The Eocene ( IPA : / ˈ iː ə s iː n , ˈ iː oʊ -/ EE -ə-seen, EE -oh- ) is a geological epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (Ma). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period in the modern Cenozoic Era . The name Eocene comes from the Ancient Greek Ἠώς ( Ēṓs , " Dawn ") and καινός ( kainós , "new") and refers to the "dawn" of modern ('new') fauna that appeared during the epoch.
138-575: Events/Artifacts (north to south) Events/Artifacts Artifacts Mount Pinatubo is an active stratovolcano in the Zambales Mountains in Luzon in the Philippines . Located on the tripoint of Zambales , Tarlac and Pampanga provinces, most people were unaware of its eruptive history before the pre-eruption volcanic activity in early 1991. Dense forests , which supported
276-420: A "significant decrease" in volcanic earthquakes, with a total of 104 quakes or an average 2–3 events per day recorded from July 1 – August 1, 2021. On November 30, 2021, PHIVOLCS reported a weak explosion occurred on Mt. Pinatubo between 12:09 p.m. and 12:13 p.m., which produced a plume. The agency later confirmed it was a phreatic explosion produced by hydrothermal fluids near the surface, rather than
414-485: A 2.5 km (1.6 mi) wide caldera. Following the climactic eruption of June 15, 1991, activity at the volcano continued at a much lower level, with continuous ash eruptions lasting until August 1991 and episodic eruptions continuing for another month. Activity at the volcano remained low until July 1992 when a new lava dome started growing in the caldera . Volcanologists suspected that further violent eruptions could be possible, and some areas were evacuated. However,
552-747: A 4-inch thick ash layer can weigh 120-200 pounds and can get twice as heavy when wet. Wet ash also poses a risk to electronics due to its conductive nature. Dense clouds of hot volcanic ash can be expelled due to the collapse of an eruptive column , or laterally due to the partial collapse of a volcanic edifice or lava dome during explosive eruptions . These clouds are known as pyroclastic surges and in addition to ash , they contain hot lava , pumice , rock , and volcanic gas . Pyroclastic surges flow at speeds over 50 mph and are at temperatures between 200 °C – 700 °C. These surges can cause major damage to property and people in their path. Lava flows from stratovolcanoes are generally not
690-429: A certain community or indigenous group who have occupied or possessed the land continuously in accordance with their customs and traditions since time immemorial. They have the legal right to collectively possess and to enjoy the land and its natural resources to the exclusion of others. Having the land title will protect them from others – including foreigners – exploiting their land without compensation to and consent from
828-479: A fast moving mudflow . Lahars are typically about 60% sediment and 40% water. Depending on the abundance of volcanic debris the lahar can be fluid or thick like concrete. Lahars have the strength and speed to flatten structures and cause great bodily harm, gaining speeds up to dozens of kilometers per hour. In the 1985 eruption of Nevado del Ruiz in Colombia , Pyroclastic surges melted snow and ice atop
966-515: A final intermediate composition . When the magma nears the top surface, it pools in a magma chamber within the crust below the stratovolcano. The processes that trigger the final eruption remain a question for further research. Possible mechanisms include: These internal triggers may be modified by external triggers such as sector collapse , earthquakes , or interactions with groundwater . Some of these triggers operate only under limited conditions. For example, sector collapse (where part of
1104-455: A huge turtle and throw fire from his mouth. In the legend, when being chased by the spirit hunters, Bacobaco flees to the mountain and digs a great hole in its summit showering the surrounding land with rock, mud, dust and fire for three days; howling so loudly that the earth shakes. Aeta elders tell many stories about the history of the mountain, the best known being that it was once a Batung Mabye ( Kapampangan language for "living stone"). It
1242-642: A large flood was accidentally triggered. Workers cut a 5-meter (16 ft) notch in the crater rim and drained about a quarter of the lake's volume. On July 10, 2002, the west wall of the crater collapsed, slowly releasing approximately 160 million cubic meters (5.7 × 10 ^ cu ft) of water and sediment into the Maraunot River in Botolan, Zambales . On July 26, 2011, a 5.9 magnitude earthquake struck close to Pinatubo; however, no major damages or casualties were reported. On March 4, 2021,
1380-431: A large body of water is also present. In an attempt to try to mitigate the cooling polar temperatures, large lakes were proposed to mitigate seasonal climate changes. To replicate this case, a lake was inserted into North America and a climate model was run using varying carbon dioxide levels. The model runs concluded that while the lake did reduce the seasonality of the region greater than just an increase in carbon dioxide,
1518-459: A lone peak, based on a profile fitting to the remaining lower slopes, or lower if it had more than one peak. The old volcano is exposed in the walls of an old 3.5 km × 4.5 km (2.2 mi × 2.8 mi) wide caldera , referred to as Tayawan Caldera by Delfin. Some of the nearby peaks are the remnants of ancestral Pinatubo, left behind when the softer parts of the old mountain slopes were eroded by weathering . Ancestral Pinatubo
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#17327876265791656-470: A magmatic eruption. The word pinatubo could mean "fertile place where one can make crops grow", or could mean "made to grow", in Sambal and Tagalog , which may suggest a knowledge of its previous eruption in about 1500 AD. There is a local oral tradition suggestive of a folk memory of earlier large eruptions. An ancient legend tells of Bacobaco, a terrible spirit of the sea, who could metamorphose into
1794-540: A marine ecosystem)—one of the largest in the Cenozoic. This event happened around 55.8 Ma, and was one of the most significant periods of global change during the Cenozoic. The middle Eocene was characterized by the shift towards a cooler climate at the end of the EECO, around 47.8 Ma, which was briefly interrupted by another warming event called the middle Eocene climatic optimum (MECO). Lasting for about 400,000 years,
1932-465: A new, more violent phase of the eruption. A few hours later the same day, massive blasts lasting about half an hour generated big eruption columns, which quickly reached heights of over 19 kilometres (62,000 ft) and which generated large pyroclastic surges extending up to four kilometres (2.5 mi) from the summit in some river valleys . Fourteen hours later, a 15-minute blast hurled volcanic matter to heights of 24 km (15 mi). Friction in
2070-560: A population of several thousand indigenous Aetas , heavily eroded and obscured Pinatubo. Pinatubo is known for its VEI -6 eruption on June 15, 1991 , the second-largest terrestrial eruption of the 20th century after the 1912 eruption of Novarupta in Alaska . The eruption coincided with Typhoon Yunya making landfall in the Philippines, which brought a dangerous mix of ash and rain to nearby towns and cities. Early predictions led to
2208-769: A result of intraplate volcanism on oceanic islands far from plate boundaries. Examples are Teide in the Canary Islands , and Pico do Fogo in Cape Verde . Stratovolcanoes in the East African Rift include Ol Doinyo Lengai in Tanzania, and Longonot in Kenya. Subduction zone volcanoes form when hydrous minerals are pulled down into the mantle on the slab. These hydrous minerals, such as chlorite and serpentine , release their water into
2346-511: A role in triggering the ETM2 and ETM3. An enhancement of the biological pump proved effective at sequestering excess carbon during the recovery phases of these hyperthermals. These hyperthermals led to increased perturbations in planktonic and benthic foraminifera , with a higher rate of fluvial sedimentation as a consequence of the warmer temperatures. Unlike the PETM, the lesser hyperthermals of
