Late Paleocene to middle Eocene carbon isotope stratigraphy of the Northern Negev, Southern Israel: potential for paleoclimate reconstructions

Abstract

Sedimentary records depicting significant variability in climate and carbon cycling across the early Paleogene have emerged over the last two decades. Continuous, long-term, high-resolution records mostly derive from deep-sea drill cores, and only few derive from continental margin locations. Here we examine lower Paleogene marls and chalks collected from a core (RH-323) in the Northern Negev Desert (Southern Israel). The studied sediments accumulated on a continental slope of the southern Tethys at ~500–700 m paleodepth and did not undergo deep burial. We analyzed bulk carbonate stable carbon and oxygen isotopes and bulk magnetic susceptibility. The resulting records can be aligned with those from elsewhere and include the Paleocene Carbon Isotope Maximum (PCIM), Paleocene Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) and Early Eocene Climatic Optimum (EECO). An obvious realization is a concurrence between local lithological variations and major climate and carbon cycle changes. This has been highlighted for sedimentary sequences elsewhere, but the relations differ in the Negev, such that carbonate rich intervals mark the PCIM and PETM, and a transition from marl to chalk initiates the EECO. Overall, the relatively pristine and immature sediment records in southern Israel likely provide potential for high-resolution paleoclimate and carbon cycle reconstructions during a crucial time interval and in a crucial part of the world.