Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum
The Paleocene–Eocene thermal maximum (PETM), alternatively "Eocene thermal maximum 1" (ETM1), and formerly known as the "Initial Eocene" or "Late Paleocene thermal maximum", was a geologically brief time interval characterized by a 5–8 °C global average temperature rise and massive input of carbon into the ocean and atmosphere. The event began, now formally, at the time boundary between the Paleocene and Eocene geological epochs. The exact age and duration of the PETM remain uncertain, but it occurred around 55.8 million years ago (Ma) and lasted about 200 thousand years (Ka). The entire warm period lasted for about 200,000 years. Global temperatures increased by 5–8 °C.
Azolla floating ferns, fossils of this genus indicate subtropical weather at the North Pole
Satellite photo of Ardnamurchan – with clearly visible circular shape, which is the 'plumbings of an ancient volcano'
The Paleocene, or Palaeocene, is a geological epoch that lasted from about 66 to 56 million years ago (mya). It is the first epoch of the Paleogene Period in the modern Cenozoic Era. The name is a combination of the Ancient Greek παλαιός palaiós meaning "old" and the Eocene Epoch, translating to "the old part of the Eocene".
Portrait of Wilhelm Philipp Schimper who coined the term "Paleocene"
K–Pg boundary recorded in a Wyoming rock (the white stripe in the middle)
The sea cliffs of Itzurun beach near the town of Zumaia, Spain, the GSSP for the Selandian and Thanetian
Paleocene coal is extracted at the Cerrejón mine, the world's largest open-pit mine