2484-533: A significant amount of water vapor is released. Another requirement for polar stratospheric clouds is cold temperatures to ensure condensation and cloud production. Polar stratospheric cloud production, since it requires the cold temperatures, is usually limited to nighttime and winter conditions. With this combination of wetter and colder conditions in the lower stratosphere, polar stratospheric clouds could have formed over wide areas in Polar Regions. To test
2622-461: A significant threat to humans or animals because the highly viscous lava moves slowly enough for everyone to evacuate. Most deaths attributed to lava are due to related causes such as explosions and asphyxiation from toxic gas . Lava flows can bury homes and farms in thick volcanic rock which greatly reduces property value. However, not all stratovolcanoes erupt viscous and sticky lava . Nyiragongo , near Lake Kivu in central Africa ,
2760-775: A wide variety of climate conditions that includes the warmest climate in the Cenozoic Era , and arguably the warmest time interval since the Permian-Triassic mass extinction and Early Triassic, and ends in an icehouse climate. The evolution of the Eocene climate began with warming after the end of the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) at 56 Ma to a maximum during the Eocene Optimum at around 49 Ma. During this period of time, little to no ice
2898-435: Is a conical volcano built up by many alternating layers ( strata ) of hardened lava and tephra . Unlike shield volcanoes , stratovolcanoes are characterized by a steep profile with a summit crater and explosive eruptions. Some have collapsed summit craters called calderas . The lava flowing from stratovolcanoes typically cools and solidifies before spreading far, due to high viscosity . The magma forming this lava
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#17327876265793036-424: Is a somma volcano with modern Pinatubo as the new cone. Mount Dorst, to the east, is part of the dip slope of the ancestral Pinatubo. Several mountains near modern Pinatubo are old satellite vents of ancestral Pinatubo, forming volcanic plugs and lava domes. These satellite vents were probably active around the same time as the ancestral volcano and include the domes of Mount Negron, Mount Cuadrado, Mount Mataba and
3174-531: Is a passive release of gas during periods of dormancy. As per the above examples, while eruptions like Mount Unzen have caused deaths and local damage, the impact of the June 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo was seen globally. The eruptive columns reached heights of 40 km and dumped 17 megatons of SO 2 into the lower stratosphere . The aerosols that formed from the sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ), carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), and other gases dispersed around
3312-487: Is about 87 kilometers (54 mi) northwest of Manila , the capital of the Philippines. Near Mount Pinatubo are former military bases that were maintained by the United States. The U.S. Naval Base Subic Bay was 37 kilometers (23 mi) south of Pinatubo, and the extent of Clark Air Base was just 14 kilometers (8.7 mi) east of the volcano's summit. The volcano is near to about 6 million people. Even before
3450-459: Is an important factor in the creation of the primary Type II polar stratospheric clouds that were created in the early Eocene. Since water vapor is the only supporting substance used in Type II polar stratospheric clouds, the presence of water vapor in the lower stratosphere is necessary where in most situations the presence of water vapor in the lower stratosphere is rare. When methane is oxidized,
3588-638: Is considered to be primarily due to carbon dioxide increases, because carbon isotope signatures rule out major methane release during this short-term warming. A sharp increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide was observed with a maximum of 4,000 ppm: the highest amount of atmospheric carbon dioxide detected during the Eocene. Other studies suggest a more modest rise in carbon dioxide levels. The increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide has also been hypothesised to have been driven by increased seafloor spreading rates and metamorphic decarbonation reactions between Australia and Antarctica and increased amounts of volcanism in
3726-594: Is conventionally divided into early (56–47.8 Ma), middle (47.8–38 Ma), and late (38–33.9 Ma) subdivisions. The corresponding rocks are referred to as lower, middle, and upper Eocene. The Ypresian Stage constitutes the lower, the Priabonian Stage the upper; and the Lutetian and Bartonian stages are united as the middle Eocene. The Western North American floras of the Eocene were divided into four floral "stages" by Jack Wolfe ( 1968 ) based on work with
3864-480: Is flanked on the west by the Zambales Ophiolite Complex, which is an easterly-dipping section of Eocene oceanic crust uplifted during the late Oligocene . The Tarlac Formation north, east and southeast of Pinatubo consists of marine, nonmarine and volcanoclastic sediments formed in the late Miocene and Pliocene . The most recent study of Mount Pinatubo before the activities of 1991 was
4002-476: Is often felsic , having high to intermediate levels of silica (as in rhyolite , dacite , or andesite ), with lesser amounts of less viscous mafic magma . Extensive felsic lava flows are uncommon, but can travel as far as 8 km (5 mi). The term composite volcano is used because the strata are usually mixed and uneven instead of neat layers. They are among the most common types of volcanoes; more than 700 stratovolcanoes have erupted lava during
4140-720: Is short lived, as benthic oxygen isotope records indicate a return to cooling at ~40 Ma. At the end of the MECO, the MLEC resumed. Cooling and the carbon dioxide drawdown continued through the late Eocene and into the Eocene–Oligocene transition around 34 Ma. The post-MECO cooling brought with it a major aridification trend in Asia, enhanced by retreating seas. A monsoonal climate remained predominant in East Asia. The cooling during
4278-451: Is the most famous example of a hazardous stratovolcano eruption. It completely smothered the nearby ancient cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum with thick deposits of pyroclastic surges and pumice ranging from 6–7 meters deep. Pompeii had 10,000-20,000 inhabitants at the time of eruption. Mount Vesuvius is recognized as one of the most dangerous of the world's volcanoes, due to its capacity for powerful explosive eruptions coupled with
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4416-535: Is the period of time when the Antarctic ice sheet began to rapidly expand. Greenhouse gases, in particular carbon dioxide and methane , played a significant role during the Eocene in controlling the surface temperature. The end of the PETM was met with very large sequestration of carbon dioxide into the forms of methane clathrate , coal , and crude oil at the bottom of the Arctic Ocean , that reduced
4554-450: Is typically between 700 and 1,200 °C (1,300-2,200 °F). Volcanic bombs are masses of unconsolidated rock and lava that are ejected during an eruption. Volcanic bombs are classified as larger than 64mm (2.5 inches). Anything below 64mm is classified as a volcanic block . When erupted Bombs are still molten and partially cool and solidify on their descent. They can form ribbon or oval shapes that can also flatten on impact with
4692-403: Is very dangerous because its magma has an unusually low silica content , making it much less viscous than other stratovolcanoes. Low viscosity lava can generate massive lava fountains , while lava of thicker viscosity can solidify within the vent, creating a volcanic plug . Volcanic plugs can trap gas and create pressure in the magma chamber, resulting in violent eruptions. Lava
