The Paleocene-Eocene benthic foraminiferal extinction and stable isotope anomalies

Geological Society Special Publication - Tập 101 Số 1 - Trang 401-441 - 1996
Ellen Thomas1,2, Nicholas J Shackleton3
1Department of Earth Sciences, Downing Street, University of Cambridge Cambridge CB2 3EQ, UK Center for the Study of Global Change, Department of Geology and Geophysics, PO Box 208109, Yale University New Haven CT 06520-8109, USA
2Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Wesleyan University Middletown, CT 06459-1309, USA
3Godwin Laboratory, Subdepartment of Quaternary Research, University of Cambridge Cambridge CB2 3RS, UK

Tóm tắt

Abstract In the late Paleocene to early Eocene, deep sea benthic foraminifera suffered their only global extinction of the last 75 million years and diversity decreased worldwide by 30–50% in a few thousand years. At Maud Rise (Weddell Sea, Antarctica; Sites 689 and 690, palaeodepths 1100 m and 1900 m) and Walvis Ridge (Southeastern Atlantic, Sites 525 and 527, palaeodepths 1600 m and 3400 m) post-extinction faunas were low-diversity and high-dominance, but the dominant species differed by geographical location. At Maud Rise, post-extinction faunas were dominated by small, biserial and triserial species, while the large, thick-walled, long-lived deep sea species Nuttalides truempyi was absent. At Walvis Ridge, by contrast, they were dominated by long-lived species such as N. truempyi , with common to abundant small abyssaminid species. The faunal dominance patterns at the two locations thus suggest different post-extinction seafloor environments: increased flux of organic matter and possibly decreased oxygen levels at Maud Rise, decreased flux at Walvis Ridge. The species-richness remained very low for about 50 000 years, then gradually increased. The extinction was synchronous with a large, negative, short-term excursion of carbon and oxygen isotopes in planktonic and benthic foraminifera and bulk carbonate. The isotope excursions reached peak negative values in a few thousand years and values returned to preexcursion levels in about 50 000 years. The carbon isotope excursion was about −2‰ for benthic foraminifera at Walvis Ridge and Maud Rise, and about −4‰ for planktonic foraminifera at Maud Rise. At the latter sites vertical gradients thus decreased, possibly at least partially as a result of upwelling. The oxygen isotope excursion was about −1.5‰ for benthic foraminifera at Walvis Ridge and Maud Rise, −1‰ for planktonic foraminifera at Maud Rise. The rapid oxygen isotope excursion at a time when polar ice-sheets were absent or insignificant can be explained by an increase in temperature by 4–6°C of high latitude surface waters and deep waters world wide. The deep ocean temperature increase could have been caused by warming of surface waters at high latitudes and continued formation of the deep waters at these locations, or by a switch from dominant formation of deep waters at high latitudes to formation at lower latitudes. Benthic foraminiferal post-extinction biogeographical patterns favour the latter explanation. The short-term carbon isotope excursion occurred in deep and surface waters, and in soil concretions and mammal teeth in the continental record. It is associated with increased CaCO 3 -dissolution over a wide depth range in the oceans, suggesting that a rapid transfer of isotopically light carbon from lithosphere or biosphere into the ocean-atmosphere system may have been involved. The rapidity of the initiation of the excursion (a few thousand years) and its short duration (50 000 years) suggest that such a transfer was probably not caused by changes in the ratio of organic carbon to carbonate deposition or erosion. Transfer of carbon from the terrestrial biosphere was probably not the cause, because it would require a much larger biosphere destruction than at the end of the Cretaceous, in conflict with the fossil record. It is difficult to explain the large shift by rapid emission into the atmosphere of volcanogenic CO 2 , although huge subaerial plateau basalt eruptions occurred at the time in the northern Atlantic. Probably a complex combination of processes and feedback was involved, including volcanogenic emission of CO 2 , changing circulation patterns, changing productivity in the oceans and possibly on land, and changes in the relative size of the oceanic and atmospheric carbon reservoirs.

