Jaimes-Gutierrez et al. (2025): Lithium isotopes reveal enhanced weathering fluxes in North America during the Paleocene−Eocene Thermal Maximum
Rocio Jaimes-Gutierrez, Lucas Vimpere, David J. Wilson, Patrick Blaser, Philip A.E. Pogge von Strandmann, Thierry Adatte, Swapan Sahoo and Sébastien Castelltort, IN: Geology, https://doi.org/10.1130/G53708.1
Silicate weathering regulates Earth’s long-term climate by removing atmospheric CO₂. Understanding changes in weathering regimes and rates is key to predicting climate response time scales. The authors investigated the reactivity of the North American source-to-sink system and the chemical weathering regime during the Paleocene−Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM). They measured the detrital lithium isotope composition (δ⁷Li) in a deep-marine sediment core from the Gulf of Mexico, tracking changes in the formation of clay minerals, alongside neodymium isotopes (εNd), to constrain sediment provenance.