Capturing the global signature of surface ocean acidification during the Palaeocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum
Tali L. Babila,Tali L. Babila,Donald E. Penman,Donald E. Penman,Bärbel Hönisch,D. Clay Kelly,Timothy J. Bralower,Yair Rosenthal,James C Zachos +8 more
TLDR
The remarkable similarity among records from different ocean regions suggests that the degree of ocean carbonate change was globally near uniform, and attribute the global extent of surface ocean acidification to elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide levels during the main phase of the PETM.Abstract:
Geologically abrupt carbon perturbations such as the Palaeocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM, approx. 56 Ma) are the closest geological points of comparison to current anthropogenic carbon emissions. Associated with the rapid carbon release during this event are profound environmental changes in the oceans including warming, deoxygenation and acidification. To evaluate the global extent of surface ocean acidification during the PETM, we present a compilation of new and published surface ocean carbonate chemistry and pH reconstructions from various palaeoceanographic settings. We use boron to calcium ratios (B/Ca) and boron isotopes (δ11B) in surface- and thermocline-dwelling planktonic foraminifera to reconstruct ocean carbonate chemistry and pH. Our records exhibit a B/Ca reduction of 30-40% and a δ11B decline of 1.0-1.2‰ coeval with the carbon isotope excursion. The tight coupling between boron proxies and carbon isotope records is consistent with the interpretation that oceanic absorption of the carbon released at the onset of the PETM resulted in widespread surface ocean acidification. The remarkable similarity among records from different ocean regions suggests that the degree of ocean carbonate change was globally near uniform. We attribute the global extent of surface ocean acidification to elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide levels during the main phase of the PETM.This article is part of a discussion meeting issue 'Hyperthermals: rapid and extreme global warming in our geological past'.read more
Citations
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Reversed deep-sea carbonate ion basin-gradient during Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum
Richard E. Zeebe,James C Zachos +1 more
TL;DR: In this article, the authors show that during the PETM, the deep-sea undersaturation was not homogeneous among the different ocean basins, and demonstrate that deep sea [CO32−] increased from the Atlantic through the Southern Ocean into the Pacific.
Journal ArticleDOI
Ocean Carbon Storage across the middle Miocene: a new interpretation for the Monterey Event.
TL;DR: It is proposed that the Miocene Climatic Optimum was associated with elevated oceanic dissolved inorganic carbon caused by volcanic degassing, global warming, and sea-level rise and this hypothesis cannot explain the multi-Myr lag between the δ13C excursion and global cooling.
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Placing our current 'hyperthermal' in the context of rapid climate change in our geological past.
TL;DR: ‘…there are known knowns.
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Proxy evidence for state-dependence of climate sensitivity in the Eocene greenhouse
Eleni Anagnostou,Eleanor H. John,Tali L. Babila,Philip F Sexton,Andy Ridgwell,Daniel J. Lunt,Paul Nicholas Pearson,Thomas B Chalk,Richard D. Pancost,Gavin L. Foster +9 more
TL;DR: The geological record is tested by combining a new high-resolution boron isotope-based CO2 record with novel estimates of Global Mean Temperature to find that Equilibrium Climate Sensitivity (ECS) was indeed higher during the warmest intervals of the Eocene, agreeing well with recent model simulations, and declined through theEocene as global climate cooled.
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The Magnitude of Surface Ocean Acidification and Carbon Release During Eocene Thermal Maximum 2 (ETM-2) and the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM)
Dustin T Harper,Dustin T Harper,Bärbel Hönisch,Richard E. Zeebe,Gary Shaffer,Gary Shaffer,L. Haynes,Ellen Thomas,Ellen Thomas,James C Zachos +9 more
TL;DR: Harper, DT; Honisch, B; Zeebe, RE; Shaffer, G; Haynes, LL; Thomas, E; and Zachos, JC as mentioned in this paper.
References
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