Global Climate Cycles

Level M (Master of Science) module: powerpoint lectures and a number of practical

High-latitude biomes and rock weathering mediate climate-carbon cycle feedbacks on eccentricity timescales (vol 11, 5013, 2020)

Correction to: Nature Communications https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-18733-w, published online 6 October 2020

Stable isotope and calcareous nannofossil assemblage record of the late Paleocene and early Eocene (Cicogna section)

We present records of stable carbon and oxygen isotopes, CaCO3 content, and changes in calcareous nannofossil assemblages across an 81 m thick section of upper Paleocene lower Eocene marine sedimentary rocks now exposed along the Cicogna Stream in northeast Italy. The studied stratigraphic section represents sediment accumulation in a bathyal hemipelagic setting from approximately 57.5 to 52.2 Ma, a multi-million-year time interval characterized by perturbations in the global carbon cycle and changes in calcareous nannofossil assemblages. The bulk carbonate delta C-13 profile for the Cicogna section, once placed on a common timescale, resembles that at several other locations across the world, and includes both a long-term drop in delta C-13 and multiple short-term carbon isotope excursions (CIEs). This precise correlation of widely separated delta C-13 records in marine sequences results from temporal changes in the carbon composition of the exogenic carbon cycle. However, diagenesis has likely modified the delta C-13 record at Cicogna, an interpretation supported by variations in bulk carbonate 8180, which do not conform to expectations for a primary signal. The record of CaCO3 content reflects a combination of carbonate dilution and dissolution, as also inferred at other sites. Our detailed documentation and statistical analysis of calcareous nannofossil assemblages show major differences before, during and after the Paleocene Eocene Thermal Maximum. Other CIEs in our lower Paleogene section do not exhibit such a distinctive change;instead, these events are sometimes characterized by variations restricted to a limited number of taxa and transient shifts in the relative abundance of primary assemblage components. Both long-lasting and short-lived modifications to calcareous nannofossil assemblages preferentially affected nannoliths or holococcoliths such as Discoaster,, Fasciculithus, Rhomboaster/Tribrachiatus, Sphenolithus and Zygrhablithus, which underwent distinct variations in abundance as well as permanent evolutionary changes in terms of appearances and disappearances. By contrast, placoliths such as Coccolithus and Tow eius, which represent the main component of the assemblages, were characterized by a gradual decline in abundance over time. Comparisons of detailed nannofossil assemblage records at the Cicogna section and at ODP Site 1262 support the idea that variations in the relative and absolute abundances, even some minor changes, were globally synchronous. An obvious link is through climate forcing and carbon cycling, although the linkages between variations in calcareous nannoplankton, changes in delta C-13 records and oceanography will need additional work

Assessing orbital vs. volcanic control on carbon cycle during the Early Cretaceous

The interval from the Valanginian to the Barremian stages (137?121 Ma; Early Cretaceous) ispunctuated by several episodes of environmental changes, accompanied by shifts in weatheringintensity on the continents and changes in the Tethyan neritic carbonate production. Wesynthetize here the astrochronology of two recent studies performed in the Neuquén basin,Vocontian Basin and Subbetic Domain (Aguirre-Urreta et al., 2019; Martinez et al., 2020), anchoredto CA-ID-TIMS U-Pb ages, which conclusions have been included in the Geologic Time Scale 2020(Gale et al, in press). We applied this time scale to a compilation of carbon-isotope ratio frombelemnites and proxies of detrital supply in the Tethyan area (Vocontian Basin and SubbeticDomain). From this compilation, we show that the episodes of environmental changes are pacedby a 2.4-Myr cycle and, with a lower amplitude, a 1.2-Myr cycle. In addition, the new time scaleshows the synchronicity between the Weissert Event and the Parana-Etendeka Large IgneousProvince. In the series of carbon-isotope ratios measured on belemnite rostra, the amplitude ofthe 2.4-Myr cycle is twice higher during the Valanginian than in the Late Barremian and threetimes higher than in the Hauterivian and Early Barremian, suggesting that the activity of theParana-Etendeka Large Igneous Province amplified the initial orbital forcing to trigger theenvironmental changes observed during the Mid-Valanginian.Fil: Martinez, M.. Géosciences Rennes; FranciaFil: Aguirre Urreta, María Beatriz. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Estudios Andinos "Don Pablo Groeber". Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Estudios Andinos "Don Pablo Groeber"; ArgentinaFil: Lescano, Marina Aurora. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Estudios Andinos "Don Pablo Groeber". Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Estudios Andinos "Don Pablo Groeber"; ArgentinaFil: Dera, G.. Université Paul Sabatier; FranciaFil: Omarini, Julieta. Universidad Nacional de Río Negro. Sede Alto Valle. Instituto de Investigaciones en Paleobiología y Geología; ArgentinaFil: Tunik, Maisa Andrea. Universidad Nacional de Río Negro. Sede Alto Valle. Instituto de Investigaciones en Paleobiología y Geología; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Frederichs, Tomas. Universitat Bremen; AlemaniaFil: Palike, Heiko. Université Paul Sabatier; FranciaFil: O'Dogherty, Luis. Universidad de Cádiz; EspañaFil: Aguado, Roque. Universidad de Jaén; EspañaFil: Company, Miguel. Universidad de Granada; EspañaFil: Sandoval, Jose. Universidad de Granada; EspañaEGU General Assembly 2021AlemaniaEuropean Geosciences Unio

