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Eocene to Oligocene terrestrial Southern Hemisphere cooling caused by declining pCO2
Terrestrial Southern Hemisphere cooling through the Eocene–Oligocene transition points to decreasing atmospheric CO2 dominantly driving global change, according to biomarker records from southeast Australian coals and palaeoclimate modelling.
- Vittoria Lauretano
- , Alan T. Kennedy-Asser
- & B. David A. Naafs
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Transient ocean oxygenation at end-Permian mass extinction onset shown by thallium isotopes
Marine oxygenation declined well before the end-Permian mass extinction, the start of which was marked by a brief return to more oxygenated conditions, according to the analysis of thallium isotopes from sites spread across the Panthalassa ocean basin.
- Sean M. Newby
- , Jeremy D. Owens
- & Thomas J. Algeo
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Editorial |
Lessons from a hot past
Warm intervals in the geological record potentially hold the key to understanding ongoing changes in Earth’s climate. Our ability to unlock this information depends on continued technical and conceptual progress.
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Article |
Hydrological impact of Middle Miocene Antarctic ice-free areas coupled to deep ocean temperatures
Middle Miocene deep ocean temperatures were linked to Antarctic ice-sheet extent, not volume, due to distinct vegetation–climate feedbacks, according to coupled atmosphere–ocean–vegetation general circulation modelling.
- Catherine D. Bradshaw
- , Petra M. Langebroek
- & Agatha M. de Boer
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Matters Arising |
Climate did not drive Common Era Maldivian sea-level lowstands
- Christopher G. Piecuch
- , Andrew C. Kemp
- & Aron J. Meltzner
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Multi-decadal trends in Antarctic sea-ice extent driven by ENSO–SAM over the last 2,000 years
Common Era sea-ice variability in the Indian sector of the Southern Ocean was strongly influenced by interacting climate modes, according to climate modelling and an analysis of sea-ice and temperature proxies.
- Xavier Crosta
- , Johan Etourneau
- & Minoru Ikehara
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Glacial deep ocean deoxygenation driven by biologically mediated air–sea disequilibrium
Lower than modern dissolved oxygen levels in the deep ocean during the Last Glacial Maximum were the result of greater disequilibrium between the atmosphere and ocean, according to proxy record-constrained Earth system modelling.
- Ellen Cliff
- , Samar Khatiwala
- & Andreas Schmittner
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Persistently well-ventilated intermediate-depth ocean through the last deglaciation
Intermediate-depth waters in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans were well equilibrated with the atmosphere through the last deglaciation, according to radiocarbon data from deep-sea corals.
- Tianyu Chen
- , Laura F. Robinson
- & Karen S. Harpp
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News & Views |
Pacific push into the Atlantic
Deep, carbon-rich Pacific waters intruded into the South Atlantic some 38 to 28 thousand years ago. This deep Pacific expansion could have represented a considerable sink of atmospheric CO2, one that helped initiate the Last Glacial Maximum.
- Brian A. Haley
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Coupled Southern Ocean cooling and Antarctic ice sheet expansion during the middle Miocene
Antarctic ice volume expansion in the middle Miocene coincides with Southern Ocean cooling, according to biomarker and clumped isotope temperature records from south of Tasmania.
- Thomas J. Leutert
- , Alexandra Auderset
- & A. Nele Meckler
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A nutrient control on marine anoxia during the end-Permian mass extinction
Phosphorus remobilized from seafloor sediments due to a reduced influx of iron-oxide from land led to widespread anoxia during the end-Permian mass extinction, according to palaeoredox and phosphorus speciation proxy records from Svalbard.
- Martin Schobben
- , William J. Foster
- & Simon W. Poulton
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Correspondence |
One hundred years of Milanković cycles
- Ivana Cvijanovic
- , Jelena Lukovic
- & James D. Begg
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Article |
Last glacial atmospheric CO2 decline due to widespread Pacific deep-water expansion
Carbon-rich Pacific deep water extended into the South Atlantic some 38,000 to 28,000 years ago, potentially contributing to a reduction in atmospheric carbon dioxide and the onset of the Last Glacial Maximum, according to deep-water carbonate chemistry reconstructions.
