Concept information
Preferred term
Paleocene
Definition
- The Paleocene (or Palaeocene), is a geological epoch that lasted from about 66 to 56 million years ago (mya). It is the first epoch of the Paleogene Period in the modern Cenozoic Era. The epoch is bracketed by two major events in Earth's history. The K–Pg extinction event, brought on by an asteroid impact (Chicxulub impact) and possibly volcanism (Deccan Traps), marked the beginning of the Paleocene and killed off 75% of species, most famously the non-avian dinosaurs. The end of the epoch was marked by the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM), which was a major climatic event wherein about 2,500–4,500 gigatons of carbon were released into the atmosphere and ocean systems, causing a spike in global temperatures and ocean acidification. The K–Pg extinction event caused a floral and faunal turnover of species, with previously abundant species being replaced by previously uncommon ones. In the Paleocene, with a global average temperature of about 24–25 °C (75–77 °F), compared to 14 °C (57 °F) in more recent times, the Earth had a greenhouse climate without permanent ice sheets at the poles, like the preceding Mesozoic. During the mid-Palaeocene biotic event (MPBE), also known as the Early Late Palaeocene Event (ELPE), around 59 Ma (roughly 50,000 years before the Selandian/Thanetian boundary), the temperature spiked probably due to a mass release of the deep sea methane hydrate into the atmosphere and ocean systems. Carbon was probably output for 10–11,000 years, and the aftereffects likely subsided around 52–53,000 years later. There is also evidence this occurred again 300,000 years later in the early Thanetian dubbed MPBE-2. Respectively, about 83 and 132 gigatons of methane-derived carbon were ejected into the atmosphere, which suggests a 2–3 °C (3.6–5.4 °F) rise in temperature, and likely caused heightened seasonality and less stable environmental conditions. The Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum was an approximately 200,000-year-long event where the global average temperature rose by some 5 to 8 °C (9 to 14 °F), and mid-latitude and polar areas may have exceeded modern tropical temperatures of 24–29 °C (75–84 °F). This was due to an ejection of 2,500–4,500 gigatons of carbon into the atmosphere, most commonly explained as the perturbation and release of methane clathrate deposits in the North Atlantic from tectonic activity and resultant increase in bottom water temperatures. (Adapted from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paleocene)
Broader concept
Entry terms
- Palaeocene
In other languages
-
French
URI
http://data.loterre.fr/ark:/67375/QX8-WFX6T0VN-L
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