Transient shoaling, over-deepening and settling of the calcite compensation depth at the Eocene-Oligocene transition

The major Cenozoic shift from a shallow (∼3–4 km) to deep (∼4.5 km) calcite compensation depth (CCD) occurred at the Eocene-Oligocene Transition (∼34 Ma), suggesting a strong relationship between calcium carbonate (CaCO3) cycling and Antarctic glaciation. However, the linkages between these two events are debated. Here we present new records of bulk sediment stable isotope and carbonate composition from a depth transect of sites in the low-latitude Pacific Ocean and one site from the South Atlantic Ocean, together with a new benthic foraminiferal stable isotope record (δ13Cb and δ18Ob) from the Pacific where the sedimentary sequence is most expanded. Our records reveal a short-lived (∼3,000 Kyr) CCD shoaling event closely associated with a negative carbon isotope excursion in the latest Eocene. This event is immediately followed by CCD deepening which occurs in two rapid (∼40 Kyr-long) steps. Our data show that the first of these deepening steps represents recovery from the latest Eocene shoaling event while the second was closely associated with a rapid increase in δ18Ob and shows a distinctive over-deepening and settling pattern to &gt;5 and 4.4 km, respectively. These results, together with good agreement between Pacific and South Atlantic records, strongly suggest that the carbon cycle was perturbed globally shortly before the inception of Antarctic glaciation. Once large-scale Antarctic glaciation was initiated, rapid further change in global seawater chemistry triggered transitory deep ocean carbonate burial fluxes far exceeding their early Oligocene steady state values.<br/

Insensitivity of alkenone carbon isotopes to atmospheric CO₂ at low to moderate CO₂ levels

Atmospheric pCO₂ is a critical component of the global carbon system and is considered to be the major control of Earth's past, present, and future climate. Accurate and precise reconstructions of its concentration through geological time are therefore crucial to our understanding of the Earth system. Ice core records document pCO₂ for the past 800 kyr, but at no point during this interval were CO₂ levels higher than today. Interpretation of older pCO₂ has been hampered by discrepancies during some time intervals between two of the main ocean-based proxy methods used to reconstruct pCO₂: the carbon isotope fractionation that occurs during photosynthesis as recorded by haptophyte biomarkers (alkenones) and the boron isotope composition (δ^{11}B) of foraminifer shells. Here, we present alkenone and δ^{11}B-based pCO₂ reconstructions generated from the same samples from the Pliocene and across a Pleistocene glacial–interglacial cycle at Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Site 999. We find a muted response to pCO₂ in the alkenone record compared to contemporaneous ice core and δ^{11}B records, suggesting caution in the interpretation of alkenone-based records at low pCO₂ levels. This is possibly caused by the physiology of CO₂ uptake in the haptophytes. Our new understanding resolves some of the inconsistencies between the proxies and highlights that caution may be required when interpreting alkenone-based reconstructions of pCO₂

Evidence for Changes in Subsurface Circulation in the Late Eocene Equatorial Pacific from Radiolarian-Bound Nitrogen Isotope Values

Microfossil-bound organic matter represents an important archive of surface ocean environmental information. Sedimentary nitrogen (N) isotope reconstructions of surface nitrate consumption and nitrogen source changes are made using fossil diatom (autotrophs) and planktic foraminiferal (heterotrophs)-bound organic matter with success. However, because diatoms and planktic foraminifera are poorly preserved and sedimentary organic matter content is near zero during the late Eocene, our ability to examine nutrient dynamics across this important climate transition is limited. Here we present new data exploring the use of N isotope records from radiolarian tests. A comparison of surface ocean nitrate and core top bulk and radiolarian N isotope values (as δ15N) from the equatorial Pacific indicates that radiolarian-N records δ15N variability with fidelity but that a significant offset exists between bulk sedimentary and diatom δ15N values and those measured from radiolarians (~7.1 ± 1.1‰). A downcore profile of radiolarian δ15N values is compared to siliceous microfossil assemblage changes across the Eocene-Oligocene boundary. Average of radiolarian-bound δ15N values is 0.5 ± 2.0‰, which, when corrected using the offset derived from the modern surface samples, suggests that the mean nitrogen isotopic composition of the early Cenozoic eastern Pacific was not significantly different from today. The overall trend, of decreasing δ15N values with decreasing export productivity, is consistent with either a regional decline in pelagic denitrification or a large-scale change in nutrient sources to the eastern equatorial Pacific (EEP), both linked to the cooling climate and changing intermediate water circulation. Decreasing/low δ15N values cooccur with high radiolarian species turnover at ~35.5 and 34 Ma, suggestive of a significant ecological change in the EEP, consistent with cooling and water mass distribution changes. The preliminary results suggest that radiolarian-bound organic nitrogen represents another promising archive and underscores the fact that the different microfossil fractions must be separated to ensure robust results