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Eocene/Oligocene ocean de-acidification linked to Antarctic glaciation by sea-level fall

Author

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  • Agostino Merico

    (National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, European Way, Southampton SO14 3ZH, UK
    GKSS-Forschungszentrum, Institute for Coastal Research, Max Planck Straße 1, 21502, Geesthacht, Germany)

  • Toby Tyrrell

    (National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, European Way, Southampton SO14 3ZH, UK)

  • Paul A. Wilson

    (National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, European Way, Southampton SO14 3ZH, UK)

Abstract

View from the boundary One of the most dramatic perturbations to the Earth system during the past 100 million years was the rapid onset of Antarctic glaciation near the Eocene/Oligocene boundary some 34 million years ago. This climate transition was accompanied by a deepening of the calcite compensation depth — the ocean depth at which the rate of calcium carbonate input from surface waters equals the rate of dissolution — but the mechanism linking glaciation to the deepening of calcite compensation depth remains unclear. Merico et al. use a global biogeochemical box model to test competing hypotheses put forward to explain the Eocene/Oligocene transition. They find that only shelf-to-deep-sea carbonate partitioning can explain the observed changes in both carbon isotope composition and calcium carbonate accumulation at the sea floor. This work sheds new light on the mechanisms linking glaciation and ocean acidity change during this important climate transition.

Suggested Citation

  • Agostino Merico & Toby Tyrrell & Paul A. Wilson, 2008. "Eocene/Oligocene ocean de-acidification linked to Antarctic glaciation by sea-level fall," Nature, Nature, vol. 452(7190), pages 979-982, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:452:y:2008:i:7190:d:10.1038_nature06853
    DOI: 10.1038/nature06853
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    Cited by:

    1. Marcelo A. De Lira Mota & Tom Dunkley Jones & Nursufiah Sulaiman & Kirsty M. Edgar & Tatsuhiko Yamaguchi & Melanie J. Leng & Markus Adloff & Sarah E. Greene & Richard Norris & Bridget Warren & Grace D, 2023. "Multi-proxy evidence for sea level fall at the onset of the Eocene-Oligocene transition," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-13, December.

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