Project Details
Projekt
The causes and consequences of inception of glaciation at the Eocene-Oligocene boundary
Subject Area
Palaeontology
Term
since 2023
Project identifier
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 525762881
The Eocene-Oligocene (EOT) boundary is one of the most important climate transitions in the past 100 miliion years, due to the inception of Antarctic glaciation. The cause of this is generally considered to be declining atmospheric CO2 that reached a threshold that allowed glaciation. However, a number of questions remain, especially concerning the primary natural removal process of CO2, which is chemical weathering. In particular, was weathering high prior to the EOT (removing significant CO2), and did weathering subsequently decline due to cooling, or increase due to glacial erosion? Why did declining temperature-controlled weathering not allow the climate to rapidly recover, as has occurred in previous cooling episodes? This project will examine both global weathering changes, and local changes both close to Antarctica as well as elsewhere on Earth. This will not only be measured across the EOT, but also in the runup to glaciation (in the Eocene, thus also very early glaciers on Antarctica), and during establishment of full glaciation in the Oligocene. This will then be quantitively linked to controls on atmospheric CO2 levels, and the effect of weathering and erosion on nutrient supply to the oceans. Ultimately, this project will determine the effect glaciation had on weathering and the carbon cycle.
DFG Programme
Research Grants
International Connection
Denmark, New Zealand, United Kingdom
Cooperation Partners
Professorin Laura Cotton; Dr. Tom Dunkley-Jones; Professor Dr. Robert McKay
Co-Investigator
Dr. Alex Krause
