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Removal of Exogenous Materials from the Outer Portion of Frozen Cores to Investigate the Ancient Biological Communities Harbored Inside

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Published on: July 3, 2016

Eocene bipolar glaciation associated with global carbon cycle changes.

Aradhna Tripati¹, Jan Backman, Henry Elderfield

¹Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EQ, UK. atri02@esc.cam.ac.uk

|July 22, 2005

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

The Eocene greenhouse-to-icehouse transition involved significant global cooling and ice sheet growth, driven by declining atmospheric carbon dioxide and oceanographic changes. Evidence suggests negative carbon cycle feedbacks may have regulated ice sheet expansion.

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Area of Science:

Paleoclimatology
Oceanography
Geochemistry

Background:

Earth's climate transitioned from extreme warmth (Eocene greenhouse) to glaciation.
Antarctic ice sheets appeared ~34 million years ago, linked to falling CO2 and ocean calcite compensation depth (CCD) changes.
Northern Hemisphere glaciation occurred much later (~10-6 million years ago).

Observation:

Sediment and foraminiferal geochemistry records reveal climate transition dynamics.
Synchronous deepening and oscillations of the calcite compensation depth (CCD) observed in tropical Pacific and South Atlantic oceans from ~42 million years ago.
Permanent CCD deepening occurred ~34 million years ago.

Findings:

CCD variations correlate with significant changes in seawater oxygen isotopes (up to 1.5 per mil).
This indicates global sea-level lowering due to ice storage (100-125 meters) in both hemispheres.
Benthic carbon isotope shifts (up to 1.4 per mil) suggest major carbon cycle perturbations.

Implications:

The greenhouse-to-icehouse transition was tightly linked to atmospheric carbon dioxide evolution.
Negative carbon cycle feedbacks likely prevented earlier, permanent ice sheet establishment.
Understanding these past climate dynamics is crucial for predicting future climate change.