Palm phytoliths in subarctic Canada imply ice-free winters 48 million years ago during the late early Eocene
The presence of palm phytoliths allows inference of a warm regional climate during the late early Eocene, with mean cold-month temperatures above freezing despite prolonged winter darkness. This conclusion is supported by the presence of multiple warm water aquatic organisms that grew extensively in the maar lake. Our findings will help to document the extent and timing of perennial ice formation in the northern hemisphere during the Cenozoic. Finally, the discovery of stegmata documents that this morphological trait had evolved by early Eocene.
Authors
- Peter A. Siver (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5956-8889)
- Andrzej Pisera (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7112-6063)
- Alberto V. Reyes (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7838-4214)
- Serhiy D. Buryak
- Alexander P. Wolfe
Institutions
- University of Alberta (CA)
- Institute of Paleobiology (PL)
- Connecticut College (US)
- MacEwan University (CA)
- Polish Academy of Sciences (PL)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Annals of Botany
- Published
- 2025-02-10
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1093/aob/mcaf021
- Citations
- 2
- Primary Topic
- Silicon Effects in Agriculture
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 3.50
Funders
- National Science Foundation
- University of Connecticut
- University of Washington
- Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada