Toward a better understanding of Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum: A multidisciplinary record from Dababiya GSSP, Luxor, Egypt

Abstract

The Paleocene-Eocene thermal maximum (PETM) shows an extraordinary drop in both δ 13 Ccarb and δ 13 Corg values, suggesting that a massive amount of 12 C-rich carbon dioxide was released into the atmosphere in a very short time (on the order of few hundred ky). The Dababiya GSSP (Luxor, Egypt) is thought to be the most complete known PETM section. The expanded sedimentary record of the Dababiya GSSP improves our understanding of the processes leading to the PETM events. Our multiproxy dataset, which includes geochemistry, mineralogy, micropaleontology and sedimentology, provided the following crucial clues for the PETM interval at Dababiya GSSP (Fig. 1). The Dababiya GSSP is deposited in the deepest part of an asymmetric submarine channel as indicated by the paleotopography, and absence of uppermost Paleocene and lowermost Eocene sediments from the Eastern section located 25m away from the main GSSP outcrop (Fig.1). At 50 m to the NW, the sediment beds thin out and finally disappear at about 150 m from the main GSSP outcrop. Thus, the Dababiya GSSP represents a localized expanded PETM sequence with a maximum extent of about 200m. At the GSSP, the PaleoceneEocene boundary (PEB) coincides therefore with a sequence Toward a better understanding of Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum: A multidisciplinary record from Dababiya GSSP, Luxor, Egypt