The Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM), ca. 56 Ma, was a major global environmental perturbation attributed to a rapid rise in the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Geochemical records of tropical sea-surface temperatures (SSTs) from the PETM are rare and are typically affected by post-depositional diagenesis. To circumvent this issue, we have analyzed oxygen isotope ratios (σ18O) of single specimens of exceptionally well-preserved planktonic foraminifera from the PETM in Tanzania (~19°S paleolatitude), which yield extremely low σ18O, down to ←5%. After accounting for changes in seawater chemistry and pH, we estimate from the foraminifer d18O that tropical SSTs rose by >3 °C during the PETM and may have exceeded 40 °C. Calcareous plankton are absent from a large part of the Tanzania PETM record; extreme environmental change may have temporarily caused foraminiferal exclusion. © 2014 Geological Society of America.
CITATION STYLE
Aze, T., Pearson, P. N., Dickson, A. J., Badger, M. P. S., Bown, P. R., Pancost, R. D., … Foster, G. L. (2014). Extreme warming of tropical waters during the Paleocene-Eocene thermal maximum. Geology, 42(9), 739–742. https://doi.org/10.1130/G35637.1
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