4830-681: The Cabusilan sub-range of the Zambales Mountains , which consists of Mount Cuadrado , Mount Negron , Mount Mataba and Mount Pinatubo. They are subduction volcanoes, formed by the Eurasian plate sliding under the Philippine Mobile Belt along the Manila Trench to the west. Mount Pinatubo and the other volcanoes on this volcanic belt arise due to magmatic occlusion from this subduction plate boundary. Pinatubo
4968-565: The Eocene–Oligocene extinction event , which may be related to the impact of one or more large bolides in Siberia and in what is now Chesapeake Bay . As with other geologic periods , the strata that define the start and end of the epoch are well identified, though their exact dates are slightly uncertain. The term "Eocene" is derived from Ancient Greek Ἠώς ( Ēṓs ) meaning "Dawn", and καινός kainos meaning "new" or "recent", as
5106-824: The Holocene Epoch (the last 11,700 years), and many older, now extinct, stratovolcanoes erupted lava as far back as Archean times. Stratovolcanoes are typically found in subduction zones but they also occur in other geological settings. Two examples of stratovolcanoes famous for catastrophic eruptions are Krakatoa in Indonesia (which erupted in 1883 claiming 36,000 lives) and Mount Vesuvius in Italy (which erupted in 79 A.D killing an estimated 2,000 people). In modern times, Mount St. Helens (1980) in Washington State , US, and Mount Pinatubo (1991) in
5244-713: The Middle Eocene Climatic Optimum (MECO). At around 41.5 Ma, stable isotopic analysis of samples from Southern Ocean drilling sites indicated a warming event for 600,000 years. A similar shift in carbon isotopes is known from the Northern Hemisphere in the Scaglia Limestones of Italy. Oxygen isotope analysis showed a large negative change in the proportion of heavier oxygen isotopes to lighter oxygen isotopes, which indicates an increase in global temperatures. The warming
5382-672: The National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP), the government agency that deals with issues concerning indigenous people of the Philippines. The approved and declared net land area of 7,440.1 ha (18,385 acres) covers the barangays of Mawakat and Nabuklod in Floridablanca, Pampanga , plus a portion of San Marcelino, Zambales , and a portion of Barangay Batiawan in Subic, Zambales . On January 14, 2010, some 7,000 Aeta families from Zambales were officially granted
5520-520: The Philippines have erupted catastrophically, but with fewer deaths. Stratovolcanoes are common at subduction zones , forming chains and clusters along plate tectonic boundaries where an oceanic crust plate is drawn under a continental crust plate (continental arc volcanism, e.g. Cascade Range , Andes , Campania ) or another oceanic crust plate ( island arc volcanism, e.g. Japan , Philippines , Aleutian Islands ). Stratovolcanoes also occur in some other geological settings, for example as
5658-761: The Puget Group fossils of King County, Washington . The four stages, Franklinian , Fultonian , Ravenian , and Kummerian covered the Early Eocene through early Oligocene, and three of the four were given informal early/late substages. Wolfe tentatively deemed the Franklinian as Early Eocene, the Fultonian as Middle Eocene, the Ravenian as Late, and the Kummerian as Early Oligocene. The beginning of
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5796-458: The amount of oxygen in the Earth's atmosphere more or less doubled. During the warming in the early Eocene between 55 and 52 Ma, there were a series of short-term changes of carbon isotope composition in the ocean. These isotope changes occurred due to the release of carbon from the ocean into the atmosphere that led to a temperature increase of 4–8 °C (7.2–14.4 °F) at the surface of
5934-891: The magma is too viscous to allow easy escape of volcanic gases . As a consequence, the tremendous internal pressures of the trapped volcanic gases remain and intermingle in the pasty magma . Following the breaching of the vent and the opening of the crater, the magma degasses explosively. The magma and gases blast out with high speed and full force. Since 1600 CE , nearly 300,000 people have been killed by volcanic eruptions . Most deaths were caused by pyroclastic flows and lahars , deadly hazards that often accompany explosive eruptions of subduction-zone stratovolcanoes. Pyroclastic flows are swift, avalanche-like, ground-sweeping, incandescent mixtures of hot volcanic debris, fine ash , fragmented lava , and superheated gases that can travel at speeds over 150 km/h (90 mph). Around 30,000 people were killed by pyroclastic flows during
6072-443: The mantle which decreases its melting point by 60 to 100 °C. The release of water from hydrated minerals is termed " dewatering ", and occurs at specific pressures and temperatures for each mineral, as the plate descends to greater depths. This allows the mantle to partially melt and generate magma . This is called flux melting . The magma then rises through the crust , incorporating silica-rich crustal rock, leading to
6210-417: The proxy data . Using all different ranges of greenhouse gasses that occurred during the early Eocene, models were unable to produce the warming that was found at the poles and the reduced seasonality that occurs with winters at the poles being substantially warmer. The models, while accurately predicting the tropics, tend to produce significantly cooler temperatures of up to 20 °C (36 °F) colder than
6348-666: The southeast United States . After the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum, members of the Equoidea arose in North America and Europe, giving rise to some of the earliest equids such as Sifrhippus and basal European equoids such as the palaeothere Hyracotherium . Some of the later equoids were especially species-rich; Palaeotherium , ranging from small to very large in size, is known from as many as 16 species. Established large-sized mammals of
6486-616: The 1902 eruption of Mount Pelée on the island of Martinique in the Caribbean . During March and April 1982, El Chichón in the State of Chiapas in southeastern Mexico , erupted 3 times, causing the worst volcanic disaster in that country's history and killied more than 2,000 people in pyroclastic flows . Two Decade Volcanoes that erupted in 1991 provide examples of stratovolcano hazards. On 15 June, Mount Pinatubo erupted and caused an ash cloud to shoot 40 km (25 mi) into
6624-485: The 1982 eruption of Galunggung in Java , British Airways Flight 9 flew into the ash cloud, causing it to sustain temporary engine failure and structural damage. Although no crashes have happened due to ash, more than 60, mostly commercial aircraft , have been damaged. Some of these incidents resulted in emergency landings. Ashfalls are a threat to health when inhaled and are also a threat to property. A square yard of
6762-442: The 1991 eruption, Mount Pinatubo had little topographic prominence : it was 1,745 m (5,725 ft) above sea level, only about 600 m (2,000 ft) above nearby plains , and only about 200 m (660 ft) higher than surrounding peaks, which largely obscured it from view. It is part of a chain of volcanoes which lie along the western side of the island of Luzon called the Zambales Mountains . Pinatubo belongs to
6900-585: The 5,321 m (17,457 ft) high Andean volcano. The ensuing lahar killed 25,000 people and flooded the city of Armero and nearby settlements. As a volcano forms, several different gases mix with magma in the volcanic chamber. During an eruption the gases are then released into the atmosphere which can lead to toxic human exposure. The most abundant of these gases is H 2 O ( water ) followed by CO 2 ( carbon dioxide ), SO 2 ( sulfur dioxide ), H 2 S ( hydrogen sulfide ), and HF ( hydrogen fluoride ). If at concentrations of more than 3% in
