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Abstract Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Leg 171B recovered continuous sequences that yield evidence for a suite of ‘critical’ events in the Earth’s history. The main events include the late Eocene radiolarian extinction, the late Palaeocene benthic foraminiferal extinction associated with the Late Palaeocene Thermal Maximum (LPTM), the Cretaceous-Palaeogene (K-P) extinction, the mid-Maastrichtian event, and several episodes of sapropel deposition documenting the late Cenomanian, late Albian and early Albian warm periods. A compilation of stable isotope results for foraminifera from Leg 171B sites and previously published records shows a series of large-scale cycles in temperature and δ 13 C trends from Albian to late Eocene time. Evolution of δ 18 O gradients between planktic and benthic foraminifera suggests that the North Atlantic evolved from a circulation system similar to the modern Mediterranean during early Albian time to a more open ocean circulation by late Albian-early Cenomanian time. Sea surface temperatures peaked during the mid-Cretaceous climatic optimum from the Albian-Cenomanian boundary to Coniacian time and then show a tendency to fall off toward the cool climates of the mid-Maastrichtian. The Albian-Coniacian period is characterized by light benthic oxygen isotope values showing generally warm deep waters. Lightest benthic oxygen isotopes occurred around the Cenomanian-Turonian boundary, and suggest middle bathyal waters with temperatures up to 20 °C in the North Atlantic. The disappearance of widespread sapropel deposition in Turonian time suggests that sills separating the North Atlantic from the rest of the global ocean were finally breached to sufficient depth to permit ventilation by deep waters flowing in from elsewhere. The Maastrichtian and Palaeogene records show two intervals of large-scale carbon burial and exhumation in the late Maastrichtian-Danian and late Palaeocene-early Eocene. Carbon burial peaked in early Danian time, perhaps in response to the withdrawal of large epicontinental seas from Europe and North America. Much of the succeeding Danian period was spent unroofing previously deposited carbon and repairing the damage to carbon export systems in the deep ocean caused by the K-P mass extinction. The youngest episode of carbon exhumation coincided with the onset of the early Eocene Warm Period and the LPTM, and has been attributed to the tectonic closure of the eastern Tethys and initiation of the Himalayan Orogeny.

Abstract A series of widespread Maastrichtian and Palaeogene reflectors in the western North Atlantic have been interpreted to record episodes of vigorous bottom-water circulation produced by periodic flooding of the deep North Atlantic basins with southern source waters. In general, the ages of these reflectors have been poorly known with estimated ages spanning several million years. New seismic and core data from Ocean Drilling Program Leg 171B tightly constrain the ages of several of the most prominent reflectors and demonstrate that several of them are associated with geologically short-lived events associated with major palaeoclimatic, palaeoceanographic and evolutionary transitions. On Blake Nose in the western North Atlantic, Reflector A c formed shortly after the close of the early Eocene warm period between 48 and 49 Ma. The reflector corresponds to an abrupt inception of vigorous deep-water circulation that winnowed foraminiferal sands at 2000–2500 m water depth and caused mass wasting into the deep basins of the Bermuda Rise. Reflector A c is correlative with a sequence of unconformities present in nearly every part of the global ocean from the shallow shelf to the deep sea, suggesting that this time interval is associated with global change in ocean circulation, including a major sea-level lowstand. The reflector and unconformities are roughly equivalent in age to glacial tillites on the Antarctic Peninsula, suggesting a link to an early phase of southern hemisphere glaciation. Another widespread reflector, A b , has a late Palaeocene to earliest Eocene age on the Bermuda Rise. On Blake Nose, the equivalents of Reflector A b consist of a stack of three closely spaced hiatuses ranging from early late Palaeocene (58.5–60.5 Ma) to latest Palaeocene ( c . 55.5 Ma) age. The youngest of these hiatuses is associated with the carbon isotope excursion at the Late Palaeocene Thermal Maximum (LPTM), when there was a major reorganization of deepwater circulation and dramatic, transient warming of high latitudes. Bottom currents appear to have prevented the widespread deposition of sediments at water depths shallower than c . 2200 m from the LPTM until early mid-Eocene time. Erosion on Blake Nose was produced by a strengthened, southward-flowing deep western boundary current at the same time that a southern source watermass produced extensive erosion on the Bermuda Rise. We suggest that the increased flow of the deep western boundary current reflects a stronger outflow of warm intermediate waters shallower than 2000 m from Tethys. The combination of warmer intermediate waters and erosion along the margin may have helped to trigger slope failure of gas hydrate reservoirs around the North Atlantic margin and set the LPTM—greenhouse feedback system in motion. Reflector A* is correlative with highly deformed Maastrichtian sediments on Blake Nose and Maastrichtian chalk interbedded with red claystone on Bermuda Rise. Seismic and coring evidence from Blake Nose shows that the K–P boundary slumping was associated with the magnitude c . 11–13 Richter Scale earthquake generated by the Chicxulub impact event. The chalk sequence on the Bermuda Rise appears to represent the distal turbidites produced by slumping of the margin. Correlation of the chalk beds with Reflector A* shows that the mass wasting deposits are found over nearly the entire western North Atlantic basin. Apparently, much of the eastern seaboard of North America must have catastrophically failed during the K–P impact event, creating one of the largest submarine landslides on the face of the Earth.

