The Paleocene-Eocene boundary in ODP Leg 208 sites

• Main Authors: Zachos, James C, Röhl, Ursula, Schellenberg, Stephen A, Sluijs, Appy, Hodell, David A, Kelly, Daniel Clay, Thomas, Ellen, Nicolo, Micah J, Raffi, Isabella, Lourens, Lucas Joost, McCarren, H, Kroon, Dick
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: PANGAEA 2005
• Subjects: 208-1262; 208-1262A; 208-1263; 208-1263C; 208-1265; 208-1265A; 208-1266; 208-1266C; 208-1267A; 208-1267B; COMPCORE; Composite Core; DRILL; Drilling/drill rig; Joides Resolution; Leg208; Ocean Drilling Program; ODP; South Atlantic Ocean; Walvis Ridge; Southeast Atlantic Ocean
• Online Access: https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.772051; https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.772051

The Paleocene-Eocene thermal maximum (PETM) has been attributed to the rapid release of ~2000 * 10**9 metric tons of carbon in the form of methane. In theory, oxidation and ocean absorption of this carbon should have lowerd deep-sea pH, thereby triggering a rapid (<10,000-year) shoaling of the calcite compensation depth (CCD), followed by gradual recovery. Here we present geochemical data from five new South Atlantic deep-sea sections that constrain the timing and extent of massive sea-floor carbonate dissolution coincident with the PETM. The sections, from between 2.7 and 4.8 kilometers water depth, are marked by a prominent clay layer, the character of which indicates that the CCD shoaled rapidly (<10,000 years) by more than 2 kilometers and recovered gradually (>100,000 years). These findings indicate that a large mass of carbon (>>2000 * 10**9 metric tons of carbon) dissolved in the ocean at the Paleocene-Eocene boundary and that permanent sequestration of this carbon occurred through silicate weathering feedback.