Spatial change of precipitation in response to the Paleocene-Eocene thermal Maximum warming in China

Abstract

The Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM), a transient greenhouse climate interval associated with a huge release of carbon to the ocean-atmosphere system ~56 million years ago, provides a geological case study for the effect of rapid global warming on regional hydroclimate. Here we reconstruct carbon isotope discrimination (△) of C3 plants across the PETM in the Fushun and Nanyang Basins of China. The △ values present remarkable increase at both sites but with greater magnitude in the Fushun Basin during the PETM, which is explained as a response to regional precipitation. Quantitative estimate of mean annual precipitation based on the △ values suggests that East Asian continent generally became wetter with relatively more precipitation occurring at higher latitudes in response to the PETM warming. Our results support the prediction that continuous anthropogenic warming will lead to a wetter climate in East Asia with relatively more precipitation in higher-latitude lands.