Eocene Cooling Linked to Early Flow Across the Tasmanian Gateway

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Eocene Cooling Linked to Early Flow Across the Tasmanian Gateway Eocene cooling linked to early flow across the Tasmanian Gateway Peter K. Bijla,1, James A. P. Bendleb,2, Steven M. Bohatyc, Jörg Prossd,e, Stefan Schoutenf, Lisa Tauxeg, Catherine E. Stickleyh, Robert M. McKayi, Ursula Röhlj, Matthew Olneyk, Appy Sluijsa, Carlota Escutial, Henk Brinkhuisa,f, and Expedition 318 Scientists3 aDepartment of Earth Sciences, Faculty of Geosciences, Utrecht University, 3584 CD, Utrecht, The Netherlands; bGeographical and Earth Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, United Kingdom; cOcean and Earth Science, University of Southampton, Southampton SO14 3ZH, United Kingdom; dPaleoenvironmental Dynamics Group, Institute of Geosciences, University of Frankfurt, 60438 Frankfurt, Germany; eBiodiversity and Climate Research Centre, 60325 Frankfurt, Germany; fNIOZ Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, 1790 AB, Den Burg, Texel, The Netherlands; gGeosciences Research Division, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093-0220; hDepartment of Geology, University of Troms, N-9037 Troms, Norway; iAntarctic Research Centre, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington 6140, New Zealand; jMARUM–Center for Marine Environmental Sciences, University of Bremen, 28359 Bremen, Germany; kDepartment of Geology, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL 33620; and lInstituto Andaluz de Ciencias de la Tierra, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas (Spain)–Universite de Granada, 18002 Granada, Spain Edited by Mark H. Thiemens, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, and approved April 23, 2013 (received for review November 30, 2012) The warmest global temperatures of the past 85 million years a marked, gradual cooling starting in the latest early Eocene occurred during a prolonged greenhouse episode known as the (∼49.5 Ma) (2–4), which culminated in the onset of large-scale Early Eocene Climatic Optimum (52–50 Ma). The Early Eocene Cli- glaciation of Antarctica at 34 Ma (7, 8). The timing of the opening matic Optimum terminated with a long-term cooling trend that cul- of Southern Ocean gateways seemed roughly time equivalent with minated in continental-scale glaciation of Antarctica from 34 Ma major climatic transitions in the southern high latitudes (9). onward. Whereas early studies attributed the Eocene transition Opposition to the gateway hypothesis emerged in the 1990s, from greenhouse to icehouse climates to the tectonic opening of when sophisticated computer simulations [general circulation Southern Ocean gateways, more recent investigations invoked models (GCMs)] indicated that the Eocene surface current con- a dominant role of declining atmospheric greenhouse gas concen- figuration in the Southern Ocean featured circulating gyres (10, trations (e.g., CO2). However, the scarcity of field data has pre- 11). Despite the closed gateways, gyral Southern Ocean circulation EARTH, ATMOSPHERIC, vented empirical evaluation of these hypotheses. We present prevented low latitude-derived currents from reaching and AND PLANETARY SCIENCES marine microfossil and organic geochemical records spanning the warming the coasts of Antarctica (10, 11). Additional evidence early-to-middle Eocene transition from the Wilkes Land Margin, East against the gateway hypothesis was obtained from drill cores in the Antarctica. Dinoflagellate biogeography and sea surface tempera- Tasmanian Gateway region (Fig. S1), which showed that the ac- ture paleothermometry reveal that the earliest throughflow of celerated deepening and widening of the Tasmanian Gateway ∼ – a westbound Antarctic Counter Current began 49 50 Ma through occurred 2 million y before the onset of major Antarctic glaciation a southern opening of