Latest Cretaceous climatic and environmental change in the South Atlantic region

L. Woelders; J. Vellekoop; D. Kroon; J. Smit; S. Casadío; M. B. Prámparo; J. Dinarès-Turell; F. Peterse; A. Sluijs; J. T.M. Lenaerts; R. P. Speijer

doi:10.1002/2016PA003007

Latest Cretaceous climatic and environmental change in the South Atlantic region

L. Woelders^*, J. Vellekoop, D. Kroon, J. Smit, S. Casadío, M. B. Prámparo, J. Dinarès-Turell, F. Peterse, A. Sluijs, J. T.M. Lenaerts, R. P. Speijer

^*Corresponding author for this work

Geology and Geochemistry

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Abstract

Latest Maastrichtian climate change caused by Deccan volcanism has been invoked as a cause of mass extinction at the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) boundary (~66.0 Ma). Yet late Maastrichtian climate and ecological changes are poorly documented, in particular on the Southern Hemisphere. Here we present upper Maastrichtian-lower Danian climate and biotic records from the Bajada del Jagüel (BJ) shelf site (Neuquén Basin, Argentina), employing the TEX₈₆ paleothermometer, marine palynology (dinoflagellate cysts), and micropaleontology (foraminifera). These records are correlated to the astronomically tuned Ocean Drilling Program Site 1262 (Walvis Ridge). Collectively, we use these records to assess climatic and ecological effects of Deccan volcanism in the Southern Atlantic region. Both the TEX₈₆-based sea surface temperature (SST) record at BJ and the bulk carbonate δ¹⁸O-based SST record of Site 1262 show a latest Maastrichtian warming of ~2.5–4°C, at 450 to 150 kyr before the K-Pg boundary, coinciding with the a large Deccan outpouring phase. Benthic foraminiferal and dinocyst assemblage changes indicate that this warming resulted in enhanced runoff and stratification of the water column, likely resulting from more humid climate conditions in the Neuquén Basin. These climate conditions could have been caused by an expanding and strengthening thermal low over the South American continent. Biotic changes in response to late Maastrichtian environmental changes are rather limited, when compared to the major turnovers observed at many K-Pg boundary sites worldwide. This suggests that environmental perturbations during the latest Maastrichtian warming event were less severe than those following the K-Pg boundary impact.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	466-483
Number of pages	18
Journal	Paleoceanography
Volume	32
Issue number	5
Early online date	30 Mar 2017
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1002/2016PA003007
Publication status	Published - May 2017

Funding

Supporting data, texts, and figures are included in SI files; any additional data may be obtained from L.W. (e-mail: [email protected]). Data already published in literature are properly cited and referred to in the reference list. Samples and data provided by the Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) and International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) were used. Universidad Nacional de R?o Negro and CONICET partially funded the field work at the BJ site. Funding to this project was provided by the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO) to R.P.S. (G.0B85.13). This work was also carried out within the theme of the Netherlands Earth System Science Centre (NESSC), financially supported by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (OCW). NWO grant 834.11.006 enabled the purchase of the UHPLC-MS system used for GDGT analyses at UU. Gert-Jan Reichart and two anonymous reviewers are thanked for their valuable comments. L. Woelders and J. Vellekoop contributed equally to the research and are both considered first authors.

Funders	Funder number
Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek	G.0B85.13
Ministerie van Onderwijs, Cultuur en Wetenschap	834.11.006
Netherlands Earth System Science Centre

Keywords

Maastrichtian
oxygen isotopes
paleoclimate
paleoenvironment
South Atlantic
TEX86

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1002/2016PA003007

Latest Cretaceous climatic and environmental change in the South Atlantic regionFinal published version, 1.29 MBLicence: Article 25fa Dutch Copyright Act