7038-620: The Azolla Event. This cooling trend at the end of the EECO has also been proposed to have been caused by increased siliceous plankton productivity and marine carbon burial, which also helped draw carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. Cooling after this event, part of a trend known as the Middle-Late Eocene Cooling (MLEC), continued due to continual decrease in atmospheric carbon dioxide from organic productivity and weathering from mountain building . Many regions of
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#17327876265797176-721: The Bituin and Tapungho plugs. Later eruptions of modern Pinatubo occurred episodically and lasted for periods much shorter than the repose intervals between them. Subsequent eruptions and eruptive period occurred about: Each of these eruptions seems to have been very large, ejecting more than 10 km (2.4 cu mi) of material and covering large parts of the surrounding areas with pyroclastic flow deposits. Some eruptive periods have lasted decades and perhaps as much as several centuries and might appear to include multiple large explosive eruptions. The maximum size of eruptions in each eruptive period though has been getting smaller through
7314-666: The Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title (CADT) covering the Zambales side of Pinatubo which includes the summit and Lake Pinatubo, officially becoming their lutan tua (ancestral land). The ancestral domain title covers 15,984 ha (39,500 acres) and includes the villages of Burgos, Villar, Moraza and Belbel in Botolan and portions of the towns of Cabangan , San Felipe and San Marcelino . Ancestral domain titles are awarded to
7452-404: The EECO. Relative to present-day values, bottom water temperatures are 10 °C (18 °F) higher according to isotope proxies. With these bottom water temperatures, temperatures in areas where deep water forms near the poles are unable to be much cooler than the bottom water temperatures. An issue arises, however, when trying to model the Eocene and reproduce the results that are found with
7590-548: The Early Eocene had negligible consequences for terrestrial mammals. These Early Eocene hyperthermals produced a sustained period of extremely hot climate known as the Early Eocene Climatic Optimum (EECO). During the early and middle EECO, the superabundance of the euryhaline dinocyst Homotryblium in New Zealand indicates elevated ocean salinity in the region. One of the unique features of
7728-440: The Earth including the poles. Tropical forests extended across much of modern Africa, South America, Central America, India, South-east Asia and China. Paratropical forests grew over North America, Europe and Russia, with broad-leafed evergreen and broad-leafed deciduous forests at higher latitudes. Polar forests were quite extensive. Fossils and even preserved remains of trees such as swamp cypress and dawn redwood from
7866-691: The Eocene and Neogene for the Miocene and Pliocene in 1853. After decades of inconsistent usage, the newly formed International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS), in 1969, standardized stratigraphy based on the prevailing opinions in Europe: the Cenozoic Era subdivided into the Tertiary and Quaternary sub-eras, and the Tertiary subdivided into the Paleogene and Neogene periods. In 1978, the Paleogene
8004-566: The Eocene have been found on Ellesmere Island in the Arctic . Even at that time, Ellesmere Island was only a few degrees in latitude further south than it is today. Fossils of subtropical and even tropical trees and plants from the Eocene also have been found in Greenland and Alaska . Tropical rainforests grew as far north as northern North America and Europe . Palm trees were growing as far north as Alaska and northern Europe during
8142-619: The Eocene include the Uintatherium , Arsinoitherium , and brontotheres , in which the former two, unlike the latter, did not belong to ungulates but groups that became extinct shortly after their establishments. Large terrestrial mammalian predators had already existed since the Paleocene, but new forms now arose like Hyaenodon and Daphoenus (the earliest lineage of a once-successful predatory family known as bear dogs ). Entelodonts meanwhile established themselves as some of
8280-544: The Eocene's climate as mentioned before was the equable and homogeneous climate that existed in the early parts of the Eocene. A multitude of proxies support the presence of a warmer equable climate being present during this period of time. A few of these proxies include the presence of fossils native to warm climates, such as crocodiles , located in the higher latitudes, the presence in the high latitudes of frost-intolerant flora such as palm trees which cannot survive during sustained freezes, and fossils of snakes found in
8418-664: The Eocene, and compression was replaced with crustal extension that ultimately gave rise to the Basin and Range Province . The Kishenehn Basin, around 1.5 km in elevation during the Lutetian, was uplifted to an altitude of 2.5 km by the Priabonian. Huge lakes formed in the high flat basins among uplifts, resulting in the deposition of the Green River Formation lagerstätte . At about 35 Ma, an asteroid impact on
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#17327876265798556-466: The Eocene-Oligocene transition is the timing of the creation of the circulation is uncertain. For Drake Passage , sediments indicate the opening occurred ~41 Ma while tectonics indicate that this occurred ~32 Ma. Solar activity did not change significantly during the greenhouse-icehouse transition across the Eocene-Oligocene boundary. During the early-middle Eocene, forests covered most of
8694-439: The Kummerian was refined by Gregory Retallack et al (2004) as 40 Mya, with a refined end at the Eocene-Oligocene boundary where the younger Angoonian floral stage starts. During the Eocene, the continents continued to drift toward their present positions. At the beginning of the period, Australia and Antarctica remained connected, and warm equatorial currents may have mixed with colder Antarctic waters, distributing
8832-489: The MECO was responsible for a globally uniform 4° to 6°C warming of both the surface and deep oceans, as inferred from foraminiferal stable oxygen isotope records. The resumption of a long-term gradual cooling trend resulted in a glacial maximum at the late Eocene/early Oligocene boundary. The end of the Eocene was also marked by the Eocene–Oligocene extinction event , also known as the Grande Coupure . The Eocene
8970-679: The MECO. Both groups of modern ungulates (hoofed animals) became prevalent because of a major radiation between Europe and North America, along with carnivorous ungulates like Mesonyx . Early forms of many other modern mammalian orders appeared, including horses (most notably the Eohippus ), bats , proboscidians (elephants), primates, and rodents . Older primitive forms of mammals declined in variety and importance. Important Eocene land fauna fossil remains have been found in western North America, Europe, Patagonia , Egypt , and southeast Asia . Marine fauna are best known from South Asia and
9108-469: The North American continent, and it reduced the seasonal variation of temperature by up to 75%. While orbital parameters did not produce the warming at the poles, the parameters did show a great effect on seasonality and needed to be considered. Another method considered for producing the warm polar temperatures were polar stratospheric clouds . Polar stratospheric clouds are clouds that occur in
9246-415: The PETM event in the sea floor or wetland environments. For contrast, today the carbon dioxide levels are at 400 ppm or 0.04%. During the early Eocene, methane was another greenhouse gas that had a drastic effect on the climate. Methane has 30 times more of a warming effect than carbon dioxide on a 100-year scale (i.e., methane has a global warming potential of 29.8±11). Most of the methane released to
9384-467: The PHIVOLCS raised alert level 1 over Mount Pinatubo after reporting an increase on its seismic activity. 1,722 volcanic earthquakes were also recorded within the vicinity of the volcano since January 2021. On August 11, 2021, PHIVOLCS downgraded Mt. Pinatubo's Alert Level 1 to Level 0, due to "continued decrease in earthquake activity and a return to baseline seismic parameters". PHIVOLCS said it noted
