IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/natcom/v16y2025i1d10.1038_s41467-025-60939-3.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Millennial-timescale thermogenic CO2 release preceding the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum

Author

Listed:
  • Shijun Jiang

    (Hainan University
    Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Zhuhai))

  • Ying Cui

    (Montclair State University)

  • Yasu Wang

    (Hainan University)

  • Maurizia De Palma

    (Montclair State University)

  • B. David A. Naafs

    (University of Bristol)

  • Jingxin Jiang

    (Nanjing University)

  • Xiumian Hu

    (Nanjing University)

  • Huaichun Wu

    (China University of Geosciences (Beijing))

  • Runjian Chu

    (China University of Geosciences (Beijing))

  • Yangguang Gu

    (Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences)

  • Jiuyuan Wang

    (Peking University)

  • Yizhou Huang

    (University of Bristol)

  • Miquela Ingalls

    (The Pennsylvania State University)

  • Timothy J. Bralower

    (The Pennsylvania State University)

  • Shiling Yang

    (Chinese Academy of Sciences)

  • James C. Zachos

    (University of California)

  • Andy Ridgwell

    (University of California)

Abstract

Geologic records support a short-lived carbon release, known as the pre-onset excursion (POE), shortly before the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM; ~ 56 Ma). However, the source and pace of the POE carbon release and its relationship to the PETM remain unresolved. Here we show a high-temporal-resolution stratigraphic record spanning the POE and PETM from the eastern Tethys Ocean that documents the evolution of surface ocean carbon cycle, redox and eutrophication, confirming the global nature of the POE. Biomarkers extracted from the sedimentary record indicate a smaller environmental perturbation during the POE than that during the PETM in the eastern Tethys Ocean. Earth system modeling constrained by observed δ13C and pH data indicates that the POE was driven by a largely thermogenic CO2 source, likely associated with sill intrusions prior to the main eruption phase of the North Atlantic Igneous Province and possibly biogeochemical feedbacks involving the release of biogenic methane.

