Spatial-Temporal Changes in Marine Lithofacies During the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum

Extreme climatic events significantly alter marine lithofacies, yet global oceanic sediment patterns during ancient hyperthermal events, which are potential analogues for modern warming, remain poorly constrained. Here, we compile 162 stratigraphic marine records to track millennial-scale sediment dynamics during the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM). We find sedimentation was primarily controlled by: hydrologic intensification (resulting in ~36% carbonate platform demise), eustatic fluctuations (resulting in ~52% siliciclastic shelf retrogradation), and oceanic acidification (resulting in ~41% deep-sea calcareous sediment replacement). Lithofacies changes on continental margins show distinct latitudinal zonation, reflecting variations in hydrologic intensity and carbonate productivity; eustatic control is clearest where hydrologic forcing was weaker. Deep-sea acidification was widespread but strongest in the Atlantic, with more limited effects in the Pacific and Indian oceans. Widespread carbonate “overshoot” following the PETM recovery supports enhanced continental weathering. This study implies that Anthropocene warming will rapidly reorganize marine sedimentation through intensified hydrology, accelerated sea-level rise, and ocean acidification over shorter timescales than the PETM and potentially to a greater magnitude.