Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

Terrestrial carbon isotope excursions and biotic change during Palaeogene hyperthermals

Abstract

Pronounced transient global warming events between 60 and 50 million years ago have been linked to rapid injection of isotopically-light carbon to the ocean–atmosphere system1,2. It is, however, unclear whether the largest of the hyperthermals, the Palaeocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM; ref. 3), had a similar origin4,5 as the subsequent greenhouse climate events1,6, such as the Eocene Thermal Maximum 2 and H2 events. The timing and evolution of these events is well documented in marine records7,8, but is not well constrained on land. Here we report carbon isotope records from palaeosol carbonate nodules from the Bighorn Basin, Wyoming, USA that record the hyperthermals. Our age model is derived from cyclostratigraphy, and shows a similar structure of events in the terrestrial and marine records. Moreover, the magnitude of the terrestrial isotope excursions is consistently scaled with the marine records, suggesting that the severity of local palaeoenvironmetal change during each event was proportional to the size of the global carbon isotope excursion. We interpret this consistency as an indication of similar mechanisms of carbon release during all three hyperthermals. However, unlike during the PETM (refs 9, 10), terrestrial environmental change during the subsequent hyperthermals is not linked to substantial turnover of mammalian fauna in the Bighorn Basin.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Terrestrial carbon isotope records of the ETM2 and H2 hyperthermal events.
Figure 2: Carbon isotope records in the continental and marine realms on independent astronomical timescales.
Figure 3: Comparison of carbon isotope excursions for PETM, ETM2 and H2 for Bighorn Basin continental and different marine records.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Lourens, L. J. et al. Astronomical pacing of late Palaeocene to early Eocene global warming events. Nature 435, 1083–1087 (2005).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Zachos, J. C., Dickens, G. R. & Zeebe, R. E. An early Cenozoic perspective on greenhouse warming and carbon-cycle dynamics. Nature 451, 279–283 (2008).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. 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).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Sexton, P. F. et al. Eocene global warming events driven by ventilation of oceanic dissolved organic carbon. Nature 471, 349–352 (2011).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Dickens, G. Down the rabbit hole: Toward appropriate discussion of methane release from gas hydrate systems during the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum and other past hyperthermal events. Clim. Past 7, 831–846 (2011).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Cramer, B. S., Wright, J. D., Kent, D. V. & Aubry, M-P. Orbital climate forcing of δ13C excursions in the late Paleocene–early Eocene (chrons C24n–C25n). Paleoceanography 18, PA1097 (2003).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Stap, L., Sluijs, A., Thomas, E. & Lourens, L. J. Patterns and magnitude of deep sea carbonate dissolution during Eocene Thermal Maximum 2 and H2, Walvis Ridge, southeastern Atlantic Ocean. Paleoceanography 24, PA1211 (2009).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Stap, L. et al. High-resolution deep-sea carbon and oxygen isotope records of Eocene Thermal Maximum 2 and H2. Geology 38, 607–610 (2010).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Clyde, W. C. & Gingerich, P. D. Mammalian community response to the latest Paleocene thermal maximum: An isotaphonomic study in the northern Bighorn Basin, Wyoming. Geology 26, 1011–1014 (1998).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Bowen, G. J. et al. Mammalian dispersal at the Paleocene/Eocene boundary. Science 295, 2062–2065 (2002).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. 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).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. McInerney, F. A. & Wing, S. L. 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).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. 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).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Bowen, G. J., Beerling, D. J., Koch, P. L., Zachos, J. C. & Quattlebaum, T. A humid climate state during the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum. Nature 432, 495–499 (2004).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Wing, S. L. et al. Transient floral change and rapid global warming at the Paleocene–Eocene boundary. Science 310, 993–996 (2005).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Sluijs, A. et al. Warm and wet conditions in the Arctic region during Eocene Thermal Maximum 2. Nature Geosci. 2, 777–780 (2009).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Nicolo, M. J., Dickens, G. R., Hollis, C. J. & Zachos, J. C. Multiple early Eocene hyperthermals: Their sedimentary expression on the New Zealand continental margin and in the deep sea. Geology 35, 699–702 (2007).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Abdul Aziz, H. et al. Astronomical climate control on paleosol stacking patterns in the upper Paleocene–lower Eocene Willwood Formation, Bighorn Basin, Wyoming. Geology 36, 531–534 (2008).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Kraus, M. J. & Riggins, S. Transient drying during the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM): Analysis of paleosols in the Bighorn Basin, Wyoming. Palaeogeogr. Palaeoclimatol. Palaeoecol. 245, 444–461 (2007).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Bowen, G. J. et al. in Paleocene–Eocene Stratigraphy and Biotic Change in the Bighorn and Clark Fork Basins, Wyoming (ed. Gingerich, P. D.) 73–88 (Papers on Paleontology 33, Univ. Michigan, 2001).

