Late Lutetian Thermal Maximum

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The Late Lutetian Thermal Maximum (LLTM), also known as the C19r Event, [1] was a hyperthermal event that occurred during the Lutetian epoch. [2]

Contents

Timing

The LLTM occurred about 41.52 Ma, [1] amidst a broader cooling trend known as the Middle-Late Eocene Cooling (MLEC), [2] and lasted for about 30 kyr. [1] It is believed to have been a globally synchronous event. [3]

Causes

The LLTM coincided with exceptionally high insolation of the Northern Hemisphere caused by the coincidence of a precession minimum modulated by high eccentricity and an obliquity maximum, which also cooccurred with maxima in the 2.4 Myr eccentricity cycle and the 1.2 Myr obliquity cycle. [1]

Effects

The high solar irradiance experienced by the Earth during the LLTM caused an acceleration of the water cycle, increasing the rate of runoff and input of terrestrial sediment into the ocean. This resulted in the freshening and eutrophication of seawater. Amidst these conditions occurred peaks in the abundance of opportunistic Reticulofenestra that were less than 5 μm in size and of an assortment of opportunistic benthic foraminifera, while the oligotrophic calcareous nannofossil Zygrhablithus bijugatus was significantly reduced in abundance. [4]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Westerhold, T.; Röhl, Ursula; Donner, B.; Frederichs, T.; Kordesch, W. E. C.; Bohaty, Steven M.; Hodell, D. A.; Laskar, J.; Zeebe, R. E. (27 December 2017). "Late Lutetian Thermal Maximum—Crossing a Thermal Threshold in Earth's Climate System?". Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems . 19 (1): 73–82. doi:10.1002/2017GC007240. ISSN   1525-2027 . Retrieved 3 February 2025– via Wiley Online Library.
  2. 1 2 Scotese, Christopher Robert; Song, Haijun; Mills, Benjamin J.W.; van der Meer, Douwe G. (April 2021). "Phanerozoic paleotemperatures: The earth's changing climate during the last 540 million years" . Earth-Science Reviews . 215: 103503. Bibcode:2021ESRv..21503503S. doi:10.1016/j.earscirev.2021.103503 . Retrieved 3 February 2025– via Elsevier Science Direct.
  3. ↑ Edgar, Kirsty M.; Bohaty, Steven M.; Coxall, Helen K.; Bown, Paul R.; Batenburg, Sietske J.; Lear, Caroline H.; Pearson, Paul N. (27 July 2020). "New composite bio- and isotope stratigraphies spanning the Middle Eocene Climatic Optimum at tropical ODP Site 865 in the Pacific Ocean". Journal of Micropalaeontology. 39 (2): 117–138. Bibcode:2020JMicP..39..117E. doi: 10.5194/jm-39-117-2020 . ISSN   2041-4978 . Retrieved 3 February 2025– via Copernicus Publishing.
  4. ↑ Intxauspe-Zubiaurre, Beñat; Martínez-Braceras, Naroa; Payros, Aitor; Ortiz, Silvia; Dinarès-Turell, Jaume; Flores, José-Abel (15 September 2018). "The last Eocene hyperthermal (Chron C19r event, ~41.5 Ma): Chronological and paleoenvironmental insights from a continental margin (Cape Oyambre, N Spain)" . Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology . 505: 198–216. Bibcode:2018PPP...505..198I. doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2018.05.044 . Retrieved 3 February 2025– via Elsevier Science Direct.
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