Demise of the Planktic Foraminifer Genus Morozovella during the Early Eocene Climatic Optimum: New Records from ODP Site 1258 (Demerara Rise, Western Equatorial Atlantic) and Site 1263 (Walvis Ridge, South Atlantic)

D’Onofrio, Roberta; Luciani, Valeria; Dickens, Gerald R.; Wade, Bridget S.; Kirtland Turner, Sandra

doi:10.3390/geosciences10030088

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Demise of the Planktic Foraminifer Genus Morozovella during the Early Eocene Climatic Optimum: New Records from ODP Site 1258 (Demerara Rise, Western Equatorial Atlantic) and Site 1263 (Walvis Ridge, South Atlantic)

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and

Sandra Kirtland Turner

⁴

Department of Physics and Earth Sciences, Ferrara University, via G. Saragat 1, 44121 Ferrara, Italy

Department of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences, Rice University, Houston, TX 77005, USA

Department of Earth Sciences, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BS, UK

⁴

Department of Earth Sciences, University of California, Riverside, Riverside, CA 92521, USA

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Geosciences 2020, 10(3), 88; https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences10030088

Received: 15 January 2020 / Revised: 10 February 2020 / Accepted: 17 February 2020 / Published: 27 February 2020

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Cenozoic Paleoceanography with Emphasis in Micropaleontological Proxies)

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Abstract

Here we present relative abundances of planktic foraminifera that span the Early Eocene Climatic Optimum (EECO) at Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Site 1258 in the western equatorial Atlantic. The EECO (~53.3−49.1 Ma) represents peak Cenozoic warmth, probably related to high atmospheric CO₂, and when planktic foraminifera, a dominant component of marine sediment, exhibit a major biotic response. Consistent with previous work, the relative abundance of the genus Morozovella, which dominated early Paleogene tropical-subtropical assemblages, markedly and permanently declined from a mean percentage of ~32% to less than ~7% at the beginning of the EECO. The distinct decrease in Morozovella abundance occurred at Site 1258 within ~20 kyr before a negative excursion in δ¹³C records known as the J event and which defines the beginning of EECO. Moreover, all morozovellid species except M. aragonensis dropped in abundance permanently at Site 1258, and this is related to a reduction in test-size. Comparing our data with that from other locations, the remarkable switch in planktonic foraminifera assemblages appears to have begun first with unfavourable environmental conditions near the Equator and then extended to higher latitudes. Several potential stressors may explain observations, including some combination of algal photosymbiont inhibition (bleaching), a sustained increase in temperature, or an extended decrease in pH. View Full-Text

Keywords: Early Eocene Climatic Optimum; planktic foraminiferal changes; bulk carbon isotopes; Morozovella decline; Atlantic Ocean; paleobiogeography; Morozovella test-size reduction

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D’Onofrio, R.; Luciani, V.; Dickens, G.R.; Wade, B.S.; Kirtland Turner, S. Demise of the Planktic Foraminifer Genus Morozovella during the Early Eocene Climatic Optimum: New Records from ODP Site 1258 (Demerara Rise, Western Equatorial Atlantic) and Site 1263 (Walvis Ridge, South Atlantic). Geosciences 2020, 10, 88. https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences10030088

AMA Style

D’Onofrio R, Luciani V, Dickens GR, Wade BS, Kirtland Turner S. Demise of the Planktic Foraminifer Genus Morozovella during the Early Eocene Climatic Optimum: New Records from ODP Site 1258 (Demerara Rise, Western Equatorial Atlantic) and Site 1263 (Walvis Ridge, South Atlantic). Geosciences. 2020; 10(3):88. https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences10030088

Chicago/Turabian Style

D’Onofrio, Roberta, Valeria Luciani, Gerald R. Dickens, Bridget S. Wade, and Sandra Kirtland Turner. 2020. "Demise of the Planktic Foraminifer Genus Morozovella during the Early Eocene Climatic Optimum: New Records from ODP Site 1258 (Demerara Rise, Western Equatorial Atlantic) and Site 1263 (Walvis Ridge, South Atlantic)" Geosciences 10, no. 3: 88. https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences10030088

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Demise of the Planktic Foraminifer Genus Morozovella during the Early Eocene Climatic Optimum: New Records from ODP Site 1258 (Demerara Rise, Western Equatorial Atlantic) and Site 1263 (Walvis Ridge, South Atlantic)

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