Cooling and ice growth across the Eocene-Oligocene transition

Lear, Caroline Helen ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7533-4430, Bailey, Trevor R., Pearson, Paul Nicholas ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4628-9818, Coxall, Helen Kathrine and Rosenthal, Yair 2008. Cooling and ice growth across the Eocene-Oligocene transition. Geology 36 (3) , pp. 251-254. 10.1130/G24584A.1

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Abstract

The Eocene-Oligocene (E-O) climate transition (ca. 34 Ma) marks a period of Antarctic ice growth and a major step from early Cenozoic greenhouse conditions toward today's glaciated climate state. The transition is represented by an increase in deep-sea benthic foraminiferal oxygen isotope (18O) values occurring in two main steps that reflect the temperature and 18O of seawater. Existing benthic Mg/Ca paleotemperature records do not display a cooling across the transition, possibly reflecting a saturation state effect on benthic foraminiferal Mg/Ca ratios at deep-water sites. Here we present data from exceptionally well preserved foraminifera deposited well above the calcite compensation depth that provide the first proxy evidence for an 2.5 °C ocean cooling associated with the ice growth. This permits interpretation of E-O 18O records without invoking Northern Hemisphere continental-scale ice.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Schools > Earth and Environmental Sciences
Subjects:	G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GC Oceanography Q Science > QE Geology
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Eocene; Oligocene; climate; ice sheets; temperature; Cenozoic
Publisher:	Geological Society of America
ISSN:	0091-7613
Last Modified:	12 Aug 2025 21:15
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/10101

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