Từ khóa


Tài liệu tham khảo

Ali A. E., King C., Hailwood E. A. , Hailwood E. A., Kidd R. B. Magnetostratigraphic calibration of early Eocene depositional sequences in the southern North Sea Basin High Resolution Stratigraphy 1992 70 99 125 Geological Society, London, Special Publication

Altenbach A. V., Sarnthein M. , Berger W. H., Smetacek V. S., Wefer G. Productivity record in benthic foraminifera Productivity of the Ocean: Present and Past 1989 44 255 269 Life Science Research Reports

10.2973/odp.proc.sr.120.149.1992

10.1144/gsjgs.143.5.0729

10.1029/PA003i006p00707

Aubry M.-P. Berggren W. A. Stott L. D. Sinha A. The upper Paleocene-lower Eocene stratigraphic record and the Paleocene-Eocene boundary carbon isotope excursion: implications for geochronology 1996 This volume

10.1016/0031-0182(86)90005-2

10.1007/BF01770187

Backman J., Morton A. C., Roberts D. G., Brown S., Krumsieck K., Macintyre R. M. Geochronology of the lower Eocene and upper Paleocene sequences of Leg 81 Initial Reports of the Deep Sea Drilling Project 1984 81 877 882

10.2973/odp.proc.ir.113.1988

10.2973/odp.proc.sr.119.167.1991

10.1029/PA002i001p00021

10.1029/PA002i006p00729

10.1016/0031-0182(91)90073-Z

10.1038/373055a0

10.1130/0091-7613(1995)023<0387:OCEAGW>2.3.CO;2

Beckmann J.-P. Distribution of benthic foraminifera at the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary of Trinidad (West Indies) 1960 5 Report 21st session International Geological Congress Norden, Copenhagen 57 69

10.1007/BF01770192

Berger W. H., Herguera J. C., Lange C. B., Schneider R. , Zahn R., Pedersen T. F., Kaminski M. A., Labeyrie L. Paleoproductivity: flux proxies versus nutrient proxies and other problems concerning the Quaternary productivity record Carbon Cycling in the Glacial Ocean: Constraints on the Ocean’s Role in Global Change 1994 New York Springer-Verlag 385 411

Berggren W. A. Paleogene planktonic foraminiferal magnetobiostratigraphy of the southern Kerguelen Plateau (Sites 747–749) 1992 120 Proceedings of the Ocean Drilling Program, Scientific Results 551 568

Berggren W. A. Aubry M.-P. A late Paleocene-early Eocene NW European and North Sea magnetobiostratigraphic correlation network 1996 This volume

10.2307/1485604

10.2307/1485674

10.1130/0016-7606(1985)96<1407:CG>2.0.CO;2

Berggren W. A., Kent D. V., Swisher C. C., Aubry M.-P , Berggren W. A., Kent D. V., Aubry M.-P, Hardenbol J. A revised Cenozoic geochronology and chronostratigraphy Geochronology, Time Scales and Stratigraphic Correlations: Framework for an Historical Geology 1995 54 SEPM Special Publication

Boersma A. Cretaceous-Tertiary planktonic foraminifera from the south eastern Atlantic, Walvis Ridge area, Deep Sea Drilling Project Leg 74 Initial Reports of the Deep Sea Drilling Project 1984a 74 501 524

Boersma A. Oligocene and other Tertiary benthic foraminifera from a depth traverse down Walvis Ridge, Deep Sea Drilling Project Leg 74 Initial Reports of the Deep Sea Drilling Project 1984b 75 1273 1300

10.1016/0031-0182(91)90074-2

10.1029/PA002i003p00287

10.1017/CBO9780511564406

Boltovskoy E., Boltovskoy D. Cenozoic deep-sea benthic foraminifera: faunal turnovers and paleobiographic differences Revue de Micropaléontologie 1988 31 67 84

