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Earth system feedback statistically extracted from the Indian Ocean deep-sea sediments recording Eocene hyperthermals
Kazutaka Yasukawa1,2, Kentaro Nakamura3, Koichiro Fujinaga4,5
1Department of Systems Innovation, School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-8656, Japan. k-yasukawa@sys.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp.
Scientific Reports
|September 14, 2017
Summary
Global warming events, or hyperthermals, occurred in the early Paleogene. Indian Ocean sediment records reveal that enhanced biological pump activity efficiently sequesters carbon during hyperthermal recovery phases.
Area of Science:
- Paleoclimatology
- Oceanography
- Geochemistry
Background:
- Early Paleogene experienced multiple transient global warming events (hyperthermals).
- Geologic records from the Indian Ocean for these events are scarce.
- Recovery mechanisms from moderate hyperthermals are less understood than from the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum.
Purpose of the Study:
- To construct a high-resolution geochemical dataset of Indian Ocean deep-sea sediments.
- To analyze biogeochemical responses to multiple Eocene hyperthermals.
- To understand carbon sequestration during hyperthermal recovery.
Main Methods:
- High-resolution geochemical analysis of deep-sea sediment cores from the Indian Ocean.
- Statistical analysis of a high-dimensional data matrix.
- Extraction of independent components representing biogeochemical responses.
Main Results:
- A new dataset clearly records multiple Eocene hyperthermals in the Indian Ocean.
- Productivity feedback via an enhanced biological pump efficiently sequesters excess carbon during recovery.
- This carbon sequestration mechanism is independent of the hyperthermal's magnitude.
Conclusions:
- The biological pump plays a crucial role in carbon cycle regulation during hyperthermal recovery.
- This feedback mechanism is robust and operates irrespective of event severity.
- Nannoplankton community shifts are not the primary drivers of carbon sequestration in moderate perturbations.
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