the Tasmanian Gateway. This early opening (12)—therefore, contradicting a direct mechanistic link between occurs in conjunction with the simultaneous onset of regional sur- gateway opening, thermal isolation, and Antarctic glaciation. The – face water and continental cooling (2 4 °C), evidenced by bio- circum-Antarctic biogeographical patterns of marine phyto- marker- and pollen-based paleothermometry. We interpret that the plankton (13) lend additional support to the ocean current regime fl fl westbound owing current ow across the Tasmanian Gateway indicated by GCM experiments (Figs. S2 and S3) (11, 14). This resulted in cooling of Antarctic surface waters and coasts, which biogeographical information is primarily based on organic-walled was conveyed to global intermediate waters through invigorated dinoflagellate cysts (dinocysts; fossil remains of dinoflagellates), deep convection in southern high latitudes. Although atmo- which are highly sensitive indicators of surface ocean conditions spheric CO forcing alone would provide a more uniform middle 2 (Table S1) (15). Before the opening of the Tasmanian Gateway, Eocene cooling, the opening of the Tasmanian Gateway better the Antarctic margin-derived Tasman Current influenced surface explains Southern Ocean surface water and global deep ocean waters in the Pacific sector of the Tasmanian region, which is cooling in the apparent absence of (sub-) equatorial cooling. consistent with high abundances of Antarctic-endemic dino- cysts (11). In contrast, surface waters in the Australo-Antarctic climate cooling | dinoflagellate cysts | organic palaeothermometry | Gulf (AAG), west of Tasmania, were sourced by low latitude- paleoceanography derived Indian Ocean waters by the Proto-Leeuwin Current (PLC) (11). Indeed, dinocyst assemblages in the AAG were dominated by lant microfossils reveal the presence of paratropical rainforest cosmopolitan and low-latitude taxa (13) (SI Text and Figs. S2 and Pbiomes on the Antarctic continent during the early Eocene (1). S3). The early GCM experiments, strongly supported by the Organic biomarker paleotemperature reconstructions also reveal extremely warm Southern Ocean sea surface temperatures (SSTs) – at that time (2 4). Both lines of evidence indicate remarkably Author contributions: P.K.B., J.A.P.B., J.P., S.S., A.S., and H.B. designed research; P.K.B., J.A.P.B., warm climate conditions for the highest southern latitudes during J.P., S.S., and C.E.S. performed research; Exp. 318 sci. gathered samples; P.K.B., J.A.P.B., S.M.B., peak Cenozoic greenhouse conditions. Early hypotheses explain- J.P., S.S., L.T., C.E.S., R.M.M., U.R., M.O., A.S., C.E., and H.B. analyzed data; and P.K.B., J.A.P.B., ing the Eocene warmth at high latitudes invoked a pivotal role of S.M.B., J.P., S.S., L.T., C.E.S., R.M.M., U.R., A.S., C.E., and H.B. wrote the paper. fl ocean surface currents that, subject to a continental configuration The authors declare no con ict of interest. fundamentally different from today, facilitated an increased heat This article is a PNAS Direct Submission. transport to the Antarctic coastline (5, 6). Closed Southern Ocean 1To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: [email protected]. gateways (i.e., Drake Passage and the Tasmanian Gateway) 2Present address: Birmingham Molecular Climatology Laboratory (BMC), School of Geog- raphy, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 obstructed the formation of an isolating circumpolar surface cur- 2TT, United Kingdom. rent: the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) and associated 3A complete list of the Expedition 318 Scientists and their affiliations can be found in coastal currents. In the absence of the isolating ACC, warm, low Supporting Information. latitude-derived currents were thought to have bathed the Ant- This article contains supporting information online at www.pnas.org/lookup/suppl/doi:10. arctic