Articles | Volume 11, issue 9
https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-11-1181-2015
© Author(s) 2015. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Special issue:
https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-11-1181-2015
© Author(s) 2015. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Research article
| 
23 Sep 2015
Research article |
| 23 Sep 2015
Astronomical calibration of the geological timescale: closing the middle Eocene gap
MARUM – Center for Marine Environmental Sciences, University of Bremen, Leobener Straße, 28359 Bremen, Germany
MARUM – Center for Marine Environmental Sciences, University of Bremen, Leobener Straße, 28359 Bremen, Germany
T. Frederichs
Department of Geosciences, University of Bremen, 28359 Bremen, Germany
S. M. Bohaty
Ocean and Earth Science, University of Southampton, National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, SO14 3ZH, UK
J. C. Zachos
University of California, Santa Cruz, California, USA
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Short summary
Here we introduce the Code for Ocean Drilling Data (CODD), a unified and consistent system for integrating disparate data streams such as micropaleontology, physical properties, core images, geochemistry, and borehole logging. As a test case, data from Ocean Drilling Program Leg 154 (Ceara Rise – western equatorial Atlantic) were assembled into a new regional composite benthic stable isotope record covering the last 5 million years.
Daniel J. Lunt, Matthew Huber, Eleni Anagnostou, Michiel L. J. Baatsen, Rodrigo Caballero, Rob DeConto, Henk A. Dijkstra, Yannick Donnadieu, David Evans, Ran Feng, Gavin L. Foster, Ed Gasson, Anna S. von der Heydt, Chris J. Hollis, Gordon N. Inglis, Stephen M. Jones, Jeff Kiehl, Sandy Kirtland Turner, Robert L. Korty, Reinhardt Kozdon, Srinath Krishnan, Jean-Baptiste Ladant, Petra Langebroek, Caroline H. Lear, Allegra N. LeGrande, Kate Littler, Paul Markwick, Bette Otto-Bliesner, Paul Pearson, Christopher J. Poulsen, Ulrich Salzmann, Christine Shields, Kathryn Snell, Michael Stärz, James Super, Clay Tabor, Jessica E. Tierney, Gregory J. L. Tourte, Aradhna Tripati, Garland R. Upchurch, Bridget S. Wade, Scott L. Wing, Arne M. E. Winguth, Nicky M. Wright, James C. Zachos, and Richard E. Zeebe
Geosci. Model Dev., 10, 889–901, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-10-889-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-10-889-2017, 2017
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In this paper we describe the experimental design for a set of simulations which will be carried out by a range of climate models, all investigating the climate of the Eocene, about 50 million years ago. The intercomparison of model results is called 'DeepMIP', and we anticipate that we will contribute to the next IPCC report through an analysis of these simulations and the geological data to which we will compare them.
Oliver Friedrich, Sietske J. Batenburg, Kazuyoshi Moriya, Silke Voigt, Cécile Cournède, Iris Möbius, Peter Blum, André Bornemann, Jens Fiebig, Takashi Hasegawa, Pincelli M. Hull, Richard D. Norris, Ursula Röhl, Thomas Westerhold, Paul A. Wilson, and IODP Expedition
Clim. Past Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-2016-51, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-2016-51, 2016
Manuscript not accepted for further review
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A lack of knowledge on the timing of Late Cretaceous climatic change inhibits our understanding of underlying causal mechanisms. Therefore, we used an expanded deep ocean record from the North Atlantic that shows distinct sedimentary cyclicity suggesting orbital forcing. A high-resolution carbon-isotope record from bulk carbonates allows to identify global trends in the carbon cycle. Our new carbon isotope record and the established cyclostratigraphy may serve as a future reference site.
Hemmo A. Abels, Vittoria Lauretano, Anna E. van Yperen, Tarek Hopman, James C. Zachos, Lucas J. Lourens, Philip D. Gingerich, and Gabriel J. Bowen
Clim. Past, 12, 1151–1163, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-12-1151-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-12-1151-2016, 2016
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Ancient greenhouse warming episodes are studied in river floodplain sediments in the western interior of the USA. Paleohydrological changes of four smaller warming episodes are revealed to be the opposite of those of the largest, most-studied event. Carbon cycle tracers are used to ascertain whether the largest event was a similar event but proportional to the smaller ones or whether this event was distinct in size as well as in carbon sourcing, a question the current work cannot answer.
K. M. Pascher, C. J. Hollis, S. M. Bohaty, G. Cortese, R. M. McKay, H. Seebeck, N. Suzuki, and K. Chiba
Clim. Past, 11, 1599–1620, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-11-1599-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-11-1599-2015, 2015
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Radiolarian taxa with high-latitude affinities are present from at least the middle Eocene in the SW Pacific and become very abundant in the late Eocene at all investigated sites. A short incursion of low-latitude taxa is observed during the MECO and late Eocene warming event at Site 277. Radiolarian abundance, diversity and taxa with high-latitude affinities increase at Site 277 in two steps in the latest Eocene due to climatic cooling and expansion of cold water masses.
