Earth’s sea surface environment in the late Mesozoic greenhouse interval

DOI Web Site Open Access
  • Moriya Kazuyoshi
    Department of Earth Sciences, Faculty of Education and Integrated Arts and Sciences, Waseda University

Bibliographic Information

Other Title
  • 温室時代における海洋表層環境
  • オンシツ ジダイ ニ オケル カイヨウ ヒョウソウ カンキョウ

Search this article

Abstract

The late Mesozoic, especially the Cretaceous, is the latest example of the Earth’s greenhouse intervals, which was terminated by the initial glaciation in the Cenozoic at the Eocene/Oligocene boundary. In the late Mesozoic and early Paleogene, prior to the initial glaciation, both poles were free from continental ice sheets. It has been widely accepted that the high atmospheric carbon dioxide level was responsible for this warming. Sea surface temperatures (SSTs) derived from oxygen isotopic compositions of mixed layer dwelling planktic foraminifers and pelagic vertebrate remains, and TEX86 paleothermometry indicate that the tropical temperature at the middle Cretaceous exceeds 35̊C. The mid-Cretaceous equatorial SST is warmer than the modern highest temperature in open ocean by at least 6̊C. In addition, although data are scarce in the early Cretaceous, the early Cretaceous (~130Ma) SST may be much warmer than we previously expected. The other notable character in the Cretaceous SST is distinctively reduced meridional SST gradient. In the mid-Cretaceous, temperature difference between the equator and 60̊ in latitude was approximately 15̊C, which is significantly smaller than the modern value of ~25̊C. These reduced meridional temperature gradients are also observed in the early and late Cretaceous as well, indicating that the reduced meridional gradient is the nature of the greenhouse climate. According to recent advancement in coupled climate models, proxy SST records are well explained by those numerical examinations. Preparing a global array of proxy paleotemperature data is eagerly required for the better understanding of the greenhouse climate system.

Journal

  • Fossils

    Fossils 102 (0), 31-42, 2017-09-30

    Palaeontological Society of Japan

Related Projects

See more

Keywords

Details 詳細情報について

Report a problem

Back to top