9522-405: The actual determined temperature at the poles. This error has been classified as the "equable climate problem". To solve this problem, the solution would involve finding a process to warm the poles without warming the tropics. Some hypotheses and tests which attempt to find the process are listed below. Due to the nature of water as opposed to land, less temperature variability would be present if
9660-410: The addition of a large lake was unable to reduce the seasonality to the levels shown by the floral and faunal data. The transport of heat from the tropics to the poles, much like how ocean heat transport functions in modern times, was considered a possibility for the increased temperature and reduced seasonality for the poles. With the increased sea surface temperatures and the increased temperature of
9798-819: The air, when breathed in CO 2 can cause dizziness and difficulty breathing. At more than 15% concentration CO 2 causes death. CO 2 can settle into depressions in the land, leading to deadly, odorless pockets of gas. SO 2 classified as a respiratory, skin, and eye irritant if come into contact with. It is known for its pungent egg smell and role in ozone depletion and has the potential to cause acid rain downwind of an eruption. H 2 S has an even stronger odor than SO 2 as well as being even more toxic. Exposure for less than an hour at concentrations of over 500 ppm causes death. HF and similar species can coat ash particles and once deposited can poison soil and water. Gases are also emitted during volcanic degassing, which
9936-748: The air. It produced large pyroclastic surges and lahar floods that caused a lot of damage to the surrounding area. Pinatubo , located in Central Luzon just 90 km (56 mi) west-northwest of Manila , had been dormant for six centuries before the 1991 eruption. This eruption was one of the 2nd largest in the 20th century. It produced a large volcanic ash cloud that affected global temperatures, lowering them in areas as much as .5 °C. The volcanic ash cloud consisted of 22 million tons of SO 2 which combined with water droplets to create sulfuric acid . In 1991 Japan's Unzen Volcano also erupted, after 200 years of inactivity. It's located on
10074-422: The amount of polar stratospheric clouds. While the polar stratospheric clouds could explain the reduction of the equator to pole temperature gradient and the increased temperatures at the poles during the early Eocene, there are a few drawbacks to maintaining polar stratospheric clouds for an extended period of time. Separate model runs were used to determine the sustainability of the polar stratospheric clouds. It
10212-456: The atmosphere during this period of time would have been from wetlands, swamps, and forests. The atmospheric methane concentration today is 0.000179% or 1.79 ppmv . As a result of the warmer climate and the sea level rise associated with the early Eocene, more wetlands, more forests, and more coal deposits would have been available for methane release. If we compare the early Eocene production of methane to current levels of atmospheric methane,
10350-528: The atmosphere may have been more important. Once the Antarctic region began to cool down, the ocean surrounding Antarctica began to freeze, sending cold water and icefloes north and reinforcing the cooling. The northern supercontinent of Laurasia began to fragment, as Europe , Greenland and North America drifted apart. In western North America, the Laramide Orogeny came to an end in
10488-524: The atmospheric carbon dioxide. This event was similar in magnitude to the massive release of greenhouse gasses at the beginning of the PETM, and it is hypothesized that the sequestration was mainly due to organic carbon burial and weathering of silicates. For the early Eocene there is much discussion on how much carbon dioxide was in the atmosphere. This is due to numerous proxies representing different atmospheric carbon dioxide content. For example, diverse geochemical and paleontological proxies indicate that at
10626-505: The beginning of the Oligocene Epoch. The start of the Eocene is marked by a brief period in which the concentration of the carbon isotope C in the atmosphere was exceptionally low in comparison with the more common isotope C . The average temperature of Earth at the beginning of the Eocene was about 27 degrees Celsius. The end is set at a major extinction event called the Grande Coupure (the "Great Break" in continuity) or
10764-420: The birth of "modern" Pinatubo. Much of the rugged land around the present volcano consists of remnants of "ancestral" Pinatubo. It was an andesite and dacite stratovolcano whose eruptive activity was much less explosive than modern Pinatubo. Its center was roughly where the current volcano is. The projected height of the mountain is up to 2,300 m (7,500 ft), or 1.43 miles above sea level if it were
10902-514: The center plains, shattered the mountain into smaller bodies and Mount Arayat lost its center peak. Other versions have it that Pinatubo's peak shattered because of Namalyari's immense fury in an attempt to teach humans the meaning of fear and show how misdeeds will be punished. According to the native elders, Apo Namalyari induced the June 1991 eruption because of displeasure toward illegal loggers and Philippine National Oil Company executives who performed deep exploratory drilling and well testing on
11040-459: The countryside. Fine ash fell as far away as the Indian Ocean and satellites tracked the ash cloud several times around the globe. Huge pyroclastic flows roared down the flanks of Mount Pinatubo, filling once-deep valleys with fresh volcanic deposits as much as 200 m (660 ft) thick. The eruption removed so much magma and rock from below the volcano that the summit collapsed to form
11178-413: The decline into an icehouse climate and the rapid expansion of the Antarctic ice sheet . The transition from a warming climate into a cooling climate began at around 49 Ma. Isotopes of carbon and oxygen indicate a shift to a global cooling climate. The cause of the cooling has been attributed to a significant decrease of >2,000 ppm in atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations. One proposed cause of
11316-437: The deep ocean water during the early Eocene, one common hypothesis was that due to these increases there would be a greater transport of heat from the tropics to the poles. Simulating these differences, the models produced lower heat transport due to the lower temperature gradients and were unsuccessful in producing an equable climate from only ocean heat transport. While typically seen as a control on ice growth and seasonality,
11454-410: The deep ocean. On top of that, MECO warming caused an increase in the respiration rates of pelagic heterotrophs , leading to a decreased proportion of primary productivity making its way down to the seafloor and causing a corresponding decline in populations of benthic foraminifera. An abrupt decrease in lakewater salinity in western North America occurred during this warming interval. This warming
11592-411: The early Eocene would have produced triple the amount of methane. The warm temperatures during the early Eocene could have increased methane production rates, and methane that is released into the atmosphere would in turn warm the troposphere, cool the stratosphere, and produce water vapor and carbon dioxide through oxidation. Biogenic production of methane produces carbon dioxide and water vapor along with