continent (5). Southern Ocean SSTs were characterized by 1073/pnas.1220872110/-/DCSupplemental. www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1220872110 PNAS Early Edition | 1of6 Downloaded by guest on September 29, 2021 biogeographical patterns in microfossils (11, 16), suggested that Eocene time interval (Fig. 1 and Fig. S1). We generated dinocyst poleward ocean heat transport was not much larger than today’s assemblage and organic biomarker data from Site U1356 (Fig. S4), transport with closed oceanic gateways and cannot be the sole which was on the Antarctic margin within the AAG. Dinocyst as- explanation for the warmth on Antarctica (11, 16). semblage analyses were also generated from Ocean Drilling Pro- As an alternative explanation, it was proposed that elevated gram (ODP) Leg 182, Site 1128 in the Australian Bight (23) (Fig. 1 atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations (e.g., CO2)drove and Fig. S1). Dinocyst assemblage and organic biomarker records Eocene climates into hothouse conditions. Accordingly, a decline from ODP Leg 189, Site 1171 on the South Tasman Rise (STR) in the concentration of these greenhouse gases was considered the and Site 1172 on the East Tasman Plateau (13) were revisited primary forcing agent for the cooling of the middle Eocene, ulti- for the purpose of this study (sediments from Site 1171 lack mately leading to the development of the Oligocene and Neogene biomarkers for SST reconstructions) (Fig. 1 and Fig. S1). icehouse world (17). However, the apparent absence of cooling through the middle and late Eocene in subequatorial regions Dinocyst assemblage data from the Otway Basin and RV Sonne (2, 18, 19) is not compatible with the greenhouse gas hypothesis. and RV Rig Seismic gravity cores on the west coast of Tasmania In the absence of ice albedo feedbacks, which would amplify as well as dredge sample surveys were obtained from the lit- high-latitude cooling during the Eocene, climate cooling
Recommended publications
  • 1. Leg 189 Summary1
    Exon, N.F., Kennett, J.P., Malone, M.J., et al., 2001 Proceedings of the Ocean Drilling Program, Initial Reports Volume 189 1. LEG 189 SUMMARY1 Shipboard Scientific Party2 ABSTRACT The Cenozoic Era is unusual in its development of major ice sheets. Progressive high-latitude cooling during the Cenozoic eventually formed major ice sheets, initially on Antarctica and later in the North- ern Hemisphere. In the early 1970s, a hypothesis was proposed that cli- matic cooling and an Antarctic cryosphere developed as the Antarctic Circumpolar Current progressively thermally isolated the Antarctic continent. This current resulted from the opening of the Tasmanian Gateway south of Tasmania during the Paleogene and the Drake Pas- sage during the earliest Neogene. The five Leg 189 drill sites, in 2463 to 3568 m water depths, tested, refined, and extended the above hypothesis, greatly improving under- standing of Southern Ocean evolution and its relation with Antarctic climatic development. The relatively shallow region off Tasmania is one of the few places where well-preserved and almost-complete marine Cenozoic carbonate-rich sequences can be drilled in present-day lati- tudes of 40°–50°S and paleolatitudes of up to 70°S. The broad geological history of all the sites was comparable, although there are important differences among the three sites in the Indian Ocean and the two sites in the Pacific Ocean, as well as from north to south. In all, 4539 m of core was recovered with an excellent overall recov- ery of 89%, with the deepest core hole penetrating 960 m beneath the seafloor. The entire sedimentary sequence cored is marine and contains a wealth of microfossil assemblages that record marine conditions from the Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) to the late Quaternary and domi- nantly terrestrially derived sediments until the earliest Oligocene.
