Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Cenomanian palaeotemperatures derived from the oxygen isotopic composition of brachiopods and belemnites: evaluation of Cretaceous palaeotemperature proxies

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
International Journal of Earth Sciences Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Sixty low-magnesium-calcite samples from Cenomanian articulate brachiopods, belemnites and oysters from the epicontinental shelf sea of Europe were geochemically and microscopically studied in order to evaluate their preservation and potential as carriers of palaeoenvironmental information. The sampled localities in northern Spain, Germany and southern England cover the transition between subtropical (25–30°N) and temperate (33–38°N) climates. Mean Cenomanian salinity-adjusted palaeotemperatures of diagenetically unaltered terebratulid and rhynchonellid brachiopods are 25.5±1.3 °C in Spain and 19.4±1.9 °C in southern England. The resulting low-to-mid-latitude meridional temperature gradient of ~0.7 °C per degree latitude is similar to the gradient today and suggests modern heat transport values for Cenomanian low latitudes. Oxygen isotopic composition of unaltered specimens of the Upper Cenomanian belemnite Praeactinocamax plenus (mean: 0.2‰) is enriched in 18O by 1‰ in comparison to brachiopod shells. Correspondingly, Upper Cenomanian palaeotemperatures derived from belemnite calcite (~13.0±1.3 °C) underestimate modelled mid-latitude sea surface temperatures by ~6 °C. Since P. plenus occurs as Boreal pulse fauna during a short interval in the Late Cenomanian, its heavy oxygen isotopic composition can be attributed either to migration from a cooler and/or deeper water mass or to unknown vital effects.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1.
Fig. 2.
Fig. 3.
Fig. 4.
Fig. 5.
Fig. 6.
Fig. 7.

Similar content being viewed by others

Explore related subjects

Discover the latest articles, news and stories from top researchers in related subjects.

References

  • Anderson TF, Arthur MA (1983) Stable isotopes of oxygen and carbon and their application to sedimentologic and palaeoenvironmental problems. Soc Econ Palaeontol Mineral Short Course 10:I.1–I.151

    Google Scholar 

  • Anderson TF, Popp BN, Williams AC, Ho L-Z, Hudson JD (1994) The stable isotopic records of fossils from the Peterborough Member, Oxford Clay Formation (Jurassic), UK: palaeoenvironmental implications. J Geol Soc 151:125–138

    Google Scholar 

  • Bandel K, Spaeth C (1988) Structural differences in the ontogeny of some belemnite rostra. In: Wiedmann J, Kullmann J (eds) Cephalopods — present and past. Schweitzerbart'sche Verlagsbuchandlung, Stuttgart, pp 247–271

  • Brand U, Morrsion JO (1987) Biogeochemistry of fossil marine invertebrates. Geosci Can 14:85–106

    Google Scholar 

  • Carpenter SJ, Lohmann KC (1995) δ18O and δ13C values of modern brachiopod shells. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 59:3749–3764

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Christensen WK (1976) Palaeobiogeography of Late Cretaceous belemnites of Europe. Paläont Z 50:113–129

    Google Scholar 

  • Christensen WK (1997) Palaeobiogeography and migration in the Late Cretaceous belemnite family Belemnitellidae. Acta Palaeontol Polon 42:457–495

    Google Scholar 

  • Clarke LJ, Jenkyns HC (1999) New oxygen-isotope evidence for long-term Cretaceous climate change in the Southern Hemisphere. Geology 27:699–702

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Corfield RM, Cartlidge JE, Premoli–Silva I, Housley RA (1991) Oxygen and carbon isotope stratigraphy of the Paleogene and Cretaceous limestones in the Botaccione Gorge and the Contessa highway sections, Umbria, Italy. Terra Nova 3:414–422

    Google Scholar 

  • Curry GB, Ansell AD, James M, Peck L (1989) Physiological constraints on living and fossil brachiopods. Trans Roy Soc Edinburgh, Earth Sci 80:255–262

    Google Scholar 

  • Ditchfield PW (1997) High northern palaeolatitude Jurassic-Cretaceous palaeotemperature variation: new data from Kong Karls Land, Svalbard. Palaeogeogr Palaeoclim Palaeoecol 130:163–175

