Late Paleocene Arctic coastal climate inferred from molluscan stable and radiogenic isotope ratios

Tripati, Aradhna; Zachos, James C; Marincovich, Louie; Bice, Karen L.

doi:10.1016/s0031-0182(01)00230-9

Cited by 74 publications

(73 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…2). Background SSTs from the latest Palaeocene and early Eocene are generally consistent with the few other proxy data estimates from Arctic locations with late Cretaceous and early Palaeogene strata [20][21][22] . The significantly lower terrestrial temperature estimates from Ellesmere Island at 738 N palaeolatitude 23 are derived from upper Lower Eocene strata and are similar to TEX 86 -derived SSTs in the Arctic Ocean for that time period 24 ; these estimates are thus not in disagreement with our data.…”

Section: And the Expedition 302 Scientists †supporting

confidence: 83%

Subtropical Arctic Ocean temperatures during the Palaeocene/Eocene thermal maximum

Sluijs¹,

Schouten²,

Pagani³

et al. 2006

Nature

645

629

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& the Expedition 302 Scientists †The Palaeocene/Eocene thermal maximum, ,55 million years ago, was a brief period of widespread, extreme climatic warming [1][2][3] , that was associated with massive atmospheric greenhouse gas input 4 . Although aspects of the resulting environmental changes are well documented at low latitudes, no data were available to quantify simultaneous changes in the Arctic region. Here we identify the Palaeocene/Eocene thermal maximum in a marine sedimentary sequence obtained during the Arctic Coring Expedition 5 . We show that sea surface temperatures near the North Pole increased from ,18 8C to over 23 8C during this event. Such warm values imply the absence of ice and thus exclude the influence of ice-albedo feedbacks on this Arctic warming. At the same time, sea level rose while anoxic and euxinic conditions developed in the ocean's bottom waters and photic zone, respectively. Increasing temperature and sea level match expectations based on palaeoclimate model simulations 6 , but the absolute polar temperatures that we derive before, during and after the event are more than 10 8C warmer than those model-predicted. This suggests that higher-than-modern greenhouse gas concentrations must have operated in conjunction with other feedback mechanisms-perhaps polar stratospheric clouds 7 or hurricane-induced ocean mixing 8 -to amplify early Palaeogene polar temperatures.

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Section: And the Expedition 302 Scientists †supporting

confidence: 83%

Subtropical Arctic Ocean temperatures during the Palaeocene/Eocene thermal maximum

Sluijs¹,

Schouten²,

Pagani³

et al. 2006

Nature

645

629

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…2). These values are similar to, or slightly higher than, other late Palaeocene and Eocene floral, faunal and isotopic proxy evidence for mean annual temperature in the Arctic [22][23][24][25][26] . Among several hypotheses to explain such high-latitude warmth, the leading (and not incompatible) two are increased heat transport and increased atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations, as well as their associated feedbacks [27][28][29][30] .…”

supporting

confidence: 80%

Episodic fresh surface waters in the Eocene Arctic Ocean

Brinkhuis

Schouten²,

Collinson

et al. 2006

Nature

309

306

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“…Early onset of Northern Hemisphere ice. One striking feature of the overall sediment record is the average sedimentation rate ranging from 1 to 2 cm kyr 21 (Fig. 3), which is an order of magnitude higher than estimates made by previous investigators who interpreted the Arctic as 'sediment-starved' 9,29 .…”

Section: Palaeoenvironmental Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 59%

“…14), which is notably higher than previous estimates of 10-15 8C (ref. 21) and indicates an even lower equator-to-pole temperature gradient than previously believed.…”

Section: Palaeoenvironmental Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 62%

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The Cenozoic palaeoenvironment of the Arctic Ocean

Moran¹,

Backman²,

Brinkhuis³

et al. 2006

Nature

493

407

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The history of the Arctic Ocean during the Cenozoic era (0-65 million years ago) is largely unknown from direct evidence. Here we present a Cenozoic palaeoceanographic record constructed from >400 m of sediment core from a recent drilling expedition to the Lomonosov ridge in the Arctic Ocean. Our record shows a palaeoenvironmental transition from a warm 'greenhouse' world, during the late Palaeocene and early Eocene epochs, to a colder 'icehouse' world influenced by sea ice and icebergs from the middle Eocene epoch to the present. For the most recent ∼14 Myr, we find sedimentation rates of 1-2 cm per thousand years, in stark contrast to the substantially lower rates proposed in earlier studies; this record of the Neogene reveals cooling of the Arctic that was synchronous with the expansion of Greenland ice (∼3.2 Myr ago) and East Antarctic ice (∼14 Myr ago). We find evidence for the first occurrence of ice-rafted debris in the middle Eocene epoch (∼45 Myr ago), some 35 Myr earlier than previously thought; fresh surface waters were present at ∼49 Myr ago, before the onset of ice-rafted debris. Also, the temperatures of surface waters during the Palaeocene/Eocene thermal maximum (∼55 Myr ago) appear to have been substantially warmer than previously estimated. The revised timing of the earliest Arctic cooling events coincides with those from Antarctica, supporting arguments for bipolar symmetry in climate change. © 2006 Nature Publishing Group

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Late Paleocene Arctic coastal climate inferred from molluscan stable and radiogenic isotope ratios

Cited by 74 publications

References 35 publications

Subtropical Arctic Ocean temperatures during the Palaeocene/Eocene thermal maximum

Subtropical Arctic Ocean temperatures during the Palaeocene/Eocene thermal maximum

Episodic fresh surface waters in the Eocene Arctic Ocean

The Cenozoic palaeoenvironment of the Arctic Ocean

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