    Google Scholar 

  21. Clyde, W. C. et al. Basin-wide magnetostratigraphic framework for the Bighorn Basin, Wyoming. GSA Bull. 119, 848–859 (2007).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Clementz, M. Early Eocene warming events and the timing of terrestrial faunal exchange between India and Asia. Geology 39, 15–18 (2011).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Schankler, D. M. in Early Cenozoic Paleontology and Stratigraphy of the Bighorn Basin, Wyoming (ed. Gingerich, P. D.) 99–114 (Papers on Paleontology 24, Univ. Michigan, 1980).

    Google Scholar 

  24. Chew, A. Paleoecology of the early Eocene Willwood mammal fauna from the central Bighorn Basin, Wyoming. Paleobiology 35, 13–31 (2009).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Westerhold, T. et al. On the duration of magnetochrons C24r and C25n and the timing of early Eocene global warming events: Implications from the Ocean Drilling Program Leg 208 Walvis Ridge depth transect. Paleoceanography 22, PA2201 (2007).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. 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. Geosys. 9, Q10008 (2008).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Hollis, C. J., Dickens, G. R., Field, B. D., Jones, C. M. & Strong, C. P. The Paleocene–Eocene transition at Mead Stream, New Zealand: a southern Pacific record of early Cenozoic global change. Palaeogeogr. Palaeocl. Palaeoecol. 215, 313–343 (2005).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Hancock, H. J. L., Dickens, G. R., Strong, C. P., Hollis, C. J. & Field, B. D. Foraminiferal and carbon isotope stratigraphy through the Paleocene–Eocene transition at Dee Stream, Marlborough, New Zealand. New Zealand J. Geol. Geophys. 46, 1–19 (2003).

    Google Scholar 

  29. Uchikawa, J. & Zeebe, R. E. Examining possible effects of seawater pH decline on foraminiferal stable isotopes during the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum. Paleoceanography 25, PA2216 (2010).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Ezard, T. H., Aze, T., Pearson, P. N. & Purvis, A. Interplay between changing climate and species’ ecology drives macroevolutionary dynamics. Science 332, 349–351 (2011).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This research was funded by a Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) Earth and Life Sciences (ALW) grant to H.A.A., National Science Foundation grants EAR-0707415 and EAR-0958821 to W.C.C., and EAR-0628302 and OCE-0902882 to G.J.B. We thank the Churchill family in Wyoming for logistical support, P. van den Berg, M. Clementz, J. Fahlke, D. and M. Gingerich, Sander, Sigrid and Sybren Hilgen, M. Hoerner, P. Lind, H. Miller, A. Sluijs and D. Wolf for helping with field work, and T. Barnum, A. Dangremond, A. van Dijk and W. Krijgsman for laboratory assistance.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Contributions

H.A.A., W.C.C., P.D.G., F.J.H. and H.C.F. carried out fieldwork. H.A.A., W.C.C. and H.C.F. performed the laboratory analysis. H.A.A., W.C.C., P.D.G., H.C.F. and L.J.L. performed data integration. All authors contributed to the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Hemmo A. Abels.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Supplementary information

Supplementary Information

Supplementary Information (PDF 17852 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Abels, H., Clyde, W., Gingerich, P. et al. Terrestrial carbon isotope excursions and biotic change during Palaeogene hyperthermals. Nature Geosci 5, 326–329 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo1427

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo1427

This article is cited by

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing