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Yuan S, Liu Y, Hu Y, Mei J, Han J, Bao X, Li X, Lin Q, Wei M, Li Z, Yin Z, Man K, Guo J, Liu Y, Sun Y, Wu J, Zhang J, Wei Q, Yang J, Nie J. Controlling factors for the global meridional overturning circulation: A lesson from the Paleozoic. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2024; 10:eadm7813. [PMID: 38924401 PMCID: PMC11204210 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adm7813] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/22/2023] [Accepted: 05/21/2024] [Indexed: 06/28/2024]
Abstract
The global meridional overturning circulation (GMOC) is important for redistributing heat and, thus, determining global climate, but what determines its strength over Earth's history remains unclear. On the basis of two sets of climate simulations for the Paleozoic characterized by a stable GMOC direction, our research reveals that GMOC strength primarily depends on continental configuration while climate variations have a minor impact. In the mid- to high latitudes, the volume of continents largely dictates the speed of westerly winds, which in turn controls upwelling and the strength of the GMOC. At low latitudes, open seaways also play an important role in the strength of the GMOC. An open seaway in one hemisphere allows stronger westward ocean currents, which support higher sea surface heights (SSH) in this hemisphere than that in the other. The meridional SSH gradient drives a stronger cross-equatorial flow in the upper ocean, resulting in a stronger GMOC. This latter finding enriches the current theory for GMOC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shuai Yuan
- Laboratory for Climate and Ocean–Atmosphere Studies, Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Yonggang Liu
- Laboratory for Climate and Ocean–Atmosphere Studies, Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing, China
- Institute of Ocean Research, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Yongyun Hu
- Laboratory for Climate and Ocean–Atmosphere Studies, Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing, China
- Institute of Ocean Research, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Jie Mei
- Laboratory for Climate and Ocean–Atmosphere Studies, Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Jing Han
- Laboratory for Climate and Ocean–Atmosphere Studies, Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Xiujuan Bao
- Laboratory for Climate and Ocean–Atmosphere Studies, Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing, China
- Key Laboratory of Cenozoic Geology and Environment, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, China
| | - Xiang Li
- Laboratory for Climate and Ocean–Atmosphere Studies, Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Qifan Lin
- Laboratory for Climate and Ocean–Atmosphere Studies, Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Mengyu Wei
- Laboratory for Climate and Ocean–Atmosphere Studies, Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Zhibo Li
- Laboratory for Climate and Ocean–Atmosphere Studies, Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Zihan Yin
- Laboratory for Climate and Ocean–Atmosphere Studies, Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Kai Man
- Laboratory for Climate and Ocean–Atmosphere Studies, Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Jiaqi Guo
- Laboratory for Climate and Ocean–Atmosphere Studies, Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Yue Liu
- Laboratory for Climate and Ocean–Atmosphere Studies, Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Yudong Sun
- Laboratory for Climate and Ocean–Atmosphere Studies, Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Jiacheng Wu
- Laboratory for Climate and Ocean–Atmosphere Studies, Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Jian Zhang
- Laboratory for Climate and Ocean–Atmosphere Studies, Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Qiang Wei
- Laboratory for Climate and Ocean–Atmosphere Studies, Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing, China
- State Key Laboratory of Tibetan Plateau Earth System, Environment and Resources (TPESER), Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Jun Yang
- Laboratory for Climate and Ocean–Atmosphere Studies, Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Ji Nie
- Laboratory for Climate and Ocean–Atmosphere Studies, Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing, China