10.1016/0377-8398(89)90015-7

10.2973/odp.proc.sr.104.192.1989

Braga G., Debiase R., Grunig A., Proto-Decima F. Foraminiferi bentonici del Paleocene e dell’Eocene della Sezione Posagno Schweizerische Paläontologische Abhandlungen 1975 97 85 111

Bralower T. J., Parrow M., Thomas E., Zachos J. C. Stable isotope stratigraphy of the Paleogene pelagic cap at Site 865, Allison Guyot 1995a 143 Proceedings of the Ocean Drilling Program, Scientific Results 581 586

10.1029/95PA01143

10.1038/296620a0

Broecker W. S., Peng T.-H. The climate-chemistry connection American Geophysical Union Geophysical Monographs 1984 29 327 336

Broecker W. S., Takahashi T. Is there a tie between atmospheric CO2 content and ocean circulation? American Geophysical Union, Geophysical Monographs 1984 29 314 326

10.1086/628593

10.1086/629161

10.1029/92JB01202

10.1029/94JB03098

10.1086/621315

10.2475/ajs.291.4.377

Charnock M. A., Jones R. W. , Hemleben C., Kaminski M. A., Kuhnt W., Scott D. B. Agglutinated foraminifera from the Palaeogene of the North Sea Paleoecology, Biostratigraphy, Paleoceanography and Taxonomy of Agglutinated Foraminifera 1990 C 139 243 Nato Advanced Study Institute Series, Series

Clark M. W., Wright R. W. Paleogene benthic foraminifera from the cape and Angola Basins, South Atlantic Ocean Initial Reports of the Deep Sea Drilling Project 1984 73 459 480

Collinson M. E. Fossil Plants of the London Clay 1983 1 Palaeontological Association, London, Field Guides to Fossils

10.1029/JC092iC03p02819

Corfield R. M. , Lees D., Edwards D. Depth habitats and the Palaeocene radiation of the planktonic foraminifera monitored using oxygen and carbon isotopes Evolutionary Patterns and Processes 1993 London Linnean Society 59 70

10.1080/10292389109380387

10.1111/j.1365-3121.1992.tb00579.x

10.1080/08912968809386482

10.1111/j.1365-3121.1991.tb00171.x

10.1130/0091-7613(1988)016<0716:MPONSD>2.3.CO;2

10.1029/91PA00432

10.3133/pp206

Eldholm O. Paleogene North Atlantic magmatictectonic events: environmental implications Memorie della Società Geologica Italiana 1990 44 13 28

10.1016/0012-821X(93)90087-P

10.1016/0031-0182(80)90064-4

10.1029/92GB00190

10.1017/CBO9781139163637

10.1016/0016-7037(90)90270-U

10.1029/93PA01367

Gingerich P. D. Paleocene-Eocene faunal zones and a preliminary analysis of Laramide structural deformation of in the Clark’s Fork Basin, Wyoming Wyoming Geological Association Guidebook 1983 34 185 195

10.1029/93GB03272

10.1038/354296a0

10.1029/JC082i027p03861

10.1130/0016-7606(1988)100<1934:PARFTG>2.3.CO;2

10.1130/0091-7613(1991)019<0702:ONDAOL>2.3.CO;2

10.1144/GSL.SP.1992.064.01.10

10.1016/0025-3227(90)90130-C

10.1029/93GB03393

10.1127/nos/25/1991/75

Hornibrook N. de B., Brazier R. C., Strong C. P. Manual of New Zealand Permian to Pleistocene Foraminiferal Biostratigraphy New Zealand Geological Survey, Paleontological Bulletin 1989 56

10.1130/0091-7613(1992)020<0015:PEBCIA>2.3.CO;2

10.1130/0016-7606(1983)94<730:EDITNP>2.0.CO;2

Jenkins D. G., Luterbacher H. Paleogene Stages and their boundaries (introductory remarks) Neues Jahrbuch, Geologische und Paläontologische Abhandlungen 1992 186 1 5

Kaiho K. Uppermost Cretaceous to Paleogene bathyal benthic foraminiferal biostratigraphy of Japan and New Zealand; latest Paleocene-middle Eocene benthic foraminiferal species turnover Revue de Paléobiologie 1988 2 553 559 Special Volume

