Oxygen rise in the tropical upper ocean during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum
Oxygen rise in the tropical upper ocean during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum
The global ocean’s oxygen inventory is declining in response to global warming, but the future of the low-oxygen tropics is uncertain. We report new evidence for tropical oxygenation during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM), a warming event that serves as a geologic analog to anthropogenic warming. Foraminifera-bound nitrogen isotopes indicate that the tropical North Pacific oxygen-deficient zone contracted during the PETM. A concomitant increase in foraminifera size implies that oxygen availability rose in the shallow subsurface throughout the tropical North Pacific. These changes are consistent with ocean model simulations of warming, in which a decline in biological productivity allows tropical subsurface oxygen to rise even as global ocean oxygen declines. The tropical oxygen increase may have helped avoid a mass extinction during the PETM.
727-731
Moretti, Simone
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Auderset, Alexandra
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Deutsch, Curtis
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Schmitz, Ronja
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Gerber, Lukas
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Thomas, Ellen
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Luciani, Valeria
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Petrizzo, Maria rose
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Schiebel, Ralf
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Tripati, Aradhna
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Norris, Richard
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D’onofrio, Roberta
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Zachos, James
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Sigman, Daniel m.
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Haug, Gerald h.
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Martínez-García, Alfredo
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Moretti, Simone
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Auderset, Alexandra
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Deutsch, Curtis
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Schmitz, Ronja
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Gerber, Lukas
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Thomas, Ellen
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Luciani, Valeria
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Petrizzo, Maria rose
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Schiebel, Ralf
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Tripati, Aradhna
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Sexton, Philip
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Norris, Richard
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D’onofrio, Roberta
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Zachos, James
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Sigman, Daniel m.
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Haug, Gerald h.
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Martínez-García, Alfredo
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Moretti, Simone, Auderset, Alexandra, Deutsch, Curtis, Schmitz, Ronja, Gerber, Lukas, Thomas, Ellen, Luciani, Valeria, Petrizzo, Maria rose, Schiebel, Ralf, Tripati, Aradhna, Sexton, Philip, Norris, Richard, D’onofrio, Roberta, Zachos, James, Sigman, Daniel m., Haug, Gerald h. and Martínez-García, Alfredo
(2024)
Oxygen rise in the tropical upper ocean during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum.
Science, 383 (6684), .
(doi:10.1126/science.adh4893).
Abstract
The global ocean’s oxygen inventory is declining in response to global warming, but the future of the low-oxygen tropics is uncertain. We report new evidence for tropical oxygenation during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM), a warming event that serves as a geologic analog to anthropogenic warming. Foraminifera-bound nitrogen isotopes indicate that the tropical North Pacific oxygen-deficient zone contracted during the PETM. A concomitant increase in foraminifera size implies that oxygen availability rose in the shallow subsurface throughout the tropical North Pacific. These changes are consistent with ocean model simulations of warming, in which a decline in biological productivity allows tropical subsurface oxygen to rise even as global ocean oxygen declines. The tropical oxygen increase may have helped avoid a mass extinction during the PETM.
Text
Moretti et al 2024 Science accepted
- Accepted Manuscript
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Accepted/In Press date: 14 January 2024
e-pub ahead of print date: 16 February 2024
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 492253
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/492253
ISSN: 0036-8075
PURE UUID: a78951e6-10c0-46b0-93be-8ba97bed6640
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Date deposited: 23 Jul 2024 16:33
Last modified: 18 Oct 2024 02:04
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Contributors
Author:
Simone Moretti
Author:
Alexandra Auderset
Author:
Curtis Deutsch
Author:
Ronja Schmitz
Author:
Lukas Gerber
Author:
Ellen Thomas
Author:
Valeria Luciani
Author:
Maria rose Petrizzo
Author:
Ralf Schiebel
Author:
Aradhna Tripati
Author:
Philip Sexton
Author:
Richard Norris
Author:
Roberta D’onofrio
Author:
James Zachos
Author:
Daniel m. Sigman
Author:
Gerald h. Haug
Author:
Alfredo Martínez-García
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