11730-901: The early Eocene, although they became less abundant as the climate cooled. Dawn redwoods were far more extensive as well. The earliest definitive Eucalyptus fossils were dated from 51.9 Ma, and were found in the Laguna del Hunco deposit in Chubut province in Argentina . Cooling began mid-period, and by the end of the Eocene continental interiors had begun to dry, with forests thinning considerably in some areas. The newly evolved grasses were still confined to river banks and lake shores, and had not yet expanded into plains and savannas . The cooling also brought seasonal changes. Deciduous trees, better able to cope with large temperature changes, began to overtake evergreen tropical species. By
11868-639: The eastern coast of North America formed the Chesapeake Bay impact crater . The Tethys Ocean finally closed with the collision of Africa and Eurasia, while the uplift of the Alps isolated its final remnant, the Mediterranean , and created another shallow sea with island archipelagos to the north. Planktonic foraminifera in the northwestern Peri-Tethys are very similar to those of the Tethys in
12006-544: The end of the period, deciduous forests covered large parts of the northern continents, including North America, Eurasia and the Arctic, and rainforests held on only in equatorial South America , Africa , India and Australia . Antarctica began the Eocene fringed with a warm temperate to sub-tropical rainforest . Pollen found in Prydz Bay from the Eocene suggest taiga forest existed there. It became much colder as
12144-508: The enhanced burial of azolla could have had a significant effect on the world atmospheric carbon content and may have been the event to begin the transition into an ice house climate. The azolla event could have led to a draw down of atmospheric carbon dioxide of up to 470 ppm. Assuming the carbon dioxide concentrations were at 900 ppmv prior to the Azolla Event they would have dropped to 430 ppmv, or 30 ppmv more than they are today, after
12282-472: The enhanced carbon dioxide levels found in the early Eocene. The isolation of the Arctic Ocean, evidenced by euxinia that occurred at this time, led to stagnant waters and as the azolla sank to the sea floor, they became part of the sediments on the seabed and effectively sequestered the carbon by locking it out of the atmosphere for good. The ability for the azolla to sequester carbon is exceptional, and
12420-633: The epoch saw the dawn of recent, or modern, life. Scottish geologist Charles Lyell (ignoring the Quaternary) divided the Tertiary Epoch into the Eocene, Miocene , Pliocene , and New Pliocene ( Holocene ) Periods in 1833. British geologist John Phillips proposed the Cenozoic in 1840 in place of the Tertiary, and Austrian paleontologist Moritz Hörnes introduced the Paleogene for
12558-465: The eruption was only minor. The last eruption of Mount Pinatubo took place in 1993. The 1991 caldera afterwards filled with water from annual monsoon rains and a crater lake , Lake Pinatubo , was formed. In 1992, a growing lava dome formed an island, which was eventually submerged by the lake. Initially, the lake was hot and highly acidic , with a minimum pH of 2 and a temperature of about 40 °C (104 °F). Subsequent rainfall cooled and diluted
12696-616: The evacuation of tens of thousands of people, saving many lives. The eruption severely damaged surrounding areas with pyroclastic surges , pyroclastic falls , and later, flooding lahars caused by rainwater re-mobilizing volcanic deposits. This destruction affected infrastructure and altered river systems for years. Minor dome -forming eruptions inside the caldera continued from 1992 to 1993. The 1991 eruption had worldwide effects. It released roughly 10 billion tonnes (1.1 × 10 short tons ) or 10 km (2.4 cu mi) of magma, bringing large amounts of minerals and toxic metals to
12834-494: The expansion of the ice sheet was the creation of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current . The creation of the Antarctic circumpolar current would isolate the cold water around the Antarctic, which would reduce heat transport to the Antarctic along with creating ocean gyres that result in the upwelling of colder bottom waters. The issue with this hypothesis of the consideration of this being a factor for
12972-540: The flank of a volcano collapses in a massive landslide) can only trigger the eruption of a very shallow magma chamber . Magma differentiation and thermal expansion also are ineffective as triggers for eruptions from deep magma chambers . In recorded history , explosive eruptions at subduction zone ( convergent-boundary ) volcanoes have posed the greatest hazard to civilizations. Subduction-zone stratovolcanoes, such as Mount St. Helens , Mount Etna and Mount Pinatubo , typically erupt with explosive force because
13110-478: The ground. Volcanic Bombs are associated with Strombolian and Vulcanian eruptions and basaltic lava . Ejection velocities ranging from 200 to 400 m/s have been recorded causing volcanic bombs to be destructive. Lahars (from a Javanese term for volcanic mudflows) are a mixture of volcanic debris and water. Lahars can result from heavy rainfall during or before the eruption or interaction with ice and snow. Meltwater mixes with volcanic debris causing
13248-399: The heat around the planet and keeping global temperatures high. When Australia split from the southern continent around 45 Ma, the warm equatorial currents were routed away from Antarctica. An isolated cold water channel developed between the two continents. However, modeling results call into question the thermal isolation model for late Eocene cooling, and decreasing carbon dioxide levels in
13386-458: The high population density of the surrounding Metropolitan Naples area (totaling about 3.6 million inhabitants). In addition to potentially affecting the climate, volcanic ash clouds from explosive eruptions pose a serious hazard to aviation . Volcanic ash clouds consist of ash which is made of silt or sand sized pieces of rock, mineral, volcanic glass . Ash grains are jagged, abrasive, and don't dissolve in water. For example, during
13524-402: The hot house to the cold house. The beginning of the Eocene is marked by the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum , a short period of intense warming and ocean acidification brought about by the release of carbon en masse into the atmosphere and ocean systems, which led to a mass extinction of 30–50% of benthic foraminifera (single-celled species which are used as bioindicators of the health of
13662-565: The indigenous tribes. In the past, the Aetas had to contend with mining companies, loggers, and recently, tourist companies who earn from Mount Pinatubo but do not compensate the local tribes. Long before Mount Pinatubo became famous for its cataclysmic eruption, Philippine president Ramon Magsaysay , a native of Zambales, named his C-47 presidential plane Mt. Pinatubo . The plane crashed into Mount Manunggal in Cebu province in 1957, killing
13800-588: The initial stages of the opening of the Drake Passage ~38.5 Ma was not global, as evidenced by an absence of cooling in the North Atlantic. During the cooling period, benthic oxygen isotopes show the possibility of ice creation and ice increase during this later cooling. The end of the Eocene and beginning of the Oligocene is marked with the massive expansion of area of the Antarctic ice sheet that
13938-504: The island of Kyushu about 40 km (25 mi) east of Nagasaki . Beginning in June, a newly formed lava dome repeatedly collapsed. This generated a pyroclastic flow that flowed down the mountain's slopes at speeds as high as 200 km/h (120 mph). The 1991 eruption of Mount Unzen was one of the worst volcanic disasters in Japan's history, once killing more than 15,000 people in 1792. The eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD
14076-512: The lake, lowering the temperature to 26 °C (79 °F) and raising the pH to 5.5 by 2003. The lake deepened by about 1 meter (3.3 ft) per month on average, eventually submerging the lava dome, until September 2001, when fears that the walls of the crater might be unstable prompted the Philippine government to order a controlled draining of the lake. An estimated 9,000 people were once again evacuated from surrounding areas in case
