Fluvial response to the Paleocene Eocene Thermal Maximum: A basin scale approach

This talk will examine the spatial variability in fluvial response to the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM). The PETM occurred ~56 Ma and was a geologically abrupt global warming event in which temperatures increased from 5-8°C over ~200, 000 years due to a global release in carbon, making it a close analogue to today’s global warming trends. The PETM has been interrogated at a number of terrestrial and marine localities across the globe, however, the majority of these studies are not placed within a well-defined spatial and temporal context, with study often limited to single successions and the deposits that lie immediately above and below the event. It is imperative that background ‘normal’ conditions are understood in order for an assessment of response magnitude and extent to be made. Within this talk sedimentological observations from multiple PETM localities within the Bighorn Basin, Wyoming, will be presented within a newly defined quantified basin context.