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Orbital Forcing of Climate 1.4 Billion Years Ago Orbital forcing of climate 1.4 billion years ago Shuichang Zhanga, Xiaomei Wanga, Emma U. Hammarlundb, Huajian Wanga, M. Mafalda Costac, Christian J. Bjerrumd, James N. Connellyc, Baomin Zhanga, Lizeng Biane, and Donald E. Canfieldb,1 aKey Laboratory of Petroleum Geochemistry, Research Institute of Petroleum Exploration and Development, China National Petroleum Corporation, Beijing 100083, China; bInstitute of Biology and Nordic Center for Earth Evolution, University of Southern Denmark, 5230 Odense M, Denmark; cCentre for Star and Planet Formation, Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, 1350 Copenhagen K, Denmark; dDepartment of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management, Section of Geology, and Nordic Center for Earth Evolution, University of Copenhagen, 1350 Copenhagen K, Denmark; and eDepartment of Geosciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China Contributed by Donald E. Canfield, February 9, 2015 (sent for review May 2, 2014) Fluctuating climate is a hallmark of Earth. As one transcends deep tions. For example, the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ), into Earth time, however, both the evidence for and the causes the region of atmospheric upwelling near the equator, shifts its of climate change become difficult to establish. We report geo- average position based on the temperature contrast between the chemical and sedimentological evidence for repeated, short-term northern and southern hemispheres, with the ITCZ migrating in climate fluctuations from the exceptionally well-preserved ∼1.4- the direction of the warming hemisphere (11, 12). Therefore, the billion-year-old Xiamaling Formation of the North China Craton. ITCZ changes its position seasonally, but also on longer time We observe two patterns of climate fluctuations: On long time scales as controlled, for example, by the latitudinal distribution scales, over what amounts to tens of millions of years, sediments of solar insolation. The position of the ITCZ correlates with the of the Xiamaling Formation record changes in geochemistry con- geographic distribution of wind strength and rates of pre- sistent with long-term changes in the location of the Xiamaling cipitation, as well as patterns of ocean circulation (11, 13, 14). relative to the position of the Intertropical Convergence Zone. On Changes in the position of the ITCZ are recorded, for example, shorter time scales, and within a precisely calibrated stratigraphic in sediments of the Cariaco Basin off the coast of northern framework, cyclicity in sediment geochemical dynamics is consis- Venezuela. This site is located on the northern edge of the tent with orbital control. In particular, sediment geochemical fluc- summer ITCZ but well north of the winter ITCZ. The geo- tuations reflect what appear to be orbitally forced changes in wind chemistry of Cariaco Basin sediments record both seasonal (15, patterns and ocean circulation as they influenced rates of organic 16) and long-term (17) changes in the position of the ITCZ—as carbon flux, trace metal accumulation, and the source of detrital this position influences the balance between aeolian and riverine particles to the sediment. sources of sediment to the basin, and the marine response in productivity and carbon flux to the sea floor. The longer-term Xiamaling | Milankovitch | Mesoproterozoic | Hadley Cell | ITCZ variations in sediment geochemistry in the Cariaco Basin are linked to orbital forcing (17), with some variations occurring at any instances of climate change can be recognized through time scales shorter than the Milankovitch cycles (15, 18). Mthe Phanerozoic Eon (the last 542 million years). For ex- Variations in the accumulation of organic carbon in some ample, fluctuating climate is well expressed in several periods of sediments, as these express rates of primary production, can also major glaciation during both the early (late Ordovician and early be attributed to these orbitally induced climate changes. For Silurian Periods) and late (Permian and Carboniferous Periods) example, variations in organic carbon concentration are clearly – Paleozoic Era (1). The causes of the early Paleozoic glaciations expressed in sediments of the Cretaceous Atlantic Ocean (19 are not well understood, but those of the late Paleozoic Era 21), and these variations have been coupled to Milankovitch time scales. Indeed, broad patterns of variation in organic carbon likely resulted from a combination of low atmospheric CO2 levels and a distribution of continents in southerly latitudes prone to content in sediments of the Cretaceous Atlantic Ocean seem to the accumulation of continental ice (2). Another instance of Phanerozoic climate change includes the Paleocene−Eocene Significance thermal maximum (3) linked to large outpourings of methane gas leading to intense global warming. Still other instances in- There is a wealth of evidence pointing to dramatic short-term clude elevated rates of volcanic CO2 outgassing leading to global climate change on Earth over the last few million years. Much