Details of Award
NERC Reference : NE/C507237/1
Quantifying the extent to which the initial Eocene thermal maximum affected the continental climate of Europe.
Grant Award
- Principal Investigator:
- Dr S Grimes, University of Plymouth, Sch of Earth Ocean and Environment
- Grant held at:
- University of Plymouth, Sch of Earth Ocean and Environment
- Science Area:
- Terrestrial
- Freshwater
- Earth
- Overall Classification:
- Earth
- ENRIs:
- Global Change
- Biodiversity
- Science Topics:
- Palaeobiology
- Palaeoenvironments
- Climate & Climate Change
- Abstract:
- With ever increasing emissions of anthropogenic CO2 and climate models predicting a future greenhouse world the study of past rapidly induced greenhouse conditions and their affect upon the terrestrial climate and biota are paramount. As a consequence, the objective of this project is to study the initial Eocene thermal maximum (IETM), which is a unique, 100-k.y-long warming episode starting at the Paleocene-Eocene boundary, ca 55 Ma. During this event global deep ocean waters were subjected to an approximate 6-8?C warming superposed on the generally warm conditions of the early Paleogene. The event is characterized by a negative carbon isotope excursion (CIE) recorded in marine and continental strata worldwide, which may reflect a massive release of methane from seafloor gas hydrates that triggered greenhouse conditions. The CIE event is also associated with profound species turnovers in groups as diverse as deep-sea benthic foraminifera and terrestrial mammals. The terrestrial mammalian turnover, where several new taxa of mammals replaced the majority of the existing population, has been attributed to a dispersal event from Asia to North America and Europe. Using phosphate oxygen isotopes in mammalian tooth enamel as a proxy for changing terrestrial climatic conditions, the relationship between the mammalian turnover event and the IETM has been extensively studied in North America using both carbon and oxygen isotopes. In this proposal the mammal Paschatherium, which is one of the few mammals to cross the European IETM, will be used to expand upon the work conducted in North America. In the European succession a new method of tracking climate change will be used to calculate for the first time absolute palaeotemperatures across the IETM, which can then be related to the European mammalian turnover event The calculation of absolute terrestrial palaeotemperatures across a previous greenhouse event should also help in the modelling of the impact of similar, but this time anthropogenic induced, events in the near future.
- NERC Reference:
- NE/C507237/1
- Grant Stage:
- Completed
- Scheme:
- New Investigators Pre FEC
- Grant Status:
- Closed
- Programme:
- New Investigators
This grant award has a total value of £47,312
FDAB - Financial Details (Award breakdown by headings)
| Total - T&S | Total - Staff | Total - Other Costs | Total - Indirect Costs |
|---|---|---|---|
| £6,988 | £20,262 | £10,742 | £9,321 |
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