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Main Authors: Bijl, Peter K, Bendle, James A, Bohaty, Steven M, Pross, Jörg, Schouten, Stefan, Tauxe, Lisa, Stickley, Catherine E, McKay, Robert M, Röhl, Ursula, Olney, M, Sluijs, Appy, Escutia Dotti, Carlota, Brinkhuis, Henk, Expedition 318 Scientists
Format: Dataset Open Access
Language:en
Published: PANGAEA 2013
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Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.816368
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author Bijl, Peter K
Bendle, James A
Bohaty, Steven M
Pross, Jörg
Schouten, Stefan
Tauxe, Lisa
Stickley, Catherine E
McKay, Robert M
Röhl, Ursula
Olney, M
Sluijs, Appy
Escutia Dotti, Carlota
Brinkhuis, Henk
Expedition 318 Scientists
author_facet Bijl, Peter K
Bendle, James A
Bohaty, Steven M
Pross, Jörg
Schouten, Stefan
Tauxe, Lisa
Stickley, Catherine E
McKay, Robert M
Röhl, Ursula
Olney, M
Sluijs, Appy
Escutia Dotti, Carlota
Brinkhuis, Henk
Expedition 318 Scientists
collection Datos científicos de ciencias marinas y ambientales
contents The warmest global temperatures of the past 85 million years occurred during a prolonged greenhouse episode known as the Early Eocene Climatic Optimum (52-50 Ma). The Early Eocene Climatic Optimum terminated with a long-term cooling trend that culminated in continental-scale glaciation of Antarctica from 34 Ma onward. Whereas early studies attributed the Eocene transition from greenhouse to icehouse climates to the tectonic opening of Southern Ocean gateways, more recent investigations invoked a dominant role of declining atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations (e.g., CO2). However, the scarcity of field data has prevented empirical evaluation of these hypotheses. We present marine microfossil and organic geochemical records spanning the early-to-middle Eocene transition fromthe Wilkes LandMargin, East Antarctica. Dinoflagellate biogeography and sea surface temperature paleothermometry reveal that the earliest throughflow of a westbound Antarctic Counter Current began ca. 49-50 Ma through a southern opening of the Tasmanian Gateway. This early opening occurs in conjunction with the simultaneous onset of regional surface water and continental cooling (2-4 °C), evidenced by biomarker- and pollen-based paleothermometry. We interpret that the westbound flowing current flow across the Tasmanian Gateway resulted in cooling of Antarctic surface waters and coasts, which was conveyed to global intermediate waters through invigorated deep convection in southern high latitudes. Although atmospheric CO2 forcing alone would provide a more uniform middle Eocene cooling, the opening of the Tasmanian Gateway better explains Southern Ocean surface water and global deep ocean cooling in the apparent absence of (sub-) equatorial cooling.
format Dataset Open Access
id pangaea_https___doi_org_10_1594_PANGAEA_816368
institution PANGAEA
language en
publishDate 2013
publisher PANGAEA
record_format pangaea
spellingShingle Eocene cooling linked to early flow across the Tasmanian Gateway
Bijl, Peter K
Bendle, James A
Bohaty, Steven M
Pross, Jörg
Schouten, Stefan
Tauxe, Lisa
Stickley, Catherine E
McKay, Robert M
Röhl, Ursula
Olney, M
Sluijs, Appy
Escutia Dotti, Carlota
Brinkhuis, Henk
Expedition 318 Scientists
Integrated Ocean Drilling Program / International Ocean Discovery Program; IODP; Ocean Drilling Program; ODP
The warmest global temperatures of the past 85 million years occurred during a prolonged greenhouse episode known as the Early Eocene Climatic Optimum (52-50 Ma). The Early Eocene Climatic Optimum terminated with a long-term cooling trend that culminated in continental-scale glaciation of Antarctica from 34 Ma onward. Whereas early studies attributed the Eocene transition from greenhouse to icehouse climates to the tectonic opening of Southern Ocean gateways, more recent investigations invoked a dominant role of declining atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations (e.g., CO2). However, the scarcity of field data has prevented empirical evaluation of these hypotheses. We present marine microfossil and organic geochemical records spanning the early-to-middle Eocene transition fromthe Wilkes LandMargin, East Antarctica. Dinoflagellate biogeography and sea surface temperature paleothermometry reveal that the earliest throughflow of a westbound Antarctic Counter Current began ca. 49-50 Ma through a southern opening of the Tasmanian Gateway. This early opening occurs in conjunction with the simultaneous onset of regional surface water and continental cooling (2-4 °C), evidenced by biomarker- and pollen-based paleothermometry. We interpret that the westbound flowing current flow across the Tasmanian Gateway resulted in cooling of Antarctic surface waters and coasts, which was conveyed to global intermediate waters through invigorated deep convection in southern high latitudes. Although atmospheric CO2 forcing alone would provide a more uniform middle Eocene cooling, the opening of the Tasmanian Gateway better explains Southern Ocean surface water and global deep ocean cooling in the apparent absence of (sub-) equatorial cooling.
title Eocene cooling linked to early flow across the Tasmanian Gateway
topic Integrated Ocean Drilling Program / International Ocean Discovery Program; IODP; Ocean Drilling Program; ODP
url https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.816368