Assessing the Duration of the Paleocene‐Eocene Thermal Maximum
Abstract The Paleocene‐Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) was a climate/carbon cycle perturbation recognized in stable carbon isotope (δ 13 C) records with a negative carbon isotope excursion (CIE). The PETM CIE termination has been associated with a δ 13 C inflection with pre‐PETM‐like values referred to as the G point. However, the G point approach has produced variable PETM CIE duration estimates (∼120–230 kyr), which reflects a need to test its reliability. Here, we apply statistical analyses to existing δ 13 C records and reveal that the G point is sensitive to underlying δ 13 C uncertainties. We generate a probabilistic‐based CIE detection limit, which constrains the time range over which the PETM is detected in δ 13 C records. This protocol reveals a protracted CIE recovery (>145 kyr) that accounts for a 268.8 +21.2 / −20.5 kyr PETM CIE duration. Our new duration estimate exceeds previous values, which confirms the potential of extreme carbon cycle perturbations to cause long‐lasting carbon cycle disruptions.
Authors
- Fabio Florindo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6058-9748)
- Simone Galeotti (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9636-9344)
- Victor A. Piedrahita (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7875-904X)
- David Heslop (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8245-0555)
- Eelco J. Rohling (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5349-2158)
- Jinhua Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1622-6170)
- Andrew P. Roberts (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0566-8117)
Institutions
- Australian National University (AU)
- University of Urbino (IT)
- Utrecht University (NL)
- National Oceanography Centre (GB)
- Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
- Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (IT)
- Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Guangzhou) (CN)
- Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology (CN)
- Institute of Geology and Geophysics (CN)
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
- University of Southampton (GB)
- Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Zhuhai) (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Geophysical Research Letters
- Published
- 2025-04-01
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1029/2024gl113117
- Citations
- 11
- Primary Topic
- Geology and Paleoclimatology Research
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 14.31
Funders
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- Chinese Academy of Sciences
- China Postdoctoral Science Foundation
- Australian Research Council