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Palaeoclimate

Weathering away warmth

Nature Geoscience volume 6, pages 86–87 (2013)Cite this article

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At the end of the Eocene epoch, permanent ice cover developed over Antarctica as the Earth began to cool from greenhouse warmth. Sediment records off the Antarctic coast show spikes in weathering rate at the onset of ice growth that may indicate synchronous consumption of atmospheric carbon dioxide.

Tectonic motions leading to the development of a deep, circumpolar current that isolated the Antarctic continent and promoted ice growth have also been proposed to explain this environmental transition. However, it is difficult to reconcile the rather slow plate motions with the seemingly rapid onset of ice growth. And ice growth was not the only planetary change afoot. As well as falling atmospheric CO2 concentrations2, sea level dropped and the ocean became less corrosive, as reflected in the deepening of carbonate compensation depth7 (below which carbonate is undersaturated and any carbonate minerals sinking from shallower depths dissolve). These global changes, collectively embodying the Eocene–Oligocene transition, marked the beginning of a stepwise evolution from a 'hothouse' to an 'icehouse' world that has characterized the past 40 million years1 up to the present. But what forcing mechanism can explain all these symptoms of the Eocene–Oligocene transition?

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Figure 1: An icy legacy.

© USGS / NASA / NSF / BAS

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Brian A. Haley is at the College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Science, Oregon State University, 104 Ocean Administration Building, Corvallis, Oregon 97331-5503, USA,

    Brian A. Haley

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  1. Brian A. Haley
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Correspondence to Brian A. Haley.

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Haley, B. Weathering away warmth. Nature Geosci 6, 86–87 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo1714

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