Transient Middle Eocene atmospheric CO2 and temperature variations

Peter K. Bijl; Alexander J. P. Houben; Stefan Schouten; Steven M. Bohaty; Appy Sluijs; Gert-Jan Reichart; Jaap S. Sinninghe Damste; Henk Brinkhuis

doi:10.1126/science.1193654

Transient Middle Eocene atmospheric CO2 and temperature variations

Peter K. Bijl, Alexander J. P. Houben, Stefan Schouten, Steven M. Bohaty, Appy Sluijs, Gert-Jan Reichart, Jaap S. Sinninghe Damste, Henk Brinkhuis

University of Southampton

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

The long-term warmth of the Eocene (similar to 56 to 34 million years ago) is commonly associated with elevated partial pressure of atmospheric carbon dioxide (pCO(2)). However, a direct relationship between the two has not been established for short-term climate perturbations. We reconstructed changes in both pCO(2) and temperature over an episode of transient global warming called the Middle Eocene Climatic Optimum (MECO; similar to 40 million years ago). Organic molecular paleothermometry indicates a warming of southwest Pacific sea surface temperatures (SSTs) by 3 to 6 degrees C. Reconstructions of pCO(2) indicate a concomitant increase by a factor of 2 to 3. The marked consistency between SST and pCO(2) trends during the MECO suggests that elevated pCO(2) played a major role in global warming during the MECO.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	819-821
Number of pages	3
Journal	Science
Volume	330
Issue number	6005
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1193654
Publication status	Published - 5 Nov 2010

Keywords

Oligocene climate transition
Carbon-dioxide
Paleogene
Pacific
Greenhouse
Trends
Ocean
Tool

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title = "Transient Middle Eocene atmospheric CO2 and temperature variations",

abstract = "The long-term warmth of the Eocene (similar to 56 to 34 million years ago) is commonly associated with elevated partial pressure of atmospheric carbon dioxide (pCO(2)). However, a direct relationship between the two has not been established for short-term climate perturbations. We reconstructed changes in both pCO(2) and temperature over an episode of transient global warming called the Middle Eocene Climatic Optimum (MECO; similar to 40 million years ago). Organic molecular paleothermometry indicates a warming of southwest Pacific sea surface temperatures (SSTs) by 3 to 6 degrees C. Reconstructions of pCO(2) indicate a concomitant increase by a factor of 2 to 3. The marked consistency between SST and pCO(2) trends during the MECO suggests that elevated pCO(2) played a major role in global warming during the MECO.",

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AU - Houben, Alexander J. P.

AU - Schouten, Stefan

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AU - Sluijs, Appy

AU - Reichart, Gert-Jan

AU - Damste, Jaap S. Sinninghe

AU - Brinkhuis, Henk

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Transient Middle Eocene atmospheric CO2 and temperature variations

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Keywords

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