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A continental shelf perspective of ocean acidification and temperature evolution during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum
- Source :
- Geology. 44:275-278
- Publication Year :
- 2016
- Publisher :
- Geological Society of America, 2016.
-
Abstract
- A rapid and large injection of isotopically light carbon into the ocean-atmosphere reservoirs is signaled by a negative carbon isotope excursion (CIE) at the Paleocene-Eocene boundary ∼56 m.y. ago. To better understand the extent of ocean warming and acidification associated with the carbon injection we generated elemental and isotopic records of surface and thermocline planktonic foraminifera across the Paleocene-Eocene boundary from an expanded section along the Mid-Atlantic coastal plain, New Jersey (USA). Ocean temperatures (derived from magnesium/calcium paleothermometer) document a lag in thermocline warming relative to surface waters, implying a progressive deepening of the mixed layer in addition to global warming. A similar magnitude of acidification (as recorded by boron/calcium, B/Ca) on the shelf compared with open ocean sites confirms widespread acidification of the surface ocean. An increase in seawater alkalinity after the CIE, as recorded by B/Ca in planktonic foraminifera, likely played an important role in neutralizing the added carbon, possibly minimizing benthic extinction along the shelf.
- Subjects :
- geography
geography.geographical_feature_category
010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences
biology
Continental shelf
Effects of global warming on oceans
fungi
Geology
Ocean acidification
010502 geochemistry & geophysics
biology.organism_classification
01 natural sciences
Foraminifera
Sea surface temperature
Paleothermometer
Oceanography
Benthic zone
Thermocline
geographic locations
0105 earth and related environmental sciences
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 19432682 and 00917613
- Volume :
- 44
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Geology
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi...........6b3c9b61afcdaf9835d3f9d042a58134