Pollen isolation and isotopic analysis …………………………………........................... 25
2.3.4 Data processing and analysis …………………………N…o…th…of…a…gu…s…...…...................... 28
2.4 Results and discussion ……………………………………………………………………............. 29
2.4.1 Validation of carbon isotope discrimination of pollen as an
indicator of water availability ……………………………................................................. 29
2.4.2 Late Eocene water availability inferred from carbon isotope
discrimination of sporopollenin …………………………….……….……........................ 33
2.4.3 Influence of plant moisture stress on Late Eocene vegetation dynamics …. 38
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2.5 Conclusions …………………………………………………….…………………….......…………..... 40
2.6 AcknowlNedogthemofaengutss ................................................................................................................... 40
CHAPTER 3. pollen grain size as a proxy for long-term climate change:
an applied study on Antarctic Eocene, Oligocene, and Miocene cores ……................ 41
3.1 Abstract ........................................................................................................................................ 41
3.2 Introduction …………………………………………………………………….……………............. 42
3.3 Materials and methods ……………………………………………..…………………...….......... 44
3.3.1 Modern specimens ………………………………….…………………………........................ 44
3.3.2 Fossil specimens ……………………………..…………………………………........................ 44
3.3.3 Sample processing and data collection …………………………………...................... 46
3.3.4 Data processing and analysis for modern samples …………………..................... 48
3.3.5 Data processing and analysis for fossil samples …………………..…..................... 48
3.4 Results and discussion ………………………………………………………………………............ 49
3.4.1 Modern specimens: evidence for pollen grain size as an indicator of
moisture availability ………………….………………………............................................... 49
3.4.2 Fossil specimens: shifts in moisture availability in Antarctica in the
Eocene, Oligocene, and Miocene …………….…………………………........................... 54
3.5 Conclusions ……………………………………………………………………………………............ 58
3.6 Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................. 59
CHAPTER 4. Early to Middle Miocene vegetation history of Antarctica indicates
intervals of Antarctic warming during the icehouse phase: evidence from the
ANDRILL 2A core, southern McMurdo Sound …….…………................................................ 61
4.1 Abstract ........................................................................................................................................ 61
4.2 Introduction …………………………………………………………………………………….......... 62
4.3 Methods ……………………………………………………………………………………………........ 65
4.4 Results ……………………………………………………………………………………………........... 66
4.4.1 Palynology of the lower section of AND-2A …………………………......................... 66
4.4.2 Reworked specimens ………………………………………………………....….................... 67
4.4.3 Marine specimens ………………………………………………………..………...................... 72
4.4.4 Freshwater algal spores ……………………………………………..…………..................... 72
4.4.5 Terrestrial palynomorphs ………………………………………..……………..................... 73
4.5 Discussion …………………………………………………………………………………………......... 76
4.5.1 Discussion of AND-2A palynology...................................................................................... 76
4.5.1.1 Interval I: 1126.75-1033.5 mbsf (20.1587-20.0795 Ma) ………...................... 76
4.5.1.2 Interval II: 1033.5-997.2 mbsf (20.0795-20.0487 Ma) ………….................... 79
4.5.1.3 Interval III: 997.2-917.01 mbsf (20.0487-19.2029 Ma) …………................... 79
4.5.1.4 Interval IV: 908.13-867 mbsf (19.2034-19.0529 Ma) ……………................... 80
4.5.1.5 Interval V: 867-664 mbsf (19.0529-17.4097 Ma) ………………….................... 80
4.5.1.6 Possible intervals in the upper section of AND-2A ……..………...................... 81
4.5.2 Comparison with other evidence from AND-2A .................................................... 82
4.5.3 Comparison with global proxies .………………………………….…............................ 89
4.6 Conclusions ………………………………………………………………………………………........ 94
4.1 Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................. 95
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CHAPTER 5. Conclusions ……………………………………………………………………..……… 97
References ……………………………………………………………………………………………..….......100
Appendix ………………………………………………………………………………………...……........117
A Permission to include published manuscripts ………………………........117
B Table of all samples analyzed for palynomorphs ……………………......119
Vita …………………………………………………………………………………………………..……….......121

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LIST OF TABLES
1.1. Summary of materials used for the three projects
presented in this disserNtaottiohnof a …gu…s… …………………………………………………......... 6
13
2.1. δ C data from modern pollen, sporopollenin,
and leaves …………………N…ot…ho…fa…g…id…it…es… ………………………………………………........ 24
13
2.2. Δ C data from Eocene sporopoNlloetnhionf a g…u…s……………….…......... 26
3.1 Summary of size data collected from modern
spp. specimens ………………………………N…ot…h…of…ag…id…it…e…s …………………………......... 45
lachlaniae
3.2 Summary of size data collected from
specimens ………………………………………………………………...……........ 47
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LIST OF FIGURES
1.1 Satellite image of Antarctica with key geographic locations ………………...... 5
Nothofagusfusca
1.2 SEM image taken by K. W. Griener and S. Warny of modern
Reduced ma jor ax issp reecgirmesesniosn r…e…lat…io…n…sh…ip…s …am…o…n…g …m…ea…n …Δ …of…………………....... 18
modern Nothofagus untreated pollen, sporopollenin, and leaves
2.1
Ordinary least squares relationships between untreated pollen, ……………....... 30
sporopollenin, and leaf Δ values and precipitation
2.2
pCO concentrations, δ18O levels, a comparison of f…os…si…l …No…th…o…fa…g…id…ite…s…......... 32
2
sporopollenin Δ and Nothofagidites relative abundance
2.3
Ordinary least squares relationship between modern Noth…o.f.a.…g…us………………...... 34
pollen size (μm) and mean annual precipitation
3.1
Ordinary least squares relationships between subg…e…ne…ra… o…f .m.…o…d…er…n…………....... 50
Nothofagus pollen size and mean annual precipitation
3.2
Change in average Nothofagidites lachlaniae complex g…ra…in.. …si…ze………………...... 51
through time
3.3
…………………………………………………………….………………………...... 56
4.1 Composite palynology data of the AND-2A core ………………………………........ 68
4.2 Detailed palynology of the lower section of the AND-2A core ……………....... 70
4.3 Comparison of ANDRILL 2A palynology with other
paleoenvironmental proxies …………………………………………….………………...... 77
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