All articles tagged with #horsetail
Scientists studying water moving through the 400-million-year-old Equisetum horsetail found an extreme oxygen-isotope signature never observed in terrestrial samples, suggesting evaporation-driven isotope enrichment and prompting a rethink of how fossil phytoliths are used to reconstruct ancient climates.
A study led by Zachary Sharp shows the prehistoric smooth horsetail (Equisetum laevigatum) distills water so aggressively that its top-water oxygen-isotope signature resembles a meteorite, helping explain puzzling desert data. The researchers also show fossil phytoliths trap these integrated isotopic records, providing a sensitive palaeo-hygrometer to reconstruct Earth’s past humidity and climate millions of years ago, aided by a refined evaporation–isotope model; findings published in PNAS (2025).
Water drawn through the hollow stem of a living Equisetum horsetail shows the most extreme oxygen‑isotope signature ever measured in terrestrial material, with heavy oxygen concentrating from base to tip as moisture evaporates. The finding prompts a rethink of how evaporation reshapes plant-water signals, fossil phytolith readings, and past humidity, influencing how scientists reconstruct ancient climates.