    [Show full text]
  • Pliocene-Pleistocene Evolution of Sea Surface and Intermediate Water
    PUBLICATIONS Paleoceanography RESEARCH ARTICLE Pliocene-Pleistocene evolution of sea surface 10.1002/2016PA002954 and intermediate water temperatures Key Points: from the southwest Pacific • Reconstructed Tasman Sea surface and Antarctic Intermediate Water Erin L. McClymont1, Aurora C. Elmore1, Sev Kender2,3, Melanie J. Leng2,3, Mervyn Greaves4, and temperatures fi 4,5 • Long-term cooling trends from ~3.0 to Henry Elder eld 2.6 Ma and from 1.5 Ma to present 1 2 • Complex subtropical front displacement Department of Geography, Durham University, Durham, UK, Centre for Environmental Geochemistry, School of and subantarctic cooling trends since Geography, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK, 3British Geological Survey, Nottingham, UK, 4Department of Earth Pliocene Sciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK, 5Deceased 19 April 2016 Abstract Over the last 5 million years, the global climate system has evolved toward a colder mean state, Correspondence to: E. L. McClymont, marked by large-amplitude oscillations in continental ice volume. Equatorward expansion of polar waters [email protected] and strengthening temperature gradients have been detected. However, the response of the mid latitudes and high latitudes of the Southern Hemisphere is not well documented, despite the potential importance for Citation: climate feedbacks including sea ice distribution and low-high latitude heat transport. Here we reconstruct the McClymont, E. L., A. C. Elmore, S. Kender, Pliocene-Pleistocene history of both sea surface and Antarctic Intermediate Water (AAIW) temperatures on M. J. Leng, M. Greaves, and H. Elderfield orbital time scales from Deep Sea Drilling Project Site 593 in the Tasman Sea, southwest Pacific. We confirm (2016), Pliocene-Pleistocene evolution of sea surface and intermediate water overall Pliocene-Pleistocene cooling trends in both the surface ocean and AAIW, although the patterns are temperatures from the southwest complex.
    [Show full text]
  • (Bacillariophyta) Offers New Insights Into Eocene Marine Diatom Biostratigraphy and Palaeobiogeography
    Acta Geologica Polonica, Vol. 68 (2018), No. 1, pp. 53–88 DOI: 10.1515/agp-2017-0031 From museum drawers to ocean drilling: Fenneria gen. nov. (Bacillariophyta) offers new insights into Eocene marine diatom biostratigraphy and palaeobiogeography JAKUB WITKOWSKI Stratigraphy and Earth History Lab, Faculty of Geosciences, University of Szczecin, Mickiewicza 16a, PL-70-383 Szczecin, Poland. E-mail: [email protected] ABSTRACT: Witkowski, J. 2018. From museum drawers to ocean drilling: Fenneria gen. nov. (Bacillariophyta) offers new insights into Eocene marine diatom biostratigraphy and palaeobiogeography. Acta Geologica Polonica, 68 (1), 53−88. Warszawa. Triceratium barbadense Greville, 1861a, T. brachiatum Brightwell, 1856, T. inconspicuum Greville, 1861b and T. kanayae Fenner, 1984a, are among the most common diatoms reported worldwide from lower to middle Eocene biosiliceous sediments. Due to complicated nomenclatural histories, however, they are often confused. A morpho- metric analysis performed herein indicates that T. brachiatum is conspecific with T. inconspicuum, and that both were previously often misidentified as T. barbadense. Triceratium barbadense sensu stricto is a distinct species similar to Triceratium castellatum West, 1860. Triceratium brachiatum and T. kanayae are transferred herein to a new genus, Fenneria, for which a close phylogenetic relationship with Medlinia Sims, 1998 is proposed. A review of the geographic and stratigraphic distribution of Fenneria shows that the best constrained records of its occurrences are found at DSDP Site 338, and ODP Sites 1051 and 1260. The ages of the base (B) and top (T) of each species’ stratigraphic range are calibrated here to the Geomagnetic Polarity Timescale either directly or inferred via correlation with dinocyst biostratigraphy.
