Transient Middle Eocene Atmospheric CO₂ and Temperature Variations

The long-term warmth of the Eocene (approximately 56 to 34 million years ago) is commonly associated with elevated partial pressure of atmospheric carbon dioxide (pCO₂). However, a direct relationship between the two has not been established for short-term climate perturbations. We reconstructed cha...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) 2010-11, Vol.330 (6005), p.819-821
Main Authors: Bijl, Peter K, Houben, Alexander J.P, Schouten, Stefan, Bohaty, Steven M, Sluijs, Appy, Reichart, Gert-Jan, Sinninghe Damsté, Jaap S, Brinkhuis, Henk
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Atmospheric models
Atmospherics
Carbon dioxide
Carbonates
Climate
Climate change
Consistency
Drilling
Earth sciences
Earth, ocean, space
Elevated
Exact sciences and technology
Geology
Global warming
Oceans
Optimization
Oxygen isotopes
Paleoclimate science
Paleoclimatology
Partial pressure
Phosphates
Sea surface temperature
Stratigraphy
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Summary:The long-term warmth of the Eocene (approximately 56 to 34 million years ago) is commonly associated with elevated partial pressure of atmospheric carbon dioxide (pCO₂). However, a direct relationship between the two has not been established for short-term climate perturbations. We reconstructed changes in both pCO₂ and temperature over an episode of transient global warming called the Middle Eocene Climatic Optimum (MECO; approximately 40 million years ago). Organic molecular paleothermometry indicates a warming of southwest Pacific sea surface temperatures (SSTs) by 3° to 6°C. Reconstructions of pCO₂ indicate a concomitant increase by a factor of 2 to 3. The marked consistency between SST and pCO₂ trends during the MECO suggests that elevated pCO₂ played a major role in global warming during the MECO.
ISSN:0036-8075
1095-9203
DOI:10.1126/science.1193654