Collaborative Research: Bighorn Basin Coring Project (BBCP) - Targeted Continental Drilling of Paleogene Hyperthermals

Bighorn盆地取心项目(BBCP)W.Clyde，Lead Pi，新汉普郡大学摘要Bighorn盆地取心项目将从怀俄明州Bighorn盆地的三个地点(Polecat Band，Gilmore Hill，盆地变电站)每个地点收集约200米的岩心，以更好地约束古近纪过热事件的原因和影响。高温是突如其来的大规模全球变暖事件，与地球碳循环的极端扰动有关。将特别针对两个事件--古新世-始新世最热事件(PETM，ETM1)和Elmo事件(ETM2)。PETM是记录最充分的高温，涉及在不到1万年(Ky)的时间里从未知的水库释放2000-68000亿吨(GT)的碳，导致地球在100-200Ky的时间内升温5-9摄氏度。相比之下，今天地球上的整个化石燃料资源基地估计为~5000 GT。ELMO是一个幅度较小的事件，发生在PETM之后，在海洋记录中略低于Chron C24N/C24R极性反转，但在大陆剖面中仍缺乏记载。通过将各种沉积学、地球化学和孢粉学方法应用于拟议的岩心，我们希望更好地了解是什么导致了这些事件，研究了这些事件期间的生物地球化学和生态反馈，并准确地揭示了它们是如何影响大陆环境的。Bighorn盆地保存了迄今已知的PETM和Elmo最广泛的地层记录，因此这些岩心将提供一个以前所未有的分辨率研究高温的机会。

Bighorn Basin Coring Project (BBCP)W. Clyde, Lead PI, University of New HampshireAbstractThe Bighorn Basin Coring Project will collect ~200 meters of core from each of three sites (Polecat Bench, Gilmore Hill, Basin Substation) in the Bighorn Basin of Wyoming to better constrain the causes and effects of Paleogene hyperthermal events. Hyperthermals are abrupt, large-magnitude global warming events associated with extreme perturbations to the Earth's carbon cycle. Two events in particular will be targeted - the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM, ETM1) and the Elmo (ETM2) event. The PETM is the best documented hyperthermal and involved the release of 2,000-6,800 gigatons (Gt) of carbon from an unknown reservoir over less than 10 thousand years (ky) causing the earth to warm by 5-9ºC for a period of 100-200 ky. For comparison, the entire fossil fuel resource base on earth today is estimated to be ~5,000 Gt. Elmo is a smaller amplitude event that occurs after the PETM and just below the Chron C24N/C24R polarity reversal in marine records but remains poorly documented in continental sections. By applying a variety of sedimentological, geochemical, and palynological methods to the proposed cores we hope to better understand what caused these events, study the biogeochemical and ecological feedbacks that operated during them, and reveal precisely how they impacted continental environments. The Bighorn Basin preserves the most expanded stratigraphic records of the PETM and Elmo yet known, so these cores will provide an opportunity to study hyperthermals at unprecedented resolution.