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ditchfield PW, Marshall JD, Pirrie D (1994) High latitude palaeotemperature variation: new data from the Tithonian to Eocene of James Ross Island, Antarctica. Palaeogeogr Palaeoclim Palaeoecol 107:79–101

    Google Scholar 

  • Flögel S, DeConto RM, Hay WW (2001) A climate model/geochemical model on the influence of precessional insolation cycles on the Late Cretaceous climate system: a case study for the Western Interior Seaway. J Conf Abstr 6: EUG XI 202

    Google Scholar 

  • Gale AS, Christensen WK (1996) Occurrence of the belemnite Actinocamax plenus in the Cenomanian of SE France and its significance. Bull Geol Soc Denmark 43:68–77

    Google Scholar 

  • Gale AS, Smith AB, Monks NEA, Young JA, Howard A, Wray DS, Huggett JM (2000) Marine biodiversity through the Late Cenomanian–Early Turonian: palaeoceanographic controls and sequence stratigraphic biases. J Geol Soc 157:745–757

    Google Scholar 

  • Grossman EL (1994) The carbon and oxygen isotope record during the evolution of Pangaea: Carboniferous to Triassic. In: Klein GD (ed) Pangea: paleoclimate, tectonics, and sedimentation during accretion, zenith, and breakup of a supercontinent. Special Paper 288, Geological Society of America, Boulder, pp 207–228

    Google Scholar 

  • Haupt B, Seidov D (2001) Warm deep-water conveyor during Cretaceous time. Geology 29:295–298

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hay WW, DeConto RM (1999) Comparison of modern and Late Cretaceous meridional energy transport and oceanology. In: Barrera E, Johnson CC (eds) Evolution of the Cretaceous ocean-climate system. Special Paper 332, Geological Society of America, Boulder, pp 283–300

  • Hay WW, DeConto RM, Wold CN, Wilson KM, Voigt S, Schulz M, Wold-Rossby A, Dullo W-C, Ronov AB, Balukhovsky AN, Söding E (1999) Alternative global Cretaceous paleogeography. In: Barrera E, Johnson CC (eds) Evolution of the Cretaceous ocean-climate system. Special Paper 332, Geological Society of America, Boulder, pp 1–47

  • Huber BT, Hodell DA (1996) Middle-Late Cretaceous climate of the southern high latitudes: stable isotopic evidence for minimal equator-to-pole thermal gradients: reply. Geol Soc Am Bull 108:1193–1196

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Huber BT, Hodell DA, Hamilton CP (1995) Middle-Late Cretaceous climate of the southern high latitudes: stable isotopic evidence for minimal equator-to-pole thermal gradients. Geol Soc Am Bull 107:1164–1191

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huber BT, Norris RD, MacLeod KG (2002) Deep-sea paleotemperature record of extreme warmth during the Cretaceous. Geology 30:123–126

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • James NP, Bone Y, Kyser TK (1997) Brachiopod δ18O values do reflect ambient oceanography: Lacepede Shelf, southern Australia. Geology 25:551–554

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jarvis I (1980) Palaeobiology of Upper Cretaceous belemnites from the phosphatic chalk of the Anglo-Paris basin. Palaeontology 23:889–914

    Google Scholar 

  • Jeans CV, Long D, Hall MA, Bland DJ, Cornford C (1991) The geochemistry of the Plenus Marls at Dover, England: evidence of fluctuating oceanographic conditions and of glacial control during the development of the Cenomanian-Turonian boundary δ13C anomaly. Geol Mag 128:603–632

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Jeffries RPS (1963) The stratigraphy of the Actinocamax plenus Subzone (Turonian) in the Anglo-Paris Basin. Proc Geol Assoc 74:1–33

    Google Scholar 

  • Jenkyns HC, Clayton CJ (1997) Lower Jurassic epicontinental carbonates and mudstones from England and Wales: chemostratigraphic signals and the early Toarcian anoxic event. Sedimentology 44:687–706

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Jenkyns HC, Gale AS, Corfield RM (1994) Carbon- and oxygen isotope stratigraphy of the English chalk and Italian Scaglia and its paleoclimatic significance. Geol Mag 131:1–34

    Google Scholar 

  • Klein RT, Lohmann KC, Thayer CW (1996) Sr/Ca and 13C/12C ratios in skeletal calcite of Mytilus trossulus: covariation with metabolic rate, salinity, and carbon isotopic composition of seawater. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 60:4207–4221