V. Lauretano, K. Littler, M. Polling, J. C. Zachos, and L. J. Lourens
Clim. Past, 11, 1313–1324, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-11-1313-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-11-1313-2015, 2015
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Several episodes of global warming took place during greenhouse conditions in the early Eocene and are recorded in deep-sea sediments. The stable carbon and oxygen isotope records are used to investigate the magnitude of six of these events describing their effects on the global carbon cycle and the associated temperature response. Findings indicate that these events share a common nature and hint to the presence of multiple sources of carbon release.
C. J. Hollis, B. R. Hines, K. Littler, V. Villasante-Marcos, D. K. Kulhanek, C. P. Strong, J. C. Zachos, S. M. Eggins, L. Northcote, and A. Phillips
Clim. Past, 11, 1009–1025, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-11-1009-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-11-1009-2015, 2015
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Re-examination of a Deep Sea Drilling Project sediment core (DSDP Site 277) from the western Campbell Plateau has identified the initial phase of the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) within nannofossil chalk, the first record of the PETM in an oceanic setting in the southern Pacific Ocean (paleolatitude of ~65°S). Geochemical proxies indicate that intermediate and surface waters warmed by ~6° at the onset of the PETM prior to the full development of the negative δ13C excursion.
M. Rothe, T. Frederichs, M. Eder, A. Kleeberg, and M. Hupfer
Biogeosciences, 11, 5169–5180, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-11-5169-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-11-5169-2014, 2014
T. Westerhold, U. Röhl, H. Pälike, R. Wilkens, P. A. Wilson, and G. Acton
Clim. Past, 10, 955–973, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-10-955-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-10-955-2014, 2014
W. C. Clyde, P. D. Gingerich, S. L. Wing, U. Röhl, T. Westerhold, G. Bowen, K. Johnson, A. A. Baczynski, A. Diefendorf, F. McInerney, D. Schnurrenberger, A. Noren, K. Brady, and the BBCP Science Team
Sci. Dril., 16, 21–31, https://doi.org/10.5194/sd-16-21-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/sd-16-21-2013, 2013
J. A. Collins, A. Govin, S. Mulitza, D. Heslop, M. Zabel, J. Hartmann, U. Röhl, and G. Wefer
Clim. Past, 9, 1181–1191, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-9-1181-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-9-1181-2013, 2013
Related subject area
Subject: Carbon Cycle | Archive: Marine Archives | Timescale: Cenozoic
Variations in the biological pump throughout the Miocene: evidence from organic carbon burial in Pacific Ocean sediments
Precise dating of deglacial Laptev Sea sediments via 14C and authigenic 10Be∕9Be – assessing local 14C reservoir ages
Late Eocene to early Oligocene productivity events in the proto-Southern Ocean and correlation to climate change
Tracing North Atlantic volcanism and seaway connectivity across the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM)
Late Paleocene CO2 drawdown, climatic cooling and terrestrial denudation in the southwest Pacific
Late Miocene to Holocene high-resolution eastern equatorial Pacific carbonate records: stratigraphy linked by dissolution and paleoproductivity
Glacial CO2 decrease and deep-water deoxygenation by iron fertilization from glaciogenic dust
Reduced carbon cycle resilience across the Palaeocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum
Tropical Atlantic climate and ecosystem regime shifts during the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum
Ocean carbon cycling during the past 130 000 years – a pilot study on inverse palaeoclimate record modelling
Major perturbations in the global carbon cycle and photosymbiont-bearing planktic foraminifera during the early Eocene
Stable isotope and calcareous nannofossil assemblage record of the late Paleocene and early Eocene (Cicogna section)
Frequency, magnitude and character of hyperthermal events at the onset of the Early Eocene Climatic Optimum
Early Paleogene variations in the calcite compensation depth: new constraints using old borehole sediments from across Ninetyeast Ridge, central Indian Ocean
A seasonality trigger for carbon injection at the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum
Down the Rabbit Hole: toward appropriate discussion of methane release from gas hydrate systems during the Paleocene-Eocene thermal maximum and other past hyperthermal events
Southern ocean warming, sea level and hydrological change during the Paleocene-Eocene thermal maximum
Perturbing phytoplankton: response and isotopic fractionation with changing carbonate chemistry in two coccolithophore species
Mitchell Lyle and Annette Olivarez Lyle
Clim. Past, 20, 2685–2700, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-20-2685-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-20-2685-2024, 2024
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Greenhouse gases were key in maintaining past warm intervals, but feedbacks are needed to sustain high atmospheric CO2 levels. We assess whether changes in the ocean degradation depth of plankton-produced organic matter (particulate organic carbon – POC) affect ocean carbon storage. Limited POC burial in sediments during the Miocene Climate Optimum (MCO) warm interval, relative to recent periods, suggests poorer POC transfer to the abyss, leading to the MCO's higher atmospheric CO2 levels.
