Transient drying during the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM): Analysis of paleosols in the bighorn basin, Wyoming

Kraus, Mary J.; Riggins, S. G.

doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2006.09.011

Cited by 157 publications

(169 citation statements)

References 49 publications

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“…Enhanced aeolian supply relative to detrital fluxes into the Neo-Tethys has been reported on the southern Tethyan margin (central Egypt) as a result of drier, likely more seasonal, climatic conditions during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) (Schulte et al, 2011). Similar observations have been made for the PETM in the Bighorn Basin, Wyoming (Wing et al, 2005;Kraus and Riggins, 2007;Smith et al, 2009), East Africa (Handley et al, 2012) and the southern Kerguelen Plateau, Indian Ocean, on the Antarctic margin .…”

Section: Ocean Iron Fertilization and Magnetotactic Bacterial Abundansupporting

confidence: 66%

Enhanced primary productivity and magnetotactic bacterial production in response to middle Eocene warming in the Neo-Tethys Ocean

Savian

Jovane

Frontalini

et al. 2014

Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology

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Section: Ocean Iron Fertilization and Magnetotactic Bacterial Abundansupporting

confidence: 66%

Enhanced primary productivity and magnetotactic bacterial production in response to middle Eocene warming in the Neo-Tethys Ocean

Savian

Jovane

Frontalini

et al. 2014

Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology

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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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“…20%) increases in relative humidity as a comprehensive (i.e. global) explanation of the terrestrial CIE amplification (Bowen et al 2004) is inconsistent with both the hydrological response of global climate models (Pagani et al 2006) and much palaeohydrological proxy data (Wing et al 2005;Kraus & Riggins 2007). Given the continuing uncertainty surrounding the controls on the terrestrial CIE, the emerging consensus on the size of the CIE in surface ocean DIC and the dominance of the oceanic carbon pool relative to the terrestrial biosphere and atmospheric carbon (figure 1), we make the conservative assumption that the global exogenic carbon reservoir CIE is of the order of −4‰.…”

Section: The Petm and Methane Hydratesmentioning

confidence: 95%

A Palaeogene perspective on climate sensitivity and methane hydrate instability

Jones

Ridgwell

Lunt

et al. 2010

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A.

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The Palaeocene-Eocene thermal maximum (PETM), a rapid global warming event and carbon-cycle perturbation of the early Palaeogene, provides a unique test of climate and carbon-cycle models as well as our understanding of sedimentary methane hydrate stability, albeit under conditions very different from the modern. The principal expression of the PETM in the geological record is a large and rapid negative excursion in the carbon isotopic composition of carbonates and organic matter from both marine and terrestrial environments. Palaeotemperature proxy data from across the PETM indicate a coincident increase in global surface temperatures of approximately 5-6 • C. Reliable estimates of atmospheric CO 2 changes and global warming through past transient climate events can provide an important test of the climate sensitivities reproduced by state-of-the-art atmosphere-ocean general circulation models. Here, we synthesize the available carbon-cycle model estimates of the magnitude of the carbon input to the ocean-atmosphere-biosphere system, and the consequent atmospheric pCO 2 perturbation, through the PETM. We also review the theoretical mass balance arguments and available sedimentary evidence for the role of massive methane hydrate dissociation in this event. The plausible range of carbon mass input, approximately 4000-7000 PgC, strongly suggests a major alternative source of carbon in addition to any contribution from methane hydrates. We find that the potential range of PETM atmospheric pCO 2 increase, combined with proxy estimates of the PETM temperature anomaly, does not necessarily imply climate sensitivities beyond the range of state-of-the-art climate models.

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Transient drying during the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM): Analysis of paleosols in the bighorn basin, Wyoming

Cited by 157 publications

References 49 publications

Enhanced primary productivity and magnetotactic bacterial production in response to middle Eocene warming in the Neo-Tethys Ocean

Enhanced primary productivity and magnetotactic bacterial production in response to middle Eocene warming in the Neo-Tethys Ocean

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

A Palaeogene perspective on climate sensitivity and methane hydrate instability

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