Abstract
During the Palaeocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) about 56 million years ago, thousands of petagrams of carbon were released into the atmosphere and ocean in just a few thousand years, followed by gradual sequestration over approximately 200,000 years. If silicate weathering is one of the key negative feedbacks that removed this carbon, a period of seawater calcium carbonate saturation greater than pre-event levels would be expected during the event's recovery phase. In marine sediments, this should be recorded as a temporary deepening of the depth below which no calcite is preserved — the calcite compensation depth (CCD). Previous and new sedimentary records from sites that were above the pre-PETM CCD show enhanced carbonate accumulation following the PETM. A new record from an abyssal site in the North Atlantic that lay below the pre-PETM CCD shows a period of carbonate preservation beginning about 70,000 years after the onset of the PETM, providing the first direct evidence for an over-deepening of the CCD. This record confirms an overshoot in ocean carbonate saturation during the PETM recovery. Simulations with two earth system models support scenarios for the PETM that involve a large initial carbon release followed by prolonged low-level emissions, consistent with the timing of CCD deepening in our record. Our findings indicate that sequestration of these carbon emissions was most likely the result of both globally enhanced calcite burial above the CCD and, at least in the North Atlantic, an over-deepening of the CCD.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Koch, P. L., Zachos, J. C. & Gingerich, P. D. Correlation between isotope records in marine and continental carbon reservoirs near the Palaeocene/Eocene boundary. Nature 358, 319–322 (1992).
Kennett, J. P. & Stott, L. D. Abrupt deep-sea warming, palaeoceanographic changes and benthic extinctions at the end of the Palaeocene. Nature 353, 225–229 (1991).
McInerney, F. A. & Wing, S. The Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum: a perturbation of carbon cycle, climate, and biosphere with implications for the future. Annu. Rev. Earth Planet. Sci. 39, 489–516 (2011).
Dunkley-Jones, T. et al. Climate model and proxy data constraints on ocean warming across the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum. Earth Sci. Rev. 125, 123–145 (2013).
Penman, D. E., Hönisch, B., Zeebe, R. E., Thomas, E. & Zachos, J. C. Rapid and sustained surface ocean acidification during the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum. Paleoceanography 29, 357–369 (2014).
Zachos, J. C. et al. Rapid acidification of the ocean during the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum. Science 308, 1611–1615 (2005).
Dickens, G. R., Oneil, J. R., Rea, D. K. & Owen, R. M. Dissociation of oceanic methane hydrate as a cause of the carbon isotope excursion at the end of the Paleocene. Paleoceanography 10, 965–971 (1995).
Panchuk, K., Ridgwell, A. & Kump, L. R. Sedimentary response to Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum carbon release: a model-data comparison. Geology 36, 315–318 (2008).
Zeebe, R. E., Zachos, J. C. & Dickens, G. R. Carbon dioxide forcing alone insufficient to explain Palaeocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum warming. Nature Geosci. 2, 576–580 (2009).
Zeebe, R. & Zachos, J. Long-term legacy of massive carbon input to the Earth system: Anthropocene versus Eocene. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A 371, 1–22 (2012).
Dickens, G. R., Castillo, M. M. & Walker, J. C. G. A blast of gas in the latest Paleocene: simulating first-order effects of massive dissociation of oceanic methane hydrate. Geology 25, 259–262 (1997).
Farley, K. A. & Eltgroth, S. F. An alternative age model for the Paleocene–Eocene thermal maximum using extraterrestrial 3He. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 208, 135–148 (2003).
Kelly, D. C., Zachos, J. C., Bralower, T. J. & Schellenberg, S. A. Enhanced terrestrial weathering/runoff and surface ocean carbonate production during the recovery stages of the Paleocene–Eocene thermal maximum. Paleoceanography 20, PA4023 (2005).
Kelly, D. C., Nielsen, T. M. J., McCarren, H. K., Zachos, J. C. & Rohl, U. Spatiotemporal patterns of carbonate sedimentation in the South Atlantic: implications for carbon cycling during the Paleocene–Eocene thermal maximum. Palaeogeogr. Palaeoclimatol. Palaeoecol. 293, 30–40 (2010).
Röhl, U., Westerhold, T., Bralower, T. J. & Zachos, J. C. On the duration of the Paleocene–Eocene thermal maximum (PETM). Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst. 8, Q12002 (2007).
