The Carbon Cycle - Introduction to Carbon Capture and Sequestration - page 132

Figure 3.6.6 The palaeocene-eocene thermal maximum
Top: The foraminifer isotopic records from sites in the Antarctic, South Atlantic and Pacifi c.
Middle: The temperatures of the oceans as measured by the

18 O proxy.
Bottom: The effect on the carbonate (CaCO 3 ) content of sediments. Figures from IPCC,
reproduced with permission [3.15].

δ

of 1,000 to 2,000 Gt, which is similar to the numbers in the “large” and
“moderate” scenarios of the future emissions. Because of this similarity,
the details of the PETM climate outcomes provide some indication of the
long-term climate effects of emitting this much carbon into the atmos-
phere. The mass of carbon in the PETM was suffi ciently large to exceed