Outpacing the Anthropocene: New Constraints for the Rate of Carbon Release at the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum

The Paleocene/Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) Carbon Isotope Excursion (CIE) is linked to benthic foraminiferal extinction and excursion taxa in planktonic foraminifera and calcareous nannofossils. Previous studies have used integrated bio-magneto-stratigraphies, cycle counting, and extraterrestrial 3He accumulation rates to produce a range of estimates for the duration of the initial onset of the PETM CIE between 750 years to 30 kyr. Durations for the total release time (onset to initiation of recovery) range from 45 to 95 kyr. Uncertainty in the timing of the onset of the PETM CIE prevents the identification of a causal mechanism, and hence understanding the biological responses. Recent work on the Paleocene/Eocene Marlboro Clay has unveiled the presence of regular couplets (~2 cm) expressed in multiple cores and exposures throughout the Atlantic Coastal Plain. Specifically, the Millville and newly recovered Wilson Lake B cores contain 750 and 660 layers through the CIE, respectively. These couplets have corresponding oxygen stable isotope cycles, arguing for a climatic origin. Orbital and millennial periodicities are far too long to explain the ~750 layers identified in the Millville core. Seasonal insolation is the only regular climate cycle that can plausibly account for the observed δ18O amplitudes (~1‰, with some cycles up to 2‰) and layer counts. Seasonal freshwater input can also augment the cyclic oscillations in δ18O, but the majority of the variability is most plausibly ascribed to temperature. Wilson Lake B and Millville have total δ13C excursions of -5 and -4.5‰ respectively, as well as highly expanded sections of the PETM CIE. In the Millville core, high-resolution, bulk stable isotope records show a 3.5‰ δ13C decrease over 12 layers across the PETM CIE onset. Concomitant with this δ13C decrease is a sharp drop in CaCO3. Decreases in both proxies require a large, sudden release of isotopically light carbon. The couplet chronology indicates that the carbon released during the CIE consisted of a large, nearly instantaneous initial burst, followed by a protracted lower-level release lasting approximately 500 years. Such a scenario is most consistent with the release of thermogenic carbon due to LIP emplacement, or a comet impact. Under this release schedule, excursion planktonic foraminiferal and nannofossil taxa represent morphologic adaptation to the high CO2, low pH conditions rather than evolutionary changes.