Arnaud Nicolas, Gesine Mollenhauer, Johannes Lachner, Konstanze Stübner, Maylin Malter, Jutta Wollenburg, Hendrik Grotheer, and Florian Adolphi
Clim. Past, 20, 2617–2628, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-20-2617-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-20-2617-2024, 2024
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We use the authigenic 10Be/9Be record of a Laptev Sea sediment core for the period 8–14 kyr BP and synchronize it with the 10Be records from absolutely dated ice cores. We employed a likelihood function to calculate the ΔR values. A benthic ΔR value of +345±60 14C years was estimated, which corresponds to a marine reservoir age of 848±90 14C years. This new ΔR value was used to refine the age–depth model for core PS2458-4, establishing it as a potential reference chronology for the Laptev Sea.
Gabrielle Rodrigues de Faria, David Lazarus, Johan Renaudie, Jessica Stammeier, Volkan Özen, and Ulrich Struck
Clim. Past, 20, 1327–1348, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-20-1327-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-20-1327-2024, 2024
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Export productivity is part of the global carbon cycle, influencing the climate system via biological pump. About 34 million years ago, the Earth's climate experienced a climate transition from a greenhouse state to an icehouse state with the onset of ice sheets in Antarctica. Our study shows important productivity events in the Southern Ocean preceding this climatic shift. Our findings strongly indicate that the biological pump potentially played an important role in that past climate change.
Morgan T. Jones, Ella W. Stokke, Alan D. Rooney, Joost Frieling, Philip A. E. Pogge von Strandmann, David J. Wilson, Henrik H. Svensen, Sverre Planke, Thierry Adatte, Nicolas Thibault, Madeleine L. Vickers, Tamsin A. Mather, Christian Tegner, Valentin Zuchuat, and Bo P. Schultz
Clim. Past, 19, 1623–1652, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-19-1623-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-19-1623-2023, 2023
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There are periods in Earth’s history when huge volumes of magma are erupted at the Earth’s surface. The gases released from volcanic eruptions and from sediments heated by the magma are believed to have caused severe climate changes in the geological past. We use a variety of volcanic and climatic tracers to assess how the North Atlantic Igneous Province (56–54 Ma) affected the oceans and atmosphere during a period of extreme global warming.
Christopher J. Hollis, Sebastian Naeher, Christopher D. Clowes, B. David A. Naafs, Richard D. Pancost, Kyle W. R. Taylor, Jenny Dahl, Xun Li, G. Todd Ventura, and Richard Sykes
Clim. Past, 18, 1295–1320, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-1295-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-1295-2022, 2022
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Previous studies of Paleogene greenhouse climates identified short-lived global warming events, termed hyperthermals, that provide insights into global warming scenarios. Within the same time period, we have identified a short-lived cooling event in the late Paleocene, which we term a hypothermal, that has potential to provide novel insights into the feedback mechanisms at work in a greenhouse climate.
Mitchell Lyle, Anna Joy Drury, Jun Tian, Roy Wilkens, and Thomas Westerhold
Clim. Past, 15, 1715–1739, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-15-1715-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-15-1715-2019, 2019
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Ocean sediment records document changes in Earth’s carbon cycle and ocean productivity. We present 8 Myr CaCO3 and bulk sediment records from seven eastern Pacific scientific drill sites to identify intervals of excess CaCO3 dissolution (high carbon storage in the oceans) and excess burial of plankton hard parts indicating high productivity. We define the regional extent of production intervals and explore the impact of the closure of the Atlantic–Pacific Panama connection on CaCO3 burial.
Akitomo Yamamoto, Ayako Abe-Ouchi, Rumi Ohgaito, Akinori Ito, and Akira Oka
Clim. Past, 15, 981–996, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-15-981-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-15-981-2019, 2019
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Proxy records of glacial oxygen change provide constraints on the contribution of the biological pump to glacial CO2 decrease. Here, we report our numerical simulation which successfully reproduces records of glacial oxygen changes and shows the significance of iron supply from glaciogenic dust. Our model simulations clarify that the enhanced efficiency of the biological pump is responsible for glacial CO2 decline of more than 30 ppm and approximately half of deep-ocean deoxygenation.
David I. Armstrong McKay and Timothy M. Lenton
Clim. Past, 14, 1515–1527, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-14-1515-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-14-1515-2018, 2018
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This study uses statistical analyses to look for signs of declining resilience (i.e. greater sensitivity to small shocks) in the global carbon cycle and climate system across the Palaeocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM), a global warming event 56 Myr ago driven by rapid carbon release. Our main finding is that carbon cycle resilience declined in the 1.5 Myr beforehand (a time of significant volcanic emissions), which is consistent with but not proof of a carbon release tipping point at the PETM.