10.1016/0031-0182(91)90076-4

10.1130/0091-7613(1994)022<0719:BFDOIA>2.3.CO;2

10.1016/0031-0182(94)90347-6

10.1111/j.1365-3121.1994.tb00510.x

10.1016/0377-8398(93)90053-Z

10.1007/978-1-4615-2812-8_8

Katz M. R., Miller K. G. Early Paleogene benthic foraminiferal assemblage and stable isotope composition in the Southern Ocean, ODP Leg 114 1991 4 Proceedings of the Ocean Drilling Program, Scientific Results 481 513

10.1016/0031-0182(78)90042-1

10.1016/0377-8398(78)90017-8

10.2973/odp.proc.sr.113.188.1990

10.1038/353225a0

10.1016/0009-2541(93)90325-D

Kerrick D. M., Caldeira K. Metamorphic CO2 degassing and early Cenozoic palaeoclimate Geological Society of America Today 1994 4 57 62 65

King C. , Jenkins D. G., Murray J. W. Cenozoic of the North Sea Atlas of Fossil Foraminifera 1989 2nd edition London Ellis Horwood 418 489 British Micropalaeontological Society Series

10.2973/odp.proc.sr.121.121.1991

Knox R. W. O’B. Thanetian and early Ypresian chronostratigraphy in south-east England Tertiary Research 1990 11 57 64

Knox R. W. O’B., Morton A. C. Stratigraphical distribution of early Palaeogene pyroclastic deposits in the North Sea Basin 1983 44 Proceedings of the Yorkshire Geological Society 355 363

Knox R. W. O’B., Morton A. C. , Morton A. C., Parson L. M. The record of early Tertiary North Atlantic Volcanism in sediments of the North Sea Basin Early Tertiary Volcanism and the Opening of the NE Atlantic 1988 39 407 419 Geological Society, London, Special Publication

10.1038/358319a0

10.1016/0016-7037(93)90109-A

Larsen L. M., Pedersen A. K., Pedersen G. K., Piasecki S. , Storey B. C., Alabaster T., Pankhurst R. J. Timing and duration of Early Tertiary volcanism in the North Atlantic: new evidence from West Greenland Magmatism and the Causes of Continental Break-up 1992 68 321 333 Geological Society, London, Special Publication

10.1016/0377-8398(93)90012-M

10.1016/0377-8398(84)90002-1

10.1029/PA005i002p00161

McGowran B. Evolution and Environment in the early Paleogene Memoirs of the Geological Society of India 1991 20 21 53

10.1016/0031-0182(80)90065-6

10.1029/PA002i001p00001

10.1029/PA002i006p00741

Miller K. G., Katz M. E., Berggren W. A. Cenozoic deep-sea benthic foraminifera: a tale of three turnovers 1992 BENTHOS ’90 Sendai Tokai University Press 67 75

10.2973/odp.proc.sr.120.168.1992

Manivit H. Paleogene and Upper Cretaceous calcareous nannofossils from Deep Sea Drilling Project Leg 74 Initial Reports of the Deep Sea Drilling Project 1984 74 475 500

10.1130/0091-7613(1994)022<0613:ECATCT>2.3.CO;2

10.1130/0091-7613(1980)8<501:TORAGS>2.0.CO;2

Molina E., Canudo J. I., Guernet C., McDougall K., Ortiz N., Pascual J. O., Pares J. O., Samso J. M., Serra-Kiel J., Tosquella J. The stratotypic Ilerdien revisited: integrated stratigraphy across the Paleocene/Eocene boundary Revue de Micropaléontologie 1992 35 143 156

Moore P. R. Stratigraphy, composition and environment of deposition of the Whangai Formation and associated Late Cretaceous-Paleocene rocks, eastern North Island, New Zealand New Zealand Geological Survey, Bulletin 1988 100

