Articles | Volume 20, issue 4
https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-20-935-2024
© Author(s) 2024. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-20-935-2024
© Author(s) 2024. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
15 Apr 2024
Research article |
| 15 Apr 2024
| 15 Apr 2024
Middle Eocene Climatic Optimum (MECO) and its imprint in the continental Escanilla Formation, Spain
Nikhil Sharma
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Department of Earth Sciences, University of Geneva, 1205 Geneva, Switzerland
Bureau of Economic Geology, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA
Jorge E. Spangenberg
Institute of Earth Surface Dynamics (IDYST), University of Lausanne, Géopolis, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
Thierry Adatte
Institute of Earth Sciences (ISTE), University of Lausanne, Géopolis, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
Torsten Vennemann
Institute of Earth Surface Dynamics (IDYST), University of Lausanne, Géopolis, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
László Kocsis
Institute of Earth Surface Dynamics (IDYST), University of Lausanne, Géopolis, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
Jean Vérité
Department of Earth Sciences, University of Geneva, 1205 Geneva, Switzerland
LPG – Le Mans, UFR Sciences et Techniques, Université du Maine, 72089 Le Mans CEDEX 9, France
Luis Valero
Department of Earth Sciences, University of Geneva, 1205 Geneva, Switzerland
Departament de Dinàmica de la Terra i l’Oceà, Facultat de Ciències de la Terra, 08028 Barcelona, Spain
Sébastien Castelltort
Department of Earth Sciences, University of Geneva, 1205 Geneva, Switzerland
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Sabí Peris Cabré, Luis Valero, Jorge E. Spangenberg, Andreu Vinyoles, Jean Verité, Thierry Adatte, Maxime Tremblin, Stephen Watkins, Nikhil Sharma, Miguel Garcés, Cai Puigdefàbregas, and Sébastien Castelltort
Clim. Past, 19, 533–554, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-19-533-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-19-533-2023, 2023
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The Middle Eocene Climatic Optimum (MECO) was a global warming event that took place 40 Myr ago and lasted ca. 500 kyr, inducing physical, chemical, and biotic changes on the Earth. We use stable isotopes to identify the MECO in the Eocene deltaic deposits of the Southern Pyrenees. Our findings reveal enhanced deltaic progradation during the MECO, pointing to the important impact of global warming on fluvial sediment transport with implications for the consequences of current climate change.
Jean Vérité, Clément Narteau, Olivier Rozier, Jeanne Alkalla, Laurie Barrier, and Sylvain Courrech du Pont
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Using a numerical model in 2D, we study how two identical dunes interact with each other when exposed to reversing winds. Depending on the distance between the dunes, they either repel or attract each other until they reach an equilibrium distance, which is controlled by the wind strength, wind reversal frequency, and dune size. This process is controlled by the modification of wind flow over dunes of various shapes, influencing the sediment transport downstream.
Cécile Charles, Nora Khelidj, Lucia Mottet, Bao Ngan Tu, Thierry Adatte, Brahimsamba Bomou, Micaela Faria, Laetitia Monbaron, Olivier Reubi, Natasha de Vere, Stéphanie Grand, and Gianalberto Losapio
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-991, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-991, 2024
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We found that novel ecosystems created by glacier retreat are first characterized by an increase in plant diversity that is driven by a shift in soil texture. Plant diversity in turn increases soil organic matter and nutrient. Soils gradually acidifies and leads to a final stage where a dominance of few plant species reduces plant diversity. Understanding plant–soil interactions is crucial to anticipate how glacier retreat shapes biodiversity and landscapes.
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Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 28, 1173–1190, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-1173-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-1173-2024, 2024
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Engineering structures known as check dams are built with the intention of managing streams. The effectiveness of such structures can be expressed by quantifying the reduction of the sediment flux after their implementation. In this contribution, we estimate and compare the volumes of sediment transported in a mountain stream for engineered and non-engineered conditions. We found that without check dams the mean sediment flux would be ca. 10 times larger in comparison with the current situation.
Amanda Lily Wild, Jean Braun, Alexander C. Whittaker, and Sebastien Castelltort
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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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Anthony Michelon, Natalie Ceperley, Harsh Beria, Joshua Larsen, Torsten Vennemann, and Bettina Schaefli
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 27, 1403–1430, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-27-1403-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-27-1403-2023, 2023
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Sabí Peris Cabré, Luis Valero, Jorge E. Spangenberg, Andreu Vinyoles, Jean Verité, Thierry Adatte, Maxime Tremblin, Stephen Watkins, Nikhil Sharma, Miguel Garcés, Cai Puigdefàbregas, and Sébastien Castelltort
Clim. Past, 19, 533–554, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-19-533-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-19-533-2023, 2023
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The Middle Eocene Climatic Optimum (MECO) was a global warming event that took place 40 Myr ago and lasted ca. 500 kyr, inducing physical, chemical, and biotic changes on the Earth. We use stable isotopes to identify the MECO in the Eocene deltaic deposits of the Southern Pyrenees. Our findings reveal enhanced deltaic progradation during the MECO, pointing to the important impact of global warming on fluvial sediment transport with implications for the consequences of current climate change.