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Kirtland Turner S, Ridgwell A, Keller AL, Vahlenkamp M, Aleksinski AK, Sexton PF, Penman DE, Hull PM, Norris RD. Sensitivity of ocean circulation to warming during the Early Eocene greenhouse. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2024; 121:e2311980121. [PMID: 38830092 PMCID: PMC11181020 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2311980121] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/14/2023] [Accepted: 04/19/2024] [Indexed: 06/05/2024] Open
Abstract
Multiple abrupt warming events ("hyperthermals") punctuated the Early Eocene and were associated with deep-sea temperature increases of 2 to 4 °C, seafloor carbonate dissolution, and negative carbon isotope (δ13C) excursions. Whether hyperthermals were associated with changes in the global ocean overturning circulation is important for understanding their driving mechanisms and feedbacks and for gaining insight into the circulation's sensitivity to climatic warming. Here, we present high-resolution benthic foraminiferal stable isotope records (δ13C and δ18O) throughout the Early Eocene Climate Optimum (~53.26 to 49.14 Ma) from the deep equatorial and North Atlantic. Combined with existing records from the South Atlantic and Pacific, these indicate consistently amplified δ13C excursion sizes during hyperthermals in the deep equatorial Atlantic. We compare these observations with results from an intermediate complexity Earth system model to demonstrate that this spatial pattern of δ13C excursion size is a predictable consequence of global warming-induced changes in ocean overturning circulation. In our model, transient warming drives the weakening of Southern Ocean-sourced overturning circulation, strengthens Atlantic meridional water mass aging gradients, and amplifies the magnitude of negative δ13C excursions in the equatorial to North Atlantic. Based on model-data consistency, we conclude that Eocene hyperthermals coincided with repeated weakening of the global overturning circulation. Not accounting for ocean circulation impacts on δ13C excursions will lead to incorrect estimates of the magnitude of carbon release driving hyperthermals. Our finding of weakening overturning in response to past transient climatic warming is consistent with predictions of declining Atlantic Ocean overturning strength in our warm future.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sandra Kirtland Turner
- Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of California, Riverside, CA92521
| | - Andy Ridgwell
- Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of California, Riverside, CA92521
| | - Allison L. Keller
- Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of California, Riverside, CA92521
| | - Maximilian Vahlenkamp
- Center for Marine Environmental Sciences (MARUM), University of Bremen, Bremen28359, Germany
| | - Adam K. Aleksinski
- Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of California, Riverside, CA92521
- Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN47906
| | - Philip F. Sexton
- School of Environment, Earth and Ecosystem Sciences, The Open University, Milton KeynesMK7 6AA, United Kingdom
| | - Donald E. Penman
- Department of Geosciences, Utah State University, Logan, UT84322
| | - Pincelli M. Hull
- Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Yale University, New Haven, CT06511
| | - Richard D. Norris
- Center for Marine Biodiversity and Conservation, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA92093
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Lu Z, Rickaby REM, Payne JL, Prow AN. Phanerozoic co-evolution of O 2-CO 2 and ocean habitability. Natl Sci Rev 2024; 11:nwae099. [PMID: 38915915 PMCID: PMC11194836 DOI: 10.1093/nsr/nwae099] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/02/2023] [Revised: 03/11/2024] [Accepted: 03/12/2024] [Indexed: 06/26/2024] Open
Abstract
This perspective reviews how atmospheric compositions, animals and marine algae evolved together to determine global ocean habitability during the past 500 million years.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zunli Lu
- Department of Earth & Environmental Sciences, University, Syracuse, USA
| | | | - Jonathan L Payne
- Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Stanford University, USA
| | - Ashley N Prow
- Department of Earth & Environmental Sciences, University, Syracuse, USA