    [Show full text]
  • Late Eocene Southern Ocean Cooling and Invigoration of Circulation
    RESEARCH ARTICLE Late Eocene Southern Ocean Cooling and Invigoration 10.1029/2019GC008182 of Circulation Preconditioned Antarctica for Key Points: ‐ • Late Eocene accelerated deepening Full Scale Glaciation of the Tasman Gateway led to Alexander J. P. Houben1,2 , Peter K. Bijl1, Appy Sluijs1 , Stefan Schouten3, invigorated surface and bottom 1,3 water circulation in the Southern and Henk Brinkhuis Ocean 1 • Biomarker paleothermometry and Marine Palynology and Paleoceanography, Laboratory of Palaeobotany and Palynology, Department of Earth Sciences, quantitative dinocyst distribution Faculty of Geosciences, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands, 2Now at Geological Survey of the Netherlands patterns coevally demonstrate (TNO), Utrecht, The Netherlands, 3Royal Netherlands Institute for sea research (NIOZ) and Utrecht University, Texel, cooling and enhanced productivity The Netherlands • Invigoration of a wind‐driven Antarctic counter current had profound effects and aided preconditioning Antarctica for Abstract During the Eocene‐Oligocene Transition (EOT; 34–33.5 Ma), Antarctic ice sheets relatively glacial expansion rapidly expanded, leading to the first continent‐scale glaciation of the Cenozoic. Declining atmospheric CO2 concentrations and associated feedbacks have been invoked as underlying mechanisms, but the role of Supporting Information: the quasi‐coeval opening of Southern Ocean gateways (Tasman Gateway and Drake Passage) and resulting • Supporting Information S1 • Data Set S1 changes in ocean circulation is as yet poorly understood. Definitive field evidence from EOT sedimentary successions from the Antarctic margin and the Southern Ocean is lacking, also because the few available sequences are often incomplete and poorly dated, hampering detailed paleoceanographic and paleoclimatic Correspondence to: analysis. Here we use organic dinoflagellate cysts (dinocysts) to date and correlate critical Southern Ocean A.
    [Show full text]
  • Glacial-Interglacial Sea Surface Temperture And
    PLANKTIC FORAMINIFERA-BASED SEA SURFACE TEMPERATURE ESTIMATES AND LATE QUATERNARY OCEANOGRAPHY OFF NEW ZEALAND’S WEST COAST Andrew Peter Kolodziej A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment for the degree of Masters of Science in Geology School of Geography, Environment and Earth Sciences Victoria University 2010 i ii Abstract Planktic foraminiferal assemblages were used to investigate the paleoceanography of the Eastern Tasman Sea over the last 480 kyrs (Marine Isotope Stages 12-1). One hundred and sixty-two faunas (96 picked and identified as part of this project (MIS 12-6) added to 66 census counts from Dr. M. Crundwell (MIS 6-1)) have been assembled from Marion Dufresne piston core MD06-2986 (~43˚ S. off New Zealand‟s west coast, 1477 m water depth). Faunal changes through the last five glacial-interglacial cycles are used to track surface water mass movement. Glacial periods are dominated by the eutrophic species Globigerina bulloides, with significant contributions from the temperate species Globoconella inflata. Temperate species Neogloboquadrina incompta and Gc. inflata dominate interglacials, with the former dominating the warmer parts and the latter dominating the cooler parts of the interglacials. Modern Analogue Technique (MAT) and an Artificial Neural Network (ANN) were used to estimate past sea surface temperatures (SST) based on the foraminiferal census counts data (23 species, ~46,000 specimens). SSTs show that MIS 12 was the longest, sustained cold period, while the coldest temperature was recorded in MIS 5d (~8º C). Interglacials MIS 11 and 5e are the two warmest stages of the record, with SSTs reaching ~18.5º C, about ~2º C warmer than present day.