warming at the end of the Permian and Cretaceous Periods (4) of this climate change is driven by variations of Earth’s orbit and at the Triassic−Jurassic boundary (5). around the Sun with characteristic frequencies known as During the last 2.5 million years, climate change, as recorded, Milankovitch cycles. Robust evidence for orbitally driven cli- for example, in glacial ice and marine sediments, was linked to mate change, however, becomes rare as one descends deep periodic variations in Earth’s orbit around the Sun and the into Earth time. We studied an exceptional record of climate controls these variations had on the amount of incoming solar change as recorded in 1.4-billion-year-old marine sediments radiation (insolation) reaching any point on Earth as a function from North China. This record documents regular changes in of season. The orbital parameters controlling the distribution of subtropical/tropical Hadley Cell dynamics. These changes in solar insolation include the precession, or “wobble,” of the Earth dynamics controlled wind strength, rainfall, and ocean circu- orbital axis, the obliquity, or tilt of the orbital axis and the ec- lation, translated into cyclic variations in sediment geochem- centricity of Earth’s orbit around the Sun. Precession has char- istry, much like the orbital control on climate today and in the acteristic time scales of 19 ky (thousand years) and 23 ky, recent past. obliquity has a time scale of 41 ky, and eccentricity has a short time scale of about 100 ky and a long time scale of about 405 ky Author contributions: S.Z., X.W., E.U.H., H.W., C.J.B., and D.E.C. designed research; S.Z., X.W., E.U.H., H.W., M.M.C., C.J.B., J.N.C., B.Z., L.B., and D.E.C. performed research; S.Z., (6). The characteristic frequencies associated with these time X.W., E.U.H., H.W., M.M.C., C.J.B., J.N.C., and D.E.C. analyzed data; and S.Z., X.W., E.U.H., scales are known as Milankovitch cycles (7, 8), and the advance C.J.B., J.N.C., and D.E.C. wrote the paper. and retreat of glacial ice through the recent Pleistocene Epoch The authors declare no conflict of interest. appear to be paced to orbital forcing (9, 10). 1To whom correspondence should be addressed. Email: [email protected]. Orbitally paced changes in solar insolation affect climate in This article contains supporting information online at www.pnas.org/lookup/suppl/doi:10. a variety of ways, apart from the obvious expression of glacia- 1073/pnas.1502239112/-/DCSupplemental. E1406–E1413 | PNAS | Published online March 9, 2015 www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1502239112 Downloaded by guest on October 2, 2021 depend on paleolatitude and the location of the depositional site In pre-Phanerozoic times, conspicuous examples of climate PNAS PLUS relative to the location of the ITCZ in the tropics and the outer, change include the Huronian glaciations that lasted from about subtropical boundaries of the Hadley Cells (20, 22). Hadley 2.4 billion years ago to 2.1 billion years ago (24, 25) and episodes Cells are one of three major cells of global atmospheric cir- of glaciation during the latter Neoproterozoic Eon, some of culation resulting from the differential heating of Earth from which may have been global in extent (26, 27). There are also the equator to the poles, originating as moisture-laden air rising suggestions of Milankovitch-style cyclicity in the repetitive de- position of distinct sedimentary packages linked to high-fre- at the ITCZ, and descending as dry air some 30° latitude north – and south in the outer limbs of the Hadley Cells. The influence quency sea level fluctuations (28 30). However, while the link to climate in the deposition of these sediments seems possible, of Hadley Cell circulation on organic carbon accumulation the nature of the climate forcing is uncertain. Furthermore, is primarily related to variations in trade wind strength and we are unaware of any pre-Phanerozoic studies where orbital rainfall intensity (20, 22). Trade wind strength controls up- forcing has been chronologically calibrated and thus convinc- welling intensity and thus rates of nutrient availability to pri- ingly demonstrated. mary producers, whereas rainfall can influence rates of nutrient We explored the ∼1,400 Ma sediments of the Xiamaling delivery from the continents, thus also affecting rates of marine Formation on the North China Craton. These rocks offer a rare primary production. On orbital time scales, solar insolation shifts glimpse into the mechanisms of climate change in the Meso- broad patterns of ocean and atmospheric circulation, thereby proterozoic Era (1,600 Ma to 1,000 Ma), and, with a precise moving regions of enhanced primary production and organic chronostratigraphic framework, we are able to suggest an orbital carbon accumulation (23). control on climate and marine sedimentation. A Depth(m) unit 0 B Si Si Si Si EARTH, ATMOSPHERIC, AND PLANETARY SCIENCES 1 Si Si 50 C S S 100 S 176.3 S S S S 2 S 200 D S S 1384.4 ± 1.4 Ma S S S S S Si Si 250 Si Si Si Si E Si Si 1392.2 ± 1.0 Ma Si SiS High resolution interval 3 Si Si Magnetic susceptibility interv.
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