Abstract
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.
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Acknowledgements
This research used samples and data provided by the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP). Financial support for this research was provided by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research to A.S. (NWO-Veni grant 863.07.001), S.S. (NWO-Vici grant), P.L.S., F.S., J.S.D. and H.B., and by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) to U.R. We thank G. Harrington (University of Birmingham) and M. Harley (Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew) for confirming the identification of Arecipites pollen, J. van der Burgh (Utrecht University), the IODP Expedition 302 Scientific Party and Urbino Summer School in Palaeoclimatology Instructors for discussions, and L. Bik, E. C. Hopmans, A. Mets, J. van Tongeren and N. Welters for technical support.
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A.S., S.S., U.R. and H.B. designed the research, A.S., T.H.D. and H.B sampled the core, A.S. and G.J.R. generated δ13CTOC data, A.S. and H.B. analysed dinoflagellate cyst assemblages, T.H.D. analysed the terrestrial palynomorphs, S.S., P.L.S., F.S. and J.S.D. carried out sulphur-bound isorenieratane and TEX86′ analyses, J.H.K. calculated the revised TEX86′ calibration and U.R. carried out XRF core scanning. All authors contributed to data interpretation. A.S. and S.S. wrote the paper with input from all authors.
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Sluijs, A., Schouten, S., Donders, T. et al. Warm and wet conditions in the Arctic region during Eocene Thermal Maximum 2. Nature Geosci 2, 777–780 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo668
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo668
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