Abrupt increase in seasonal extreme precipitation at the Paleocene-Eocene boundary

Schmitz, Birger; Pujalte, Victoriano

doi:10.1130/g23261a.1

Cited by 231 publications

(188 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…Abdul Aziz et al, 2008), resulting from the interference of both northern and southern hemisphere precession signals within tropical 30 hydroclimates (Short et al, 1991). This is consistent with a strong hydroclimate control on sediment erosion and transport in the Tremp-Graus terrestrial basins during the PETM (Pujalte et al, 2015;Schmitz and Pujalte, 2007).…”

Section: Cyclostratigraphysupporting

confidence: 55%

Orbital forcing of terrestrial hydrology, weathering and carbon sequestration during the Palaeocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum

Jones

Manners

Hoggett

et al. 2017

Preprint

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Abstract. The response of the Earth System to greenhouse-gas driven warming is of critical importance for the future trajectory of our planetary environment. Hypethermal events -past climate transients with 25 significant global-scale warming -can provide insights into the nature and magnitude of these responses. The largest hyperthermal of the Cenozoic was the Palaeocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM ~56 Ma). Here we present a new high-resolution cyclostratigraphy for the classic PETM section at Zumaia, Spain. With this new age model we are able to demonstrate that detrital sediment accumulation rates within this continental margin section increased more than four-fold during the 30 PETM, representing a radical change in regional hydrology that drove dramatic increases in terrestrial to marine sediment flux. During the body of the PETM, orbital-scale variations in bulk sediment Si/Fe ratios are evidence for the continued orbital pacing of sediment erosion and transport processes, most likely linked to precession controls on sub-tropical hydroclimates. Most remarkable is that detrital accumulation rates remain high throughout the body of the PETM, and even reach peak values during 35 the recovery phase of the characteristic PETM carbon isotope excursion (CIE). Using a series of Earth System Model inversions, we demonstrate that the silicate weathering feedback alone is insufficient to recover the PETM CIE, and that active organic carbon burial is required to match the observed dynamics of the CIE. Further, that the period of maximum organic carbon sequestration coincides with the peak in detrital accumulation rates observed at Zumaia. Based on these results, we hypothesize that 40Clim. Past Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-2017-131 Manuscript under review for journal Clim. Past Discussion started: 16 November 2017 c Author(s) 2017. CC BY 4.0 License. 2 precession controls on tropical and sub-tropical hydroclimates, and the sediment dynamics associated with this variation, play a significant role in the timing of the rapid climate and CIE recovery from peak-PETM conditions.

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Section: Cyclostratigraphysupporting

confidence: 55%

Orbital forcing of terrestrial hydrology, weathering and carbon sequestration during the Palaeocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum

Jones

Manners

Hoggett

et al. 2017

Preprint

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“…For example, palaeobotanical analyses of Early Oligocene terrestrial deposits indicate that climate variability in Central Europe during the Rupelian was predominantly governed by changes in precipitation rather than by temperature fluctuations (Pross and Schmiedl 2002, Schwarzbach 1968, Schuler 1990). The effect on precipitation of early Palaeogene hyperthermal events such as the PETM has variously been interpreted as insignificant or causing even drier conditions in part for North America (Harrington andKemp 2001, Kraus andRiggins 2007) and seasonal extremes in Spain (Schmitz and Pujalte 2007). Our study now suggests that changes in precipitation may have led to noticeable quantitative changes in the microflora at Messel even during the generally stable phase of the Palaeogene climate.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 64%

Short-term fluctuations in vegetation and phytoplankton during the Middle Eocene greenhouse climate: a 640-kyr record from the Messel oil shale (Germany)

Lenz

Wilde

Riegel

2010

Int J Earth Sci (Geol Rundsch)

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The Palaeogene was the most recent greenhouse period on Earth. Especially for the Late Palaeocene and Early Eocene, several superimposed short-term hyperthermal events have been described, including extremes such as the Palaeocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum. Major faunal and floral turnovers in the marine and terrestrial realms were recorded in association with these events. High-resolution palynological analysis of the early Middle Eocene maar lake sediments at Messel, near Darmstadt, Germany, provides an insight into the dynamics of a climax vegetation during the Middle Eocene greenhouse climate in a time span without significant climatic excursions. Numerical techniques like detrended correspondence analysis and wavelet analysis have been applied to recognize cyclic fluctuations and long-term trends in the vegetation through a time interval of approximately 640 kyr. Based on the numerical zoning of the pollen diagram, three phases in the development of the vegetation may be distinguished. Throughout these phases, the climax vegetation did not change substantially in qualitative composition, but a trend towards noticeably less humid conditions probably in combination with a drop of the water level in the lake may be recognized. A shift in algal population from the freshwater dinoflagellate cyst Messelodinium thielepfeifferae to a dominance of Botryococcus in the uppermost part of the core is interpreted as a response to changes in acidity and nutrient availability within the lake. Time series analyses of pollen assemblages show that variations in the Milankovitch range of eccentricity, obliquity and precession can be distinguished. In addition, fluctuations in the sub-Milankovitch range are indicated. This demonstrates that floral changes during steady depositional conditions in the Middle Eocene of Messel were controlled by orbital forcing.

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“…More recent studies, however, have attributed increased erosion rates in this basin to an intensification of seasonal precipitation during the PETM [Schmitz and Pujalte, 2007]. On the basis of a recent revision of the stratigraphy of the sediments, regression was redated as latest Paleocene, followed by transgression during the PETM [Pujalte and Schmitz, 2006].…”

Section: Sluijs Et Al: Paleocene-eocene Eustatic Variationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Eustatic variations during the Paleocene‐Eocene greenhouse world

et al. 2008

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[1] We reconstruct eustatic variations during the latest Paleocene and earliest Eocene ($58-52 Ma). Dinoflagellate cysts, grain size fractions, and organic biomarkers in marine sections at four sites from three continents indicate an increased distance to the coast during the Paleocene-Eocene thermal maximum (PETM). The same trend is recognized in published records from other sites around the world. Together, the data indicate a eustatic rise during the PETM, beginning 20 to 200 ka before the globally recorded negative carbon isotope excursion (CIE) at $55.5 Ma. Although correlations are tentative, we recognize other global transgressions during Chrons C25n and C24n. The latter may be associated with Eocene Thermal Maximum 2 ($53.5 Ma) or the ''X''-event ($52 Ma). These results suggest a link between global sea level and ''hyperthermal'' intervals, potentially because of the melting of small alpine ice sheets on Antarctica, thermal expansion of seawater, or both. However, the early onset of sea level rise relative to the CIE of the PETM suggests contributions from other mechanisms, perhaps decreasing ocean basin volume, on sea level rise.

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Abrupt increase in seasonal extreme precipitation at the Paleocene-Eocene boundary

Cited by 231 publications

References 16 publications

Orbital forcing of terrestrial hydrology, weathering and carbon sequestration during the Palaeocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum

Orbital forcing of terrestrial hydrology, weathering and carbon sequestration during the Palaeocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum

Short-term fluctuations in vegetation and phytoplankton during the Middle Eocene greenhouse climate: a 640-kyr record from the Messel oil shale (Germany)

Eustatic variations during the Paleocene‐Eocene greenhouse world

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