Sea-level, humidity, and land-erosion records across the initial Eocene thermal maximum from a continental-marine transect in northern Spain

Abstract

Research Article| August 01, 2003 Sea-level, humidity, and land-erosion records across the initial Eocene thermal maximum from a continental-marine transect in northern Spain Birger Schmitz; Birger Schmitz 1Department of Earth Science, MS 126, Rice University, P.O. Box 1892, Houston, Texas 77251, USA, and Marine Geology, Earth Sciences Center, Box 460, SE-40530, Göteborg, Sweden Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Victoriano Pujalte Victoriano Pujalte 2Departamento de Estratigrafía y Paleontología, Facultad de Ciencias, Basque Country University, Ap. 644, 48080 Bilbao, Spain Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Geology (2003) 31 (8): 689–692. https://doi.org/10.1130/G19527.1 Article history received: 23 Jan 2003 rev-recd: 25 Apr 2003 accepted: 25 Apr 2003 first online: 02 Mar 2017 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Search Site Citation Birger Schmitz, Victoriano Pujalte; Sea-level, humidity, and land-erosion records across the initial Eocene thermal maximum from a continental-marine transect in northern Spain. Geology 2003;; 31 (8): 689–692. doi: https://doi.org/10.1130/G19527.1 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Refmanager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentBy SocietyGeology Search Advanced Search Abstract In two continental sections in the Tremp basin, northern Spain, the initial Eocene thermal maximum (also known as the Paleocene-Eocene thermal maximum) is registered by an ∼6‰ fall in δ13C values in soil carbonate nodules. High-resolution correlations, using the δ13C excursion, can be made to nearby shelf and bathyal marine settings, allowing a detailed reconstruction of soil formation on land and transport of detritus to the sea during the initial Eocene thermal maximum. Soils that formed before and after the initial Eocene thermal maximum in the Tremp region reflect arid to semiarid conditions, with abundant evaporative minerals, whereas initial Eocene thermal maximum soils reflect seasonally wetter but generally dry conditions. During the initial Eocene thermal maximum, land erosion was intensified and accumulation rates of terrigenous detritus in the sea increased. This reflects both increased topographic relief associated with a prominent sea-level lowstand and enhanced seasonal precipitation over a dry landscape with sparse vegetation. Deeper erosion led to an increase in the flux of kaolinite from buried Mesozoic soils to the oceans. The association of the initial Eocene thermal maximum with a sea-level lowstand in northern Spain, as well as at other marginal North Atlantic sites, may reflect coeval large-scale magmatic activity in the northernmost Atlantic. You do not have access to this content, please speak to your institutional administrator if you feel you should have access.