Paleocene/Eocene carbon feedbacks triggered by volcanic activity

Sev Kender (), Kara Bogus, Gunver K. Pedersen, Karen Dybkjær, Tamsin A. Mather, Erica Mariani, Andy Ridgwell, James B. Riding, Thomas Wagner, Stephen P. Hesselbo and Melanie J. Leng
Additional contact information
Sev Kender: Camborne School of Mines, University of Exeter
Kara Bogus: Camborne School of Mines, University of Exeter
Gunver K. Pedersen: Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS)
Karen Dybkjær: Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS)
Tamsin A. Mather: University of Oxford
Erica Mariani: Camborne School of Mines, University of Exeter
Andy Ridgwell: University of California at Riverside
James B. Riding: British Geological Survey
Thomas Wagner: Lyell Centre, Heriot-Watt University
Stephen P. Hesselbo: Camborne School of Mines, University of Exeter
Melanie J. Leng: National Environmental Isotope Facility, British Geological Survey

Nature Communications, 2021, vol. 12, issue 1, 1-10

Abstract: Abstract The Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) was a period of geologically-rapid carbon release and global warming ~56 million years ago. Although modelling, outcrop and proxy records suggest volcanic carbon release occurred, it has not yet been possible to identify the PETM trigger, or if multiple reservoirs of carbon were involved. Here we report elevated levels of mercury relative to organic carbon—a proxy for volcanism—directly preceding and within the early PETM from two North Sea sedimentary cores, signifying pulsed volcanism from the North Atlantic Igneous Province likely provided the trigger and subsequently sustained elevated CO2. However, the PETM onset coincides with a mercury low, suggesting at least one other carbon reservoir released significant greenhouse gases in response to initial warming. Our results support the existence of ‘tipping points’ in the Earth system, which can trigger release of additional carbon reservoirs and drive Earth’s climate into a hotter state.

Date: 2021
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-25536-0

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