995 resultados para 39-356
Resumo:
A detailed record of the strontium-87 to strontium-86 ratio in seawater during the last 100 million years was determined by measuring this ratio in 137 well-preserved and well-dated fossil foraminifera samples. Sample preservation was evaluated from scanning electron microscopy studies, measured strontium-calcium ratios, and pore water strontium isotope ratios. The evolution of the strontium isotopic ratio in seawater offers a means to evaluate long-term changes in the global strontium isotope mass balance. Results show that the marine strontium isotope composition can be used for correlating and dating well-preserved authigenic marine sediments throughout much of the Cenozoic to a precision of +/- 1 million years. The strontium-87 to strontium-86 ratio in seawater increased sharply across the Cretaceous/Tertiary boundary, but this feature is not readily explained as strontium input from a bolide impact on land.
Resumo:
Spatial and temporal patterns in test size and shape (test conicity and spiral roundness) and absolute abundance (accumulation rate) of the planktonic foraminifer Contusotruncana contusa were studied in the South Atlantic Ocean (DSDP sites 356, 516, 525 and 527) during an interval corresponding to the last 800 kyr of the Cretaceous. The variation in absolute abundance of C. contusa was characterised by alternating periods of high and low abundance; some of these periods were traceable across the entire mid-latitude South Atlantic Ocean. While the mean spiral roundness did not show any interpretable patterns, a sudden increase of the mean test size and mean test conicity occurred between 65.3 and 65.2 Ma (based on linear interpolation within the Cretaceous part of Subchron C29R) at all sites studied, indicating a poleward migration followed by rapid withdrawal of the low-latitude C. contusa morphotypes from the mid-latitude South Atlantic Ocean. We suggest that this event was caused by a short period of surface-water warming in the southern mid-latitudes corresponding to the brief high-latitude warming event and associated faunal migrations in the Boreal and Austral realms.
Resumo:
Visual kerogen and total organic carbon determinations indicate that there are two periods of organic enrichment events in the Mesozoic sediments of the South Atlantic. The first period, from the Late Jurassic through the late Aptian, is recorded in sediments from the Falkland Plateau, the Cape Basin, and the Angola Basin. Apparently, salinity stratification in the restricted basin, coupled with rising sea level, led to bottom water anoxia and organic enrichment. The second event, from the late Albian to the Santonian period, is recorded in sediments from the Angola Basin and the Sao Paulo Plateau. It appears to have been caused by development of an anoxic oxygen minimum zone at midwater depths. Organic matter sedimentation in the Mesozoic South Atlantic is controlled by geologic, climatic, eustatic, and Oceanographic factors.
Resumo:
Seawater 87Sr/86Sr values increase abruptly by 28 * 10**-6 across the Cretaceous/Tertiary boundary (KTB). This small, but rapid shift is superimposed on the larger scale structure of the seawater Sr isotope curve. The time scale of radiogenic Sr addition appears to be too rapid to reconcile with sources associated with volcanism, and we show that the amount of Sr required to produce even this small increase is too large to be derived from: (1) a KT bolide of the size constrained by the Ir anomaly, (2) continental crust ejecta from the impact of such a bolide, (3) soot from global wildfires initiated by an impact, or (4) any combination of these sources. The probable source of the radiogenic Sr is enhanced continental weathering, but the high rate of increase appears to rule out processes such as sea level regression, glaciation or tectonism. A plausible mechanism for rapid addition of radiogenic Sr to the oceans is enhanced weathering associated with globally distributed acid rain (pH c. 1) which is a proposed by-product of a bolide impact (Prinn and Fegley, 1987, doi:10.1016/0012-821X(87)90046-X).
Resumo:
Miocene paleoceanographic evolution exhibits major changes resulting from the opening and closing of passages, the subsequent changes in oceanic circulation, and development of major Antarctic glaciation. The consequences and timing of these events can be observed in variations in the distribution of deep-sea hiatuses, sedimentation patterns, and biogeographic distribution of planktic organisms. The opening of the Drake Passage in the latest Oligocene to early Miocene (25-20 Ma) resulted in the establishment of the deep circumpolar current, which led to thermal isolation of Antarctica and increased global cooling. This development was associated with a major turnover in planktic organisms, resulting in the evolution of Neogene assemblages and the eventual extinction of Paleogene assemblages. The erosive patterns of two widespread hiatuses (PH, 23.0-22.5 Ma; and NH 1, 20-18 Ma) indicate that a deep circumequatorial circulation existed at this time, characterized by a broad band of carbonate-ooze deposition. Siliceous sedimentation was restricted to the North Atlantic and a narrow band around Antarctica. A major reorganization in deep-sea sedimentation and hiatus distribution patterns occurred near the early/middle Miocene boundary, apparently resulting from changes in oceanic circulation. Beginning at this time, deep-sea erosion occurred throughout the Caribbean (hiatus NH 2, 16-15 Ma), suggesting disruption of the deep circumequatorial circulation and northward deflection of deep currents, and/or intensification of the Gulf Stream. Sediment distribution patterns changed dramatically with the sudden appearance of siliceous-ooze deposition in the marginal and east equatorial North Pacific by 16.0 to 15.5 Ma, coincident with the decline of siliceous sedimentation in the North Atlantic. This silica switch may have been caused by the introduction of Norwegian Overflow Water into the North Atlantic acting as a barrier to outcropping of silica-rich Antarctic Bottom Water. The main aspects of the present oceanic circulation system and sediment distribution pattern were established by 13.5 to 12.5 Ma (hiatus NH 3), coincident with the establishment of a major East Antarctic ice cap. Antarctic glaciation resulted in a broadening belt of siliceous-ooze deposition around Antarctica, increased siliceous sedimentation in the marginal and east equatorial North Pacific and Indian Oceans, and further northward restriction of siliceous sediments in the North Atlantic. Periodic cool climatic events were accompanied by lower eustatic sea levels and widespread deep-sea erosion at 12 to 11 Ma (NH 4), 10 to 9 Ma (NH 5), 7.5 to 6.2 Ma (NH 6), and 5.2 to 4.7 Ma (NH 7).