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Extreme warmth and heat-stressed plankton in the tropics during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum.


ABSTRACT: Global ocean temperatures rapidly warmed by ~5°C during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM; ~56 million years ago). Extratropical sea surface temperatures (SSTs) met or exceeded modern subtropical values. With these warm extratropical temperatures, climate models predict tropical SSTs >35°C-near upper physiological temperature limits for many organisms. However, few data are available to test these projected extreme tropical temperatures or their potential lethality. We identify the PETM in a shallow marine sedimentary section deposited in Nigeria. On the basis of planktonic foraminiferal Mg/Ca and oxygen isotope ratios and the molecular proxy [Formula: see text], latest Paleocene equatorial SSTs were ~33°C, and [Formula: see text] indicates that SSTs rose to >36°C during the PETM. This confirms model predictions on the magnitude of polar amplification and refutes the tropical thermostat theory. We attribute a massive drop in dinoflagellate abundance and diversity at peak warmth to thermal stress, showing that the base of tropical food webs is vulnerable to rapid warming.

SUBMITTER: Frieling J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5336354 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Extreme warmth and heat-stressed plankton in the tropics during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum.

Frieling Joost J   Gebhardt Holger H   Huber Matthew M   Adekeye Olabisi A OA   Akande Samuel O SO   Reichart Gert-Jan GJ   Middelburg Jack J JJ   Schouten Stefan S   Sluijs Appy A  

Science advances 20170303 3


Global ocean temperatures rapidly warmed by ~5°C during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM; ~56 million years ago). Extratropical sea surface temperatures (SSTs) met or exceeded modern subtropical values. With these warm extratropical temperatures, climate models predict tropical SSTs >35°C-near upper physiological temperature limits for many organisms. However, few data are available to test these projected extreme tropical temperatures or their potential lethality. We identify the PETM  ...[more]

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