14214-516: The largest omnivores. The first nimravids , including Dinictis , established themselves as amongst the first feliforms to appear. Their groups became highly successful and continued to live past the Eocene. Basilosaurus is a very well-known Eocene whale , but whales as a group had become very diverse during the Eocene, which is when the major transitions from being terrestrial to fully aquatic in cetaceans occurred. The first sirenians were evolving at this time, and would eventually evolve into
14352-556: The lower stratosphere at very low temperatures. Polar stratospheric clouds have a great impact on radiative forcing. Due to their minimal albedo properties and their optical thickness, polar stratospheric clouds act similar to a greenhouse gas and trap outgoing longwave radiation. Different types of polar stratospheric clouds occur in the atmosphere: polar stratospheric clouds that are created due to interactions with nitric or sulfuric acid and water (Type I) or polar stratospheric clouds that are created with only water ice (Type II). Methane
14490-610: The maximum of global warmth the atmospheric carbon dioxide values were at 700–900 ppm , while model simulations suggest a concentration of 1,680 ppm fits best with deep sea, sea surface, and near-surface air temperatures of the time. Other proxies such as pedogenic (soil building) carbonate and marine boron isotopes indicate large changes of carbon dioxide of over 2,000 ppm over periods of time of less than 1 million years. This large influx of carbon dioxide could be attributed to volcanic out-gassing due to North Atlantic rifting or oxidation of methane stored in large reservoirs deposited from
14628-530: The members of the new mammal orders were small, under 10 kg; based on comparisons of tooth size, Eocene mammals were only 60% of the size of the primitive Palaeocene mammals that preceded them. They were also smaller than the mammals that followed them. It is assumed that the hot Eocene temperatures favored smaller animals that were better able to manage the heat. Rodents were widespread. East Asian rodent faunas declined in diversity when they shifted from ctenodactyloid-dominant to cricetid–dipodid-dominant after
14766-480: The methane, as well as yielding infrared radiation. The breakdown of methane in an atmosphere containing oxygen produces carbon monoxide, water vapor and infrared radiation. The carbon monoxide is not stable, so it eventually becomes carbon dioxide and in doing so releases yet more infrared radiation. Water vapor traps more infrared than does carbon dioxide. At about the beginning of the Eocene Epoch (55.8–33.9 Ma)
14904-569: The middle Lutetian but become completely disparate in the Bartonian, indicating biogeographic separation. Though the North Atlantic was opening, a land connection appears to have remained between North America and Europe since the faunas of the two regions are very similar. Eurasia was separated in three different landmasses 50 Ma; Western Europe, Balkanatolia and Asia. About 40 Ma, Balkanatolia and Asia were connected, while Europe
15042-399: The modern mammal orders appear within a brief period during the early Eocene . At the beginning of the Eocene, several new mammal groups arrived in North America. These modern mammals, like artiodactyls , perissodactyls , and primates , had features like long, thin legs , feet, and hands capable of grasping, as well as differentiated teeth adapted for chewing. Dwarf forms reigned. All
15180-421: The more than 35,000-year history of modern Pinatubo, but this might be an artifact of erosion and burial of older deposits. The oldest eruption of modern Pinatubo, Inararo, was also its largest. The 1991 eruption was among the smallest documented in its geologic record. The volcano has never grown very large between eruptions, because it produces mostly unwelded, easily erodible deposits and periodically destroys
15318-664: The ocean. Recent analysis of and research into these hyperthermals in the early Eocene has led to hypotheses that the hyperthermals are based on orbital parameters, in particular eccentricity and obliquity. The hyperthermals in the early Eocene, notably the Palaeocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM), the Eocene Thermal Maximum 2 (ETM2), and the Eocene Thermal Maximum 3 (ETM3), were analyzed and found that orbital control may have had
15456-416: The orbital parameters were theorized as a possible control on continental temperatures and seasonality. Simulating the Eocene by using an ice free planet, eccentricity , obliquity , and precession were modified in different model runs to determine all the possible different scenarios that could occur and their effects on temperature. One particular case led to warmer winters and cooler summer by up to 30% in
15594-593: The overall geological study in 1983 and 1984 made by F. G. Delfin for the Philippine National Oil Company as part of the surface investigations of the area before exploratory drilling and well testing for geothermal energy sources in 1988 to 1990. He recognized two life histories of the mountain, which he classified as "ancestral" and "modern" Pinatubo. Activity of Ancestral Pinatubo seems to have begun about 1.1 million years ago and probably ended tens of thousands of years or more before
15732-416: The period progressed; the heat-loving tropical flora was wiped out, and by the beginning of the Oligocene, the continent hosted deciduous forests and vast stretches of tundra . During the Eocene, plants and marine faunas became quite modern. Many modern bird orders first appeared in the Eocene. The Eocene oceans were warm and teeming with fish and other sea life. The oldest known fossils of most of
15870-438: The polar stratospheric clouds effects on the Eocene climate, models were run comparing the effects of polar stratospheric clouds at the poles to an increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide. The polar stratospheric clouds had a warming effect on the poles, increasing temperatures by up to 20 °C in the winter months. A multitude of feedbacks also occurred in the models due to the polar stratospheric clouds' presence. Any ice growth
16008-456: The president and twenty-four others on board. The shape of Mount Pinatubo's caldera inspired New Clark City Athletics Stadium in Capas , Tarlac . The caldera formed and Lake Pinatubo has, since June 15, 1991, become a tourist attraction with the preferred route through Barangay Santa Juliana in Capas, Tarlac . Stratovolcano A stratovolcano , also known as a composite volcano ,
16146-458: The reduction in carbon dioxide during the warming to cooling transition was the azolla event . With the equable climate during the early Eocene, warm temperatures in the arctic allowed for the growth of azolla , which is a floating aquatic fern, on the Arctic Ocean . The significantly high amounts of carbon dioxide also acted to facilitate azolla blooms across the Arctic Ocean. Compared to current carbon dioxide levels, these azolla grew rapidly in
16284-459: The region. One possible cause of atmospheric carbon dioxide increase could have been a sudden increase due to metamorphic release due to continental drift and collision of India with Asia and the resulting formation of the Himalayas ; however, data on the exact timing of metamorphic release of atmospheric carbon dioxide is not well resolved in the data. Recent studies have mentioned, however, that
16422-445: The removal of the ocean between Asia and India could have released significant amounts of carbon dioxide. Another hypothesis still implicates a diminished negative feedback of silicate weathering as a result of continental rocks having become less weatherable during the warm Early and Middle Eocene, allowing volcanically released carbon dioxide to persist in the atmosphere for longer. Yet another explanation hypothesises that MECO warming
16560-464: The size of Mount Pinatubo affected the weather for a few years; with warmer winters and cooler summers observed. A similar phenomenon occurred in the April 1815, the eruption of Mount Tambora on Sumbawa island in Indonesia . The Mount Tambora eruption is recognized as the most powerful eruption in recorded history. Its eruption cloud lowered global temperatures as much as 0.4 to 0.7 °C. In