Suggested Citation

  • Shijun Jiang & Ying Cui & Yasu Wang & Maurizia De Palma & B. David A. Naafs & Jingxin Jiang & Xiumian Hu & Huaichun Wu & Runjian Chu & Yangguang Gu & Jiuyuan Wang & Yizhou Huang & Miquela Ingalls & Ti, 2025. "Millennial-timescale thermogenic CO2 release preceding the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 16(1), pages 1-12, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:16:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-025-60939-3
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-60939-3
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-60939-3
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/s41467-025-60939-3?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Marcus Gutjahr & Andy Ridgwell & Philip F. Sexton & Eleni Anagnostou & Paul N. Pearson & Heiko Pälike & Richard D. Norris & Ellen Thomas & Gavin L. Foster, 2017. "Very large release of mostly volcanic carbon during the Palaeocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum," Nature, Nature, vol. 548(7669), pages 573-577, August.
    2. Sev Kender & Kara Bogus & Gunver K. Pedersen & Karen Dybkjær & Tamsin A. Mather & Erica Mariani & Andy Ridgwell & James B. Riding & Thomas Wagner & Stephen P. Hesselbo & Melanie J. Leng, 2021. "Paleocene/Eocene carbon feedbacks triggered by volcanic activity," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 12(1), pages 1-10, December.
    3. Weiqi Yao & Tianshu Kong & Xingchen Tony Wang & Ruixiang Zhai & Ruiling Zhang & Yilin Liu, 2024. "Expanded subsurface ocean anoxia in the Atlantic during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-11, December.
    4. Shucheng Xie & Richard D. Pancost & Hongfu Yin & Hongmei Wang & Richard P. Evershed, 2005. "Two episodes of microbial change coupled with Permo/Triassic faunal mass extinction," Nature, Nature, vol. 434(7032), pages 494-497, March.
    5. Appy Sluijs & Henk Brinkhuis & Stefan Schouten & Steven M. Bohaty & Cédric M. John & James C. Zachos & Gert-Jan Reichart & Jaap S. Sinninghe Damsté & Erica M. Crouch & Gerald R. Dickens, 2007. "Environmental precursors to rapid light carbon injection at the Palaeocene/Eocene boundary," Nature, Nature, vol. 450(7173), pages 1218-1221, December.
    6. Appy Sluijs & Stefan Schouten & Mark Pagani & Martijn Woltering & Henk Brinkhuis & Jaap S. Sinninghe Damsté & Gerald R. Dickens & Matthew Huber & Gert-Jan Reichart & Ruediger Stein & Jens Matthiessen , 2006. "Subtropical Arctic Ocean temperatures during the Palaeocene/Eocene thermal maximum," Nature, Nature, vol. 441(7093), pages 610-613, June.
    7. Lucas J. Lourens & Appy Sluijs & Dick Kroon & James C. Zachos & Ellen Thomas & Ursula Röhl & Julie Bowles & Isabella Raffi, 2005. "Astronomical pacing of late Palaeocene to early Eocene global warming events," Nature, Nature, vol. 435(7045), pages 1083-1087, June.
    8. Mingsong Li & Timothy J. Bralower & Lee R. Kump & Jean M. Self-Trail & James C. Zachos & William D. Rush & Marci M. Robinson, 2022. "Astrochronology of the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum on the Atlantic Coastal Plain," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-13, December.
    9. L. Paul Knauth & Martin J. Kennedy, 2009. "The late Precambrian greening of the Earth," Nature, Nature, vol. 460(7256), pages 728-732, August.
    10. Roger E. Summons & Linda L. Jahnke & Janet M. Hope & Graham A. Logan, 1999. "2-Methylhopanoids as biomarkers for cyanobacterial oxygenic photosynthesis," Nature, Nature, vol. 400(6744), pages 554-557, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Mingsong Li & Timothy J. Bralower & Lee R. Kump & Jean M. Self-Trail & James C. Zachos & William D. Rush & Marci M. Robinson, 2022. "Astrochronology of the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum on the Atlantic Coastal Plain," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-13, December.
    2. Maria De La Fuente & Sandra Arndt & Héctor Marín-Moreno & Tim A. Minshull, 2022. "Assessing the Benthic Response to Climate-Driven Methane Hydrate Destabilisation: State of the Art and Future Modelling Perspectives," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-32, May.
    3. Joel Haywood & Karen J. Breese & Jingjing Zhang & Mark T. Waters & Charles S. Bond & Keith A. Stubbs & Joshua S. Mylne, 2022. "A fungal tolerance trait and selective inhibitors proffer HMG-CoA reductase as a herbicide mode-of-action," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-11, December.
    4. Xiangdong Zhao & Naihua Xue & Hu Yang & Daran Zheng & Jungang Peng & Joost Frieling & David Vleeschouwer & Xuewu Fu & Wanglu Jia & Yanan Fang & Sha Li & Meng Wang & Xianye Zhao & Qiang Wang & Haichun , 2025. "Climate–carbon-cycle interactions and spatial heterogeneity of the late Triassic Carnian pluvial episode," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 16(1), pages 1-11, December.
    5. Molly Trudgill & James W. B. Rae & Ross Whiteford & Markus Adloff & Jessica Crumpton-Banks & Michael Mourik & Andrea Burke & Marieke Cuperus & Frank Corsetti & Daniel Doherty & William Gray & Rosanna , 2025. "Pulses of ocean acidification at the Triassic–Jurassic boundary," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 16(1), pages 1-11, December.
    6. Adriana Dutkiewicz & Slah Boulila & R. Dietmar Müller, 2024. "Deep-sea hiatus record reveals orbital pacing by 2.4 Myr eccentricity grand cycles," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-11, December.
    7. Haiyang Wang & Yongbo Peng & Chao Li & Xiaobin Cao & Meng Cheng & Huiming Bao, 2023. "Sulfate triple-oxygen-isotope evidence confirming oceanic oxygenation 570 million years ago," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-9, December.
    8. Zaibo Xie & Huifei Tao & Yongqiang Qu & Tao Wu & Dongzheng Ma & Tianhai Wang & Zhen Qin & Long Su & Zhongping Li, 2023. "Synergistic Evolution of Palaeoenvironment—Bionts and Hydrocarbon Generation of Permian Saline Lacustrine Source Rocks in Jimusar Sag, Junggar Basin," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(9), pages 1-21, April.
    9. Weiqi Yao & Tianshu Kong & Xingchen Tony Wang & Ruixiang Zhai & Ruiling Zhang & Yilin Liu, 2024. "Expanded subsurface ocean anoxia in the Atlantic during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-11, December.
    10. Olaf K Lenz & Walter Riegel & Volker Wilde, 2021. "Greenhouse conditions in lower Eocene coastal wetlands?—Lessons from Schöningen, Northern Germany," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(1), pages 1-40, January.
    11. Zi-Heng Li & Timothy M. Lenton & Fei-Fei Zhang & Zhong-Qiang Chen & Stuart J. Daines, 2025. "Earth system instability amplified biogeochemical oscillations following the end-Permian mass extinction," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 16(1), pages 1-9, December.
    12. C. A. Walker-Trivett & S. Kender & K. A. Bogus & K. Littler & T. Edvardsen & M. J. Leng & J. Lacey & J. B. Riding & I. L. Millar & D. Wagner, 2024. "Oceanic Anoxic Event 2 triggered by Kerguelen volcanism," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-12, December.
    13. Victor A. Piedrahita & Andrew P. Roberts & Eelco J. Rohling & David Heslop & Xiang Zhao & Simone Galeotti & Fabio Florindo & Katharine M. Grant & Pengxiang Hu & Jinhua Li, 2024. "Dry hydroclimates in the late Palaeocene-early Eocene hothouse world," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-16, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:16:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-025-60939-3. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.