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Home , Aquitanian (stage), Burdigalian, Langhian, Meiolania, Messinian, Piacenzian

Neogene Worlds, Life & Norman MacLeod School of Earth Sciences & Engineering, Nanjing University World, Life & Extinctions Objectives

Understand the structure of the Neogene world in terms of timescales, geography, environments, and organisms Understand the structure of Neogene events Understand the major Neo- gene extinction drivers Understand the degree to which these putative drivers correlate with Neogene extinction events. Neogene World, Life & Extinctions Presentation Topics

Stratigraphy - chronostrati- graphy & geochronology Geography - tectonics & distribution Climate - circulation, temp- erature, weather Biota - protists, invertebrates, vertebrates, plants Evolution - evolutionary faunas, adaptive radiations, major innovations Significant Events - sea-level changes, volcanic eruptions, marine anoxia events, bolide impacts, extinctions Phanerozoic Paleozoic-Cenozoic Durations

80

64

48

32 Duration(myr)

16

0

Sil. Jur. Ord. Dev. Cret. Camb. Perm. Trias. Neog. Pleist. Carbon. Paleog. Data from ICS (2019) Neogene Cenozoic Durations

25

20

15

10 Duration(myr)

5

0

Data from ICS (2019) System Neogene Pliocene Miocene Neogene Timescale 23.03 20.44 15.97 13.82 11.63 7.25 5.33 3.60 2.58 Mya Data Data from ICS (2019) Neogene Neogene Tectonic Configuration

Continents continue to drift toward their present positions. Land bridge between North America and South America forms during the Pliocene due to sea-level fall. Mountain ranges appear on almost all continents owing to tectonic collisions Establishment of modern tectonic & subductions. plate configurations and establish- Tectonic collision between ment of modern atmospheric and Africa and Europe caused marine circulation patterns. to dry up in Messinian.

Map from Scotese PaleoMap Project (2001) Neogene Marine Circulation

Five permanent subtropical gyres. Northern hemisphere types rotate clockwise, souther hemisphere gyres rotate counterclockwise under Coriolis Effect. Boundary currents move water between the major ocean gyres. Essentially a modern marine Vertical circulation circulation pattern with variations in controlled by deep-ocean intensity conditioned on variations in conveyor which was sea level, the latitudinal thermal established in the gradient, and global temperature. Neogene. Neogene Marine Circulation

Five permanent subtropical gyres. Northern hemisphere gyres rotate clockwise, southern hemisphere gyres rotate counterclockwise under Coriolis Effect. Boundary currents move water between the major ocean gyres. Vertical circulation controlled by deep-ocean conveyor which was established in the Neogene.

Map from Avsa (2009) Neogene Marine Themohaline Circulation

Video from NASA (2009) Neogene Paleoenvironment

Atmospheric O Atmospheric CO 2 2 35 5000

28 4000

21 3000

14 2000

7 1000 PercentbyVol. Parts PerMillionParts 0 0 Cb. Od. Sl. Dv. Cr. Pm. Tr Jr Ct Pg Ng Cb. Od. Sl. Dv. Cr. Pm. Tr. Jr. Ct Pg Ng

Mean Surface Temperature Sea Level

25 250

20 200

15 150 Present 10 100 Meters Above Meters DegreesCelsius 5 50

0 0 Cb. Od. Sl. Dv. Cb. Pm. Tr. Jr. Ct. Pg Ng Cb. Od. Sl. Dv. Cr. Pm. Tr. Jr. Ct. Pg Ng Neogene Climate Zones

Comparative Criteria Neogene

O2 Content of 21.5 vol. % Atmosphere (108%)

CO2 Content of 280 ppm Atmosphere (x1)

Mean Surface 14°C Temperature (0°C)

Sea Level +150 m to -100 m

Climates remained relatively warm throughout the with a slow cooling trend that ended with two sharp drops in global temperature, one in the (c. 14 mya) and the other in the (c. 8 mya).

