Orbital phasing of the Paleocene-Eocene thermal maximum
Orbital phasing of the Paleocene-Eocene thermal maximum
Paleocene-Eocene sedimentary archives record a series of global warming events called hyperthermals. These events occurred across a long-term increasing temperature trend and were associated with light carbon injections that produced carbon isotope excursions (CIEs). Early Eocene hyperthermals occurred close to both long (∼405 kyr) and short (∼100 kyr) eccentricity maxima. It has been proposed that under long-term global warming, orbital forcing of climate crossed a thermodynamic threshold that destabilized carbon reservoirs and produced Early Eocene hyperthermals. However, orbital control on triggering of the largest hyperthermal, the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM), remains unclear. Identification of the precise orbital phasing of the PETM has been hindered by extensive calcium carbonate (CaCO
3) dissolution, which introduces uncertainty into PETM age models. Here, we report orbital signatures in marine sediments from Contessa Road (Italy), a western Tethyan section with reduced PETM CaCO
3 dissolution compared to other deep ocean sites. Orbitally controlled lysocline depth adjustments and orbital phasing of the PETM CIE onset close to both long and short eccentricity maxima are documented here. Precession-based age models from the well-resolved PETM section of Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Site 1262 (South Atlantic) confirm these results and reveal that the PETM CIE onset was partially triggered by an orbitally controlled mechanism. Climate processes associated with orbital forcing of both long and short eccentricity maxima played an important role in triggering the carbon cycle perturbations of all Paleocene-Eocene CIE events.
CaCO dissolution, Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM), long eccentricity maximum, orbital control, short eccentricity maximum
Piedrahita, Victor A.
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Galeotti, Simone
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Zhao, Xiang
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Roberts, Andrew P.
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Rohling, Eelco J.
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Heslop, David
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Florindo, Fabio
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Grant, Katharine M.
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Rodríguez-sanz, Laura
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Reghellin, Daniele
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Zeebe, Richard E.
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1 November 2022
Piedrahita, Victor A.
f8705802-c876-4614-b379-6f2c90979599
Galeotti, Simone
92757162-e601-4d3f-9cd0-ceff6c020f76
Zhao, Xiang
99ee573a-4607-40b5-a473-2046d623a2e0
Roberts, Andrew P.
bfc571f6-9c7a-4cc5-8df9-2c41ef5ac2a1
Rohling, Eelco J.
a2a27ef2-fcce-4c71-907b-e692b5ecc685
Heslop, David
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Florindo, Fabio
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Grant, Katharine M.
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Rodríguez-sanz, Laura
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Reghellin, Daniele
c591194a-fcca-40e3-8f87-f8d3e5f6ea7a
Zeebe, Richard E.
a94a934c-a71d-465c-99f0-83067df5e50b
Piedrahita, Victor A., Galeotti, Simone, Zhao, Xiang, Roberts, Andrew P., Rohling, Eelco J., Heslop, David, Florindo, Fabio, Grant, Katharine M., Rodríguez-sanz, Laura, Reghellin, Daniele and Zeebe, Richard E.
(2022)
Orbital phasing of the Paleocene-Eocene thermal maximum.
Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 598, [117839].
(doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2022.117839).
Abstract
Paleocene-Eocene sedimentary archives record a series of global warming events called hyperthermals. These events occurred across a long-term increasing temperature trend and were associated with light carbon injections that produced carbon isotope excursions (CIEs). Early Eocene hyperthermals occurred close to both long (∼405 kyr) and short (∼100 kyr) eccentricity maxima. It has been proposed that under long-term global warming, orbital forcing of climate crossed a thermodynamic threshold that destabilized carbon reservoirs and produced Early Eocene hyperthermals. However, orbital control on triggering of the largest hyperthermal, the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM), remains unclear. Identification of the precise orbital phasing of the PETM has been hindered by extensive calcium carbonate (CaCO
3) dissolution, which introduces uncertainty into PETM age models. Here, we report orbital signatures in marine sediments from Contessa Road (Italy), a western Tethyan section with reduced PETM CaCO
3 dissolution compared to other deep ocean sites. Orbitally controlled lysocline depth adjustments and orbital phasing of the PETM CIE onset close to both long and short eccentricity maxima are documented here. Precession-based age models from the well-resolved PETM section of Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Site 1262 (South Atlantic) confirm these results and reveal that the PETM CIE onset was partially triggered by an orbitally controlled mechanism. Climate processes associated with orbital forcing of both long and short eccentricity maxima played an important role in triggering the carbon cycle perturbations of all Paleocene-Eocene CIE events.
Text
2022_Piedrahita et al_EPSL
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More information
Accepted/In Press date: 23 September 2022
e-pub ahead of print date: 4 October 2022
Published date: 1 November 2022
Additional Information:
Funding Information:
This work was supported financially by the Colfuturo Foundation and the Australian National University through scholarships to V.A.P. by the Dipartimento di Scienze Pure e Applicate, University of Urbino (to S.G.), by the Institute for Climate Change Solutions (to S.G. and F.F.), by the Australian Research Council (grants DP190100874 to A.P.R. and D.H.; DE190100042 to K.M.G.), by the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (to F.F.), by the U.S. National Science Foundation (grants OCE20-01022 and OCE20-34660 to R.E.Z.), and by the Heising-Simons Foundation (Grant #2021-2800 to R.E.Z.). We thank two anonymous reviewers and the editor, Andrew Jacobson, for their comments that improved this paper.
Funding Information:
This work was supported financially by the Colfuturo Foundation and the Australian National University through scholarships to V.A.P., by the Dipartimento di Scienze Pure e Applicate , University of Urbino (to S.G.), by the Institute for Climate Change Solutions (to S.G. and F.F.), by the Australian Research Council (grants DP190100874 to A.P.R. and D.H.; DE190100042 to K.M.G.), by the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (to F.F.), by the U.S. National Science Foundation (grants OCE20-01022 and OCE20-34660 to R.E.Z.), and by the Heising-Simons Foundation (Grant # 2021-2800 to R.E.Z.). We thank two anonymous reviewers and the editor, Andrew Jacobson, for their comments that improved this paper.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 Elsevier B.V.
Keywords:
CaCO dissolution, Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM), long eccentricity maximum, orbital control, short eccentricity maximum
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 473053
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/473053
ISSN: 0012-821X
PURE UUID: 6b750162-f018-4677-82b7-6079b7ee1254
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Date deposited: 09 Jan 2023 18:29
Last modified: 04 Oct 2024 04:01
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Contributors
Author:
Victor A. Piedrahita
Author:
Simone Galeotti
Author:
Xiang Zhao
Author:
Andrew P. Roberts
Author:
David Heslop
Author:
Fabio Florindo
Author:
Katharine M. Grant
Author:
Laura Rodríguez-sanz
Author:
Daniele Reghellin
Author:
Richard E. Zeebe
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