Climate of the Past Discussions www.clim-past-discuss.net 1814-9340 1814-9359 5 5 2009 10.5194/cpd-5-2391-2009 http://www.clim-past-discuss.net/5/2391/2009/ http://www.clim-past-discuss.net/5/2391/2009/cpd-5-2391-2009.html http://www.clim-past-discuss.net/5/2391/2009/cpd-5-2391-2009.pdf 2391 2410 2009-10-27 Productivity feedback did not terminate the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) A. Torfstein adi.torf@ldeo.columbia.edu G. Winckler A. Tripati Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University, 61 Rt. 9W, Palisades, NY 10964-1000, USA Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Columbia University, NY 10027, USA Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EQ UK now at: Department of Earth and Space Sciences and Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics, University of California, Los Angeles, 595 Charles Young Drive East, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1567, USA The Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) occurred approximately 55 million years ago, and is one of the most dramatic abrupt global warming events in the geological record. This warming was triggered by the sudden release of thousands of gigatons of carbon into the atmosphere and is widely perceived to be the best analogue for current anthropogenic climate change. Yet, the mechanism of recovery from this event remains controversial. 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