Abstract A transect of three holes drilled across the Blake Nose, western North Atlantic Ocean, retrieved cores of black shale facies related to the Albian Oceanic Anoxic Events (OAE) 1b and 1d. Sedimentary organic matter (SOM) recovered from Ocean Drilling Program Hole 1049A from the eastern end of the transect showed that before black shale facies deposition organic matter preservation was a Type III–IV SOM. Petrography reveals that this SOM is composed mostly of degraded algal debris, amorphous SOM and a minor component of Type III–IV terrestrial SOM, mostly detroinertinite. When black shale facies deposition commenced, the geochemical character of the SOM changed from a relatively oxygen-rich Type III–IV to relatively hydrogen-rich Type II. Petrography, biomarker and organic carbon isotopic data indicate marine and terrestrial SOM sources that do not appear to change during the transition from light-grey calcareous ooze to the black shale facies. Black shale subfacies layers alternate from laminated to homogeneous. Some of the laminated and the poorly laminated to homogeneous layers are organic carbon and hydrogen rich as well, suggesting that at least two SOM depositional processes are influencing the black shale facies. The laminated beds reflect deposition in a low sedimentation rate (6m Ma −1 ) environment with SOM derived mostly from gravity settling from the overlying water into sometimes dysoxic bottom water. The source of this high hydrogen content SOM is problematic because before black shale deposition, the marine SOM supplied to the site is geochemically a Type III–IV. A clue to the source of the H-rich SOM may be the interlayering of relatively homogeneous ooze layers that have a widely variable SOM content and quality. These relatively thick, sometimes subtly graded, sediment layers are thought to be deposited from a Type II SOM-enriched sediment suspension generated by turbidites or direct turbidite deposition.

Abstract Outstandingly well-preserved benthic foraminiferal successions from upper Aptian-lower Albian sediments at Site 1049 (Leg 171, Blake Nose escarpment, western North Atlantic) provide a detailed record of the faunal turnover across Oceanic Anoxic Event lb (OAE lb). Changes in abundance, diversity and species composition reflect strong fluctuations in carbon flux and bottom-water oxygenation. Before the onset of black shale sedimentation, the originally diverse assemblages are replaced by low-diversity associations, dominated by species inferred to be opportunistic phytodetritus feeders and thriving on an enhanced carbon flux to the sea floor. The 46 cm thick laminated black shale horizon corresponding to OAE lb is virtually devoid of benthic foraminifers or contains highly impoverished assemblages, suggesting that intense eutrophication and/or strong stratification triggered near anoxia at the sea floor during black shale deposition. Above the black shale, reoccurrence of the pre-black shale fauna points to relatively rapid bottom-water reoxygenation. The benthic foraminiferal record of Leg 171 provides clear evidence that no major extinctions occurred across OAE lb, as most of the species occurring below the black shale reappear above it. In contrast to other Cretaceous anoxic events, OAE lb may have been more limited in duration or in geographical and water-depth extent, allowing recolonization from adjacent, more hospitable areas, once local conditions improved at the sea floor. Prolific radiation within the suborder Rotaliina and diversification of Textulariina with calcareous cement appear to have started in the Aptian time before OAE lb, and continued into early AIbian time to give rise to many of the modern lineages.

