Coexisting goethite and gibbsite from a high-paleolatitude (55°N) Late Paleocene laterite: Concentration and 13C/12C ratios of occluded CO2 and associated organic matter

The measured mole fractions (X) of Fe(CO3)OH in the high-Al goethites range from 0.0059 (±0.0005) to 0.0077 (±0.0006) and correspond to soil CO2 concentrations of ∼28,000 to ∼37,000 ppmV. The average values of X and δ13C for the four high-Al goethites are 0.0067 ± 0.0007 and −20.1 ± 0.5‰, respectively. The δ13C value of the organic matter undergoing oxidation in this midlatitude (∼55°N) Late Paleocene soil appears to have been ∼ −28.2‰. Taken together, these data indicate an atmospheric CO2 concentration of ∼2400 ppmV (± ∼1200 ppmV) at ∼60 Ma BP. The inferred high concentration of atmospheric CO2 would have been coincident with the warm global climate of the Late Paleocene and is consistent with the idea that CO2 plays an important role in climate variation.