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kolodny Y, Raab M (1988) Oxygen isotpes in phosphatic fish remains from Israel: paleothermometry of tropical Cretaceous and Tertiary shelf waters. Palaeogeogr Palaeoclim Palaeoecol 64:59–67

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Korte C (1999) 87Sr/86Sr-, δ18O- und δ13C-Evolution des triassischen Meerwassers: Geochemische und stratigraphische Untersuchungen an Conodonten und Brachiopoden. Bochumer Geol Geotech Arb:1–171

    Google Scholar 

  • Landman NH, Cochran JK, Rye DM, Tanabe K, Arnold JM (1994) Early life of Nautilus: evidence from isotopic analyses of aquarium-reared specimens. Paleobiology 20:40–51

    Google Scholar 

  • Levitus S, Boyer T (1994) World Ocean Atlas, vol 4: temperature. NOAA Atlas NESDIS 4, US Department of Commerce, Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

  • Lowenstam HA, Epstein S (1954) Paleotemperatures of the post-Aptian Cretaceous as determined by the oxygen isotope method. J Geol 62:207–248

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Machel HG, Mason RA, Mariano AN, Mucci A (1991) Causes and emission of luminescence in calcite and dolomite. In: Barker CE, Kopp OC (eds) Luminescence microscopy: quantitative and qualitative aspects. Soc Econ Palaeontol Mineral Short Course, Dallas, Texas, pp 9–25

    Google Scholar 

  • McConnaughey T (1989) 13C and 18O isotopic disequilibrium in biological carbonates: I. patterns. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 53:151–162

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Morrison JO, Brand U (1986) Geochemistry of recent marine invertebrates. Geosci Can 13:237–254

    Google Scholar 

  • Niebuhr B, Joachimski MM (2002) Stable isotope and trace element geochemistry of Upper Cretaceous carbonates and belemnite rostra (Middle Campanian, North Germany). Géobios 35:51–64

    Google Scholar 

  • Norris RD, Wilson PA (1998) Low-latitude sea-surface temperatures for the mid-Cretaceous and the evolution of planktic foraminifera. Geology 26:823–826

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pagani M, Arthur MA (1998) Stable isotopic studies of Cenomanian-Turonian proximal marine fauna from the US Western Interior seaway. In: Dean WE, Arthur MA (eds) Stratigraphy and paleoenvironments of the Cretaceous Western Interior Seaway, USA. Soc Econ Palaeontol Mineral Concepts in Sedimentology and Paleontology No 6, Tulsa, pp 201–225

  • Paul CRC, Mitchell SF, Marshall JD, Leary PN, Gale AS, Duane AM, Ditchfield PW (1994) Palaeoceanographic events in the Middle Cenomanian of Northwest Europe. Cretaceous Res 15:707–738

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Paul CRC, Lamolda MA, Mitchell SF, Vaziri MR, Gorostidi A, Marshall JD (1999) The Cenomanian-Turonian boundary at Eastbourne (Sussex, UK): a proposed European reference section. Palaeogeogr Palaeoclim Palaeoecol 150:83–121

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pearson PN, Ditchfield PW, Singano J, Harcourt-Brown KG, Nicholas CJ, Olsson RK, Shackleton NJ, Hall MA (2001) Warm tropical sea surface temperatures in the Late Cretaceous and Eocene epochs. Nature 413:481–487

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Pirrie D, Marshall JD (1990a) Diagenesis of Inoceramus and Late Cretaceous paleoenvironmental geochemistry: A case study from James Ross Island, Antarctica. Palaios 5:336–345

    Google Scholar 

  • Pirrie D, Marshall JD (1990b) High-paleolatitude Late Cretaceous paleotemperatures: New data from James Ross Island, Antarctica. Geology 18:31–34

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Pirrie D, Doyle P, Marshall JD, Ellis G (1995) Cool Cretaceous climates: new data from the Albian of Western Australia. J Geol Soc 152:739–742

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Podlaha OG, Mutterlose J, Veizer J (1998) Preservation of δ18O and δ13C in belemnite rostra from the Jurassic/Early Cretaceous successions. Am J Sci 298:324–347

