Sea surface temperature evolution of the North Atlantic Ocean across the Eocene–Oligocene transition
Abstract ∼ 34.44 to 33.65 million years ago (Ma). Evidence for high-latitude cooling and increased latitudinal temperature gradients across the EOT has been found in a range of marine and terrestrial environments. However, the timing and magnitude of temperature change in the North Atlantic remains highly unconstrained. Here, we use two independent organic geochemical palaeothermometers to reconstruct sea surface temperatures (SSTs) from the southern Labrador Sea (Ocean Drilling Program – ODP Site 647) across the EOT. The new SST records, now the most detailed for the North Atlantic through the 1 Myr leading up to the EOT onset, reveal a distinctive cooling step of ∼ 3 ∘ C (from 27 to 24 ∘ C), between 34.9 and 34.3 Ma, which is ∼ 500 kyr prior to Antarctic glaciation. This cooling step, when compared visually to other SST records, is asynchronous across Atlantic sites, signifying considerable spatiotemporal variability in regional SST evolution. However, overall, it fits within a phase of general SST cooling recorded across sites in the North Atlantic in the 5 Myr bracketing the EOT. 2 from 800 to 400 ppm may be enough to counter the warming from an AMOC start-up, here simulated through Arctic–Atlantic gateway closure. While the model simulations applied here are not yet in full equilibrium, and the experiments are idealised, the results, together with the proxy data, highlight the heterogeneity of basin-scale surface ocean responses to the EOT thermohaline changes, with sharp temperature contrasts expected across the northern North Atlantic as positions of the subtropical and subpolar gyre systems shift. Suggested future work includes increasing spatial coverage and resolution of regional SST proxy records across the North Atlantic to identify likely thermohaline fingerprints of the EOT AMOC start-up, as well as critical analysis of the causes of inter-model responses to help better understand the driving mechanisms.
- Location
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Deutsche Nationalbibliothek Frankfurt am Main
- Extent
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Online-Ressource
- Language
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Englisch
- Bibliographic citation
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Sea surface temperature evolution of the North Atlantic Ocean across the Eocene–Oligocene transition ; volume:19 ; number:1 ; year:2023 ; pages:123-140 ; extent:18
Climate of the past ; 19, Heft 1 (2023), 123-140 (gesamt 18)
- Creator
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Śliwińska, Kasia K.
Coxall, Helen K.
Hutchinson, David K.
Liebrand, Diederik
Schouten, Stefan
de Boer, Agatha M.
- DOI
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10.5194/cp-19-123-2023
- URN
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urn:nbn:de:101:1-2023011904425190490258
- Rights
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Open Access; Der Zugriff auf das Objekt ist unbeschränkt möglich.
- Last update
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15.08.2025, 7:36 AM CEST
Data provider
Deutsche Nationalbibliothek. If you have any questions about the object, please contact the data provider.
Associated
- Śliwińska, Kasia K.
- Coxall, Helen K.
- Hutchinson, David K.
- Liebrand, Diederik
- Schouten, Stefan
- de Boer, Agatha M.
Other Objects (12)
Sea surface temperature evolution of the North Atlantic Ocean across the Eocene-Oligocene Transition
The sensitivity of the Eocene-Oligocene Southern Ocean to strength and position of wind stress
Late Eocene to early Oligocene productivity events in the proto-Southern Ocean and correlation to climate change
Microfossil evidence for trophic changes during the Eocene–Oligocene transition in the South Atlantic (ODP Site 1263, Walvis Ridge)
Expanded subsurface ocean anoxia in the Atlantic during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum
Check list of the invertebrate fossils of North America : eocene and oligocene
Early Paleocene-Late Eocene diatoms from the Blake Nose, western North Atlantic Ocean
Oligocene stratigraphy across the Eocene and Miocene boundaries in the Valley of Lakes (Mongolia)
Vegetation change across the Drake Passage region linked to late Eocene cooling and glacial disturbance after the Eocene–Oligocene transition
Orbitally tuned timescale and astronomical forcing in the middle Eocene to early Oligocene
Late Eocene to early Oligocene productivity events in the proto-Southern Ocean as drivers of global cooling and Antarctica glaciation
Vegetation change across the Drake Passage region linked to late Eocene cooling and glacial disturbance after the Eocene–Oligocene Transition
Sea surface temperature evolution of the North Atlantic Ocean across the Eocene-Oligocene Transition
The sensitivity of the Eocene-Oligocene Southern Ocean to strength and position of wind stress
Late Eocene to early Oligocene productivity events in the proto-Southern Ocean and correlation to climate change
Microfossil evidence for trophic changes during the Eocene–Oligocene transition in the South Atlantic (ODP Site 1263, Walvis Ridge)
Expanded subsurface ocean anoxia in the Atlantic during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum
Check list of the invertebrate fossils of North America : eocene and oligocene
Early Paleocene-Late Eocene diatoms from the Blake Nose, western North Atlantic Ocean
Oligocene stratigraphy across the Eocene and Miocene boundaries in the Valley of Lakes (Mongolia)
Vegetation change across the Drake Passage region linked to late Eocene cooling and glacial disturbance after the Eocene–Oligocene transition
Orbitally tuned timescale and astronomical forcing in the middle Eocene to early Oligocene
Late Eocene to early Oligocene productivity events in the proto-Southern Ocean as drivers of global cooling and Antarctica glaciation
Vegetation change across the Drake Passage region linked to late Eocene cooling and glacial disturbance after the Eocene–Oligocene Transition
Sea surface temperature evolution of the North Atlantic Ocean across the Eocene-Oligocene Transition
The sensitivity of the Eocene-Oligocene Southern Ocean to strength and position of wind stress
Late Eocene to early Oligocene productivity events in the proto-Southern Ocean and correlation to climate change
Microfossil evidence for trophic changes during the Eocene–Oligocene transition in the South Atlantic (ODP Site 1263, Walvis Ridge)
Expanded subsurface ocean anoxia in the Atlantic during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum
Check list of the invertebrate fossils of North America : eocene and oligocene
Early Paleocene-Late Eocene diatoms from the Blake Nose, western North Atlantic Ocean
Oligocene stratigraphy across the Eocene and Miocene boundaries in the Valley of Lakes (Mongolia)
Vegetation change across the Drake Passage region linked to late Eocene cooling and glacial disturbance after the Eocene–Oligocene transition
Orbitally tuned timescale and astronomical forcing in the middle Eocene to early Oligocene
Late Eocene to early Oligocene productivity events in the proto-Southern Ocean as drivers of global cooling and Antarctica glaciation