    [Show full text]
  • Eocene Cooling Linked to Early Flow Across the Tasmanian Gateway
    Eocene cooling linked to early flow across the Tasmanian Gateway Peter K. Bijla,1, James A. P. Bendleb,2, Steven M. Bohatyc, Jörg Prossd,e, Stefan Schoutenf, Lisa Tauxeg, Catherine E. Stickleyh, Robert M. McKayi, Ursula Röhlj, Matthew Olneyk, Appy Sluijsa, Carlota Escutial, Henk Brinkhuisa,f, and Expedition 318 Scientists3 aDepartment of Earth Sciences, Faculty of Geosciences, Utrecht University, 3584 CD, Utrecht, The Netherlands; bGeographical and Earth Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, United Kingdom; cOcean and Earth Science, University of Southampton, Southampton SO14 3ZH, United Kingdom; dPaleoenvironmental Dynamics Group, Institute of Geosciences, University of Frankfurt, 60438 Frankfurt, Germany; eBiodiversity and Climate Research Centre, 60325 Frankfurt, Germany; fNIOZ Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, 1790 AB, Den Burg, Texel, The Netherlands; gGeosciences Research Division, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093-0220; hDepartment of Geology, University of Troms, N-9037 Troms, Norway; iAntarctic Research Centre, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington 6140, New Zealand; jMARUM–Center for Marine Environmental Sciences, University of Bremen, 28359 Bremen, Germany; kDepartment of Geology, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL 33620; and lInstituto Andaluz de Ciencias de la Tierra, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas (Spain)–Universite de Granada, 18002 Granada, Spain Edited by Mark H. Thiemens, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, and approved April 23, 2013 (received for review November 30, 2012) The warmest global temperatures of the past 85 million years a marked, gradual cooling starting in the latest early Eocene occurred during a prolonged greenhouse episode known as the (∼49.5 Ma) (2–4), which culminated in the onset of large-scale Early Eocene Climatic Optimum (52–50 Ma).
    [Show full text]
  • Surface-Circulation Change in the Southern Ocean Across the Middle Eocene Climatic Optimum: Inferences from Dinoflagellate Cysts and Biomarker Paleothermometry 5
    Clim. Past Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-2019-35 Manuscript under review for journal Clim. Past Discussion started: 4 April 2019 c Author(s) 2019. CC BY 4.0 License. Surface-circulation change in the Southern Ocean across the Middle Eocene Climatic Optimum: inferences from dinoflagellate cysts and biomarker paleothermometry 5 Margot J. Cramwinckel1, Lineke Woelders1,*, Emiel P. Huurdeman2, Francien Peterse1, Stephen J. Gallagher3, Jörg Pross2, Catherine E. Burgess4,#, Gert-Jan Reichart1,5, Appy Sluijs1, Peter K. Bijl1 1Department of Earth Sciences, Faculty of Geoscience, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands 10 2Paleoenvironmental Dynamics Group, Institute of Earth Sciences, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany 3School of Earth Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia 4School of Earth and Ocean Sciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom 5NIOZ Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research and Utrecht University, Den Burg, Texel, The Netherlands *Now at Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research, University of Colorado, Boulder, US 15 #Now at Shell UK LTD, Aberdeen, UK Correspondence to: Margot J. Cramwinckel ([email protected]) Abstract Global climate cooled from the early Eocene hothouse (~52–50 Ma) to the latest Eocene (~34 Ma). At the same time, the tectonic evolution of the Southern Ocean was characterized by the opening and deepening of circum-Antarctic gateways, 20 which affected both surface- and deep-ocean circulation. The Tasman Gateway played a key role in regulating ocean throughflow between Australia and Antarctica. Southern Ocean surface currents through and around the Tasman Gateway have left recognizable tracers in the spatiotemporal distribution of plankton fossils, including organic-walled dinoflagellate cysts.
