Open AccessEarly Eocene climate warming increased petroleum production
Author(s) -
Balcerak Ernie
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
eos, transactions american geophysical union
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.316
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 2324-9250
pISSN - 0096-3941
DOI - 10.1029/2012eo140025
Subject(s) - sedimentary rock , geology , carbon cycle , global warming , carbon fibers , petroleum , earth science , paleogene , climate change , sedimentary basin , range (aeronautics) , oceanography , fossil fuel , paleontology , structural basin , ecosystem , ecology , materials science , composite number , composite material , biology
From the late Paleocene, about 58 million years ago, to the early Eocene, about 51 million years ago, Earth's surface temperatures warmed by about 5°–10°C. Also in the early Eocene, there was an increase of carbon‐13‐depleted carbon in the oceans that cannot be accounted for by changes in carbon cycling at the surface. To better understand the source of that carbon, Kroeger and Funnell modeled the thermal evolution of four sedimentary basins in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. The authors show that the rising surface temperatures of the early Eocene eventually led to warming of the sedimentary beds deep beneath the surface. Petroleum can be produced at only a certain range of temperatures; rising temperatures at greater depths would bring more potential source rocks into temperature conditions under which oil and gas can be produced and released.