Storey Michael, Duncan Robert A, Swisher Carl C
Quaternary Dating Laboratory, Department of Environment, Society and Spatial Change, Roskilde University Centre, Post Office Box 260, 4000 Roskilde, Denmark.
Science. 2007 Apr 27;316(5824):587-9. doi: 10.1126/science.1135274.
The Paleocene-Eocene thermal maximum (PETM) has been attributed to a sudden release of carbon dioxide and/or methane. 40Ar/39Ar age determinations show that the Danish Ash-17 deposit, which overlies the PETM by about 450,000 years in the Atlantic, and the Skraenterne Formation Tuff, representing the end of 1 +/- 0.5 million years of massive volcanism in East Greenland, are coeval. The relative age of Danish Ash-17 thus places the PETM onset after the beginning of massive flood basalt volcanism at 56.1 +/- 0.4 million years ago but within error of the estimated continental breakup time of 55.5 +/- 0.3 million years ago, marked by the eruption of mid-ocean ridge basalt-like flows. These correlations support the view that the PETM was triggered by greenhouse gas release during magma interaction with basin-filling carbon-rich sedimentary rocks proximal to the embryonic plate boundary between Greenland and Europe.
古新世-始新世极热事件（PETM）被认为是由二氧化碳和/或甲烷的突然释放所致。40Ar/39Ar年龄测定表明，在大西洋中位于PETM之上约45万年的丹麦Ash-17沉积物，以及代表东格陵兰100±50万年大规模火山活动末期的Skraenterne组凝灰岩，是同时期的。因此，丹麦Ash-17的相对年龄表明PETM开始于561±4万年大规模溢流玄武岩火山活动开始之后，但在估计的555±3万年前大陆裂解时间的误差范围内，该时间以大洋中脊玄武岩样熔岩流的喷发为标志。这些相关性支持了这样一种观点，即PETM是由岩浆与格陵兰和欧洲之间胚胎板块边界附近富含碳的盆地充填沉积岩相互作用期间温室气体释放引发的。
