High-resolution records of the late Paleocene thermal maximum and circum-Caribbean volcanism: Is there a causal link?

Authors

T. J. Bralower, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
D. J. Thomas, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
J. C. Zachos, University of California, Santa Cruz
M. M. Hirschmann, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
U. Röhl, Universität Bremen
H. Sigurdsson, University of Rhode Island
E. Thomas, Wesleyan University Middletown
D. L. Whitney, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Document Type

Article

Date of Original Version

1-1-1997

Abstract

Two recently drilled Caribbean sites contain expanded sedimentary records of the late Paleocene thermal maximum, a dramatic global warming event that occurred at ca. 55 Ma. The records document significant environmental changes, including deep-water oxygen deficiency and a mass extinction of deep-sea fauna, intertwined with evidence for a major episode of explosive volcanism. We postulate that this volcanism initiated a reordering of ocean circulation that resulted in rapid global warming and dramatic changes in the Earth's environment.

Publication Title, e.g., Journal

Geology

Volume

25

Issue

11

Citation/Publisher Attribution

Bralower, T. J., D. J. Thomas, J. C. Zachos, M. M. Hirschmann, U. Röhl, H. Sigurdsson, E. Thomas, and D. L. Whitney. "High-resolution records of the late Paleocene thermal maximum and circum-Caribbean volcanism: Is there a causal link?." Geology 25, 11 (1997). doi: 10.1130/0091-7613(1997)025<0963:HRROTL>2.3.CO;2.