Joost Frieling, Gert-Jan Reichart, Jack J. Middelburg, Ursula Röhl, Thomas Westerhold, Steven M. Bohaty, and Appy Sluijs
Clim. Past, 14, 39–55, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-14-39-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-14-39-2018, 2018
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Past periods of rapid global warming such as the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum are used to study biotic response to climate change. We show that very high peak PETM temperatures in the tropical Atlantic (~ 37 ºC) caused heat stress in several marine plankton groups. However, only slightly cooler temperatures afterwards allowed highly diverse plankton communities to bloom. This shows that tropical plankton communities may be susceptible to extreme warming, but may also recover rapidly.
Christoph Heinze, Babette A. A. Hoogakker, and Arne Winguth
Clim. Past, 12, 1949–1978, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-12-1949-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-12-1949-2016, 2016
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Sensitivities of sediment tracers to changes in carbon cycle parameters were determined with a global ocean model. The sensitivities were combined with sediment and ice core data. The results suggest a drawdown of the sea surface temperature by 5 °C, an outgassing of the land biosphere by 430 Pg C, and a strengthening of the vertical carbon transfer by biological processes at the Last Glacial Maximum. A glacial change in marine calcium carbonate production can neither be proven nor rejected.
Valeria Luciani, Gerald R. Dickens, Jan Backman, Eliana Fornaciari, Luca Giusberti, Claudia Agnini, and Roberta D'Onofrio
Clim. Past, 12, 981–1007, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-12-981-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-12-981-2016, 2016
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The symbiont-bearing planktic foraminiferal genera Morozovella and Acarinina were among the most important calcifiers of the early Paleogene tropical and subtropical oceans. However, a remarkable and permanent switch in the relative abundance of these genera happened in the early Eocene. We show that this switch occurred at low-latitude sites near the start of the Early Eocene Climatic Optimum (EECO), a multi-million-year interval when Earth surface temperatures reached their Cenozoic maximum.
Claudia Agnini, David J. A. Spofforth, Gerald R. Dickens, Domenico Rio, Heiko Pälike, Jan Backman, Giovanni Muttoni, and Edoardo Dallanave
Clim. Past, 12, 883–909, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-12-883-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-12-883-2016, 2016
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In this paper we present records of stable C and O isotopes, CaCO3 content, and changes in calcareous nannofossil assemblages in a upper Paleocene-lower Eocene rocks now exposed in northeast Italy. Modifications of nannoplankton assemblages and carbon isotopes are strictly linked one to each other and always display the same ranking and spacing. The integration of this two data sets represents a significative improvement in our capacity to correlate different sections at a very high resolution.
V. Lauretano, K. Littler, M. Polling, J. C. Zachos, and L. J. Lourens
Clim. Past, 11, 1313–1324, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-11-1313-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-11-1313-2015, 2015
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Several episodes of global warming took place during greenhouse conditions in the early Eocene and are recorded in deep-sea sediments. The stable carbon and oxygen isotope records are used to investigate the magnitude of six of these events describing their effects on the global carbon cycle and the associated temperature response. Findings indicate that these events share a common nature and hint to the presence of multiple sources of carbon release.
B. S. Slotnick, V. Lauretano, J. Backman, G. R. Dickens, A. Sluijs, and L. Lourens
Clim. Past, 11, 473–493, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-11-473-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-11-473-2015, 2015
J. S. Eldrett, D. R. Greenwood, M. Polling, H. Brinkhuis, and A. Sluijs
Clim. Past, 10, 759–769, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-10-759-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-10-759-2014, 2014
G. R. Dickens
Clim. Past, 7, 831–846, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-7-831-2011, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-7-831-2011, 2011
A. Sluijs, P. K. Bijl, S. Schouten, U. Röhl, G.-J. Reichart, and H. Brinkhuis
Clim. Past, 7, 47–61, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-7-47-2011, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-7-47-2011, 2011
R. E. M. Rickaby, J. Henderiks, and J. N. Young
Clim. Past, 6, 771–785, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-6-771-2010, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-6-771-2010, 2010
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Short summary
Testing hypotheses for mechanisms and dynamics of past climate change relies on the accuracy of geological dating. Development of a highly accurate geological timescale for the Cenozoic Era has previously been hampered by discrepancies between radioisotopic and astronomical dating methods, as well as a stratigraphic gap in the middle Eocene. We close this gap and provide a fundamental advance in establishing a reliable and highly accurate geological timescale for the last 66 million years.
Testing hypotheses for mechanisms and dynamics of past climate change relies on the accuracy of...
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