Zhang et al. (2025) Precession-induced millennial climate cycles in greenhouse Cretaceous

Identification

• Journal: Nature Communications
• Year: 2025
• Date: 2025-11-27
• Authors: Zhifeng Zhang, Yongjian Huang, Tiantian Wang, Qiuzhen Yin, Anne‐Christine Da Silva, Eun Young Lee, Hanfei Yang, Chao Ma, Hai Cheng, André Berger, Chengshan Wang
• DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-66219-4

Research Groups

• State Key Laboratory of Geomicrobiology and Environmental Changes, China University of Geosciences, Beijing, China
• School of Earth Sciences and Resources, China University of Geosciences, Beijing, China
• Institute of Earth Sciences, China University of Geosciences, Beijing, China
• Earth and Climate Research Center, Earth and Life Institute, Université catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
• SediCClim Laboratory, Geology Department, Université de Liège, Liège, Belgium
• Department of Geology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
• School of Geography and Remote Sensing, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou, China
• State Key Laboratory of Oil and Gas Reservoir Geology and Exploitation, Institute of Sedimentary Geology, Chengdu University of Technology, Chengdu, China
• Key Laboratory of Deep-time Geography and Environment Reconstruction and Applications of Ministry of Natural Resources, Chengdu University of Technology, Chengdu, China
• Institute of Global Environmental Change, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, China

Short Summary

This study uses centennial-resolution geological records from the early Campanian greenhouse to demonstrate that precession-induced insolation forcing directly and indirectly stimulates pronounced millennial (~1–6 kyr) wet-dry climate cycles, with ~4–5-kyr cycles showing amplitude modulation by eccentricity consistent with theoretical equatorial insolation.

Objective

• To identify significant millennial climate cycles in greenhouse periods, investigate their underlying mechanisms, and explore their climate implications, specifically addressing whether astronomical forcing can directly excite these cycles in warm, ice-free conditions.

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Mid-latitude East Asia (Songliao Basin, SK2 borehole, paleolatitude ~45°N) and low-latitude Southern Atlantic (DSDP–516 F borehole, paleolatitude ~25°S).
• Temporal Scale: Early Campanian greenhouse period, covering approximately 83.428–83.538 Ma for SK2 (~110 kyr) and 80.702–81.472 Ma for DSDP–516 F (~770 kyr), with centennial resolution (~0.14 kyr for SK2, ~0.63 kyr for DSDP-516F).

Methodology and Data

• Models used: TimeOpt algorithm, Evolutive Harmonic Analysis (EHA), conventional and robust AR-1 noise models, False Discovery Rate (FDR) approach, Hilbert transform, Multi-Taper Method (MTM), bicoherence spectra (WOSA method), bioturbation simulation, and theoretical insolation calculations.
• Data sources:
  • SK2 borehole (Songliao Basin): Grayscale data from core photographs, X-ray fluorescence (XRF)-derived element ratios (Rb/Sr, log(Ca/Ti)), U-Pb CA-ID-TIMS zircon dating, Gamma Ray (GR) logging datasets, thin-section petrography, quantitative XRF, LA-ICP-MS, and XRD analyses.
  • DSDP–516 F borehole (Southern Atlantic): High-resolution color reflectance (L*) and magnetostratigraphy.

Main Results

• Pronounced millennial (~1–6 kyr) wet-dry climate cycles were identified in early Campanian greenhouse deposits from both mid-latitude East Asia and low-latitude Southern Atlantic.
• The strongest millennial cycles are centered around ~4–5 kyr in terrestrial records and ~4.8 kyr in marine records.
• These ~4–5 kyr cycles exhibit significant amplitude modulation phase-locked with eccentricity cycles (~100 kyr; ~405 kyr), aligning perfectly with theoretically calculated equatorial insolation.
• Other millennial cycles (~1.8–6 kyr) primarily emerge from these ~4–5 kyr cycles via nonlinear amplitude modulation and combination tones (e.g., ~3.7 kyr, ~5.7 kyr, ~2.6 kyr, ~2.3 kyr, ~2.0 kyr, ~1.8 kyr).
• Semi-precessional cycles (~9.2–11.3 kyr) were recognized in the DSDP–516 F L* record, with their variance being high during intervals of above-average eccentricity.
• The presence of millennial cycles in this ice-free Cretaceous world reinforces that high-frequency climate variabilities are inherent to Earth’s climate system and not solely driven by ice-related dynamics.
• Quarter-precessional signals were transmitted to mid-latitudes (Songliao Basin, ~45°N paleolatitude) likely via oceanic-atmospheric teleconnections from low latitudes.

Contributions

• Provides unprecedented empirical validation for the climate effects of theoretically predicted equatorial insolation forcing on global climate during a warm, ice-free greenhouse period.
• Demonstrates that precession can directly and indirectly stimulate millennial climate cycles (~1–6 kyr) in greenhouse conditions, challenging the sole attribution of such cycles to cryospheric dynamics.
• Offers high-resolution, well-dated paleoclimate datasets from the Cretaceous greenhouse, overcoming the limitations of Quaternary archives that conflate different millennial cycle drivers.
• Suggests that high-frequency climate oscillations may be predictable in future greenhouse-like climates, particularly under anthropogenic warming, due to the deterministic link between astronomical parameters and millennial climate cycles.

Funding

• Deep Earth Probe and Mineral Resources Exploration - National Science and Technology Major Project of China (No. 2024ZD1001105)
• National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 42272134, 42488201, 42502020, 42172137)
• National Key Research and Development Program of China (No. 2023YFF0804000)
• “Deep-time Digital Earth” Science and Technology Leading Talents Team Funds for the Central Universities for the Frontiers Science Center for Deep-time Digital Earth, China University of Geosciences (Beijing) (Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities) (No. 2652023001)
• Postdoctoral Fellowship Program of CPSF (No. GZC20241605)
• Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique-FNRS (F.R.S.-FNRS) (grant n° T.0246.23, grant T.0037.22)
• China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (No. 2025M770431)

Citation

@article{Zhang2025Precessioninduced,
  author = {Zhang, Zhifeng and Huang, Yongjian and Wang, Tiantian and Yin, Qiuzhen and Silva, Anne‐Christine Da and Lee, Eun Young and Yang, Hanfei and Ma, Chao and Cheng, Hai and Berger, André and Wang, Chengshan},
  title = {Precession-induced millennial climate cycles in greenhouse Cretaceous},
  journal = {Nature Communications},
  year = {2025},
  doi = {10.1038/s41467-025-66219-4},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-66219-4}
}