Black carbon in Paleocene–Eocene boundary sediments: A test of biomass combustion as the PETM trigger

Moore, Eric A.; Kurtz, A. C.

doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2008.06.010

Cited by 40 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…Organic carbon reserves about half the required size have been proposed for pre-PETM permafrost [DeConto et al, 2012]. However, proxy-based reconstructions of high-latitude climate for the late Paleocene/early Eocene show mean surface temperatures well in excess of 10°C [Huber and Caballero, 2011;Lunt et al, 2012;Kemp et al, 2014], too warm to allow extensive permafrost at high latitudes even at elevations above 1000 m. Other explanations in terms of organic carbon also fall short or lack support in the paleorecord [Panchuk et al, 2008;Moore and Kurtz, 2008]. If for these reasons we rule out organic carbon as the sole source of the PETM carbon input, then this input must have involved considerable amounts of methane.…”

Section: Atmospheric Co 2 Petm Carbon Input and Climate Sensitivitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Deep time evidence for climate sensitivity increase with warming

Shaffer

Huber

Rondanelli

et al. 2016

Geophysical Research Letters

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Future global warming from anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions will depend on climate feedbacks, the effect of which is expressed by climate sensitivity, the warming for a doubling of atmospheric CO2 content. It is not clear how feedbacks, sensitivity, and temperature will evolve in our warming world, but past warming events may provide insight. Here we employ paleoreconstructions and new climate‐carbon model simulations in a novel framework to explore a wide scenario range for the Paleocene‐Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) carbon release and global warming event 55.8 Ma ago, a possible future warming analogue. We obtain constrained estimates of CO2 and climate sensitivity before and during the PETM and of the PETM carbon input amount and nature. Sensitivity increased from 3.3–5.6 to 3.7–6.5 K (Kelvin) into the PETM. When taken together with Last Glacial Maximum and modern estimates, this result indicates climate sensitivity increase with global warming.

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Section: Atmospheric Co 2 Petm Carbon Input and Climate Sensitivitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Deep time evidence for climate sensitivity increase with warming

Shaffer

Huber

Rondanelli

et al. 2016

Geophysical Research Letters

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“…Kurtz et al (2003) suggested that extensive burning of peat deposits released massive amounts of 13 C-depleted carbon (∼10 000 Gt) during the PETM. However, this would necessitate an early Paleogene peat reservoir at least 10 times the mass of the modern peat reservoir (Higgins and Schrag, 2006;Page et al, 2011), and there is no evidence for wholesale burning of peat (Collinson et al, 2007;Moore and Kurtz, 2008) or the total collapse of the biosphere in general (Jaramillo et al, 2010;McInerney and Wing, 2011).…”

Section: Other Hypotheses For Massive Carbon Inputmentioning

confidence: 99%

Down the Rabbit Hole: toward appropriate discussion of methane release from gas hydrate systems during the Paleocene-Eocene thermal maximum and other past hyperthermal events

2011

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Abstract. Enormous amounts of 13 C-depleted carbon rapidly entered the exogenic carbon cycle during the onset of the Paleocene-Eocene thermal maximum (PETM), as attested to by a prominent negative carbon isotope (δ 13 C) excursion and deep-sea carbonate dissolution. A widely cited explanation for this carbon input has been thermal dissociation of gas hydrate on continental slopes, followed by release of CH 4 from the seafloor and its subsequent oxidation to CO 2 in the ocean or atmosphere. Increasingly, papers have argued against this mechanism, but without fully considering existing ideas and available data. Moreover, other explanations have been presented as plausible alternatives, even though they conflict with geological observations, they raise major conceptual problems, or both. Methane release from gas hydrates remains a congruous explanation for the δ 13 C excursion across the PETM, although it requires an unconventional framework for global carbon and sulfur cycling, and it lacks proof. These issues are addressed here in the hope that they will prompt appropriate discussions regarding the extraordinary carbon injection at the start of the PETM and during other events in Earth's history.

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“…This could lead to the release of carbon estimated at 2000 × 10 9 tonnes over 10 ka (Zachos et al 2005), which is commonly believed to be the main cause for the PETM (Katz et al 2001;Dickens 2011). Many other hypotheses have been recently proposed by several researchers to explain this increase in atmospheric CO 2 , including the following: (1) the extensive burning of Palaeocene peat and coal deposits linked with the arid period that prevailed during the latest Palaeocene was suggested by Kurtz et al (2003), but in their recent study, Moore & Kurtz (2008) did not find any indications of such a process in cores from either the Atlantic or the Pacific; (2) thermogenic methane linked to hydrothermal injection in organic-rich sediments leading to the explosive release of methane from Cretaceous-Palaeocene mudstones in the North Atlantic (Westerhold et al 2009); this is unlikely for the Tethys area, which was tectonically stable during this period; (3) the drying of isolated epicontinental seas, leading to rapid oxidation of organic matter; (4) melting of the methane-rich permafrost (DeConto et al 2010).…”

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confidence: 99%

Palaeoenvironmental and climatic changes during the Palaeocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) at the Wadi Nukhul Section, Sinai, Egypt

Khozyem

Adatte

Spangenberg

et al. 2013

JGS

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The Palaeocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) interval at the Wadi Nukhul section (Sinai, Egypt) is represented by a 10 cm thick condensed clay-rich layer corresponding to the NP9a-NP9b nannofossil subzone boundary. The Wadi Nukhul Palaeocene-Eocene boundary (PEB) is characterized by (1) an abrupt negative excursion in carbonate and organic carbon isotope ratios (−6‰ in δ 13 C carb and −2‰ δ 13 C org ), (2) an abrupt persistent negative shift in organic nitrogen isotope values (δ 15 N org ), (3) a significant increase in phosphorus concentrations just above the carbon isotope excursion, (4) a decrease in carbonate content and significant increase in kaolinite and (5) high vanadium and low manganese contents coincident with the occurrence of framboidal pyrite. The abrupt correlative isotopic excursions of δ 13 C carb , δ 13 C org and δ 15 N suggest that the lowermost part of the PETM is missing. The decrease in carbonate content indicates dilution by high detrital input triggered by acid weathering and carbonate dissolution in response to increased atmospheric CO 2 resulting from the oxidation of methane. The sudden increase in kaolinite content reflects a short-lived change to humid conditions. The δ 15 N values close to 0‰ above the PEB suggest a bloom of N 2 -fixing cyanobacteria. Increased bacterial activity may be either the cause or the result of the anoxia locally associated with the PETM.

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Black carbon in Paleocene–Eocene boundary sediments: A test of biomass combustion as the PETM trigger

Cited by 40 publications

References 40 publications

Deep time evidence for climate sensitivity increase with warming

Deep time evidence for climate sensitivity increase with warming

Down the Rabbit Hole: toward appropriate discussion of methane release from gas hydrate systems during the Paleocene-Eocene thermal maximum and other past hyperthermal events

Palaeoenvironmental and climatic changes during the Palaeocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) at the Wadi Nukhul Section, Sinai, Egypt

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