- J. Yu
- , L. Menviel
- & J. F. McManus
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Southern Ocean carbon sink enhanced by sea-ice feedbacks at the Antarctic Cold Reversal
Increased Southern Ocean productivity driven by sea-ice feedbacks contributed to a slowdown in rising CO2 levels during the last deglaciation, according to analyses of marine-derived aerosols from an Antarctic ice core.
- C. J. Fogwill
- , C. S. M. Turney
- & A. Cooper
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Article |
Eurasian Ice Sheet collapse was a major source of Meltwater Pulse 1A 14,600 years ago
Marine-based sections of the Eurasian Ice Sheet collapsed rapidly during a warming event 14,600 years ago and contributed to the Meltwater Pulse 1A event, according to a recalibrated age model for sediments from the Norwegian Sea.
- Jo Brendryen
- , Haflidi Haflidason
- & Bjarte Hannisdal
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Article |
Phosphorus-limited conditions in the early Neoproterozoic ocean maintained low levels of atmospheric oxygen
Early Neoproterozoic marine productivity fell due to nutrient drawdown following a switch from an iron-rich to a sulfide-rich ocean, according to records of phosphorus geochemistry measured from sedimentary sections in North China.
- Romain Guilbaud
- , Simon W. Poulton
- & Timothy M. Lenton
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No state change in pelagic fish production and biodiversity during the Eocene–Oligocene transition
Marine fish biomass and diversity did not change during the Eocene–Oligocene transition despite widespread cooling and Antarctic ice sheet expansion, according to microfossil fish teeth records from a set of deep-sea cores.
- Elizabeth C. Sibert
- , Michelle E. Zill
- & Richard D. Norris
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Editorial |
A stratigraphy of Nature Geoscience
We look back on which geologic intervals have most often informed the science published in the journal.
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Article |
Global ocean heat content in the Last Interglacial
Rapid oceanic and atmospheric circulation shifts led to a transient peak in the mean temperature of the ocean at the start of the Last Interglacial, according to noble gas isotope records from an Antarctic ice core.
- S. Shackleton
- , D. Baggenstos
- & J. P. Severinghaus
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Article |
Climate-forced sea-level lowstands in the Indian Ocean during the last two millennia
Two intervals of distinctly lower Indian Ocean sea level during the last two millennia occurred during times of relatively low incoming solar radiation, according to an analysis of U–Th dated coral microatolls in the Maldives.
- Paul S. Kench
- , Roger F. McLean
- & Keven Roy
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Article |
Decadal variability in twentieth-century ocean acidification in the California Current Ecosystem
Ocean acidification in the California Current Ecosystem was twice the global average during the past century and influenced by decadal climate variations, according to a record of the calcification rate of planktonic foraminifera from the Santa Barbara Basin.
- Emily B. Osborne
- , Robert C. Thunell
- & Claudia R. Benitez-Nelson
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Article |
Varied contribution of the Southern Ocean to deglacial atmospheric CO2 rise
Southern Ocean surface waters near Australia emerged as a major source of CO2 during the last deglaciation due to shifting ecology and circulation, according a proxy record of seawater pH based on boron isotopes covering the past 25,000 years.
- Andrew D. Moy
- , Martin R. Palmer
- & Thomas B. Chalk
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Consistent CO2 release by pyrite oxidation on continental shelves prior to glacial terminations
Minimum atmospheric CO2 levels during glacial intervals were set, in part, by repeated CO2 release from pyrite oxidation on exposed continental shelves, according to a geochemical model of the past 3 Myr.
- Martin Kölling
- , Ilham Bouimetarhan
- & Matthias Zabel
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Global cooling linked to increased glacial carbon storage via changes in Antarctic sea ice
Isolation of deep water around Antarctica due to surface cooling can explain half of the change in atmospheric CO2 levels through glacial–interglacial cycles, according to coupled ocean–sea ice and biogeochemical numerical modelling.
- Alice Marzocchi
- & Malte F. Jansen
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Reduced continental weathering and marine calcification linked to late Neogene decline in atmospheric CO2
A redistribution of marine calcifiers along with a reduction in weathering led to increased seafloor carbonate deposition during the late Neogene, according to a global compilation of carbonate mass accumulation rate records from sediment cores.
