A global environmental crisis 42,000 years ago

Alan Cooper; Chris Turney; Jonathan M Palmer; Alan G Hogg; M McGlone; Janet M Wilmshurst; Andrew Lorrey; Timothy J Heaton; James Michael Russell; Ken McCracken; Janelle Stevenson

doi:10.1126/science.abb8677

A global environmental crisis 42,000 years ago

Alan Cooper, Chris Turney, Jonathan M Palmer, Alan G Hogg, M McGlone, Janet M Wilmshurst, Andrew Lorrey, Timothy J Heaton, James Michael Russell, Ken McCracken, Janelle Stevenson

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article

Abstract

Geological archives record multiple reversals of Earth's magnetic poles, but the global impacts of these events, if any, remain unclear. Uncertain radiocarbon calibration has limited investigation of the potential effects of the last major magnetic inversion, known as the Laschamps Excursion [41 to 42 thousand years ago (ka)]. We use ancient New Zealand kauri trees (Agathis australis) to develop a detailed record of atmospheric radiocarbon levels across the Laschamps Excursion. We precisely characterize the geomagnetic reversal and perform global chemistry-climate modeling and detailed radiocarbon dating of paleoenvironmental records to investigate impacts. We find that geomagnetic field minima ~42 ka, in combination with Grand Solar Minima, caused substantial changes in atmospheric ozone concentration and circulation, driving synchronous global climate shifts that caused major environmental changes, extinction events, and transformations in the archaeological record.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	811-818
Journal	Science
Volume	371
Issue number	6531
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abb8677
Publication status	Published - 2021

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10.1126/science.abb8677

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title = "A global environmental crisis 42,000 years ago",

abstract = "Geological archives record multiple reversals of Earth's magnetic poles, but the global impacts of these events, if any, remain unclear. Uncertain radiocarbon calibration has limited investigation of the potential effects of the last major magnetic inversion, known as the Laschamps Excursion [41 to 42 thousand years ago (ka)]. We use ancient New Zealand kauri trees (Agathis australis) to develop a detailed record of atmospheric radiocarbon levels across the Laschamps Excursion. We precisely characterize the geomagnetic reversal and perform global chemistry-climate modeling and detailed radiocarbon dating of paleoenvironmental records to investigate impacts. We find that geomagnetic field minima ~42 ka, in combination with Grand Solar Minima, caused substantial changes in atmospheric ozone concentration and circulation, driving synchronous global climate shifts that caused major environmental changes, extinction events, and transformations in the archaeological record.",

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doi = "10.1126/science.abb8677",

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T1 - A global environmental crisis 42,000 years ago

AU - Cooper, Alan

AU - Turney, Chris

AU - Palmer, Jonathan M

AU - Hogg, Alan G

AU - McGlone, M

AU - Wilmshurst, Janet M

AU - Lorrey, Andrew

AU - Heaton, Timothy J

AU - Russell, James Michael

AU - McCracken, Ken

AU - Stevenson, Janelle

PY - 2021

Y1 - 2021

N2 - Geological archives record multiple reversals of Earth's magnetic poles, but the global impacts of these events, if any, remain unclear. Uncertain radiocarbon calibration has limited investigation of the potential effects of the last major magnetic inversion, known as the Laschamps Excursion [41 to 42 thousand years ago (ka)]. We use ancient New Zealand kauri trees (Agathis australis) to develop a detailed record of atmospheric radiocarbon levels across the Laschamps Excursion. We precisely characterize the geomagnetic reversal and perform global chemistry-climate modeling and detailed radiocarbon dating of paleoenvironmental records to investigate impacts. We find that geomagnetic field minima ~42 ka, in combination with Grand Solar Minima, caused substantial changes in atmospheric ozone concentration and circulation, driving synchronous global climate shifts that caused major environmental changes, extinction events, and transformations in the archaeological record.

AB - Geological archives record multiple reversals of Earth's magnetic poles, but the global impacts of these events, if any, remain unclear. Uncertain radiocarbon calibration has limited investigation of the potential effects of the last major magnetic inversion, known as the Laschamps Excursion [41 to 42 thousand years ago (ka)]. We use ancient New Zealand kauri trees (Agathis australis) to develop a detailed record of atmospheric radiocarbon levels across the Laschamps Excursion. We precisely characterize the geomagnetic reversal and perform global chemistry-climate modeling and detailed radiocarbon dating of paleoenvironmental records to investigate impacts. We find that geomagnetic field minima ~42 ka, in combination with Grand Solar Minima, caused substantial changes in atmospheric ozone concentration and circulation, driving synchronous global climate shifts that caused major environmental changes, extinction events, and transformations in the archaeological record.

U2 - 10.1126/science.abb8677

DO - 10.1126/science.abb8677

M3 - Article

SN - 0036-8075

VL - 371

SP - 811

EP - 818

JO - Science

JF - Science

IS - 6531

ER -

A global environmental crisis 42,000 years ago

Abstract

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