Robin Fentimen, Eline Feenstra, Andres Rüggeberg, Efraim Hall, Valentin Rime, Torsten Vennemann, Irka Hajdas, Antonietta Rosso, David Van Rooij, Thierry Adatte, Hendrik Vogel, Norbert Frank, and Anneleen Foubert
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Moussa Moustapha, Loris Deirmendjian, David Sebag, Jean-Jacques Braun, Stéphane Audry, Henriette Ateba Bessa, Thierry Adatte, Carole Causserand, Ibrahima Adamou, Benjamin Ngounou Ngatcha, and Frédéric Guérin
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Publication in SE not foreseen
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Robin Fentimen, Eline Feenstra, Andres Rüggeberg, Efraim Hall, Valentin Rime, Torsten Vennemann, Irka Hajdas, Antonietta Rosso, David Van Rooij, Thierry Adatte, Hendrik Vogel, Norbert Frank, Thomas Krengel, and Anneleen Foubert
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Manuscript not accepted for further review
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Related subject area
Subject: Continental Surface Processes | Archive: Terrestrial Archives | Timescale: Cenozoic
Climatic and tectonic controls on shallow-marine and freshwater diatomite deposition throughout the Palaeogene
Middle Miocene climate evolution in the Northern Mediterranean region (Digne-Valensole basin, SE France)
Magnetic properties and geochemistry of loess/paleosol sequences at Nowdeh section northeastern of Iran
Fluvio-deltaic record of increased sediment transport during the Middle Eocene Climatic Optimum (MECO), Southern Pyrenees, Spain
Terrestrial carbon isotope stratigraphy and mammal turnover during post-PETM hyperthermals in the Bighorn Basin, Wyoming, USA
Climate and ecology in the Rocky Mountain interior after the early Eocene Climatic Optimum
Palaeo-environmental evolution of Central Asia during the Cenozoic: new insights from the continental sedimentary archive of the Valley of Lakes (Mongolia)
Terrestrial responses of low-latitude Asia to the Eocene–Oligocene climate transition revealed by integrated chronostratigraphy
Mammal faunal change in the zone of the Paleogene hyperthermals ETM2 and H2
Pliocene to Pleistocene climate and environmental history of Lake El'gygytgyn, Far East Russian Arctic, based on high-resolution inorganic geochemistry data
A re-evaluation of the palaeoclimatic significance of phosphorus variability in speleothems revealed by high-resolution synchrotron micro XRF mapping
Cécile Figus, Or M. Bialik, Andrey Y. Gladenkov, Tatyana V. Oreshkina, Johan Renaudie, Pavel Smirnov, and Jakub Witkowski
Clim. Past, 20, 2629–2644, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-20-2629-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-20-2629-2024, 2024
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A global-scale compilation of Palaeogene diatomite occurrences shows how palaeogeographic and palaeoceanographic changes impacted diatom accumulation, especially in the middle Eocene. Diatomite deposition dropped in epicontinental seas between ~ 46 and ~ 44 Ma, while diatom accumulation began around 43.5 Ma in open-ocean settings. The compilation also shows an indirect correlation between Palaeogene climate fluctuations and diatomite deposition in shallow-marine and freshwater environments.
Armelle Ballian, Maud J. M. Meijers, Isabelle Cojan, Damien Huyghe, Miguel Bernecker, Katharina Methner, Mattia Tagliavento, Jens Fiebig, and Andreas Mulch
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During the Middle Miocene, the Earth transitioned from a warm period to a colder one, significantly impacting global ecosystems and climate patterns. We present a climate record (23–13 Ma) from northern Mediterranean soil carbonates in France, revealing dynamic temperature changes and suggesting early Mediterranean-like climate periods. Our climate record aligns well with terrestrial European and global marine records, enhancing our understanding of Miocene climate dynamics around the Alps.
Vahid Feizi, Ghasem Azizi, Habib Alimohammadian, and Maryam Mollashahi
Clim. Past Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-2023-56, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-2023-56, 2023
Revised manuscript accepted for CP
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The stratigraphy of the studied section conform well to the general pattern of the Upper Pleistocene loess/paleosol successions in the relatively loess of Northeastern of Iran. Because of high relationship between magnetic minerals and climate conditions, magnetic parameters are an efficient variables for reconstruction of climate change.
