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Science 11 January 1985:
Vol. 227. no. 4683, pp. 166 - 169
DOI: 10.1126/science.11536555
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Articles

Science, Vol 227, Issue 4683, 166-169
Copyright © 1985 by American Association for the Advancement of Science

articles

Sea-floor hydrothermal activity links climate to tectonics: the Eocene carbon dioxide greenhouse

RM Owen and DK Rea

Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Science, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor 48109, USA.

Two important findings of recent ocean floor drilling in the southeast Pacific (Deep Sea Drilling Project Leg 92) are (i) that sea-floor hydrothermal activity may fluctuate through time by as much as an order of magnitude and (ii) that episodes of greatest hydrothermal flux correspond to times when ridge-transform plate boundaries are undergoing major changes in their configuration rather than to known times of increased spreading rate or volcanism. Evidence is presented here in support of the hypothesis that heightened hydrothermal activity induced by the Eocene tectonic activity caused a global greenhouse effect, which may represent the long-sought-after historical analog to the carbon dioxide-induced global warming expected to occur by the middle of the next century.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
A review of calcareous nannofossil changes during the early Aptian Oceanic Anoxic Event 1a and the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum: The influence of fertility, temperature, and pCO2.
F. Tremolada, E. Erba, and T. J. Bralower (2007)
Geological Society of America Special Papers 424, 87-96
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Middle Eocene Seawater pH and Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide Concentrations.
P. N. Pearson and M. R. Palmer (1999)
Science 284, 1824-1826
   Abstract »    Full Text »
Stable isotope and biotic evolution in the North Sea during the early Eocene: the Albaek Hoved section, Denmark.
B. Schmitz, C. Heilmann-Clausen, C. King, E. Steurbaut, F. P. Andreasson, R. M. Corfield, and J. E. Cartlidge (1996)
Geological Society, London, Special Publications 101, 275-306
   Abstract »    PDF »
The Paleocene-Eocene benthic foraminiferal extinction and stable isotope anomalies.
E. Thomas and N. J. Shackleton (1996)
Geological Society, London, Special Publications 101, 401-441
   Abstract »    PDF »
Development of Cenozoic deep-sea benthic foraminiferal faunas in Antarctic waters.
E. Thomas (1989)
Geological Society, London, Special Publications 47, 283-296
   Abstract »    PDF »
Environmental issues.
J. E. Oliver (1986)
Progress in Physical Geography 10, 256-264
   PDF »
The evolution of the Scottish mineral sub-province.
M. J. Russell (1985)
Scottish Journal of Geology 21, 513-545
   Abstract »    PDF »


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