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title = "Latest Cretaceous climatic and environmental change in the South Atlantic region",

abstract = "Latest Maastrichtian climate change caused by Deccan volcanism has been invoked as a cause of mass extinction at the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) boundary (\textasciitilde{}66.0 Ma). Yet late Maastrichtian climate and ecological changes are poorly documented, in particular on the Southern Hemisphere. Here we present upper Maastrichtian-lower Danian climate and biotic records from the Bajada del Jag{\"u}el (BJ) shelf site (Neuqu{\'e}n Basin, Argentina), employing the TEX86 paleothermometer, marine palynology (dinoflagellate cysts), and micropaleontology (foraminifera). These records are correlated to the astronomically tuned Ocean Drilling Program Site 1262 (Walvis Ridge). Collectively, we use these records to assess climatic and ecological effects of Deccan volcanism in the Southern Atlantic region. Both the TEX86-based sea surface temperature (SST) record at BJ and the bulk carbonate δ18O-based SST record of Site 1262 show a latest Maastrichtian warming of \textasciitilde{}2.5–4°C, at 450 to 150 kyr before the K-Pg boundary, coinciding with the a large Deccan outpouring phase. Benthic foraminiferal and dinocyst assemblage changes indicate that this warming resulted in enhanced runoff and stratification of the water column, likely resulting from more humid climate conditions in the Neuqu{\'e}n Basin. These climate conditions could have been caused by an expanding and strengthening thermal low over the South American continent. Biotic changes in response to late Maastrichtian environmental changes are rather limited, when compared to the major turnovers observed at many K-Pg boundary sites worldwide. This suggests that environmental perturbations during the latest Maastrichtian warming event were less severe than those following the K-Pg boundary impact.",

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author = "L. Woelders and J. Vellekoop and D. Kroon and J. Smit and S. Casad{\'i}o and Pr{\'a}mparo, \{M. B.\} and J. Dinar{\`e}s-Turell and F. Peterse and A. Sluijs and Lenaerts, \{J. T.M.\} and Speijer, \{R. P.\}",

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AU - Woelders, L.

AU - Vellekoop, J.

AU - Kroon, D.

AU - Smit, J.

AU - Casadío, S.

AU - Prámparo, M. B.

AU - Dinarès-Turell, J.

AU - Peterse, F.

AU - Sluijs, A.

AU - Lenaerts, J. T.M.

AU - Speijer, R. P.

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AB - Latest Maastrichtian climate change caused by Deccan volcanism has been invoked as a cause of mass extinction at the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) boundary (~66.0 Ma). Yet late Maastrichtian climate and ecological changes are poorly documented, in particular on the Southern Hemisphere. Here we present upper Maastrichtian-lower Danian climate and biotic records from the Bajada del Jagüel (BJ) shelf site (Neuquén Basin, Argentina), employing the TEX86 paleothermometer, marine palynology (dinoflagellate cysts), and micropaleontology (foraminifera). These records are correlated to the astronomically tuned Ocean Drilling Program Site 1262 (Walvis Ridge). Collectively, we use these records to assess climatic and ecological effects of Deccan volcanism in the Southern Atlantic region. Both the TEX86-based sea surface temperature (SST) record at BJ and the bulk carbonate δ18O-based SST record of Site 1262 show a latest Maastrichtian warming of ~2.5–4°C, at 450 to 150 kyr before the K-Pg boundary, coinciding with the a large Deccan outpouring phase. Benthic foraminiferal and dinocyst assemblage changes indicate that this warming resulted in enhanced runoff and stratification of the water column, likely resulting from more humid climate conditions in the Neuquén Basin. These climate conditions could have been caused by an expanding and strengthening thermal low over the South American continent. Biotic changes in response to late Maastrichtian environmental changes are rather limited, when compared to the major turnovers observed at many K-Pg boundary sites worldwide. This suggests that environmental perturbations during the latest Maastrichtian warming event were less severe than those following the K-Pg boundary impact.

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KW - oxygen isotopes

KW - paleoclimate

KW - paleoenvironment

KW - South Atlantic

KW - TEX86

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JO - Paleoceanography

JF - Paleoceanography

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ER -

Latest Cretaceous climatic and environmental change in the South Atlantic region

Abstract

Funding

Keywords

UN SDGs

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