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Wignall PB, Bond DPG. The great catastrophe: causes of the Permo-Triassic marine mass extinction. Natl Sci Rev 2024; 11:nwad273. [PMID: 38156041 PMCID: PMC10753410 DOI: 10.1093/nsr/nwad273] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/23/2023] [Revised: 10/23/2023] [Accepted: 10/23/2023] [Indexed: 12/30/2023] Open
Abstract
The marine losses during the Permo-Triassic mass extinction were the worst ever experienced. All groups were badly affected, especially amongst the benthos (e.g. brachiopods, corals, bryozoans, foraminifers, ostracods). Planktonic populations underwent a fundamental change with eukaryotic algae being replaced by nitrogen-fixing bacteria, green-sulphur bacteria, sulphate-reducing bacteria and prasinophytes. Detailed studies of boundary sections, especially those in South China, have resolved the crisis to a ∼55 kyr interval straddling the Permo-Triassic boundary. Many of the losses occur at the beginning and end of this interval painting a picture of a two-phase extinction. Improved knowledge of the extinction has been supported by numerous geochemical studies that allow diverse proposed extinction mechanisms to be studied. A transition from oxygenated to anoxic-euxinic conditions is seen in most sections globally, although the intensity and timing shows regional variability. Decreased ocean ventilation coincides with rapidly rising temperatures and many extinction scenarios attribute the losses to both anoxia and high temperatures. Other kill mechanisms include ocean acidification for which there is conflicting support from geochemical proxies and, even less likely, siltation (burial under a massive influx of terrigenous sediment) which lacks substantive sedimentological evidence. The ultimate driver of the catastrophic changes at the end of the Permian was likely Siberian Trap eruptions and their associated carbon dioxide emissions with consequences such as warming, ocean stagnation and acidification. Volcanic winter episodes stemming from Siberian volcanism have also been linked to the crisis, but the short-term nature of these episodes (
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Affiliation(s)
- Paul B Wignall
- School of Earth & Environment, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK
| | - David P G Bond
- School of Environmental Sciences, University of Hull, Hull HU6 7RX, UK
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Ontiveros DE, Beaugrand G, Lefebvre B, Marcilly CM, Servais T, Pohl A. Impact of global climate cooling on Ordovician marine biodiversity. Nat Commun 2023; 14:6098. [PMID: 37816739 PMCID: PMC10564867 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-41685-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/16/2022] [Accepted: 09/14/2023] [Indexed: 10/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Global cooling has been proposed as a driver of the Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event, the largest radiation of Phanerozoic marine animal Life. Yet, mechanistic understanding of the underlying pathways is lacking and other possible causes are debated. Here we couple a global climate model with a macroecological model to reconstruct global biodiversity patterns during the Ordovician. In our simulations, an inverted latitudinal biodiversity gradient characterizes the late Cambrian and Early Ordovician when climate was much warmer than today. During the Mid-Late Ordovician, climate cooling simultaneously permits the development of a modern latitudinal biodiversity gradient and an increase in global biodiversity. This increase is a consequence of the ecophysiological limitations to marine Life and is robust to uncertainties in both proxy-derived temperature reconstructions and organism physiology. First-order model-data agreement suggests that the most conspicuous rise in biodiversity over Earth's history - the Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event - was primarily driven by global cooling.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Gregory Beaugrand
- Univ. Littoral Côte d'Opale, CNRS, Univ. Lille, UMR 8187 LOG, F-62930, Wimereux, France
| | - Bertrand Lefebvre
- Univ Lyon, Univ Lyon 1, ENSL, CNRS, LGL-TPE, F-69622, Villeurbanne, France
| | | | - Thomas Servais
- Univ. Lille, CNRS, UMR 8198-Evo-Eco-Paleo, F-59000, Lille, France
| | - Alexandre Pohl
- Biogéosciences, UMR 6282 CNRS, Université de Bourgogne, 6 Boulevard Gabriel, 21000, Dijon, France.
