Siliceous microfossil assemblage and accumulation rate variations across the Middle Eocene Climatic Optimum at ODP Site 171-1051 ...

• Main Authors: Witkowski, Jakub, Bohaty, Steven M, Edgar, Kirsty M, Harwood, David M
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: PANGAEA 2014
• Subjects: Composite Core; Leg171B; Joides Resolution; Ocean Drilling Program ODP; North Atlantic
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.1594/pangaea.828089; https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.828089

The Middle Eocene Climatic Optimum (MECO; ~ 40 million years ago [Ma]) is one of the most prominent transient global warming events in the Paleogene. Although the event is well documented in geochemical and isotopic proxy records at many locations, the marine biotic response to the MECO remains poorly constrained. We present new high-resolution, quantitative records of siliceous microplankton assemblages from the MECO interval of Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Site 1051 in the subtropical western North Atlantic Ocean, which are interpreted in the context of published foraminiferal and bulk carbonate stable isotope (d18O and d13C) records. High diatom, radiolarian and silicoflagellate accumulation rates between 40.5 and 40.0 Ma are interpreted to reflect an ~ 500 thousand year (kyr) interval of increased nutrient supply and resultant surface-water eutrophication that was associated with elevated sea-surface temperatures during the prolonged onset of the MECO. Relatively low pelagic siliceous phytoplankton ... : Supplement to: Witkowski, Jakub; Bohaty, Steven M; Edgar, Kirsty M; Harwood, David M (2014): Rapid fluctuations in mid-latitude siliceous plankton production during the Middle Eocene Climatic Optimum (ODP Site 1051, western North Atlantic). Marine Micropaleontology, 106, 110-129 ...