Map from Scotese PaleoMap Project (2000) Neogene Global Temperature Variation

Diagram from Zachos et al. (2008) Neogene Miocene Vegetation Model

Map from Micheels et al. (2007) Neogene Miocene Sea Surface Temperatures

Map from Tim Herbert Lab, Brown University Neogene Pliocene Climate Zones

Map from US Geological Survey (USGS) Neogene Pliocene Sea Surface Temperatures

Map from US Geological Survey (USGS) Paleogene Evolutionary Fauna

X X

Trilobite Graptolite

Inarticulata Monoplacophora Polychaete Neogene Paleozoic Evolutionary Fauna

Articulata Crinoid

X X X

Tabulate Coral Bryozoan Ammonite Rugose Coral Neogene Modern Evolutionary Fauna

Bivalve Gastropod Echinoid Bony Fish Neogene Reefs

Pliocene Reef

Widespread reef formation around throughout the Tethys, the proto- Gulf of Mexico, across southeast Asia and around Pacific islands. Quite a hemispherically symmetrical latitudinal distribution with reefs extending to above 60° latitude, bit more reefs in northern hemisphere indicating a latitudinally asymmetrical distribution of shallow marine habitats and sea-surface temperatures.

Map from Scotese PaleoMap Project (2000) Neogene Fish

Ophiodon

Acanthurus

Pseudovomer

Hippocampus Oncorhynchus Neogene Elasmobranchs

Carcharocles

Carcharhinus

Manta

Hemipristis Megalolamna Neogene Terrestrial Environment

Miocene Grassland Biome Neogene Terrestrial Environment

Plants Arthropods (incl. insects) Amphibians Birds Mammals

Miocene Terrestrial Scene Global climates become more seasonal with a larger latitudinal thermal gradient with a continuation of the cooling and drying trend that began in the Eocene. Ice caps at both poles grow and thicken along with the Greenland ice cap and mountain glaciers worldwide. Alternating massive glacial-interglacial phases begin at the end of the interval. Neogene Trees

Northofagus Quercus Pinus (Beech) (Oak) (Pine)

Magnolia Ginkgo Metasequoia (Magnolia) (Ginko) (Metasequoia) Neogene Terrestrial Insects

Acanthognathus

Curitiba Neogene Terrestrial Arthropods

Archaeogeryon Tityus Ischnocolinopsis

Anbarrhacus Unnamed Isopod Xantho Neogene Quadrupeds (Amphibians)

Palaeoplethodon Palaeobatrachus

Mioproteus

Bombina Neogene Quadrupeds (Reptiles)

Meiolania

Crocodylus

Rhamphosuchus

Liasis

Pumilia Neogene Quadrupeds (Mammals)

Aepycamelus

Rhynchotherium

Pliohippus

Chalicotherium Neogene Quadrupeds (Mammals)

Aepycamelus

Cuvieronius

Pliohippus

Chalicotherium Neogene Mammals (Whales)

Brygmophyseter

Balaenoptera Neogene Quadrupeds (Birds)

Pelagornis

Osteodontornis

Titanis Neogene (Terror Birds)

An extinct clade of large flightless birds that were the top predators in many South American Paleogene terrestrial environments. Restricted to the island continent of South America throughout the Paleogene, these predators invaded North America in the Neogene via the Panamanian land bridge. Fast, agile runners, these birds probably took prey considerably smaller than themselves owing to a comparatively small bite force. Since all birds and direct descendants of dinosaurs the presence of these birds lends support to the argument that dinosaurs played a considerable ecological role, first in S. America and later throughout the western hemisphere, throughout most of the Cenozoic. Neogene Biodiversity

800

600

400

Modern Fauna

200 Paleozoic Fauna NumberFamiliesof Cambrian Fauna 0 Cambrian Sil. Carbon. Tri. 500 400 300 200 100 0 Geological Time Data from Sepkoski (1981) Neogene Extinctions End-Ordovician End-Devonian End-Permian End- End-Cretaceous 80 Palaeozoic Mesozoic Cenozoic Neogene 60

40

PercentExtinction 20

0 Cambrian Ord. Sil. Dev. Carb. Perm. Trias. Jurassic Cretaceous Paleoc. Neo. Paleozoic Mesozoic Cenozoic

Data from Sepkoski (1998) Neogene Extinction Events

System Series Stage Mya 2.58 Great American Biotic Piacenzian Interchange (GABI) 3.60 Pliocene Zanclean 5.33 Messinian 7.25 Tortonian 11.63 Serravallian Miocene Local mammalian & 13.82 benthic invertebrate

Neogene Langhian extinctions 15.97 Mostly local terrestrial extinctions in Europe (lizards, Burdigalian alligators, ) 20.44 Aquitanian 23.03 0 4 8 12 16 20 % Extinctions Neogene Environmental Events

