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By the end of this presentation we hope you are able to:
- Understand the Early Paleogene Period climate.
- Explain how we are able to understand historical climate.
- Tie the past to the present
Date Range: 66 million years ago was the end of the Cretaceous and the beginning of the new period "The Palegoene." This era lasted up until 23 million years ago.
The Paleogene can be subdivided into three Epochs: Paleocene (Early Paleogene 66-56 Mya), Eocene (Middle Paleogene 56-34 Mya), and the Oligocene (Late Paleogene 34-23 Mya).
Fun Facts
- The Paleogene Period was known for the rise of the mammals!
- It is known for the first appearance of whales in Earth's history.
- The continents started to look like how they are today.
The overall conditions of the Paleogene started out cool and dry after the dinosaur extinction event with a short warming period. In general during the Paleogene there was an overall cooling and drying trend.
This picture represents a cooling period during the Paleogene with a drier climate and the first known grass and herbs appearing.
Sekscinska, A. (2005). The Paleogene Period [Photograph]. SOU. https://www.secretsofuniverse.in/history-of-life-17-paleogene-period/
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Calcita_y_aragonito.001_-_MSNBrussel.JPG
- Things like ice, rocks, and sea shells are made out of the materials
that are available in the environment
- The composition of a natural object tells us about what kinds of
materials were around at the time it was formed
https://www.flickr.com/photos/oregonstateuniversity/45690255762
https://www.flickr.com/photos/wessexarchaeology/5470163353
https://www.flickr.com/photos/virginiaseagrant/7362874456
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dennstaedtia_americana_%28fossil_fern%29_%28Fort_Union_Formation,_Paleocene;_Yellowstone_County,_Montana,_USA%29.jpg
We might find...
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:PS1920-1_0-750_sediment-core_hg.jpg
- the type of organism tells us about what the climate was like
- the presence of most life implies there is running water, sunlight, and some kind of nutrients available
Dennstaedtia body fossils
(Wing and Currano 2013)
Calcium Carbonate - CaCO3
- made by marine animals when they produce shells, exoskeletons, other hard parts
- seen in sponges, squids, snails, clams, coral, and more
- the type of oxygen (heavy or light) can be tracked, and indicates the conditions of the ocean at the time the shell was made
when it's hot, heavy carbon is also evaporated, so carbon in ocean is relatively light
when it's cold, light carbon evaporates more easily, so carbon in ocean is relatively heavy
aragonite pen (Decapoda)
https://www.flickr.com/photos/jsjgeology/49763509518
Recall... aragonite instead of calcite indicates a cool ocean!
https://pixabay.com/illustrations/nature-beach-sea-ocean-travel-sky-5320012/
Fine grains
Large Boulders
https://forestrybloq.com/texture-and-structure-of-sedimentary-rocks/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dropstone
Organic Materials
(ie. coal)
https://www.dreamstime.com/photos-images/coal-hunter-valley.html
Absolute Dating
decayed, we can estimate how long ago they formed
Relative Dating
layers on top
how old rocks are
relative to the fossils
we find within them
https://study.com/academy/lesson/law-of-superposition-definition-lesson-quiz.html
https://www.istockphoto.com/photo/apples-gm1151389908-312031376
- Critical to temperature regulation on Earth!
- Changes observed in the Paleogene helps us understand the mechanisms of how this regulation occurs!
Volcanic reactions from India released very large amounts of both CO2 and SO2.
This is seen in sediment cores through layers of volcanic ash [3].
While atmospheric CO2 absorbs reflected radiation off the Earth's surface, SO2 reflects incoming solar radiation from space. ---> While CO2 keeps Earth warm by retaining heat, SO2 cools it down by reflecting heat away.
However... SO2 doesn't stay in the atmosphere for very long, so overall, the cooling from SO2 isn't able to fully counteract the warming from CO2.
The result was gobal warming - with an average temperature rise of 3˚C!
https://clipground.com/animated-volcano-clipart.html
But how did the Earth's temperature cool down after all this volcano-related warming?
Silicate weathering: the breakdown of silicate rocks
The chemical reaction of silicate weathering consumes CO2 molecules from the atmosphere, and locks carbon atoms into long-term storage.
However, silicate weathering rates must have been much higher than they are today to reduce CO2 levels enough to result in the cooling trends we see in the representative data!
What factors resulting from the eruptions could have accelerated silicate weathering rates enough to lower global temperatures?
