Sea-level, humidity, and land-erosion records across the initial Eocene thermal maximum from a continental-marine transect in northern Spain

Abstract

In two continental sections in the Tremp basin, northern Spain, the initial Eocene thermal maximum (also known as the Paleocene-Eocene thermal maximum) is registered by an ϳ6‰ fall in ␦ 13 C values in soil carbonate nodules. High-resolution correlations, using the ␦ 13 C excursion, can be made to nearby shelf and bathyal marine settings, allowing a detailed reconstruction of soil formation on land and transport of detritus to the sea during the initial Eocene thermal maximum. Soils that formed before and after the initial Eocene thermal maximum in the Tremp region reflect arid to semiarid conditions, with abundant evaporative minerals, whereas initial Eocene thermal maximum soils reflect seasonally wetter but generally dry conditions. During the initial Eocene thermal maximum, land erosion was intensified and accumulation rates of terrigenous detritus in the sea increased. This reflects both increased topographic relief associated with a prominent sea-level lowstand and enhanced seasonal precipitation over a dry landscape with sparse vegetation. Deeper erosion led to an increase in the flux of kaolinite from buried Mesozoic soils to the oceans. The association of the initial Eocene thermal maximum with a sealevel lowstand in northern Spain, as well as at other marginal North Atlantic sites, may reflect coeval large-scale magmatic activity in the northernmost Atlantic.

Warming and environmental changes in the eastern North Sea Basin during the Palaeocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum as revealed by biomarker lipids

“…An intensification of the hydrological cycle during the PETM is also evident from the relative increases in kaolinite clays at many PETM marginal sites (e.g. Schmitz and Pujalte, 2003;Crouch et al, 2003;Schulte et al, 2013, Robert andKennett, 1994;Bolle and Adatte, 2001). These deposits are, however, mostly interpreted as the redeposition of older clays during episodes of strongly seasonal precipitation (e.g.…”

“…Schmitz et al, 2001;Schmitz and Pujalte, 2003). In fact, palaeosoil data from northern Spain (Schmitz and Pujalte, 2003) and terrestrial n-alkane δD records from eastern Tanzania (Handley et al, 2012) point to more arid annual conditions in the subtropics during the PETM. This is consistent with model predictions that warmer atmospheric temperatures will cause a stronger latitudinal evaporation-precipitation gradient, with higher evaporation rates in the sub-tropics and higher precipitation rates in mid-and high-latitudes (Manabe, 1996).…”

“…These deposits are, however, mostly interpreted as the redeposition of older clays during episodes of strongly seasonal precipitation (e.g. Schmitz et al, 2001;Schmitz and Pujalte, 2003). In fact, palaeosoil data from northern Spain (Schmitz and Pujalte, 2003) and terrestrial n-alkane δD records from eastern Tanzania (Handley et al, 2012) point to more arid annual conditions in the subtropics during the PETM.…”

Magnetofossil spike during the Paleocene‐Eocene thermal maximum: Ferromagnetic resonance, rock magnetic, and electron microscopy evidence from Ancora, New Jersey, United States

“…The climatic event led to changes in the hydrologic cycle, which in turn altered the character of sediments deposited throughout the world. In many continental margin sections, the PETM is associated with thick, siliclastic deposits, presumably reflecting enhanced fluvial sediment delivery [e.g., Crouch et al, 2003;Gawenda et al, 1999;Giusberti et al, 2007;Schmitz and Pujalte, 2003]. In the Atlantic Coastal Plain of the northeastern United States, PETM sections are expanded, depleted in sand-sized particles and enriched in clay-sized kaolinite [Gibson et al, 1993[Gibson et al, , 2000Kent et al, 2003].…”

Eustatic variations during the Paleocene‐Eocene greenhouse world

“…In the few cases where such stratigraphy exists, the magnitude and direction of the sea level change has been controversial. In particular, some authors Schmitz and Pujalte, 2003;Schmitz et al, 2004] have argued that lithological changes across the PETM support a major sea level fall, whereas in other cases microfossil and geochemical data has been used to suggest the opposite trend . One recently acknowledged problem is that sediment supply to continental margins varied significantly during the early Paleogene, especially across the hyperthermals [e.g., Nicolo et al, 2007;Sluijs et al, 2008] (Figure 2), and this could influence stratigraphic interpretations Steckler et al, 1988].…”