Sabí Peris Cabré, Luis Valero, Jorge E. Spangenberg, Andreu Vinyoles, Jean Verité, Thierry Adatte, Maxime Tremblin, Stephen Watkins, Nikhil Sharma, Miguel Garcés, Cai Puigdefàbregas, and Sébastien Castelltort
Clim. Past, 19, 533–554, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-19-533-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-19-533-2023, 2023
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The Middle Eocene Climatic Optimum (MECO) was a global warming event that took place 40 Myr ago and lasted ca. 500 kyr, inducing physical, chemical, and biotic changes on the Earth. We use stable isotopes to identify the MECO in the Eocene deltaic deposits of the Southern Pyrenees. Our findings reveal enhanced deltaic progradation during the MECO, pointing to the important impact of global warming on fluvial sediment transport with implications for the consequences of current climate change.
Sarah J. Widlansky, Ross Secord, Kathryn E. Snell, Amy E. Chew, and William C. Clyde
Clim. Past, 18, 681–712, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-681-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-681-2022, 2022
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New stable isotope records from pedogenic carbonates through the ETM2, H2, and possibly I1 hyperthermals from the Bighorn Basin highlight significant spatial variability in the preservation and magnitude of these global climate events in paleosol records. These data also provide important climate context for the extensive early Eocene mammal fossil record from the southern Bighorn Basin and support previous hypotheses that pulses in mammal turnover corresponded to the ETM2 and H2 hyperthermals.
Rebekah A. Stein, Nathan D. Sheldon, Sarah E. Allen, Michael E. Smith, Rebecca M. Dzombak, and Brian R. Jicha
Clim. Past, 17, 2515–2536, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-17-2515-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-17-2515-2021, 2021
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Modern climate change drives us to look to the past to understand how well prior life adapted to warm periods. In the early Eocene, a warm period approximately 50 million years ago, southwestern Wyoming was covered by a giant lake. This lake and surrounding environments made for excellent preservation of ancient soils, plant fossils, and more. Using geochemical tools and plant fossils, we determine the region was a warm, wet forest and that elevated temperatures were maintained by volcanoes.
Andre Baldermann, Oliver Wasser, Elshan Abdullayev, Stefano Bernasconi, Stefan Löhr, Klaus Wemmer, Werner E. Piller, Maxim Rudmin, and Sylvain Richoz
Clim. Past, 17, 1955–1972, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-17-1955-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-17-1955-2021, 2021
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We identified the provenance, (post)depositional history, weathering conditions and hydroclimate that formed the detrital and authigenic silicates and soil carbonates of the Valley of Lakes sediments in Central Asia during the Cenozoic (~34 to 21 Ma). Aridification pulses in continental Central Asia coincide with marine glaciation events and are caused by Cenozoic climate forcing and the exhumation of the Tian Shan, Hangay and Altai mountains, which reduced the moisture influx by westerly winds.
Y. X. Li, W. J. Jiao, Z. H. Liu, J. H. Jin, D. H. Wang, Y. X. He, and C. Quan
Clim. Past, 12, 255–272, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-12-255-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-12-255-2016, 2016
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An integrated litho-, bio-, cyclo-, and magnetostratigraphy constrains the onset of a depositional environmental change from a lacustrine to a deltaic environment in the Maoming Basin, China, at 33.88 Ma. This coincides with the global cooling during the Eocene-Oligocene transition (EOT) at ~ 33.7–33.9 Ma. This change represents terrestrial responses of low-latitude Asia to the EOT. The greatly refined chronology permits detailed examination of the late Paleogene climate change in southeast Asia.
A. E. Chew
Clim. Past, 11, 1223–1237, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-11-1223-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-11-1223-2015, 2015
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This project describes mammal faunal response in the zone of the ETM2 and H2 hyperthermals (rapid global warming events) of the early Paleogene in the south-central Bighorn Basin, WY. The response includes changes in faunal structure and species relative body size. Comparative analysis suggests that environmental moisture and rate of change are important moderators of response.
V. Wennrich, P. S. Minyuk, V. Borkhodoev, A. Francke, B. Ritter, N. R. Nowaczyk, M. A. Sauerbrey, J. Brigham-Grette, and M. Melles
Clim. Past, 10, 1381–1399, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-10-1381-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-10-1381-2014, 2014
S. Frisia, A. Borsato, R. N. Drysdale, B. Paul, A. Greig, and M. Cotte
Clim. Past, 8, 2039–2051, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-8-2039-2012, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-8-2039-2012, 2012
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Short summary
The Middle Eocene Climatic Optimum (MECO) is an enigmatic global warming event with scarce terrestrial records. To contribute, this study presents a new comprehensive geochemical record of the MECO in the fluvial Escanilla Formation, Spain. In addition to identifying the regional preservation of the MECO, results demonstrate continental sedimentary successions, as key archives of past climate and stable isotopes, to be a powerful tool in correlating difficult-to-date fluvial successions.
The Middle Eocene Climatic Optimum (MECO) is an enigmatic global warming event with scarce...
