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Transient Middle Eocene atmospheric CO2 and temperature variations

Transient Middle Eocene atmospheric CO2 and temperature variations
Transient Middle Eocene atmospheric CO2 and temperature variations
The long-term warmth of the Eocene (~56 to 34 million years ago) is commonly associated with elevated partial pressure of atmospheric carbon dioxide (pCO2). However, a direct relationship between the two has not been established for short-term climate perturbations. We reconstructed changes in both pCO2 and temperature over an episode of transient global warming called the Middle Eocene Climatic Optimum (MECO; ~40 million years ago). Organic molecular paleothermometry indicates a warming of southwest Pacific sea surface temperatures (SSTs) by 3° to 6°C. Reconstructions of pCO2 indicate a concomitant increase by a factor of 2 to 3. The marked consistency between SST and pCO2 trends during the MECO suggests that elevated pCO2 played a major role in global warming during the MECO.
0036-8075
819-821
Bijl, P.K.
121c4b68-94b0-4186-a0bb-730167bd26d6
Houben, A.J.P.
7fc1873c-1af2-4291-8a00-f0d7c87d166f
Schouten, S.
86c33c8e-38d4-432b-b669-e6ae6a7294ea
Bohaty, S.M.
af9dbe78-8b9f-44f2-ba1d-20795837d2d1
Sluijs, A.
4f68782c-15c3-4d42-ae22-8ffb13887dc6
Reichart, G.-J.
dd155475-f861-47d6-9a00-d1a927bb4d08
Sinninghe Damste, J.S.
eb3a949c-bdfa-4ef0-af4a-8cd25cc31bf4
Brinkhuis, H.
c9577a7a-c06c-44af-a641-015aacc50b57
Bijl, P.K.
121c4b68-94b0-4186-a0bb-730167bd26d6
Houben, A.J.P.
7fc1873c-1af2-4291-8a00-f0d7c87d166f
Schouten, S.
86c33c8e-38d4-432b-b669-e6ae6a7294ea
Bohaty, S.M.
af9dbe78-8b9f-44f2-ba1d-20795837d2d1
Sluijs, A.
4f68782c-15c3-4d42-ae22-8ffb13887dc6
Reichart, G.-J.
dd155475-f861-47d6-9a00-d1a927bb4d08
Sinninghe Damste, J.S.
eb3a949c-bdfa-4ef0-af4a-8cd25cc31bf4
Brinkhuis, H.
c9577a7a-c06c-44af-a641-015aacc50b57

Bijl, P.K., Houben, A.J.P., Schouten, S., Bohaty, S.M., Sluijs, A., Reichart, G.-J., Sinninghe Damste, J.S. and Brinkhuis, H. (2010) Transient Middle Eocene atmospheric CO2 and temperature variations. Science, 330 (6005), 819-821. (doi:10.1126/science.1193654).

Record type: Article

Abstract

The long-term warmth of the Eocene (~56 to 34 million years ago) is commonly associated with elevated partial pressure of atmospheric carbon dioxide (pCO2). However, a direct relationship between the two has not been established for short-term climate perturbations. We reconstructed changes in both pCO2 and temperature over an episode of transient global warming called the Middle Eocene Climatic Optimum (MECO; ~40 million years ago). Organic molecular paleothermometry indicates a warming of southwest Pacific sea surface temperatures (SSTs) by 3° to 6°C. Reconstructions of pCO2 indicate a concomitant increase by a factor of 2 to 3. The marked consistency between SST and pCO2 trends during the MECO suggests that elevated pCO2 played a major role in global warming during the MECO.

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Published date: 5 November 2010
Organisations: Ocean and Earth Science

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 174125
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/174125
ISSN: 0036-8075
PURE UUID: 553a9743-2133-4c14-922b-9171f7657be3
ORCID for S.M. Bohaty: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-1193-7398

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Date deposited: 10 Feb 2011 16:21
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 02:52

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Contributors

Author: P.K. Bijl
Author: A.J.P. Houben
Author: S. Schouten
Author: S.M. Bohaty ORCID iD
Author: A. Sluijs
Author: G.-J. Reichart
Author: J.S. Sinninghe Damste
Author: H. Brinkhuis

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