Evaluating Changes in Paleo-temperature Gradients using Hydrogen Isotopic Compositions of Leaf-wax Biomarkers

A long-standing problem in the paleoclimate modeling community has been the inability of the models to reproduce the shallow meridional temperature gradient (∆T) observed in proxy temperature records for the warm, greenhouse time intervals in Earth’s history, such as the early Eocene. It is often stated that this mismatch indicates a missing high-latitude feedback mechanism in the climate models that would cause substantial polar amplification of warming. However, this issue is complicated by the potential biasing of proxy records due to issues related to temperature calibrations and/or diagenesis. In this study, we propose an alternative approach to estimate ∆T for these time intervals using hydrogen isotopic composition of leaf-wax biomarkers (dD_leaf-wax) preserved in the sedimentary record.

Today, dD_leaf-wax is closely related to the hydrological cycle and source vegetation. In the mid- and high-latitudes, dD_leaf-wax changes pertaining to the hydrological cycle can be interpreted using a Rayleigh distillation process, where evaporated moisture from the sub-tropics undergoes isotopic fractionation and becomes increasingly D-depleted during poleward transport. We develop a box model based on the Rayleigh distillation process that uses the global mean temperature for the time-period and geological archives of dD_leaf-wax to estimate the meridional temperature gradient. We use this box model for the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM; ~56Ma), a rapid-warming event in the early Eocene where global warming is accompanied by evidence for increased input of greenhouse gases. We compile existing leaf-wax dD_leaf-wax records from the extra-tropics to estimate ∆T before and during the PETM. Preliminary results suggest that the temperature gradient increased during the body of the PETM, contradicting our expectations based on temperature proxies. We also use this approach to estimate ∆T during other intervals in earth’s history, such as the early Eocene. Further, we evaluate the model sensitivity to dD_leaf-wax changes due to changes in the ecosystem during the PETM, i.e. changes in apparent fractionation through changes in vegetation type.