Letter abstract
Nature Geoscience 2, 777 - 780 (2009)
Published online: 25 October 2009 | doi:10.1038/ngeo668
Subject Category: Palaeoclimate and palaeoceanography
Warm and wet conditions in the Arctic region during Eocene Thermal Maximum 2
Appy Sluijs1, Stefan Schouten2, Timme H. Donders1,5, Petra L. Schoon2, Ursula Röhl3, Gert-Jan Reichart4, Francesca Sangiorgi1,2, Jung-Hyun Kim2, Jaap S. Sinninghe Damsté2,4 & Henk Brinkhuis1
Several episodes of abrupt and transient warming, each lasting between 50,000 and 200,000 years, punctuated the long-term warming during the Late Palaeocene and Early Eocene (58 to 51 Myr ago) epochs1, 2. These hyperthermal events, such as the Eocene Thermal Maximum 2 (ETM2) that took place about 53.5 Myr ago2, are associated with rapid increases in atmospheric CO2 content. However, the impacts of most events are documented only locally3, 4. Here we show, on the basis of estimates from the TEX86' proxy, that sea surface temperatures rose by 3–5 °C in the Arctic Ocean during the ETM2. Dinoflagellate fossils demonstrate a concomitant freshening and eutrophication of surface waters, which resulted in euxinia in the photic zone. The presence of palm pollen implies5 that coldest month mean temperatures over the Arctic land masses were no less than 8 °C, in contradiction of model simulations that suggest hyperthermal winter temperatures were below freezing6. In light of our reconstructed temperature and hydrologic trends, we conclude that the temperature and hydrographic responses to abruptly increased atmospheric CO2 concentrations were similar for the ETM2 and the better-described Palaeocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum7, 8, 55.5 Myr ago.
- Palaeoecology, Institute of Environmental Biology, Utrecht University, Laboratory of Palaeobotany and Palynology, Budapestlaan 4, 3584 CD Utrecht, The Netherlands
- NIOZ Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, Department of Marine Organic Biogeochemistry, PO Box 59, 1790 AB, Den Burg, Texel, The Netherlands
- MARUM—Center for Marine Environmental Sciences, Bremen University, Leobener Strasse, 28359 Bremen, Germany
- Department of Earth Sciences, Utrecht University, Budapestlaan 4, 3584 CD Utrecht, The Netherlands
- Present address: TNO Geological Survey of the Netherlands, PO Box 80015, 3508 TA, Utrecht, The Netherlands
Correspondence to: Appy Sluijs1 e-mail: A.Sluijs@uu.nl
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