High-resolution carbon isotope record for the Paleocene-Eocene thermal maximum from the Nanyang Basin, Central China

The Paleocene-Eocene thermal maximum (PETM) was a transient episode of global warming, associated with massive atmospheric greenhouse gas input that occurred at the Paleocene/Eocene boundary. Biostratigraphic and isotope stratigraphic studies indicate that the PETM event is well documented in the marl deposits of the Yuhuangding section in the Nanyang Basin, Central China, with a carbon isotope negative excursion of similar to 6.1aEuro degrees within 19-m-thick marl deposits. This is the highest resolution record of the PETM so far found in the world. The PETM event was triggered within 2-cm-thick marl sediments, with a decrease of delta C-13 (stable carbon isotope ratio) from -3.2aEuro degrees to -5.2aEuro degrees, suggesting a massive methane hydrate release for a transient period that was possibly caused by a catastrophic event. A comparison between marine and terrestrial records indicates a Three-Phase Model for the PETM event. Initially there is a rapid negative excursion in the delta C-13 record, followed by a slowly decreasing trend, and then a gradual positive recovery, corresponding respectively to a rapid dissociation of oceanic methane hydrate, followed by a slow release of methane and then the consumption of the released methane.