Murphy, B. H., Farley, K. A. & Zachos, J. C. An extraterrestrial He-3-based timescale for the Paleocene–Eocene thermal maximum (PETM) from Walvis Ridge, IODP Site 1266. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 74, 5098–5108 (2010).
Greene, S. et al. Rethinking controls on the long-term cenozoic carbonate compensation depth: case studies across Late Paleocene–Early Eocene warming and Late Eocene–Early Oligocene cooling. Abstr. PP41C-1407 (American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting, 2014).
Norris, R. D., Wilson, P. A., Blum, P. & the Expedition 342 Scientists. Proc. IODP Vol. 342 (IODP, 2012).
Zeebe, R. LOSCAR: Long-term Ocean-atmosphere-Sediment CArbon cycle reservoir model v2.0.4. Geosci. Model Dev. 5, 149–166 (2012).
Ridgwell, A. & Hargreaves, J. Regulation of atmospheric CO2 by deep-sea sediments in an Earth system model. Glob. Biogeochem. Cycles 21, GB2008 (2007).
Ridgwell, A. Interpreting transient carbonate compensation depth changes by marine sediment core modeling. Paleoceanography 22, PA4102 (2007).
Nunes, F. & Norris, R. D. Abrupt reversal in ocean overturning during the Palaeocene/Eocene warm period. Nature 439, 60–63 (2006).
McCarren, H., Thomas, E., Hasegawa, T., Röhl, U. & Zachos, J. C. Depth dependency of the Paleocene-Eocene carbon isotope excursion: paired benthic and terrestrial biomarker records (Ocean Drilling Program Leg 208, Walvis Ridge). Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst. 9, Q10008 (2008).
Zeebe, R. E. & Zachos, J. C. Reversed deep-sea carbonate ion basin gradient during Paleocene–Eocene thermal maximum. Paleoceanography 22, PA3201 (2007).
Zeebe, R. E. What caused the long duration of the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum? Paleoceanography 26, 1–13 (2013).
Bowen, G. J. Up in smoke: A role for organic carbon feedbacks in Paleogene hyperthermals. Glob. Planet. Change 109, 18–29 (2013).
Komar, N., Zeebe, R. & Dickens, G. Understanding long-term carbon cycle trends: the late Paleocene through the early Eocene. Paleoceanography 28, 650–662 (2013).
Leon-Rodriguez, L. & Dickens, G. R. Constraints on ocean acidification associated with rapid and massive carbon injections: the early Paleogene record at ocean drilling program site 1215, equatorial Pacific Ocean. Palaeogeogr. Palaeoclimatol. Palaeoecol. 298, 409–420 (2010).
Hancock, H. J., Dickens, G. R., Thomas, E. & Blake, K. L. Reappraisal of early Paleogene CCD curves: foraminiferal assemblages and stable carbon isotopes across the carbonate facies of Perth Abyssal Plain. Int. J. Earth Sci. 96, 925–946 (2007).
Slotnick, B. S. et al. Early Paleogene variations in the calcite compensation depth: new constraints using old borehole sediments from across Ninetyeast Ridge, central Indian Ocean. Clim. Past 11, 473–493 (2015).
Bowen, G. J. & Zachos, J. C. Rapid carbon sequestration at the termination of the Palaeocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum. Nature Geosci. 3, 866–869 (2010).
Bains, S., Norris, R. D., Corfield, R. M. & Faul, K. L. Termination of global warmth at the Palaeocene/Eocene boundary through productivity feedback. Nature 407, 171–174 (2000).
Ma, Z. et al. Carbon sequestration during the Palaeocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum by an efficient biological pump. Nature Geosci. 7, 382–388 (2014).
Stoll, H. M. & Bains, S. Coccolith Sr/Ca records of productivity during the Paleocene–Eocene thermal maximum from the Weddell Sea. Paleoceanography 18, 1049 (2003).
Uchikawa, J. & Zeebe, R. E. Influence of terrestrial weathering on ocean acidification and the next glacial inception. Geophys. Res. Lett. 35, L23608 (2008).
Ridgwell, A. Application of sediment core modelling to interpreting the glacial–interglacial record of Southern Ocean silica cycling. Clim. Past 3, 387–396 (2007).
Ridgwell, A. & Schmidt, D. N. Past constraints on the vulnerability of marine calcifiers to massive carbon dioxide release. Nature Geosci. 3, 196–200 (2010).
Colbourn, G., Ridgwell, A. & Lenton, T. The Rock Geochemical Model (RokGeM) v0. 9. Geosci. Model Dev. 6, 1543–1573 (2013).
