Changes in the hydrological cycle in tropical East Africa during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum

► There was a perturbation of the hydrological cycle during the early PETM in Tanzania. ► Kaolinite and quartz contents increase during the CIE in the nearshore section. ► Higher plant and soil biomarker concentrations also increase markedly. ► There is a positive shift in leaf wax n-alkane δD values across the recovered CIE. ► The climate becomes overall more arid with intense episodic precipitation events.