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Palaeoclimate estimates for the Middle Miocene Schrotzburg flora (S Germany): a multi-method approach

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Abstract

We present a detailed palaeoclimate analysis of the Middle Miocene (uppermost Badenian–lowermost Sarmatian) Schrotzburg locality in S Germany, based on the fossil macro- and micro-flora, using four different methods for the estimation of palaeoclimate parameters: the coexistence approach (CA), leaf margin analysis (LMA), the Climate-Leaf Analysis Multivariate Program (CLAMP), as well as a recently developed multivariate leaf physiognomic approach based on an European calibration dataset (ELPA). Considering results of all methods used, the following palaeoclimate estimates seem to be most likely: mean annual temperature ∼15–16°C (MAT), coldest month mean temperature ∼7°C (CMMT), warmest month mean temperature between 25 and 26°C, and mean annual precipiation ∼1,300 mm, although CMMT values may have been colder as indicated by the disappearance of the crocodile Diplocynodon and the temperature thresholds derived from modern alligators. For most palaeoclimatic parameters, estimates derived by CLAMP significantly differ from those derived by most other methods. With respect to the consistency of the results obtained by CA, LMA and ELPA, it is suggested that for the Schrotzburg locality CLAMP is probably less reliable than most other methods. A possible explanation may be attributed to the correlation between leaf physiognomy and climate as represented by the CLAMP calibration data set which is largely based on extant floras from N America and E Asia and which may be not suitable for application to the European Neogene. All physiognomic methods used here were affected by taphonomic biasses. Especially the number of taxa had a great influence on the reliability of the palaeoclimate estimates. Both multivariate leaf physiognomic approaches are less influenced by such biasses than the univariate LMA. In combination with previously published results from the European and Asian Neogene, our data suggest that during the Neogene in Eurasia CLAMP may produce temperature estimates, which are systematically too cold as compared to other evidence. This pattern, however, has to be further investigated using additional palaeofloras.

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Acknowledgments

We thank M. Montenari, T. Schneck (Tübingen), J. Lechterbeck (Köln) and E. Walcher-Andriss (Ammerbuch-Entringen) for their support during field-work at the Schrotzburg locality; S. Giersch (Karlsruhe) and M. Böhme (Munich) for fruitful discussions on the applicability of the fossil crocodilians recovered at the Bohlinger Schlucht as palaeoclimate indicators; R. Siedner (Tübingen) for preparing the palynomorphs; as well as D.K. Ferguson and W.-C. Dullo for their valuable comments on the manuscript. This work was financially supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG grant UH 122/1-1 to DU), and by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation in the form of Feodor Lynen Research Fellowships awarded to D.U. and S.K. This is a contribution to Neogene Climate Evolution in Eurasia (NECLIME).

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  1. Institut für Geowissenschaften, Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Sigwartstr. 10, 72076, Tübingen, Germany

    Dieter Uhl, Angela A. Bruch, Christopher Traiser & Stefan Klotz

  2. Laboratory of Palaeobotany and Palynology, Department of Palaeoecology, Utrecht University, Budapestlaan 4, 3584 CD, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Dieter Uhl

  3. Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum, Senckenberganlage 25, 60325, Frankfurt, Germany

    Angela A. Bruch

  4. Laboratoire PaléoEnvironnements et PaléobioSphère (UMR 5125), Université Cl.Bernard-Lyon 1, 27-43 boulevard du 11 Novembre, 69622, Villeurbanne Cedex, France

    Stefan Klotz

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  1. Dieter Uhl
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  2. Angela A. Bruch
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Correspondence to Dieter Uhl.

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Dedicated to Prof. Dr. Harald Walther, Dresden, on the occasion of his 75th birthday.

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Uhl, D., Bruch, A.A., Traiser, C. et al. Palaeoclimate estimates for the Middle Miocene Schrotzburg flora (S Germany): a multi-method approach. Int J Earth Sci (Geol Rundsch) 95, 1071–1085 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00531-006-0083-9

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