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Popp BN, Anderson TF, Sandberg PA (1986a) Brachiopods as indicators of original isotopic compositions in some Paleozoic limestones. Geol Soc Am Bull 97:1262–1269

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Popp BN, Anderson TF, Sandberg PA (1986b) Textural, elemental, and isotopic variations among constituents in Middle Devonian limestones, North America. J Sediment Petrol 56:715–727

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Poulsen CJ, Barron EJ, Peterson WH, Wilson PA (1999) A reinterpretation of mid-Cretaceous shallow marine temperatures through model-data comparison. Paleoceanography 14:679–697

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Poulsen CJ, Barron EJ, Arthur MA, Peterson WH (2001) Response of the mid-Cretaceous global oceanic circulation to tectonic and CO2 forcing. Paleoceanography 16:576–592

    Google Scholar 

  • Pratt LM, Arthur MA, Dean WE, Scholle PA (1993) Paleo-oceanographic cycles and events during the Late Cretaceous in the Western Interior Seaway of North America. In: Caldwell WGE, Kauffman EG (eds) Evolution of the Western Interior Basin. Geol Assoc Can, Spec Pap 39, pp 333–353

  • Price GD (1998) Isotopic variation in fossils and matrix of the Cretaceous Red Chalk at Speeton and South Ferriby, Yorkshire, England. Proc Yorkshire Geol Soc 52:107–112

    Google Scholar 

  • Price GD, Sellwood BW, Pirrie D (1996) Middle-Late Cretaceous climate of the southern high latitudes: Stable isotopic evidence for minimal equator-to-pole thermal gradients: Discussion. Geol Soc Am Bull 108:1192–1193

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Price GD, Sellwood BW, Corfield RM, Clarke L, Cartlidge JE (1998) Isotopic evidence for palaeotemperatures and depth stratification of Middle Cretaceous planktonic foraminifera from the Pacific Ocean. Geol Mag 135:183–191

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Price GD, Ruffell AH, Jones CE, Kalin RM, Mutterlose J (2000) Isotopic evidence for temperature variation during the early Cretaceous (late Ryazanian-mid-Hauterivian). J Geol Soc 157:335–343

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Rudwick MJS (1970) Living and fossil brachiopods. Hutchinson University Library, London, pp 1–199

  • Saelen G (1989) Diagenesis and construction of the belemnite rostrum. Palaeontology 32:765–798

    Google Scholar 

  • Saelen G, Karstang TV (1989) Chemical signatures of belemnites. N Jahrb Geol Paläont Abh 177:333–346

    Google Scholar 

  • Saelen G, Doyle P, Talbot MR (1996) Stable-isotope analyses of belemnite rostra from the Whitby Mudstone Fm., England: surface water conditions during deposition of a marine black shale. Palaios 11:97–117

    Google Scholar 

  • Schrag DP, DePaolo DJ, Richter FM (1995) Reconstructing past sea surface temperatures: Correcting for diagenesis of bulk marine carbonate. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 59:2265–2278

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sellwood BW, Price GD, Valdes PJ (1994) Cooler estimates of Cretaceous temperatures. Nature 370:453–455

    Google Scholar 

  • Shackleton NJ, Kennett JP (1975) Paleotemperature history of the Cenozoic and initiation of Antarctic glaciation: oxygen and carbon isotope analysis in DSDP sites 277, 279 and 281. In: Kennett JP, Houtz RE (eds) Initial reports of the deep sea drilling project. US Government Printing Office, Washington, DC, 29, pp 743–755

  • Stanley SM, Hardie LA (1998) Secular oscillations in the carbonate mineralogy of reef-building and sediment-producing organisms driven by tectonically forced shifts in seawater chemistry. Palaeogeogr Palaeoclim Palaeoecol 144:3–19

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Steuber T (2002) Plate tectonic control on the evolution of Cretaceous platform-carbonate production. Geology 30:259–262

    Google Scholar 

  • Stevens GR (1973) Cretaceous belemnites. In: Hallam A (ed) Atlas of paleogeography. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp 387–401

  • Stoll HM, Schrag DP (2000) High-resolution stable isotope records from the Upper Cretaceous rocks of Italy and Spain: Glacial episodes in a greenhouse planet? Geol Soc Am Bull 112:309–319

