Middle Eocene to early Oligocene lignite brGDGT-derived temperatures and pH, biomarker data and TOC% from SE Australia

• Main Authors: Lauretano, Vittoria, Kennedy-Asser, Alan T, Korasidis, Vera A, Wallace, Malcolm W, Valdes, Paul J, Lunt, Daniel J, Pancost, Richard D, Naafs, Bernhard David A
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: PANGAEA - Data Publisher for Earth & Environmental Science 2021
• Subjects: Australia; biomarkers; Eocene-Oligocene Transition; paleotemperature; terrestrial temperatures; Deep Sea Drilling Project DSDP; Integrated Ocean Drilling Program / International Ocean Discovery Program IODP; Ocean Drilling Program ODP; Antarctic; Pacific; Antarc*
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.1594/pangaea.933176; https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.933176

The greenhouse to icehouse climate transition from the Eocene into the Oligocene is well-documented by sea surface temperature records from the southwest Pacific and Antarctic margin that show evidence of pronounced long-term cooling. However, identification of a driving mechanism depends on a better understanding of whether this cooling was also present in terrestrial settings. Here, we present a semi-continuous terrestrial temperature record spanning from the middle Eocene to the early Oligocene (~41-33 Ma), using bacterial molecular fossils (biomarkers) preserved in a sequence of SE Australian lignites from two locations. We reconstruct terrestrial temperatures and compare them to existing sea-surface temperature records from the Southern Hemisphere from the middle Eocene to Early Oligocene.