System Series Stage Mya 2.58 Land bridge emerges Piacenzian between North and South 3.60 America Pliocene Zanclean 5.33 Messinian Messinian Salinity Crisis 7.25 Tortonian 11.63 Serravallian Mid-Miocene Climatic Miocene Optimum (MMCO); 13.82 Onset of Mid-Miocene

Neogene Langhian Cooling; expansion of 15.97 Antarctic Ice Cap Burdigalian 20.44 Aquitanian 23.03 0 4 8 12 16 20 % Extinctions Neogene Messinian Salinity Crisis Neogene Great American Biotic Interchange 40 mya (Bartonian) - 2.7 mya (Piacenzian) Neogene Sea-Level Changes

System Series Stage Mya 2.58 Piacenzian 3.60 Pliocene Zanclean 5.33 Messinian 7.25 Tortonian 11.63 Miocene Serravallian 13.82

Neogene Langhian 15.97 Burdigalian 20.44 Aquitanian 23.03 0 4 8 12 16 20 % Extinctions Diagram from xxx et al. (xxx) Neogene Ocean Anoxia Events

System Series Stage Mya 2.58 Piacenzian 3.60 Pliocene Zanclean 5.33 Messinian 7.25 Tortonian 11.63 None Miocene Serravallian 13.82

Neogene Langhian 15.97 Burdigalian 20.44 Aquitanian 23.03 0 4 8 12 16 20 % Extinctions Neogene LIP Eruptions

System Series Stage Mya 2.58 Piacenzian 3.60 Pliocene Zanclean 5.33 Messinian 7.25 Tortonian 11.63 Miocene Serravallian 13.82

Neogene Langhian Columbia River (2.1 15.97 Kkm2) Burdigalian 20.44 Aquitanian 23.03 0 4 8 12 16 20 % Extinctions Paleogene LIP Eruptions

Columbia Riven Igneous Province : c. 17 - 14 Mya (most intense interval) Extent: 2.1 Kkm2 Duration: 3 m.y. Location: Northwestern US Though volcanism has characterized this region for the past 20 m.y., most geologists accept that this LIP was emplaced when the North American plate moved over what is now called the Yellowstone hotspot ( = mantle plume). However, this model does not explain the prominent bow or deflection in the plume’s track or the apparent necking that occurred when it migrated to the south.

Map from Abdelmalak et al. (2015) Paleogene Bolide Impacts

System Series Stage Mya Talemzane (1.8 km), Aouellout (0.4 km) 2.58 Piacenzian Roter Kamm (2.5 km), 3.60 Pliocene El’gygytgyn (18 km) Zanclean Kara-Kul (52 km), 5.33 Colonia (4 km), Bigach Messinian (8 km) 7.25 Tortonian 11.63 Miocene Serravallian 13.82

Neogene Langhian Ries (24 km), Steinham 15.97 (3.8 Burdigalian 20.44 Aquitanian 23.03 0 4 8 12 16 20 % Extinctions Paleogene Bolide Impacts

Ries Impact Crater Age: 14.81 ± 0.038 mya Diameter: 24 km Location: Bavaria, Germany

Ries was one of the first impact craters to be recognized as such by the criteria developed by Eugene Shoemaker and Edward Chao (e.g., coesite, shocked minerals. It’s also one of the few rampant craters (= characterized by a fluid post- impact ejecta flow) known on Earth. The impactor is thought to have had a diameter of c. 1.5 km. Paleogene Bolide Impacts

Kara-Kul Impact Crater Age: c. 5 mya Diameter: 52 km Location: Tajikistan

This crater is unusual in that its roughly circular aspect was first identified through the study of Landsat images taken from space. Some suspect that this impact may have played a role in Pliocene cooling of the planet and so might have been a factor that contributed to the initiation of the ice ages.

Image from NASA (2019) Neogene Extinctions: Synthesis Eustatic Sea-Level Regression Bolide Impact

Reduced Increased CO2 Shelf Area Albedo Release Shock Thermal Ballistic Stratosphe CO2 SO2 Wave Flash Ejecta ric Dust Release Release

Increased Increased Global Global Local Wildfires Global Increased Global Acid Marine Climate Cooling Warming Extinctions Darkness Albedo Warming Rain Competition Extremes

Global Altered Altered Cooling Terrestrial Marine Habitats Circulation Altered Altered

Terrestrial Productivity Marine Habitats Collapse Habitats

Extinction Extinction

Continental LIP Eruption Neogene Worlds, Life & Extinctions Norman MacLeod School of Earth Sciences & Engineering, Nanjing University