Increased terrestrial methane cycling at the Palaeocene–Eocene thermal maximum

Richard D. Pancost (), David S. Steart, Luke Handley, Margaret E. Collinson, Jerry J. Hooker, Andrew C. Scott, Nathalie V. Grassineau and Ian J. Glasspool
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Richard D. Pancost: Organic Geochemistry Unit, Bristol Biogeochemistry Research Centre, School of Chemistry, University of Bristol, Cantock’s Close, Bristol BS8 1TS, UK
David S. Steart: Royal Holloway University of London, Egham, Surrey TW20 0EX, UK
Luke Handley: Organic Geochemistry Unit, Bristol Biogeochemistry Research Centre, School of Chemistry, University of Bristol, Cantock’s Close, Bristol BS8 1TS, UK
Margaret E. Collinson: Royal Holloway University of London, Egham, Surrey TW20 0EX, UK
Jerry J. Hooker: Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, UK
Andrew C. Scott: Royal Holloway University of London, Egham, Surrey TW20 0EX, UK
Nathalie V. Grassineau: Royal Holloway University of London, Egham, Surrey TW20 0EX, UK
Ian J. Glasspool: The Field Museum, 1400 S. Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, Illinois 60605, USA

Nature, 2007, vol. 449, issue 7160, 332-335

Abstract: A warming event A period of global warming around 55 million years ago, the Palaeocene–Eocene thermal maximum or PETM, has been attributed to a rapid rise in greenhouse gas levels, with dissociation of methane hydrates the likely explanation. High latitude methane emissions from terrestrial environments could have enhanced the warming effect, but until now there has been no direct evidence for an increased methane flux from wetlands. Now a geochemical analysis of the Cobham Lignite, a recently characterized series of sediments in southeast England that spans the PETM period, has provided some evidence. The sediments record a decrease in the carbon isotope values of hopanoids (a bacterial biomarker) at the onset of the warm period, consistent with a rise in numbers of methane microbes. This may have been a response to increased wetland methane production in a warmer, wetter climate, which could have acted as a positive feedback to global warming.

Date: 2007
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DOI: 10.1038/nature06012

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