Palaeotemperatures, polar ice-volume, and isotope stratigraphy (Mg/Ca, delta 18O, delta 13C, 87Sr/86Sr) : the Early Cretaceous (Berriasian, Valanginian, Hauterivian)
McArthur, J.M.; Janssen, N.M.M.; Reboulet, S.; Leng, Melanie 
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1115-5166; Thirlwall, M.F.; Schootbrugge, B. Van de.
2007
Palaeotemperatures, polar ice-volume, and isotope stratigraphy (Mg/Ca, delta 18O, delta 13C, 87Sr/86Sr) : the Early Cretaceous (Berriasian, Valanginian, Hauterivian).
Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 248 (3-4).
391-430.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2006.12.015
Abstract/Summary
Temporal trends through Early Cretaceous time of δ13C, δ18O, Mg/Ca, and 87Sr/86Sr in calcite, and δ18O in seawater, are discussed using belemnites from SE France and SE Spain. Both positive and negative excursions in δ13Cc are seen in the Berriasian–Hauterivian interval, but none appear to be connected to Paraná–Etendeka volcanism and none can be tied convincingly to changes in sea level. Negative excursions to − 2‰ in δ13Cc occur in the Upper Berriasian and in the Lower Valanginian. Small positive excursions in δ13Cc occur in the uppermost Valanginian (upper C. furcillata Zone) and uppermost Hauterivian (B. balearis/P. ohmi Zones). A major positive excursion in δ13Cc in the Valanginian rises to + 1.5‰ through the upper K. biassalense Subzone (upper B. campylotoxus ammonite Zone of the Lower Valanginian), which correlates to Chron M11An.1n., and continues through the S. verrucosum Zone (Upper Valanginian). Extrapolation from carbon-isotope correlations of the onset of this excursion shows that the base of the Hauterivian (F.A. of Acanthodiscus ammonite genus) coincides with the base of Chron M10n and has a numerical age of 133.9 Ma. In Berriasian, Lower Valanginian and Upper Hauterivian belemnites, δ18Oc is mostly negative (around − 0.3‰, three-point mean) but becomes positive (up to + 0.4‰, three-point mean) in the Upper Valanginian and Lower Hauterivian before returning to negative values in the Upper Hauterivian. The transition from negative to positive values, through the S. verrucosum Zone, is accompanied by a 30% decrease in Mg/Ca in belemnite calcite, confirming that the trend in δ18Oc represents mostly cooling. The trend of δ18Osw, computed from Mg/Ca and δ18Oc, lags trends in Ca/Mg and δ18Oc and becomes around 0.8‰ more positive through the Upper Valanginian and Lower Hauterivian in response, we postulate, to the formation of substantial amounts of polar ice after a period of global cooling. By Late Hauterivian times, temperature proxies (δ18Oc and Mg/Ca) show substantial warming had occurred and δ18Osw had returned to less positive values, presumably as a result of waning ice-volume. Sea level lowstands of up to 90 m, reported to occur in the Late Berriasian and Early Valanginian, are not recorded in our δ18Oc or Mg/Ca data, so they were either not real or were tectonic in origin. Values of 87Sr/86Sr in seawater rose monotonically by 0.000294 through Berriasian, Valanginian and Hauterivian time, except in Late Valanginian time, when a plateau in 87Sr/86Sr occurred. Through extrapolation, the value of 87Sr/86Sr is estimated to be 0.707180 ± 0.000010 at the base of the Berriasian and 0.707474 ± 0.000010 at the base of the Barremian; it is fixed by regression analysis to be 0.707294 ± 0.000005 at the base of the Valanginian and 0.707383 ± 0.000005 at the base of the Hauterivian.
| Item Type: | Publication - Article |
|---|---|
| Digital Object Identifier (DOI): | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2006.12.015 |
| Programmes: | BGS Programmes > NERC Isotope Geoscience Laboratory |
| ISSN: | 0031-0182 |
| Additional Keywords: | Sea water, Belemnites, Cretaceous, Palaeoclimate, Palaeotemperature |
| NORA Subject Terms: | Earth Sciences |
| Related URLs: | |
| Date made live: | 15 Sep 2008 08:22 +0 (UTC) |
| URI: | https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/3514 |
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