North Atlantic surface ocean warming and salinization in response to middle Eocene greenhouse warming
North Atlantic surface ocean warming and salinization in response to middle Eocene greenhouse warming
Quantitative reconstructions of hydrological change during ancient greenhouse warming events provide valuable insight into warmer-than-modern hydrological cycles but are limited by paleoclimate proxy uncertainties. We present sea surface temperature (SST) records and seawater oxygen isotope (δ18Osw) estimates for the Middle Eocene Climatic Optimum (MECO), using coupled carbonate clumped isotope (Δ47) and oxygen isotope (δ18Oc) data of well-preserved planktonic foraminifera from the North Atlantic Newfoundland Drifts. These indicate a transient ~3°C warming across the MECO, with absolute temperatures generally in accordance with trace element (Mg/Ca)–based SSTs but lower than biomarker-based SSTs for the same interval. We find a transient ~0.5‰ shift toward higher δ18Osw, which implies increased salinity in the North Atlantic subtropical gyre and potentially a poleward expansion of its northern boundary in response to greenhouse warming. These observations provide constraints on dynamic ocean response to warming events, which are consistent with theory and model simulations predicting an enhanced hydrological cycle under global warming.
Van Der Ploeg, Robin
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Cramwinckel, Margot J.
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Kocken, Ilja J.
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Leutert, Thomas J.
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Bohaty, Steven M.
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Fokkema, Chris D.
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Hull, Pincelli M.
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Meckler, A. Nele
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Middelburg, Jack J.
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Müller, Inigo A.
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Penman, Donald E.
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Peterse, Francien
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Reichart, Gert-jan
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Sexton, Philip F.
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Vahlenkamp, Maximilian
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De Vleeschouwer, David
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Wilson, Paul A.
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Ziegler, Martin
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Sluijs, Appy
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January 2023
Van Der Ploeg, Robin
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Cramwinckel, Margot J.
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Kocken, Ilja J.
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Leutert, Thomas J.
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Bohaty, Steven M.
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Fokkema, Chris D.
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Hull, Pincelli M.
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Meckler, A. Nele
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Middelburg, Jack J.
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Müller, Inigo A.
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Penman, Donald E.
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Peterse, Francien
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Reichart, Gert-jan
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Sexton, Philip F.
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Vahlenkamp, Maximilian
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De Vleeschouwer, David
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Wilson, Paul A.
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Ziegler, Martin
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Sluijs, Appy
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Van Der Ploeg, Robin, Cramwinckel, Margot J., Kocken, Ilja J., Leutert, Thomas J., Bohaty, Steven M., Fokkema, Chris D., Hull, Pincelli M., Meckler, A. Nele, Middelburg, Jack J., Müller, Inigo A., Penman, Donald E., Peterse, Francien, Reichart, Gert-jan, Sexton, Philip F., Vahlenkamp, Maximilian, De Vleeschouwer, David, Wilson, Paul A., Ziegler, Martin and Sluijs, Appy
(2023)
North Atlantic surface ocean warming and salinization in response to middle Eocene greenhouse warming.
Science Advances, 9 (4), [eabq0110].
(doi:10.1126/sciadv.abq0110).
Abstract
Quantitative reconstructions of hydrological change during ancient greenhouse warming events provide valuable insight into warmer-than-modern hydrological cycles but are limited by paleoclimate proxy uncertainties. We present sea surface temperature (SST) records and seawater oxygen isotope (δ18Osw) estimates for the Middle Eocene Climatic Optimum (MECO), using coupled carbonate clumped isotope (Δ47) and oxygen isotope (δ18Oc) data of well-preserved planktonic foraminifera from the North Atlantic Newfoundland Drifts. These indicate a transient ~3°C warming across the MECO, with absolute temperatures generally in accordance with trace element (Mg/Ca)–based SSTs but lower than biomarker-based SSTs for the same interval. We find a transient ~0.5‰ shift toward higher δ18Osw, which implies increased salinity in the North Atlantic subtropical gyre and potentially a poleward expansion of its northern boundary in response to greenhouse warming. These observations provide constraints on dynamic ocean response to warming events, which are consistent with theory and model simulations predicting an enhanced hydrological cycle under global warming.
Text
sciadv.abq0110
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e-pub ahead of print date: 25 January 2023
Published date: January 2023
Additional Information:
Funding Information:
We thank P. Pearson (Cardiff University) for discussions on foraminiferal taxonomy. We further acknowledge A. Roepert (UU), A. van Dijk (Utrecht Geolab), W. Boer (NIOZ), M. van der Meer (NIOZ), and W. Strojie (Yale University) for laboratory assistance and analytical support. We are grateful to two anonymous reviewers for constructive feedback. This research used samples provided by the IODP. This work was carried out under the program of the Netherlands Earth System Science Centre (NESSC), which is financially supported by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (OCW) of the Netherlands. A.N.M. and T.J.L. acknowledge European Research Council grant no. 638467 and Trond Mohn Foundation grant no. BFS2015REK01 for funding the clumped isotope analyses at UiB. P.M.H. and D.E.P. acknowledge support from NSF award no. 133526. A.S. thanks the European Research Council for consolidator grant no. 771497 (SPANC), and R.v.d.P. and A.S. thank the Ammodo Foundation for funding unfettered research of laureate A.S.
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Copyright © 2023 The Authors, some rights reserved.
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 475127
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/475127
ISSN: 2375-2548
PURE UUID: 4d7626ad-2545-42d0-a3bb-83070a806d35
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Date deposited: 10 Mar 2023 17:38
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 03:08
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Contributors
Author:
Robin Van Der Ploeg
Author:
Margot J. Cramwinckel
Author:
Ilja J. Kocken
Author:
Thomas J. Leutert
Author:
Chris D. Fokkema
Author:
Pincelli M. Hull
Author:
A. Nele Meckler
Author:
Jack J. Middelburg
Author:
Inigo A. Müller
Author:
Donald E. Penman
Author:
Francien Peterse
Author:
Gert-jan Reichart
Author:
Philip F. Sexton
Author:
Maximilian Vahlenkamp
Author:
David De Vleeschouwer
Author:
Martin Ziegler
Author:
Appy Sluijs
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