16698-441: The surface. It also released 20 million tonnes (22 million short tons) of SO 2 . It ejected more particulate into the stratosphere than any eruption since Krakatoa in 1883. In the following months, aerosols formed a global layer of sulfuric acid haze. Global temperatures dropped by about 0.5 °C (0.9 °F) in the years 1991–1993, and ozone depletion temporarily increased significantly. The volcano
16836-399: The tropics that would require much higher average temperatures to sustain them. TEX 86 BAYSPAR measurements indicate extremely high sea surface temperatures of 40 °C (104 °F) to 45 °C (113 °F) at low latitudes, although clumped isotope analyses point to a maximum low latitude sea surface temperature of 36.3 °C (97.3 °F) ± 1.9 °C (35.4 °F) during
16974-501: The up-rushing ash column generated abundant volcanic lightning . In March and April 1991, magma rising toward the surface from more than 32 km (20 mi) beneath Pinatubo triggered small volcano tectonic earthquakes and caused powerful steam explosions that blasted three craters on the north flank of the volcano. Thousands of small earthquakes occurred beneath Pinatubo through April, May and early June and many thousand of tons of noxious sulfur dioxide gas were also emitted by
17112-462: The viscous domes that fill its vents. After the Buag eruption (c. 1500 AD), the volcano lay dormant, its slopes becoming completely covered in dense rainforest and eroded into gullies and ravines. The c. 500-year repose though between the Buag and present eruptive periods is among the shorter repose periods recognized in its geologic history. A small blast at 03:41 PST on June 12 marked the beginning of
17250-460: The volcano exploded in a cataclysmic eruption that ejected more than 5 km (1.2 cu mi) of material. The ash cloud from this climactic eruption rose 35 km (22 mi) into the atmosphere. At lower altitudes, the volcanic ash was blown in all directions by the intense cyclonic winds of a coincidentally occurring typhoon, and winds at higher altitudes blew the ash southwestward. A blanket of ash and larger pumice lapilli blanketed
17388-526: The volcano looking for geothermal heat from 1988 to 1990. Discouraging results from the wells forced the abandonment of the prospect 13 months before the April 2, 1991, explosions. After being driven away by the 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo, in May 2009 some 454 Aeta families in Pampanga were given the first clean ancestral land ownership on Mount Pinatubo with the Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title (CADT) by
17526-485: The volcano. From June 7 to 12, the first magma reached the surface of Mount Pinatubo. Because it had lost most of the gas contained in it on the way to the surface, the magma oozed out to form a lava dome but did not cause an explosive eruption. However, on June 12, millions of cubic yards of gas-charged magma reached the surface and exploded in the reawakening volcano's first spectacular eruption. When even more highly gas-charged magma reached Pinatubo's surface on June 15,
17664-463: The world became more arid and cold over the course of the stage, such as the Fushun Basin. In East Asia, lake level changes were in sync with global sea level changes over the course of the MLEC. Global cooling continued until there was a major reversal from cooling to warming in the Bartonian. This warming event, signifying a sudden and temporary reversal of the cooling conditions, is known as
17802-412: The world. The SO 2 in this cloud combined with water (both of volcanic and atmospheric origin) and formed sulfuric acid , blocking a portion of the sunlight from reaching the troposphere . This caused the global temperature to decrease by about 0.4 °C (0.72 °F) from 1992 to 1993. These aerosols caused the ozone layer to reach the lowest concentrations recorded at that time. An eruption
17940-484: The year following the eruption, most of the Northern Hemisphere experienced cooler temperatures during the summer. In the northern hemisphere , 1816 was known as the " Year Without a Summer ". The eruption caused crop failures, food shortages, and floods that killed over 100,000 people across Europe , Asia , and North America . Eocene The Eocene spans the time from the end of the Paleocene Epoch to
18078-528: Was a major step into the icehouse climate. Multiple proxies, such as oxygen isotopes and alkenones , indicate that at the Eocene–Oligocene transition, the atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration had decreased to around 750–800 ppm, approximately twice that of present levels . Along with the decrease of atmospheric carbon dioxide reducing the global temperature, orbital factors in ice creation can be seen with 100,000-year and 400,000-year fluctuations in benthic oxygen isotope records. Another major contribution to
18216-476: Was caused by the simultaneous occurrence of minima in both the 400 kyr and 2.4 Myr eccentricity cycles. During the MECO, sea surface temperatures in the Tethys Ocean jumped to 32–36 °C, and Tethyan seawater became more dysoxic. A decline in carbonate accumulation at ocean depths of greater than three kilometres took place synchronously with the peak of the MECO, signifying ocean acidification took place in
18354-465: Was connected 34 Ma. The Fushun Basin contained large, suboxic lakes known as the paleo-Jijuntun Lakes. India collided with Asia , folding to initiate formation of the Himalayas . The incipient subcontinent collided with the Kohistan–Ladakh Arc around 50.2 Ma and with Karakoram around 40.4 Ma, with the final collision between Asia and India occurring ~40 Ma. The Eocene Epoch contained
18492-402: Was determined that in order to maintain the lower stratospheric water vapor, methane would need to be continually released and sustained. In addition, the amounts of ice and condensation nuclei would need to be high in order for the polar stratospheric cloud to sustain itself and eventually expand. The Eocene is not only known for containing the warmest period during the Cenozoic; it also marked
18630-457: Was officially defined as the Paleocene, Eocene, and Oligocene epochs; and the Neogene as the Miocene and Pliocene epochs. In 1989, Tertiary and Quaternary were removed from the time scale due to the arbitrary nature of their boundary, but Quaternary was reinstated in 2009. The Eocene is a dynamic epoch that represents global climatic transitions between two climatic extremes, transitioning from
18768-401: Was present on Earth with a smaller difference in temperature from the equator to the poles . Because of this the maximum sea level was 150 meters higher than current levels. Following the maximum was a descent into an icehouse climate from the Eocene Optimum to the Eocene–Oligocene transition at 34 Ma. During this decrease, ice began to reappear at the poles, and the Eocene–Oligocene transition
18906-523: Was said to have been planted on a kingdom by a displeased sorcerer but relocated by a hero. The mountain was soon turned into the abode of Apo Namalyari ("The lord of happenings/events"), the pagan deity of the Sambal , Aetas and Kapampangans living on the Zambales range. It was said to comprise the whole mountain range until Sinukuan of Mount Arayat (the god of the Kapampangans) became a strong rival of Namalyari. Their fight, which took place over
19044-437: Was slowed immensely and would lead to any present ice melting. Only the poles were affected with the change in temperature and the tropics were unaffected, which with an increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide would also cause the tropics to increase in temperature. Due to the warming of the troposphere from the increased greenhouse effect of the polar stratospheric clouds, the stratosphere would cool and would potentially increase
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