Walker, J. C. G. & Kasting, J. F. Effects of fuel and forest conservation on future levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide. Palaeogeogr. Palaeoclimatol. Palaeoecol. 97, 151–189 (1992).
Hönisch, B. et al. The geological record of ocean acidification. Science 335, 1058–1063 (2012).
Sluijs, A., Zachos, J. C. & Zeebe, R. E. Constraints on hyperthermals. Nature Geosci. 5, 231–231 (2012).
Walker, J. C. G., Hays, P. B. & Kasting, J. F. A Negative feedback mechanism for the long-term stabilization of Earths surface-temperature. J. Geophys. Res. 86, 9776–9782 (1981).
Berner, R. A., Lasaga, A. C. & Garrels, R. M. The carbonate-silicate geochemical cycle and its effects on atmospheric carbon dioxide over the past 100 million years. Am. J. Sci. 283, 641–683 (1983).
Dickson, A. J. et al. Evidence for weathering and volcanism during the PETM from Arctic Ocean and Peri-Tethys osmium isotope records. Palaeogeogr. Palaeoclimatol. Palaeoecol. 438, 300–307 (2015).
Ravizza, G., Norris, R. N., Blusztajn, J. & Aubry, M. P. An osmium isotope excursion associated with the Late Paleocene thermal maximum: evidence of intensified chemical weathering. Paleoceanography 16, 155–163 (2001).
Robert, C. & Kennett, J. P. Antarctic subtropical humid episode at the Paleocene–Eocene Boundary: clay-mineral evidence. Geology 22, 211–214 (1994).
Goodwin, P. & Ridgwell, A. Ocean-atmosphere partitioning of anthropogenic carbon dioxide on multimillennial timescales. Glob. Biogeochem. Cycles 24, GB2014 (2010).
Lord, N., Ridgwell, A., Thorne, M. & Lunt, D. An impulse response function for the “long tail” of excess atmospheric CO2 in an Earth system model. Glob. Biogeochem. Cycles 30, 2–17 (2015).
Palike, H. et al. A Cenozoic record of the equatorial Pacific carbonate compensation depth. Nature 488, 609–614 (2012).
Acknowledgements
We thank the scientists and crew of IODP Expedition 342 and the IODP Bremen Core Repository. We thank M. Gilmour and S. Nicoara for assistance in the stable isotope laboratory at The Open University, V. Lukies for assistance in the XRF Core Scanning laboratory at MARUM, University of Bremen, and D. Andreasen for assistance with carbonate stable isotope analyses at the University of California, Santa Cruz. This work was supported by U.S. National Science Foundation Division of Ocean Sciences grant 1220615 to J.C.Z. and R.E.Z. and the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) (U.R. and T.W.).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
D.E.P., S.K.T., P.F.S., R.D.N. and S.B. conceived the study and participated in IODP Expedition 342, which recovered and described the new sedimentary records. D.E.P. generated carbonate stable isotope analyses in the lab of J.C.Z. and A.J.D. generated organic carbon stable isotope and Coulormat wt% CaCO3 analyses. XRF scanning records were generated by S.K.T. at Scripps and A.C., P.F.S., T.W. and U.R. at MARUM. D.E.P. and S.K.T. performed the carbon cycle modelling with guidance from R.E.Z. and A.R. D.E.P. wrote the manuscript with help from S.K.T. and P.F.S. All authors edited the manuscript.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
The authors declare no competing financial interests.
Supplementary information
Supplementary information
Supplementary information (PDF 6984 kb)
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Penman, D., Turner, S., Sexton, P. et al. An abyssal carbonate compensation depth overshoot in the aftermath of the Palaeocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum. Nature Geosci 9, 575–580 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo2757
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo2757
- Springer Nature Limited
This article is cited by
-
Silicate weathering feedback hindered by clay formation
Nature Geoscience (2023)
-
Calcium isotope ratios of malformed foraminifera reveal biocalcification stress preceded Oceanic Anoxic Event 2
Communications Earth & Environment (2022)
-
Astrochronology of the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum on the Atlantic Coastal Plain
Nature Communications (2022)
-
The Eurasian epicontinental sea was an important carbon sink during the Palaeocene-Eocene thermal maximum
Communications Earth & Environment (2022)
-
Biogeochemical transformation of greenhouse gas emissions from terrestrial to atmospheric environment and potential feedback to climate forcing
Environmental Science and Pollution Research (2020)