Isotopic Evidence for Glaciation During the Cretaceous Supergreenhouse

The Turonian (93.5 to 89.3 million years ago) was one of the warmest periods of the Phanerozoic eon, with tropical sea surface temperatures over 35°C. High-amplitude sea-level changes and positive δ18O excursions in marine limestones suggest that glaciation events may have punctuated this episode of extreme warmth. New δ18O data from the tropical Atlantic show synchronous shifts ∼91.2 million years ago for both the surface and deep ocean that are consistent with an approximately 200,000-year period of glaciation, with ice sheets of about half the size of the modern Antarctic ice cap. Even the prevailing supergreenhouse climate was not a barrier to the formation of large ice sheets, calling into question the common assumption that the poles were always ice-free during past periods of intense global warming.

[1]  R. Norris,et al.  Size-related stable isotope changes in Late Cretaceous planktic foraminifera: Implications for paleoecology and photosymbiosis , 2007 .

[2]  Stefan Schouten,et al.  Mid-Cretaceous (Albian–Santonian) sea surface temperature record of the tropical Atlantic Ocean , 2007 .

[3]  I. Jarvis,et al.  Secular variation in Late Cretaceous carbon isotopes: a new δ13C carbonate reference curve for the Cenomanian–Campanian (99.6–70.6 Ma) , 2006, Geological Magazine.

[4]  Richard D. Norris,et al.  A multiple proxy and model study of Cretaceous upper ocean temperatures and atmospheric CO2 concentrations , 2006 .

[5]  K. Miller,et al.  The Phanerozoic Record of Global Sea-Level Change , 2005, Science.

[6]  K. Miller,et al.  Visions of ice sheets in a greenhouse world , 2005 .

[7]  Stefan Schouten,et al.  Temperature-dependent variation in the distribution of tetraether membrane lipids of marine Crenarchaeota: Implications for TEX86 paleothermometry , 2004 .

[8]  A. Gale,et al.  Midlatitude shelf seas in the Cenomanian‐Turonian greenhouse world: Temperature evolution and North Atlantic circulation , 2004 .

[9]  R. Norris,et al.  Extreme polar warmth during the Cretaceous greenhouse? Paradox of the late Turonian δ18O record at Deep Sea Drilling Project Site 511 , 2003 .

[10]  David Pollard,et al.  Rapid Cenozoic glaciation of Antarctica induced by declining atmospheric CO2 , 2003, Nature.

[11]  Stefan Schouten,et al.  Distributional variations in marine crenarchaeotal membrane lipids: a new tool for reconstructing ancient sea water temperatures? , 2002 .

[12]  R. Norris,et al.  Testing the Cretaceous greenhouse hypothesis using glassy foraminiferal calcite from the core of the Turonian tropics on Demerara Rise , 2002 .

[13]  R. Norris,et al.  Deep-sea paleotemperature record of extreme warmth during the Cretaceous , 2002 .

[14]  Christopher J. Nicholas,et al.  Warm tropical sea surface temperatures in the Late Cretaceous and Eocene epochs , 2001, Nature.

[15]  S. Voigt,et al.  Evidence for Late Cretaceous (Late Turonian) climate cooling from oxygen-isotope variations and palaeobiogeographic changes in Western and Central Europe , 2000, Journal of the Geological Society.

[16]  D. Schrag,et al.  High-resolution stable isotope records from the Upper Cretaceous rocks of Italy and Spain: Glacial episodes in a greenhouse planet? , 2000 .

[17]  T. Stern,et al.  Uplift of the Transantarctic Mountains and the bedrock beneath the East Antarctic ice sheet , 1997 .

[18]  W. Dean,et al.  Evidence for Milankovitch Periodicities in Cenomanian-Turonian Lithologic and Geochemical Cycles, Western Interior U.S.A. , 1997 .

[19]  D. Sahagian,et al.  Eustatic Curve for the Middle Jurassic--Cretaceous Based on Russian Platform and Siberian Stratigraphy: Zonal Resolution , 1996 .

[20]  R. Spicer,et al.  Palaeobotanical evidence for a warm Cretaceous Arctic Ocean , 1996, Nature.

[21]  B. Haq,et al.  Chronology of Fluctuating Sea Levels Since the Triassic , 1987, Science.

[22]  R. Fairbanks,et al.  The Marine Oxygen Isotope Record in Pleistocene Coral, Barbados, West Indies , 1978, Quaternary Research.

[23]  Caroline H. Lear,et al.  Rapid stepwise onset of Antarctic glaciation and deeper calcite compensation in the Pacific Ocean , 2005, Nature.

[24]  J. Bamber,et al.  Balance velocities and measured properties of the Antarctic ice sheet from a new compilation of gridded data for modelling , 2000, Annals of Glaciology.

[25]  A. Gale.  Turonian correlation and sequence stratigraphy of the Chalk in southern England , 1996, Geological Society, London, Special Publications.

[26]  J. Hancock.  Sea-level changes in the British region during the Late Cretaceous , 1989 .

[27]  W. Ryan,et al.  Deep Drilling Results in the Atlantic Ocean: Continental Margins and Paleoenvironment , 1979 .