始新世极热事件是发生在始新世（距今约5500－3400万年前）的一系列剧烈全球变暖事件，研究其发生和对地球环境、生态系统的影响对于理解全球增温下的地球系统演化具有重要科学意义。分布于全球范围内的海洋沉积物记录了这系列全球变暖事件丰富的演化历史，是解开其一系列谜团的关键钥匙。本项目拟在前期多学科海洋记录研究的基础上，对分布于大西洋、印度洋和太平洋的多个始新世海洋沉积序列进行系统的海洋磁学研究，综合运用环境磁学、古地磁学、岩石磁学、光谱学、电子显微镜观测以及有限元数值模拟等研究方法，重点研究始新世海洋沉积物中磁性矿物的性质、来源以及转运规律等，进而追踪始新世极热期间的地球环境变迁及其对生态系统的影响。该项目对于始新世极热事件的海洋磁学记录的系统重建将为理解全球变暖下的地球环境、气候和生态系统演化提供新的线索，对于评估现阶段因人类活动引起的全球变暖效应也具有一定指导意义。

Eocene hyperthermal events are a series of global warming events occurred within the Eocene epochs (~55-34 million years ago). Their origin and environmental impact is important for understanding changes in the Earth systems in a high CO2 world. The widespread marine sediments deposited on the world’s ocean floor recorded key information about Earth system changes during these past global warming periods. This project proposes to reconstruct new marine magnetic records of Eocene hyperthermal events using sediment cores recovered from the Atlantic, the Pacific and the Indian Ocean through Ocean Drilling Program. An integrated approach, combining environmental magnetism, rock magnetism, spectroscopy, electron microscopy observation and finite-element numerical simulation, will be used to characterize the magnetic minerals within the studied Eocene marine sediments to track their origin, transportation and transformation pathways. The new marine magnetic records built from this project will provide key information about how earth’s environments and ecosystems responded to Eocene warm periods. It is also important for understanding the impact of current global warming due to modern anthropogenic forcing.