Moore T. C., Rabinowitz P. D., Borella P. E., Shackleton N. J., Boersma A. History of the Walvis Ridge Initial Reports of the Deep Sea Drilling Project 1984 74 873 894

10.1016/0031-0182(91)90078-6

10.1017/S0016756800036852

Nomura R. Paleoceanography of upper Maestrichtian to Eocene benthic foraminiferal assemblages at ODP Sites 752, 753 and 754, eastern Indian Ocean 1991 121 Proceedings of the Ocean Drilling Program, Scientific Results 3 30

10.1029/GD015p0085

10.1016/0031-0182(91)90079-7

10.2973/odp.proc.sr.113.199.1990

Odin G. S., Luterbacher H. The age of the Paleogene Stage Boundaries Neues Jahrbuch, Geologische und Paläeontologische Abhandlungen 1992 186 21 48

10.1016/0377-8398(92)90019-G

Olivarez A. M., Owen R. M. Plate tectonic reorganizations: implications regarding the formation of hydrothermal ore deposits Marine Mining 1989 14 123 138

10.1126/science.11536555

10.1029/92PA01234

Pak D. K., Miller K.G. Isotopic and faunal record of Paleogene deep-water transitions, Leg 145 1995 145 Proceedings of the Ocean Drilling Program, Scientific Results

10.1029/PA003i002p00157

10.2973/odp.proc.sr.113.205.1990

10.1016/0031-0182(88)90159-9

10.1130/0091-7613(1988)016<0963:CIVHDO>2.3.CO;2

10.1029/93PA02327

10.1126/science.11542060

10.1029/93RG03257

10.1016/0031-0182(90)90108-J

10.1016/0031-0182(91)90169-R

10.1016/0025-3227(92)90010-F

10.1130/0091-7613(1994)022<0211:ASHEAT>2.3.CO;2

10.2973/odp.proc.sr.113.151.1990

Roberts D. G., Morton A. C., Backman J. Late Paleocene-Eocene volcanic events in the northern North Atlantic Ocean Initial Reports of the Deep Sea Drilling Project 1984 81 913 923

Romein A. J. T. Lineages in early Paleogene calcareous nannoplankton Utrecht Micropaleontology Bulletin 1979 22

10.1016/0031-0182(92)90028-4

10.1086/282541

10.1016/0031-0182(91)90086-7

Schnitker D. Cenozoic deep water benthic foraminifers, Bay of Biscay Initial Reports of the Deep Sea Drilling Project 1979 48 377 414

10.1144/jm.11.2.113

10.1130/0091-7613(1993)021<0885:PMCSAW>2.3.CO;2

10.2973/odp.proc.sr.121.184.1991

10.1007/978-1-4899-5016-1_22

10.1016/0031-0182(86)90008-8

Shackleton N. J. , Brooks J., Fleet A. J. The carbon isotope history of the Cenozoic Petroleum Source Rocks 1987 Blackwell 427 438

10.1144/gsjgs.138.2.0153

Shackleton N. J., Hall M. A. Carbon isotope data from Leg 74 sediments Initial Reports of the Deep Sea Drilling Project 1984 74 613 619

10.2973/odp.proc.sr.113.211.1990

10.2113/gsjfr.15.4.321

Shackleton N. J., Hall M. A., Bleil U. Carbon isotope stratigraphy, Site 577 Initial Reports of the Deep Sea Drilling Project 1985 86 503 511

Shackleton N. J., Hall M. A., Boersma A. Oxygen and carbon isotope data from Leg 74 foraminifers Initial Reports of the Deep Sea Drilling Project 1984a 74 599 612

Shackleton N. J. members of the Scientific Party Accumulation rates in Leg 74 sediments Initial Reports of the Deep Sea Drilling Project 1984b 74 621 637

Signor P., Lipps J. Sampling bias, gradual extinction patterns, and catastrophes in the fossil record 1982 193 291 296 Geological Society of America, Special Publication

