Open AccessNew evidence for subtropical warming during the Late Paleocene thermal maximum: Stable isotopes from Deep Sea Drilling Project Site 527, Walvis Ridge
Author(s) -
Thomas Deborah J.,
Bralower Timothy J.,
Zachos James C.
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
paleoceanography
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1944-9186
pISSN - 0883-8305
DOI - 10.1029/1999pa900031
Subject(s) - subtropics , foraminifera , oceanography , global warming , sea surface temperature , geology , climatology , climate change , environmental science , ridge , plankton , precipitation , paleontology , benthic zone , ecology , geography , biology , meteorology
The late Paleocene thermal maximum (LPTM) was a dramatic, short‐term global warming event that occurred ∼55 Ma. Warming of high‐latitude surface waters and global deep waters during the LPTM has been well documented; however, current data suggest that subtropical and tropical sea surface temperatures (SSTs) did not change during the event. Conventional paradigms of global climate change, such as CO 2 ‐induced greenhouse warming, predict greater warming in the high latitudes than in the tropics or subtropics but, nonetheless, cannot account for the stable tropical/subtropical SSTs. We measured the stable isotope values of well‐preserved late Paleocene to early Eocene planktonic foraminifera from South Atlantic Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP) Site 527 to evaluate the subtropical response to the climatic and environmental changes of the LPTM. Planktonic foraminiferal δ 18 O values at Site 527 decrease by ∼0.94‰ from pre‐LPTM to excursion values, providing the first evidence for subtropical warming during the LPTM. We estimate that subtropical South Atlantic SSTs warmed by at least ∼1°–4°C, on the basis of possible changes in evaporation and precipitation. The new evidence for subtropical SST warming supports a greenhouse mechanism for global warming involving elevated atmospheric CO 2 levels.