Astronomical pacing of methane release in the Early Jurassic period

David B. Kemp (), Angela L. Coe, Anthony S. Cohen and Lorenz Schwark
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David B. Kemp: The Open University
Angela L. Coe: The Open University
Anthony S. Cohen: The Open University
Lorenz Schwark: Universität zu Köln

Nature, 2005, vol. 437, issue 7057, 396-399

Abstract: Methane hydrate: triple blow Mudrocks now exposed at Port Mulgrave and Hawkser Bottoms on the North Yorkshire coast in the United Kingdom record conditions that prevailed during a time of rapid global climate change, 180 million years ago in the Early Jurassic period. It is thought that extensive volcanism and changes in solar radiation triggered massive release of methane gas and catastrophic global warming. The carbon isotope data from the Yorkshire mudrocks reveal three rapid pulses of methane hydrate dissociation driven by astronomical changes: two coincide with the extinction of marine species. This shows how natural processes can cause abrupt environmental change in the presence of a sensitive climatic threshold — in this case sea-floor methane hydrates poised to dissociate.

Date: 2005
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DOI: 10.1038/nature04037

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