    [Show full text]
  • CSIRO Report Template
    The seamount fauna off southern Tasmania: Benthic communities, their conservation and impacts of trawling J. Anthony Koslow and Karen Gowlett-Holmes The seamount fauna off southern Tasmania: Benthic communities, their conservation and impacts of trawling Final report to Environment Australia and The Fisheries Research Development Corporation J. Anthony Koslow and Karen Gowlett-Holmes FIS HERIE S RESEARCH & ..iJJb_ Environment CS I RO DEVELO PMENT �,4�'/111t«tt""" Australia CORPORATIO N MARINE RESEARCH Depurrment of the Environment FRDC Project 95/058 Cover Main photo: Seamount coral reef at -1000m depth south of Tasmania showing colonial coral substrate (So/enosmiliavariabi/is) with sea urchins, gold coral, sea whips and sea fans, sponges and other species over it. Inset photos of individual organisms collected from the seamounts. From top : Squat lobster, Gastroptychus sp. (Chirostylidae), possible new species; Sea urchin, ?Aporocidaris sp. (Cidaridae) brooding young; Colonial coral , dominant on reef substrate, So/enosmiliavariabilis Duncan, 1873 (Caryophylliidae); Unidentified pycnogonid; Crinoid, Diplocrinus sibogae (Doderlein, 1907) (Pentacrinidae), new Australian record Koslow, J. Anthony. The seamount fauna of southern Australia : benthic communities, their conservation and impacts of trawling ISBN 0 643 06171 1. 1. Trawls and trawling - Environmental aspects - Australia, Southeastern. 2. Marine animals - Monitoring - Australia, Southeastern. 3. Seamounts - Australia, Southeastern. I. Gowlett-Holmes, Karen. II. Australia. Environment
    [Show full text]
  • Constraining Early to Middle Eocene Climate Evolution of the 2 Southwest Pacific and Southern Ocean
    1 CONSTRAINING EARLY TO MIDDLE EOCENE CLIMATE EVOLUTION OF THE 2 SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AND SOUTHERN OCEAN. 3 4 Edoardo Dallanave*,1, Valerian Bachtadse1, Erica M. Crouch3, Lisa Tauxe2, Claire 5 L. Shepherd3,4, Hugh E.G. Morgans3, Christopher J. Hollis3, Benjamin R. Hines3,4, 6 Saiko Sugisaki2. 7 8 *Corresponding author; email: [email protected]. Phone: 9 +49 (0) 89 2180 4206. Fax: +49 (0) 89 2180 4205. 10 1Department of Earth and Environmental Science, Ludwig-Maximilians 11 University, Munich D-80333, Germany. 12 2Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UCSD, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, 13 California 92093–0220, USA 14 3GNS Science, PO Box 30368, Lower Hutt 5040, New Zealand 15 4 School of Geography, Environment and Earth Sciences, Victoria University of 16 Wellington, PO Box 600, Wellington 6140, New Zealand 17 18 Abstract 19 One of the major deficiencies of the global database for the early Paleogene is 20 the scarcity of reliable magnetostratigraphically-calibrated climate records from 21 the southern Pacific Ocean, the largest ocean basin during this time. We present a 22 new magnetostratigraphic record from marine sediments cropping out along the 23 mid-Waipara River, South Island, New Zealand. Fully oriented samples for 24 paleomagnetic analyses were collected along 45 m of stratigraphic section, which 25 encompasses magnetic polarity Chrons from C23n to C21n. These results are 26 integrated with foraminiferal, calcareous nannofossil, and dinoflagellate cyst 27 (dinocyst) biostratigraphy from samples collected in three different expeditions 28 along a total of ~80 m of section. Biostratigraphic data indicates continuous 29 sedimentation from the Waipawan to the Heretaungan New Zealand stages (i.e., 30 Ypresian–Lutetian international stages), from about 55.5 to 46 Ma.
    [Show full text]
  • Early Palaeogene Temperature Evolution of the Southwest Pacific Ocean
    Vol 461 | 8 October 2009 | doi:10.1038/nature08399 LETTERS Early Palaeogene temperature evolution of the southwest Pacific Ocean Peter K. Bijl1, Stefan Schouten3, Appy Sluijs1, Gert-Jan Reichart2, James C. Zachos4 & Henk Brinkhuis1 Relative to the present day, meridional temperature gradients in the deepening of the Tasmanian Gateway lead to a reorganization of the Early Eocene age ( 56–53 Myr ago) were unusually low, with Tasman and proto-Leeuwin ocean currents13. 1 slightly warmer equatorial regions but with much warmer subtro- According to the oldest part of the record, TEX86-derived SSTs at the pical Arctic2 and mid-latitude3 climates. By the end of the Eocene ETP gradually decreased from ,25 uC around 63 Myr ago to a min- epoch ( 34 Myr ago), the first major Antarctic ice sheets had imum of ,20 uC around 58 Myr ago (Fig. 2a). During the Late appeared4,5, suggesting that major cooling had taken place. Yet the Palaeocene and Early Eocene, Tasman SSTs gradually rose to tropical global transition into this icehouse climate remains poorly con- values of ,34 uC during the Early Eocene climatic optimum (EECO)6, strained, as only a few temperature records are available portraying between 53 and 49 Myr ago (Fig. 2a). A gradual cooling trend through- the Cenozoic climatic evolution of the high southern latitudes. Here out the Middle Eocene (starting at the termination of the EECO we present a uniquely continuous and chronostratigraphically well- ,49 Myr ago) arrived at temperatures of ,23 uC ,42 Myr ago, which calibrated TEX86 record of sea surface temperature (SST) from an is still relatively warm.