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Pohl A, Stockey RG, Dai X, Yohler R, Le Hir G, Hülse D, Brayard A, Finnegan S, Ridgwell A. Why the Early Paleozoic was intrinsically prone to marine extinction. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2023; 9:eadg7679. [PMID: 37647393 PMCID: PMC10468122 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adg7679] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/19/2023] [Revised: 05/26/2023] [Accepted: 07/27/2023] [Indexed: 09/01/2023]
Abstract
The geological record of marine animal biodiversity reflects the interplay between changing rates of speciation versus extinction. Compared to mass extinctions, background extinctions have received little attention. To disentangle the different contributions of global climate state, continental configuration, and atmospheric oxygen concentration (pO2) to variations in background extinction rates, we drive an animal physiological model with the environmental outputs from an Earth system model across intervals spanning the past 541 million years. We find that climate and continental configuration combined to make extinction susceptibility an order of magnitude higher during the Early Paleozoic than during the rest of the Phanerozoic, consistent with extinction rates derived from paleontological databases. The high extinction susceptibility arises in the model from the limited geographical range of marine organisms. It stands even when assuming present-day pO2, suggesting that increasing oxygenation through the Paleozoic is not necessary to explain why extinction rates apparently declined with time.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexandre Pohl
- Biogéosciences, UMR 6282 CNRS, Université de Bourgogne, 6 Boulevard Gabriel, 21000 Dijon, France
| | - Richard G. Stockey
- School of Ocean and Earth Science, National Oceanography Centre Southampton, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK
| | - Xu Dai
- Biogéosciences, UMR 6282 CNRS, Université de Bourgogne, 6 Boulevard Gabriel, 21000 Dijon, France
| | - Ryan Yohler
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Guillaume Le Hir
- Université de Paris, Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris, CNRS, 1 rue Jussieu, 75005 Paris, France
| | - Dominik Hülse
- Max-Planck-Institute for Meteorology, Hamburg, Germany
- Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of California, Riverside, CA, USA
| | - Arnaud Brayard
- Biogéosciences, UMR 6282 CNRS, Université de Bourgogne, 6 Boulevard Gabriel, 21000 Dijon, France
| | - Seth Finnegan
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Andy Ridgwell
- Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of California, Riverside, CA, USA
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Sweere TC, Dickson AJ, Vance D. Nickel and zinc micronutrient availability in Phanerozoic oceans. GEOBIOLOGY 2023; 21:310-322. [PMID: 36536606 DOI: 10.1111/gbi.12541] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/02/2022] [Revised: 11/19/2022] [Accepted: 12/03/2022] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
Nickel and zinc are both bio-essential micronutrients with a nutrient-like distribution in the modern ocean, but show key differences in their biological functions and geochemical behavior. Eukaryotic phytoplankton, and especially diatoms, have high Zn quotas, whereas cyanobacteria generally require relatively more Ni. Secular changes in the relative availability of these micronutrients may, therefore, have affected the evolution and diversification of phytoplankton. In this study, we use a large compilation of Ni and Zn concentration data for Phanerozoic sediments to evaluate long-term changes in Ni and Zn availability and possible links to phytoplankton evolution. Modern data suggest that organic-rich sediments capture the dissolved deep ocean Ni/Zn ratio, regardless of local depositional conditions. We use this observation to constrain Ni/Zn ratios for past oceans, based on data from the sedimentary record. This record highlights long-term changes in the relative availability of these micronutrients that can be linked to the (bio)geochemical conditions on the Earth's surface. Early Palaeozoic oceans were likely relatively Ni rich, with sedimentary Ni/Zn ratios for this interval mostly being around ~1 or higher. A comparison with Phanerozoic strontium-, carbon-, and sulfur-isotopic records suggests that the late Palaeozoic decrease in sulfidic conditions and increase in hydrothermal inputs and organic-carbon burial rates caused a shift towards more Zn-rich conditions. Mesozoic and Cenozoic sediments show relatively Zn-rich oceans for these time intervals, with sedimentary Ni/Zn ratios mostly being around ~1 or lower. These observations imply that the diversification of the dominant groups of modern eukaryotic phytoplankton occurred in relatively Zn-rich oceans and that these organisms still carry this signature in their stoichiometries. However, the Phanerozoic transition to a more Zn-rich ocean pre-dates the origin and diversification of modern eukaryotes and, therefore, this transition was likely not the main direct cause for eukaryotic diversification in the Mesozoic and Cenozoic Eras.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tim C Sweere
- Department of Earth Sciences, ETH Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Alexander J Dickson
- Centre of Climate, Ocean and Atmosphere, Department of Earth Sciences, Royal Holloway University of London, Surrey, UK
| | - Derek Vance
- Department of Earth Sciences, ETH Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland
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Meissner KJ, Oschlies A. Plate tectonics controls ocean oxygen levels. Nature 2022; 608:480-481. [PMID: 35978115 DOI: 10.1038/d41586-022-02187-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
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