- Weimin Si
- & Yair Rosenthal
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Unique Neoproterozoic carbon isotope excursions sustained by coupled evaporite dissolution and pyrite burial
Evaporite dissolution coupled with pyrite burial can lead to biogeochemical feedbacks that explain the enigmatic Neoproterozoic carbon isotope record, according to numerical model simulations.
- Graham A. Shields
- , Benjamin J. W. Mills
- & Timothy M. Lenton
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Article |
Periodic changes in the Cretaceous ocean and climate caused by marine redox see-saw
An internal redox see-saw between the Panthalassa Basin and the proto-North Atlantic can explain cyclic changes in the sediment record throughout the Cretaceous Thermal Maximum 97 to 91 million years ago, according to simulations with a numerical ocean model.
- Klaus Wallmann
- , Sascha Flögel
- & Wolfgang Kuhnt
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Possible links between extreme oxygen perturbations and the Cambrian radiation of animals
Fluctuations in early Cambrian biodiversity of animals coincided with extreme oscillations in atmospheric and shallow-ocean oxygenation, according to analyses of carbon and sulfur isotopes in Cambrian-age marine carbonates.
- Tianchen He
- , Maoyan Zhu
- & Graham A. Shields
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Eleven phases of Greenland Ice Sheet shelf-edge advance over the past 2.7 million years
Eleven phases of advance of the Greenland Ice Sheet, following the first expansion between 3.3 and 2.6 million years ago, are documented in analyses of a grid of seismic reflection data.
- Paul C. Knutz
- , Andrew M. W. Newton
- & Karen Dybkjær
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Deep Atlantic Ocean carbon storage and the rise of 100,000-year glacial cycles
Deep Atlantic carbon storage increased and the meriodional overturning circulation weakened at the mid-Pleistocene transition to 100,000-year glacial–interglacial cycles, according to analyses of foraminifera trace elements and Nd isotopes.
- J. R. Farmer
- , B. Hönisch
- & J. Kim
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Role of Asian summer monsoon subsystems in the inter-hemispheric progression of deglaciation
During deglacial warming at Termination II, about 130,000 years ago, the Indian summer monsoon helped convey heat northwards as deglaciation progressed from the Southern to the Northern Hemisphere, according to sediment records from the Bay of Bengal.
- K. Nilsson-Kerr
- , P. Anand
- & S. J. Hammond
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Article |
Fully oxygenated water columns over continental shelves before the Great Oxidation Event
Before the Great Oxidation Event there was regional-scale, full water-column oxygenation above the continental shelf, according to molybdenum and thallium isotope records that indicate massive manganese oxide burial.
- Chadlin M. Ostrander
- , Sune G. Nielsen
- & Ariel D. Anbar
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Article |
Antarctic ice-sheet sensitivity to obliquity forcing enhanced through ocean connections
The sensitivity of the Antarctic ice sheet to obliquity increases when ice-sheet margins are exposed to the ocean, suggests an analysis of sediment core oxygen isotope records.
- R. H. Levy
- , S. R. Meyers
- & D. K. Kulhanek
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Palaeocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum prolonged by fossil carbon oxidation
Delivery of fossil carbon to the oceans strongly increased about 15 kyr after the onset of the Palaeocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum as a result of oxidation of sedimentary carbon, suggests an analysis of geochemical measurements with a biomarker mixing model.
- Shelby L. Lyons
- , Allison A. Baczynski
- & Katherine H. Freeman
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News & Views |
Climate swings in extinction
Extreme temperature swings and deteriorating environments are perhaps what killed most life in the end-Permian extinction, suggest climate model simulations. Siberian Traps volcanism probably triggered the events.
- Ying Cui
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Article |
Systemic swings in end-Permian climate from Siberian Traps carbon and sulfur outgassing
Carbon and sulfur release from the Siberian Traps igneous province caused climate swings during the end-Permian mass extinction, according to coupled global climate simulations.
- Benjamin A. Black
- , Ryan R. Neely
- & Charles Bardeen
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A highly resolved record of relative sea level in the western Mediterranean Sea during the last interglacial period
A sea-level record from Mallorca shows no evidence of large, millennial-scale oscillations during the last interglacial.
