Browsing by Author "Dickens, G.R."

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    Dynamic simulations of potential methane release from East Siberian continental slope sediments
    (Wiley, 2016) Stranne, C.; O’Regan, M.; Dickens, G.R.; Crill, P.; Miller, C.; Preto, P.; Jakobsson, M.
    Sediments deposited along continental margins of the Arctic Ocean presumably host large amounts of methane (CH4) in gas hydrates. Here we apply numerical simulations to assess the potential of gas hydrate dissociation and methane release from the East Siberian slope over the next 100 years. Simulations are based on a hypothesized bottom water warming of 3°C, and an assumed starting distribution of gas hydrate. The simulation results show that gas hydrate dissociation in these sediments is relatively slow, and that CH4 fluxes toward the seafloor are limited by low sediment permeability. The latter is true even when sediment fractures are permitted to form in response to overpressure in pore space. With an initial gas hydrate distribution dictated by present-day pressure and temperature conditions, nominally 0.35 Gt of CH4 are released from the East Siberian slope during the first 100 years of the simulation. However, this CH4 discharge becomes significantly smaller (~0.05 Gt) if glacial sea level changes in the Arctic Ocean are considered. This is because a lower sea level during the last glacial maximum (LGM) must result in depleted gas hydrate abundance within the most sensitive region of the modern gas hydrate stability zone. Even if all released CH4 reached the atmosphere, the amount coming from East Siberian slopes would be trivial compared to present-day atmospheric CH4 inputs from other sources.
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    Early Paleogene variations in the calcite compensation depth: new constraints using old borehole sediments from across Ninetyeast Ridge, central Indian Ocean
    (European Geosciences Union, 2015) Slotnick, B.S.; Lauretano, V.; Backman, J.; Dickens, G.R.; Sluijs, A.; Lourens, L.
     Major variations in global carbon cycling occurred between 62 and 48 Ma, and these very likely related to changes in the total carbon inventory of the ocean-atmosphere system. Based on carbon cycle theory, variations in the mass of the ocean carbon should be reflected in contemporaneous global ocean carbonate accumulation on the seafloor and, thereby, the depth of the calcite compensation depth (CCD). To better constrain the cause and magnitude of these changes, the community needs early Paleogene carbon isotope and carbonate accumulation records from widely separated deep-sea sediment sections, especially including the Indian Ocean. Several CCD reconstructions for this time interval have been generated using scientific drill sites in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans; however, corresponding information from the Indian Ocean has been extremely limited. To assess the depth of the CCD and the potential for renewed scientific drilling of Paleogene sequences in the Indian Ocean, we examine lithologic, nannofossil, carbon isotope, and carbonate content records for late Paleocene – early Eocene sediments recovered at three sites spanning Ninetyeast Ridge: Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP) Sites 213 (deep, east), 214 (shallow, central), and 215 (deep, west). The disturbed, discontinuous sediment sections are not ideal, because they were recovered in single holes using rotary coring methods, but remain the best Paleogene sediments available from the central Indian Ocean. The δ13C records at Sites 213 and 215 are similar to those generated at several locations in the Atlantic and Pacific, including the prominent high in δ13C across the Paleocene carbon isotope maximum (PCIM) at Site 215, and the prominent low in δ13C across the early Eocene Climatic Optimum (EECO) at both Site 213 and Site 215. The Paleocene-Eocene thermal maximum (PETM) and the K/X event are found at Site 213 but not at Site 215, presumably because of coring gaps. Carbonate content at both Sites 213 and 215 drops to <5% shortly after the first occurrence of Discoaster lodoensis and the early Eocene rise in δ13C (~52 Ma). This reflects a rapid shoaling of the CCD, and likely a major decrease in the net flux of 13C-depleted carbon to the ocean. Our results support ideas that major changes in net fluxes of organic carbon to and from the exogenic carbon cycle occurred during the early Paleogene. Moreover, we conclude that excellent early Paleogene carbonate accumulation records might be recovered from the central Indian Ocean with future scientific drilling.
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    Understanding long-term carbon cycle trends: The late Paleocene through the early Eocene
    (Wiley, 2013) Komar, N.; Zeebe, R.E.; Dickens, G.R.
    [1] The late Paleocene to the early Eocene (~58–52 Ma) was marked by significant changes in global climate and carbon cycling. The evidence for these changes includes stable isotope records that reveal prominent decreases in δ18O and δ13C, suggesting a rise in Earth's surface temperature (~4°C) and a drop in net carbon output from the ocean and atmosphere. Concurrently, deep-sea carbonate records at several sites indicate a deepening of the calcite compensation depth (CCD). Here we investigate possible causes (e.g., increased volcanic degassing or decreased net organic burial) for these observations, but from a new perspective. The basic model employed is a modified version of GEOCARB III. However, we have coupled this well-known geochemical model to LOSCAR (Long-term Ocean-atmosphere Sediment CArbon cycle Reservoir model), which enables simulation of seawater carbonate chemistry, the CCD, and ocean δ13C. We have also added a capacitor, in this case represented by gas hydrates, that can store and release13C-depleted carbon to and from the shallow geosphere over millions of years. We further consider accurate input data (e.g., δ13C of carbonate) on a currently accepted timescale that spans an interval much longer than the perturbation. Several different scenarios are investigated with the goal of consistency amongst inferred changes in temperature, the CCD, and surface ocean and deep ocean δ13C. The results strongly suggest that a decrease in net organic carbon burial drove carbon cycle changes during the late Paleocene and early Eocene, although an increase in volcanic activity might have contributed. Importantly, a drop in net organic carbon burial may represent increased oxidation of previously deposited organic carbon, such as stored in peat or gas hydrates. The model successfully recreates trends in Earth surface warming, as inferred from δ18O records, the CCD, and δ13C. At the moment, however, our coupled modeling effort cannot reproduce the magnitude of change in all these records collectively. Similar problems have arisen in simulations of short-term hyperthermal events during the early Paleogene (Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum), suggesting one or more basic issues with data interpretation or geochemical modeling remain.