Silicate Weathering Intensity (SWI) can be increased by:
- Amount of surface area physically exposed for chemical weathering to occur
- Vegitation growth - Precipitation - Ice Wedging - Wind Abrasion
Which is controlled by:
- Physical Weathering (Increasing surface area of pre exposed silicates)
- Mountain Growth Rates
- Mountain building exposes new silicate rocks to be weathered
- Vegatation Growth (Root Pry)
- Precipition (Rain, Snow fall)
- Ice Wedging (Melting and Freezing of Water)
- Wind Abrasion (Wind strength)
Temperature
Temperature
Temperature
Temperature
Could the sudden increase in temperaure as a result of the volcanic eruptions increase silicate weathering rates, triggering global cooling?
Volcanic Eruptions
Volcanic Eruptions
http://www.atmosedu.com/Geol390/figures/figure%2005-21.jpg
- Importance
- Sea Surface Temperature (SST)
- Major Events
<a href="https://www.flaticon.com/free-icons/ocean" title="ocean icons">Ocean icons created by Freepik - Flaticon</a>
- Heat Absorption and transport
- Carbon sink
Heat from the tropics is absorbed by the ocean and transported around the world.
This kept the poles snow free in the winter. [4]
https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/2016PA002997
During the Paleogene, the oceans were critical in absorbing carbon from the atmosphere.
This regulates temperature and climate across the globe [6].
- How the oceans circulate
- More heat means more dynamic weather
<a href="https://www.flaticon.com/free-icons/ocean" title="ocean icons">Ocean icons created by surang - Flaticon</a>
Low Implications
- Changes in weather patterns
- Less ocean circulation
High Implications
- Increased storm intensity
- Loss of ecosystems
<a href="https://www.flaticon.com/free-icons/coral" title="coral icons">Coral icons created by Icongeek26 - Flaticon</a>
<a href="https://www.flaticon.com/free-icons/storm" title="storm icons">Storm icons created by Freepik - Flaticon</a>
- Drake Passage
- Antarctic Ice
https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/cms/asset/56a9fe1a-88cf-4256-8d5d-20ff30658f05/palo20904-fig-0001-m.jpg
The opening isolated Antarctica.
This kept cold water from moving away from the South pole.
Allowed glaciers and sea ice to form! [7]
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/d8/5d/2c/d85d2c0793459c085f5a1259740309e5.jpg
https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2019/11/mammalian-vertebral-columns-may-reflect-pace-of-evolution/
understanding previous conditions helps us predict current and future climate trends
Earth's historical climate tells us about what environments were necessary for life (and humans) to evolve in the ways it did
https://slideplayer.com/slide/5224334/
seeing how previous climate events impacted Earth's systems can indicate how human behaviour might be influencing modern climate
the mechanism's of Earth's climate system have implications on how climate system's of other planets might work
https://hub.jhu.edu/2022/11/17/interactive-universe-map/
Milligan, J. N., Flynn, A. G., Kowalczyk, J. B., Barclay, R. S., Gang, J., Royer, D. L., & Peppe, D. J. (2022). Moderate to Elevated Atmospheric CO2 During the Early Paleocene Recorded by Platanites Leaves of the San Juan Basin, New Mexico. Advancing Earth and Space Science, 37(4). https://doi.org/10.1029/2021PA004408
Sekscinska, A. (2005). The Paleogene Period [Photograph]. SOU. https://www.secretsofuniverse.in/history-of-life-17-paleogene-period/
Wing SL, Currano ED. 2013. Plant response to a global greenhouse event 56 million years ago. American Journal of Botany. 100(7):1234–1254. doi:https://doi.org/10.3732/ajb.1200554.
[2] V.S. Volkova; Paleogene and Neogene stratigraphy and paleotemperature trend of West Siberia (from palynologic data). Russ. Geol. Geophys. 2011;; 52 (7): 709–716. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rgg.2011.06.003
[3] Tobin, Bitz, C. M., & Archer, D. (2017). Modeling climatic effects of carbon dioxide emissions from Deccan Traps volcanic eruptions around the Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 478, 139–148. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2016.05.028
[4] Weber, T., & Thomas, M. (2017). Influence of ocean tides on the general ocean circulation in the early Eocene. Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology, 32(6), 553-570. https://doi.org/10.1002/2016PA002997
[5] Tripati, A. K., Delaney, M. L., Zachos, J. C., Anderson, L. D., Kelly, D. C., and Elderfield, H. (2003), Tropical sea-surface temperature reconstruction for the early Paleogene using Mg/Ca ratios of planktonic foraminifera, Paleoceanography, 18, 1101, doi:10.1029/2003PA000937, 4
[6] Haynes, L. L., & Hönisch, B. (2020). The seawater carbon inventory at the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum. PNAS, 117(39), 24088-24095. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2003197117
[7] Toumoulin, A., Donnadieu, Y., Ladant, J.-B., Batenburg, S. J., Poblete, F., Dupont-Nivet, G. (2020). Quantifying the effect of the Drake Passage opening on the Eocene Ocean. Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology, 35, e2020PA003889. https://doi.org/10.1029/2020PA003889