- Victor J. Polyak
- , Bogdan P. Onac
- & Angel Ginés
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Cenozoic record of δ34S in foraminiferal calcite implies an early Eocene shift to deep-ocean sulfide burial
A Cenozoic reconstruction of the δ34S of marine sulfate suggests a shift in the locus of pyrite burial from shallow seas to the open ocean during the early Eocene.
- Victoria C. F. Rennie
- , Guillaume Paris
- & Jess F. Adkins
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Flushing of the deep Pacific Ocean and the deglacial rise of atmospheric CO2 concentrations
Enhanced overturning in the Pacific Ocean flushed carbon from the abyssal ocean to the atmosphere during the last deglaciation, according to authigenic neodymium isotope data.
- Jianghui Du
- , Brian A. Haley
- & Summer K. Praetorius
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Increased nutrient supply to the Southern Ocean during the Holocene and its implications for the pre-industrial atmospheric CO2 rise
The amount of nitrate in the surface of the Southern Ocean has increased during the Holocene, weakening the biological pump and potentially contributing to the rise in atmospheric CO2 concentrations.
- Anja S. Studer
- , Daniel M. Sigman
- & Gerald H. Haug
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High temperatures in the terrestrial mid-latitudes during the early Palaeogene
Mean annual temperatures in the mid-latitudes were between 23 and 29 °C during the early Palaeogene, a peat-based temperature record suggests.
- B. D. A. Naafs
- , M. Rohrssen
- & R. D. Pancost
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News & Views |
Into the ice age
There was minimal cooling in the North Atlantic Ocean during the Oligocene inception of the Antarctic ice sheet, according to a sediment record. This finding suggests asynchronous climate changes in the Northern and Southern hemispheres.
- Timothy Herbert
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Article |
Transient temperature asymmetry between hemispheres in the Palaeogene Atlantic Ocean
Northern and Southern hemisphere temperatures were decoupled during the Eocene/Oligocene transition, suggests a sea surface temperature record from the North Atlantic.
- Zhonghui Liu
- , Yuxin He
- & Paul A. Wilson
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Deglacial floods in the Beaufort Sea preceded Younger Dryas cooling
A 700-year-long flood of glacial meltwater, ice and sediment from the Mackenzie River preceded the freshening of the Beaufort Sea prior to the Younger Dryas climate event, according to sediment analyses.
- L. D. Keigwin
- , S. Klotsko
- & N. W. Driscoll
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Review Article |
Palaeoclimate constraints on the impact of 2 °C anthropogenic warming and beyond
A review of Earth system changes associated with past warmer climates provides constraints on the environmental changes that could occur under warming of 2 °C or more over pre-industrial temperatures.
- Hubertus Fischer
- , Katrin J. Meissner
- & Liping Zhou
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Improved efficiency of the biological pump as a trigger for the Late Ordovician glaciation
Enhanced algal productivity during the Late Ordovician may have led to carbon drawdown and the inception of the Hirnantian glaciation, according to sediment geochemistry and carbon cycle modelling.
- Jiaheng Shen
- , Ann Pearson
- & Yanan Shen
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News & Views |
Push from the Pacific
Enhanced upwelling and CO2 degassing from the subpolar North Pacific during a warm event 14,000 years ago may have helped keep atmospheric CO2 levels high enough to propel the Earth out of the last ice age.
- Samuel L. Jaccard
- & Eric D. Galbraith
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Deglacial upwelling, productivity and CO2 outgassing in the North Pacific Ocean
The upwelling of carbon- and nutrient-rich waters in the subpolar North Pacific during the Bølling–Allerød supported high productivity and CO2 outgassing, as well as contributing to regional hypoxia, marine sediment analyses suggest.
- William R. Gray
- , James W. B. Rae
- & Caroline H. Lear
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Export of nutrient rich Northern Component Water preceded early
Oligocene Antarctic glaciation
The onset of deep water export from the North Atlantic Ocean preceded the onset of Antarctic glaciation by about one million years, according to sediment geochemistry, and may have been triggered by tectonic changes in the Atlantic basin.
- Helen K. Coxall
- , Claire E. Huck
- & Jan Backman
Arctic Ocean stratification set by sea level and freshwater inputs since the last ice age