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Peatland Ecosystem Processes in the Maritime Antarctic During Warm Climates
- Source :
- Scientific Reports, Vol 7, Iss 1, Pp 1-9 (2017), Scientific Reports
- Publication Year :
- 2017
- Publisher :
- Nature Publishing Group, 2017.
-
Abstract
- We discovered a 50-cm-thick peat deposit near Cape Rasmussen (65.2°S), in the maritime Antarctic. To our knowledge, while aerobic ‘moss banks’ have often been examined, waterlogged ‘peatlands’ have never been described in this region before. The waterlogged system is approximately 100 m2, with a shallow water table. Surface vegetation is dominated by Warnstorfia fontinaliopsis, a wet-adapted moss commonly found in the Antarctic Peninsula. Peat inception was dated at 2750 cal. BP and was followed by relatively rapid peat accumulation (~0.1 cm/year) until 2150 cal. BP. Our multi-proxy analysis then shows a 2000-year-long stratigraphic hiatus as well as the recent resurgence of peat accumulation, sometime after 1950 AD. The existence of a thriving peatland at 2700–2150 cal. BP implies regionally warm summer conditions extending beyond the mid-Holocene; this finding is corroborated by many regional records showing moss bank initiation and decreased sea ice extent during this time period. Recent peatland recovery at the study site (
- Subjects :
- 010506 paleontology
Peat
010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences
Growing season
lcsh:Medicine
01 natural sciences
Article
Peninsula
Sea ice
Table (landform)
Ecosystem
14. Life underwater
lcsh:Science
0105 earth and related environmental sciences
geography
Multidisciplinary
geography.geographical_feature_category
biology
Ecology
lcsh:R
Vegetation
15. Life on land
biology.organism_classification
Moss
13. Climate action
Environmental science
lcsh:Q
Physical geography
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 20452322
- Volume :
- 7
- Issue :
- 1
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Scientific Reports
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....a323c2a2f1120669627aa66e877533c8