A Pliocene-Pleistocene temperature reconstruction from the tropical Andes of Colombia
- 1Department of Geological Sciences, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, United States
- 2Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research (INSTAAR), University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colorado, USA
- 3Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colorado, USA
- 4Servicio Geológico Colombiano, Bogotá, Colombia.
- 5Department of Biological Sciences, Universidad de Los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia
- 6Department of Physics and Geosciences, Universidad del Norte, Barranquilla, Colombia
We provide a Plio-Quaternary quantitative temperature record based on the distribution of bacterial membrane lipids; branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers (brGDGTs) preserved in lake sediment of the Funza-II core in the Sabana de Bogotá (2500 m.a.s.l.), Eastern Cordillera of Colombia (~4°N). Using a refined age model based on 4 new zircon U-Pb dates from ash layers that place the base of the core at around ~4 Ma, we show that Pliocene temperatures were ~2.2 ± 2.0°C warmer than Mid-Late Pleistocene temperatures. If the Pliocene eastern tropical Pacific were as warm as it becomes during major El Niño events today, the teleconnection to the Eastern Cordillera of Colombia could account for a warmer Pliocene than present-day climate by 2°C, without a pantropical change in temperature. These temperature estimates are the only terrestrial tropical record within 5° of the equator for Pliocene time.
How to cite: Pérez-Angel, L. C., Sepúlveda, J., Molnar, P., Mora-Páez, H., Parrado, Á., Eaman, K., González-Arango, C., Snell, K., Montes, C., and Dildar, N.: A Pliocene-Pleistocene temperature reconstruction from the tropical Andes of Colombia, The warm Pliocene: Bridging the geological data and modelling communities, Leeds, United Kingdom, 23–26 Aug 2022, GC10-Pliocene-19, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-gc10-pliocene-19, 2022.
