PETM Case Study

Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum

The Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM, ~55.9 Ma) represents the most geologically rapid carbon cycle perturbation of the past 66 million years.

ODP Site 1209B (Shatsky Rise)

Parameter	Pre-PETM	Peak PETM
TCI Score	0.78	0.31
δ¹³C (‰)	2.1	-1.5
Temperature (°C)	18	23
Carbonate Content	85%	45%

Key Results

from stratica.datasets import load_petm_site_1209b
from stratica import StratigraphicAnalyzer

# Load PETM data
data = load_petm_site_1209b()
analyzer = StratigraphicAnalyzer()
results = analyzer.compute_tci(data)

print(f"TCI trajectory: {results.tci_pre_petm:.2f} → "
      f"{results.tci_peak_petm:.2f} → {results.tci_post_petm:.2f}")
print(f"Carbon release: {results.carbon_release_gtc} GtC")
print(f"Earth System Sensitivity: {results.ess:.2f}°C per CO₂ doubling")

Scientific Significance

The PETM reconstruction demonstrates STRATICA’s capability to:

• Detect rapid climate transitions

• Quantify carbon cycle perturbations

• Constrain Earth System Sensitivity

• Validate against independent proxy data