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High temperatures in the terrestrial mid-latitudes during the early Palaeogene

Nature Geoscience volume 11, pages 766–771 (2018)Cite this article

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Abstract

The early Paleogene (56–48 Myr) provides valuable information about the Earth’s climate system in an equilibrium high \(p_{{\rm{CO}}_2}\) world. High ocean temperatures have been reconstructed for this greenhouse period, but land temperature estimates have been cooler than expected. This mismatch between marine and terrestrial temperatures has been difficult to reconcile. Here we present terrestrial temperature estimates from a newly calibrated branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraether-based palaeothermometer in ancient lignites (fossilized peat). Our results suggest early Palaeogene mid-latitude mean annual air temperatures of 23–29 °C (with an uncertainty of ± 4.7 °C), 5–10 °C higher than most previous estimates. The identification of archaeal biomarkers in these same lignites, previously observed only in thermophiles and hyperthermophilic settings, support these high temperature estimates. These mid-latitude terrestrial temperature estimates are consistent with reconstructed ocean temperatures and indicate that the terrestrial realm was much warmer during the early Palaeogene than previously thought.

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Fig. 1: Early Palaeogene temperature.
Fig. 2: isoGDGT in modern peats.
Fig. 3: Comparison with model data for the early Palaeogene.

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Acknowledgements

The research that led to these results has received funding from the European Research Council under the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP/2007-2013)/ERC Grant Agreement no. 340923 (T-GRES, awarded to R.D.P.). R.D.P. also acknowledges the Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award. M.R. received support from an Agouron Institute geobiology postdoctoral research fellowship. E.M.K. was supported by the New Zealand government-funded Global Change through Time Programme at GNS Science. We acknowledge the T-GRES peat database collaboration, which consists of B.D.A. Naafs, G.N. Inglis, Y. Zheng, M.J. Amesbury, H. Biester, R. Bindler, J. Blewett, M.A. Burrows, D. del Castillo Torres, F.M. Chambers, A.D. Cohen, R.P. Evershed, S.J. Feakins, M. Gałka, A. Gallego-Sala, L. Gandois, D.M. Gray, P.G. Hatcher, E.N. Honorio Coronado, P.D.M. Hughes, A. Huguet, M. Könönen, F. Laggoun-Défarge, O. Lähteenoja, M. Lamentowicz, R. Marchant, E. McClymont, X. Pontevedra-Pombal, C. Ponton, A. Pourmand, A.M. Rizzuti, L. Rochefort, J. Schellekens, F. De Vleeschouwer and R.D. Pancost. In addition, the Cobham and Schöningen samples were originally collected for other research projects and we particularly thank V. Wilde and W. Riegel (Schöningen) and J. Hooker (Cobham) for their extensive personal support during the sample collection. The Schöningen samples were collected with logistical and financial support that includes NERC grants nos NE/J008656/1 to M.E.C. and NE/J008591/1 to R.D.P. and we thank Helmstedter Revier of MIBRAG and previous owners for access to the mine, which has now closed. Alfred McAlpine, AMEC and Channel Tunnel Rail Link are thanked for providing access to the Cobham site. We thank A. Farnsworth for calculating the palaeolatitudes for all locations.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Organic Geochemistry Unit, School of Chemistry, School of Earth Sciences, and Cabot Institute, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK

    B. D. A. Naafs, M. Rohrssen, G. N. Inglis & R. D. Pancost

  2. Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant, MI, USA

    M. Rohrssen

  3. School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA

    O. Lähteenoja

  4. Department of Earth Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    S. J. Feakins

  5. Department of Earth Sciences, Royal Holloway University of London, Egham, UK

    M. E. Collinson

  6. Department of Paleontology, GNS Science, Lower Hutt, New Zealand

    E. M. Kennedy

  7. Coal and Organic Petrology Lab, Department of Geology, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India

    P. K. Singh & M. P. Singh

  8. School of Geographical Sciences and Cabot Institute, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK

    D. J. Lunt

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Contributions

B.D.A.N., M.E.C. and R.D.P. designed the project. B.D.A.N. analysed all the samples in the modern peat database for isoGDGTs and wrote the manuscript with contributions from all the authors. M.R. analysed the Indian and Otaio lignite samples for GDGTs and G.N.I. analysed the Cobham and Schöningen lignite samples for GDGTs. B.D.A.N., M.E.C. and E.M.K. developed the database of early Palaeogene terrestrial palaeoclimate proxies. M.E.C. (Cobham and Schöningen samples), E.M.K. (Otaio samples) and P.K.S. (Indian samples) provided age models and the stratigraphic context of the lignites. O.L. provided the modern tropical peat samples from Peru.

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Correspondence to B. D. A. Naafs.

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Naafs, B.D.A., Rohrssen, M., Inglis, G.N. et al. High temperatures in the terrestrial mid-latitudes during the early Palaeogene. Nature Geosci 11, 766–771 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-018-0199-0

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