10.1016/0031-0182(92)90096-N

10.1038/357320a0

10.1029/94PA02928

10.1086/629694

Speijer R. P. Extinction and recovery patterns in benthic foraminiferal paleocommunities across the Cretaceous/Paleogene and Paleocene/Eocene boundaries Geologica Ultraiectina 1994 124

10.2973/odp.proc.sr.113.182.1990

10.1016/0016-7037(89)90189-0

10.1029/92PA01183

Stott L. D., Kennett J. P. Antarctic Paleogene planktonic foraminiferal biostratigraphy: ODP Leg 113, Sites 689 and 690 1990 113 Proceedings of the Ocean Drilling Program, Scientific Results 549 570

10.2973/odp.proc.sr.113.187.1990

Stott L. D. Sinha A. Thiry M. Aubry M.-P. Berggren W. A. Global δ 13 C changes across the Paleocene/Eocene boundary: criteria for terrestrial-marine correlations 1996 This volume

Thierstein H. R. , Berger W. H., Smetacek V. S., Wefer G. Inventory of Paleoproductivity Records: the Mid-Cretaceous enigma Productivity of the Ocean: Present and Past 1989 44 355 375 Life Science Reports

Thomas E. , Crame J. A. Development of Cenozoic deep-sea benthic foraminiferal faunas in Antarctic waters Origins and Evolution of Antarctic Biota 1989 47 283 296 Geological Society of London, Special Publication

10.2973/odp.proc.sr.113.123.1990

Thomas E. , Sharpton V. L., Ward P. D. Late Cretaceous-early Eocene mass extinctions in the deep sea Global Catastrophes in Earth History 1990b 247 481 495 Geological Society of America, Special Publication

Thomas E. Cenozoic deep-sea circulation: evidence from deep-sea benthic foraminifera American Geophysical Union, Antarctic Research Series 1992 56 141 165

10.2973/odp.proc.sr.113.194.1990

10.2973/odp.proc.sr.122.195.1992

Tjalsma R. C., Lohmann G. P. Paleocene-Eocene bathyal and abyssal benthic foraminifera from the Atlantic Ocean 1983 4 Micropaleontology Special Publication

10.1111/j.1365-3121.1993.tb00221.x

10.1111/j.1365-3121.1992.tb00453.x

Van Morkhoven F. P. C., Berggren W. A., Edwards A. S. Cenozoic cosmopolitan deep-water benthic foraminifera 1986 Pau, France Elf-Aquitaine

Von Hillebrandt A. Das Paläozäne und seine Foraminiferenfauna im Becken von Reichenhall und Salzburg Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Klasse, Abhandlungen, Neue Folge 1962 108

10.1111/j.1365-3121.1992.tb00825.x

10.1007/978-1-4615-2812-8_1

Walker J. C. G., Sloan L. Something is wrong with climate theory Geotimes 1992 June 16 18

White R. S. Igneous outbursts and mass extinctions EOS, Transactions American Geophysical Union 1989 70 1480 1490 1491

10.1029/JB094iB06p07685

10.1016/0031-0182(86)90003-9

10.1126/science.226.4673.439

10.1130/0091-7613(1991)019<1189:EEBACC>2.3.CO;2

Wolfe J. A. A paleobotanical interpretation of Tertiary climates in the northern hemisphere American Scientist 1978 66 694 703

Wolfe J. A., Poore R. Z. Tertiary marine and non-marine climatic trends Climate in Earth History 1982 148 154 National Academy Press, for the American Geophysical Union

10.1130/0091-7613(1985)13<119:CVOMPB>2.0.CO;2

Zachos J., Rea D., Seto K., Nomura R., Niitsuma N. Paleogene and early Neogene deep water paleoceanography of the Indian Ocean as determined from benthic foraminifer stable carbon and oxygen isotope records American Geophysical Union, Geophysical Monographs 1992 70 351 386

10.1086/648216

10.1029/93PA03266

10.1029/PA001i001p00027

Thông tin
Thông tin xuất bản

Geological Society Special Publication

Tập 101 Số 1

401-441

Thông tin tác giả