The Palaeocene “top chron C27n” transient greenhouse episode: evidence from marine pelagic Atlantic and peri‐Tethyan sections

Terra Nova, 24, 477–486, 2012 Abstract The early Cenozoic, which is punctuated by several negative carbon isotope excursions (CIEs), was a time of climatic and oceanographic transition from ‘Greenhouse’ to ‘Icehouse’ conditions. The occurrence of a ∼0.5‰ CIE starting at the top of Chron C27n (TC27N)...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Published in:Terra Nova
Main Authors: Dinarès‐Turell, Jaume, Pujalte, Victoriano, Stoykova, Kristalina, Baceta, Juan I., Ivanov, Marin
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2012
Subjects:
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-3121.2012.01086.x
https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fj.1365-3121.2012.01086.x
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1365-3121.2012.01086.x
Description
Summary:Terra Nova, 24, 477–486, 2012 Abstract The early Cenozoic, which is punctuated by several negative carbon isotope excursions (CIEs), was a time of climatic and oceanographic transition from ‘Greenhouse’ to ‘Icehouse’ conditions. The occurrence of a ∼0.5‰ CIE starting at the top of Chron C27n (TC27N) is reconfirmed with stable isotope data from Zumaia (Spain) and Bjala (Bulgaria) localities. Spectral analysis on respective carbonate/magnetic susceptibility proxy records substantiates the orbital cyclostratigraphy allowing correlation to a high‐resolution benthic foraminifera isotope record from ODP Pacific Site 1209, that indicates a coeval 2 °C transient warming. The hyperthermal event lasts ∼200 ka, contrasting with other short‐lived events from the Eocene, and displays a relatively rapid onset and a longer tailing back to pre‐event values similar to the Palaeocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM), though lower in amplitude. That a causal trigger for the TC27N event may be the onset of volcanism in the North Atlantic Igneous Province (NAIP) can be inferred from a ∼200‐m‐thick lava pile erupted during C27n/C26r polarity transition in the E Greenland margin.