恐竜時代の気候「コード」を140百万年前のカキ化石から解明(Scientists Decode ‘climate code’ of Early Cretaceous Greenhouse World Hidden in 140-million-year-old Oyster Fossils)

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2025-05-07 中国科学院(CAS)

中国科学院チベット高原研究所を中心とする国際研究チームは、約1億4000万年前の白亜紀前期のカキ化石を分析し、当時の気候が現在の温暖化モデルとは異なる複雑な変動を示していたことを発見した。化石の殻の成長線と化学組成を解析した結果、季節による海水温度の変動が10〜15℃に及んでいたことが判明。これは従来の「温室期には季節変動が小さく氷河活動が稀」という認識を覆すもので、当時の気候が火山活動や地球軌道の変化などにより大きく揺れていた可能性を示す。この知見は現代の気候モデルに新たな視点を提供する。

<関連情報>

氷のない未来へ: 白亜紀前期の海面水温と氷河氷の季節サイクル Back to an ice-free future: Early Cretaceous seasonal cycles of sea surface temperature and glacier ice

Songlin He, Tianyang Wang, Robert A. Spicer, Alex Farnsworth, […] , and Lin Ding
Science Advances  Published:2 May 2025
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adr9417

恐竜時代の気候「コード」を140百万年前のカキ化石から解明(Scientists Decode ‘climate code’ of Early Cretaceous Greenhouse World Hidden in 140-million-year-old Oyster Fossils)

Abstract

Global ice losses will likely continue with ongoing climate warming, culminating in an almost ice-free planet analogous to that which persisted throughout much of the Cretaceous. Despite extensive research, Early Cretaceous cryosphere responses to temperature and atmospheric PCO2 fluctuations over short, human, timescales remain uncertain. Here, we show rapid late Valanginian (~133 million years ago) seasonal fluctuations in sea surface temperature (SST) and δ18O mainly driven by atmospheric PCO2. Two distinctive features emerge: large seasonal variability of up to 15.9° ± 4.9°C in Southern Hemisphere mid-latitudes, comparable to that found today, a positive sea surface δ18O value related to evaporation (expressed as salinity increases), and the existence of polar ice. Model-predicted patterns of SST change match with high statistical confidence those derived from clumped isotopes in well-preserved oyster fossils from Madagascar and display consistent warm/cold seasonality. Given its relative coolness in a Cretaceous context, the late Valanginian is a valuable analog for Earth’s future climate.

1702地球物理及び地球化学
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