An Overview of Paleo-Climate Evidence in Egypt
31
PETM, global temperature increased about 5–9 °C during a period of about 200 ka
[123–125].
The termination of the PETM was a response to an increase in the intensity of
the marine biological pump (productivity feedback) resulting in the drawdown of
atmospheric CO 2 and subsequent carbon sequestration in the ocean [126, 127]. The
export production did not facilitate the rapid removal of excess carbon from the
atmosphere [127]. Thus, the most likely mechanism for atmospheric CO 2 removal
appears to be increased silicate weathering, which occurred at much faster rates than
previously assumed [128, 129].
The PETM is the best analog resemblances to the human-caused climate change
unfolding today. Most notably, the culprit behind the PETM was a massive injection
of heat-trapping greenhouse gases into the atmosphere and oceans, comparable in volume to today’s persistent burning of fossil fuels. Knowledge causes and mechanisms
of the PETM could help us foresee climate warming in our near future and design
possible ways to mitigate its potentially adverse impact. The PETM is believed to
have been caused by greenhouse gas emissions, similarly to today’s anthropogenic
warming and therefore can serve as analog to the actual warming. However, the
current warming is estimated to be 10 times faster than the PETM.
6 Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum in Egypt
Throughout the geologic history of Egypt affected by the global climatic changes and
subjected to several hyperthermal events, especially during Paleocene and Eocene.
The trend of the carbon isotope shift that represents the global carbon cycle perturbation and consequently the climatic change is identical to those obtained from
several places in Egypt such as Red Sea (El-Beida section) (Fig. 5). Amongst the
hyperthermal recorded in the Egyptian section, we will discuss the Paleocene Eocene
Thermal Maximum event in its type locality.
In 2003 the International Commission for Stratigraphy (ICS) designated the
Dababiya Quarry in southern Egypt (Dababiya village, Luxor) as the Global Stratigraphic Section and Point (GSSP) for the Paleocene-Eocene (PE) boundary as marked
by the PETM event. The PE boundary is placed in the basal part of the Esna Formation
[130, 131].
Based on the following criteria: (1) the negative organic carbon isotope excursion
(CIE), (2) the extinction of deep water benthic foraminifera (Stensioina beccariiformis), (3) the transient occurrence of planktonic foraminifera (Acarinina africana,
A. sibaiyaensis, Morozovella allisonensis) during the δ
13 C excursion, (4) the transient occurrence of the Rhomboaster spp.—Discoaster araneus (RD) nanofossils
assemblage, and (5) an acme of the dinoflagellate Apectodiniu.
Based on these criteria the Dababiya section was considered as one of the most
complete and expanded Upper Paleocene to Lower Eocene sequences and representative of this boundary event globally [130, 131]. The age estimate of the CIE onset
has been recently determined to be 56.011 Ma using radiometric data obtained from
31
PETM, global temperature increased about 5–9 °C during a period of about 200 ka
[123–125].
The termination of the PETM was a response to an increase in the intensity of
the marine biological pump (productivity feedback) resulting in the drawdown of
atmospheric CO 2 and subsequent carbon sequestration in the ocean [126, 127]. The
export production did not facilitate the rapid removal of excess carbon from the
atmosphere [127]. Thus, the most likely mechanism for atmospheric CO 2 removal
appears to be increased silicate weathering, which occurred at much faster rates than
previously assumed [128, 129].
The PETM is the best analog resemblances to the human-caused climate change
unfolding today. Most notably, the culprit behind the PETM was a massive injection
of heat-trapping greenhouse gases into the atmosphere and oceans, comparable in volume to today’s persistent burning of fossil fuels. Knowledge causes and mechanisms
of the PETM could help us foresee climate warming in our near future and design
possible ways to mitigate its potentially adverse impact. The PETM is believed to
have been caused by greenhouse gas emissions, similarly to today’s anthropogenic
warming and therefore can serve as analog to the actual warming. However, the
current warming is estimated to be 10 times faster than the PETM.
6 Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum in Egypt
Throughout the geologic history of Egypt affected by the global climatic changes and
subjected to several hyperthermal events, especially during Paleocene and Eocene.
The trend of the carbon isotope shift that represents the global carbon cycle perturbation and consequently the climatic change is identical to those obtained from
several places in Egypt such as Red Sea (El-Beida section) (Fig. 5). Amongst the
hyperthermal recorded in the Egyptian section, we will discuss the Paleocene Eocene
Thermal Maximum event in its type locality.
In 2003 the International Commission for Stratigraphy (ICS) designated the
Dababiya Quarry in southern Egypt (Dababiya village, Luxor) as the Global Stratigraphic Section and Point (GSSP) for the Paleocene-Eocene (PE) boundary as marked
by the PETM event. The PE boundary is placed in the basal part of the Esna Formation
[130, 131].
Based on the following criteria: (1) the negative organic carbon isotope excursion
(CIE), (2) the extinction of deep water benthic foraminifera (Stensioina beccariiformis), (3) the transient occurrence of planktonic foraminifera (Acarinina africana,
A. sibaiyaensis, Morozovella allisonensis) during the δ
13 C excursion, (4) the transient occurrence of the Rhomboaster spp.—Discoaster araneus (RD) nanofossils
assemblage, and (5) an acme of the dinoflagellate Apectodiniu.
Based on these criteria the Dababiya section was considered as one of the most
complete and expanded Upper Paleocene to Lower Eocene sequences and representative of this boundary event globally [130, 131]. The age estimate of the CIE onset
has been recently determined to be 56.011 Ma using radiometric data obtained from