    [Show full text]
  • An Antarctic Stratigraphic Record of Stepwise Ice Growth Through the Eocene-Oligocene Transition
    Montclair State University Montclair State University Digital Commons Department of Earth and Environmental Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works Department of Earth and Environmental Studies 3-1-2017 An Antarctic stratigraphic record of stepwise ice growth through the Eocene-Oligocene transition Sandra Passchier Montclair State University, [email protected] Daniel J. Ciarletta Montclair State University Triantafilo E. Miriagos Montclair State University Peter K. Bijl Utrecht University Steven M. Bohaty University of Southampton Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.montclair.edu/earth-environ-studies-facpubs Part of the Geology Commons MSU Digital Commons Citation Passchier, Sandra; Ciarletta, Daniel J.; Miriagos, Triantafilo E.; Bijl, eterP K.; and Bohaty, Steven M., "An Antarctic stratigraphic record of stepwise ice growth through the Eocene-Oligocene transition" (2017). Department of Earth and Environmental Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works. 27. https://digitalcommons.montclair.edu/earth-environ-studies-facpubs/27 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of Earth and Environmental Studies at Montclair State University Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Department of Earth and Environmental Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works by an authorized administrator of Montclair State University Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. An Antarctic stratigraphic record of stepwise ice growth
    [Show full text]
  • 2010SP001049-AN-Bohaty 63..114
    Age Assessment of Eocene–Pliocene Drill Cores Recovered During the SHALDRIL II Expedition, Antarctic Peninsula Steven M. Bohaty,1,2 Denise K. Kulhanek,3,4 Sherwood W. Wise Jr.,3 Kelly Jemison,3 Sophie Warny,5 and Charlotte Sjunneskog6 Pre-Quaternary strata were recovered from four sites on the continental shelf of the eastern Antarctic Peninsula during the SHALDRIL II cruise, NBP0602A (March–April 2006). Fully marine shelf sediments characterize these short cores and contain a mixture of opaline, carbonate-walled, and organic-walled microfossils, suitable for both biostratigraphic and paleoen- vironmental studies. Here we compile biostratigraphic information and pro- vide age assessments for the Eocene–Pliocene intervals of these cores, based primarily on diatom biostratigraphy with additional constraints from calcar- eous nannofossil and dinoflagellate cyst biostratigraphy and strontium isotope dating. The Eocene and Oligocene diatom floras are illustrated in nine figures. A late Eocene age (~37–34 Ma) is assigned to strata recovered in Hole 3C, and a late Oligocene age (~28.4–23.3 Ma) is determined for strata recovered in Hole 12A. Middle Miocene (~12.8–11.7 Ma) and early Pliocene (~5.1–4.3 Ma) ages are assigned to the sequence recovered in holes 5C and 5D, and an early Pliocene age (~5.1–3.8 Ma) is interpreted for cores recovered in holes 6C and 6D. These ages provide chronostratigraphic ground truthing for the thick sequences of Paleogene and Neogene strata present on the northwestern edge of the James Ross Basin and on the northeastern side of the Joinville Plateau, as interpreted from a network of seismic stratigraphic survey lines in the drilling areas.
    [Show full text]