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tourtelot HA, Rye RO (1969) Distribution of oxygen and carbon isotopes in fossils of Late Cretaceous age, Western Interior region of North America. Geol Soc Am Bull 80:1903–1922

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Urey HC, Lowenstam HA, Epstein S, McKinney CR (1951) Measurement of paleotemperatures and temperatures of the Upper Cretaceous of England, Denmark and the southeastern United States. Geol Soc Am Bull 62:399–416

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • van de Schootbrugge B, Föllmi KB, Bulot LG, Burns SJ (2000) Paleoceanographic changes during the early Cretaceous (Valanginian-Hauterivian): evidence from oxygen and carbon stable isotopes. Earth Planet Sci Lett 181:15–31

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Veizer J (1983) Chemical diagenesis of carbonates: theory and application of trace element technique. In: Arthur MA (ed) Stable isotopes in sedimentary geology. Soc Econ Palaeontol Mineral Short Course 10, Tulsa, pp 3.1–3.100

  • Veizer J, Fritz P, Jones B (1986) Geochemistry of brachiopods: oxygen and carbon isotopic records of Paleozoic oceans. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 50:1679–1696

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Voigt S (2000) Stable oxygen and carbon isotopes from brachiopods of southern England and northwestern Germany: estimation of Upper Turonian palaeotemperatures. Geol Mag 137:687–703

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Voigt S, Wiese F (2000) Evidence for Late Cretaceous (late Turonian) climate cooling from oxygen-isotope variations and palaeobiogeograpic changes in western and central Europe. J Geol Soc 157:737–744

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wefer G (1985) Die Verteilung stabiler Isotope in Kalkschalen mariner Organismen. Geol Jahrb, Reihe A 82, p 111

  • Wenzel B, Joachimski M (1996) Carbon and oxygen isotopic composition of Silurian brachiopods (Gotland/Sweden): palaeoceanographic implications. Palaeogeogr Palaeoclim Palaeoecol 122:143–166

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wierzbowski H (2002) Detailed oxygen and carbon isotope stratigraphy of the Oxfordian in Central Poland. Int J Earth Sci 91:304–314

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wilson P, Norris RD (2001) Warm tropical ocean surface and global anoxia during the mid-Cretaceous period. Nature 412:425–429

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Woo KS, Anderson TF, Railsback LB, Sandberg PA (1992) Oxygen isotope evidence for high-salinity surface seawater in the mid-Cretaceous Gulf of Mexico: Implications for warm, saline deepwater formation. Paleoceanography 7:673–685

    Google Scholar 

  • Wright EK (1987) Stratification and paleocirculation of the Late Cretaceous Western Interior seaway of North America. Geol Soc Am Bull 99:480–490

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zachos J, Stott LD, Lohman KC (1994) Evolution of early Cenozoic marine temperatures. Paleoceanography 9:353–387

    Google Scholar 

  • Ziegler PA (1990) Geological atlas of western and central Europe. Shell Int Petroleum Maatschappij, The Hague, The Netherlands

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank D. Schrijver and L. Reichelt for their support in sample preparation, B. Schnetker for access and introduction into the ICP-AES analytic and A. Gale for inspiring discussions. The insightful reviews by M. Joachimski and J. Mutterlose are gratefully acknowledged. This work benefits from a research grant by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft to SV (Vo 687/3).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Geology, University of Cologne, Zülpicher Str. 49a, 50674 , Köln, Germany

    S. Voigt

  2. Institute of Paleontology, University of Würzburg, Pleicherwall 1, 97070 , Würzburg, Germany

    M. Wilmsen

  3. Earth and Environmental Science Research Unit, University of Brighton, Brighton , BN2 4GJ, UK

    R. N. Mortimore

  4. Institute of Geology, Friedrich Schiller University of Jena, Burgweg 11, 07749 , Jena, Germany

    T. Voigt

Authors
  1. S. Voigt
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. M. Wilmsen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. R. N. Mortimore
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. T. Voigt
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to S. Voigt.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Voigt, S., Wilmsen, M., Mortimore, R.N. et al. Cenomanian palaeotemperatures derived from the oxygen isotopic composition of brachiopods and belemnites: evaluation of Cretaceous palaeotemperature proxies. Int J Earth Sci (Geol Rundsch) 92, 285–299 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00531-003-0315-1

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00531-003-0315-1

Keywords

Search

Navigation