Impact of global cooling on Early Cretaceous high pCO2

• Published in: Nature Communications
• Main Authors: L. Cavalheiro, T. Wagner, S. Steinig, C. Bottini, W. Dummann, O. Esegbue, G. Gambacorta, V. Giraldo-Gómez, A. Farnsworth, S. Flögel, P. Hofmann, D. J. Lunt, J. Rethemeyer4, E. Erba
• Other Authors: D.J. Lunt
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Nature Publishing Group 2021
• Subjects: Settore GEO/02 - Geologia Stratigrafica e Sedimentologica; Settore GEO/01 - Paleontologia e Paleoecologia; Settore GEO/08 - Geochimica e Vulcanologia; Weddell; Weddell Sea; Antarc*; Antarctica
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2434/899076; https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-25706-0

The Weissert Event similar to 133 million years ago marked a profound global cooling that punctuated the Early Cretaceous greenhouse. We present modelling, high-resolution bulk organic carbon isotopes and chronostratigraphically calibrated sea surface temperature (SSTs) based on an organic paleothermometer (the TEX86 proxy), which capture the Weissert Event in the semi-enclosed Weddell Sea basin, offshore Antarctica (paleolatitude similar to 54 degrees S; paleowater depth similar to 500 meters). We document a similar to 3-4 degrees C drop in SST coinciding with the Weissert cold end, and converge the Weddell Sea data, climate simulations and available worldwide multi-proxy based temperature data towards one unifying solution providing a best-fit between all lines of evidence. The outcome confirms a 3.0 degrees C (+/- 1.7 degrees C) global mean surface cooling across the Weissert Event, which translates into a similar to 40% drop in atmospheric pCO(2) over a period of similar to 700 thousand years. Consistent with geologic evidence, this pCO(2) drop favoured the potential build-up of local polar ice.