Abstract Detailed biostratigraphic analyses of nine cores from the Atlantic Coastal Plain and two cores from the Blake Nose, western Atlantic Ocean, provide the basis for subdivision and correlation of upper Maastrichtian sediments along a shallow- to deep-water transect. The calcareous nannofossil record from these sites shows distinct differences between the middle to outer neritic Coastal Plain sediments and the lower to upper bathyal Blake Nose sediments. Micula murus , a reliable marker species for low- to mid-latitude sites, is shown herein to respond to differing palaeoenvironmental conditions of nearshore v. open-ocean sites. Its usefulness as a biostratigraphic marker for neritic sediments is called into question. The last appearance datum of Ceratolithoides kamptneri is documented as a reliable biozone marker for latest Maastrichtian time (within CC26b) in this region. The evolutionary radiation and resulting biostratigraphic utility of species of Ceratolithoides, Lithraphidites and Micula is discussed in detail, and their first and last occurrences are tied to magneto-stratigraphic chrons where possible. Ceratolithoides amplector, Ceratolithoides indiensis and Ceratolithoides pricei are shown to be useful, biostratigraphically, in sediments deposited under bathyal conditions. Several species of Lithraphidites ( Lithraphidites? charactozorro, Lithraphidites kennethii and Lithraphidites grossopectinatus ) can be used to further subdivide upper Maastrichtian sediments at both neritic and bathyal localities. The first and last occurrence of Micula praemurus in Zones CC25a and CC26a, respectively, are shown to be useful biostratigraphic datum points.

Abstract Widespread biological, geochemical and sedimentological shifts within the Maastrichtian are well documented, but data are limited for the low-latitude Atlantic. New observations from Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) sites located on Blake Nose in the subtropical western North Atlantic increase information concerning the Maastrichtian history of this critical region. Planktonic δ 18 O results suggest up to 6 °C of local surface water warming (or 4‰ decrease in salinity) at the same time as most of the globe was cooling. Benthic δ 13 O and δ 13 C values of both planktonic and benthic taxa show little if any directional trend or excursions on long time scales; however, planktonic and benthic taxa exhibit strong δ 13 C and δ 18 O cycles (up to 0.8 and 0.6‰, respectively) across a short interval of high-resolution sampling. Other portions of the cores have not yet been studied at high resolution. The last occurrence of inoceramid shell fragments on Blake Nose matches previously documented global patterns, i. e. a mid-Maastrichtian extinction event that occurred later in low latitudes than in high southern latitudes. Models for Maastrichtian change seem to be converging on variation in intermediate to deep water ocean circulation as a unifying process. Blake Nose data are consistent with this conclusion, but demonstrate new regional patterns and emphasize the importance of precise and accurate chronostratigraphic correlation in understanding Maastrichtian change.

Abstract The Cretaceous-Tertiary (K-T) boundary at Blake Nose, in the NW Atlantic, is recorded by a coarse, poorly graded and poorly cemented layer mostly consisting of green spherules that are mainly composed of smectite. Geochemical patterns across the boundary are governed by the source material of the spherule bed and postdepositional processes. The chemical composition and the nature of this bed indicate that it derived from melted target rocks from the Chicxulub impact structure. Ir and other typical extraterrestrial elements do not present significant enrichments, which suggests that the spherule bed material derived from crustal rocks. Ir instead reaches its highest concentration in the burrow-mottled calcareous ooze above the spherule bed, suggesting that it is associated to the finest fraction deposited after the target-rock-derived material. Only the Ni and Co content show slight enrichments within the upper part of the spherule layer, although most of the trace element profiles resulted from diagenetic alteration. During the alteration of glass to smectite, the concentrations of certain trace elements, such as the rare earth elements, were severely changed. In addition, oxygen-poor conditions also led to the remobilization of redox-sensitive elements, which show enhanced concentration at the top or above the spherule bed. Diagenetic remobilization may have also affected the Ir concentration.

Abstract The Cretaceous-Tertiary (K-T) boundary interval recovered by the ODP Leg 171 at Site 1049 (Blake Nose, NW Atlantic) contains a thick (9–17 cm) spherule bed marking the boundary. The spherules are mainly perfect spheres with a lesser proportion of oval spherules. They usually range from 100 to 1000 μm. This bed represent the diagenetically altered impact ejecta from Chicxulub and further supports this structure as the site of the K-T impact. Mineralogical and geochemical investigations indicate that impact-generated glass was altered to smectite. Transmission electron microscopy observations revealed in some spherules that smectite is forming from a Si-rich or Ca-rich material, which could suggest a precursor similar to Haitian glasses. The variable thickness and the presence of some Cretaceous planktonic foraminifera and clasts of Cretaceous chalk suggest reworking of the ejecta material. However, the spherule bed confirms that a large volume of the Chicxulub ejecta material reached the Blake Nose Plateau.

Abstract Ocean Drilling Program Sites 1001A (Caribbean Sea) and 1050C (western North Atlantic) display obliquity and precession cycles throughout polarity zone C27 of the late Danian stage (earliest Cenozoic time). Sliding-window spectra analysis and direct cycle counting on downhole logs and high-resolution Fe variations at both sites yield the equivalent of 35–36 obliquity cycles. This cycle-tuned duration for polarity chron C27 of 1.45 Ma (applying a modern mean obliquity period of 40.4 ka) is consistent with trends from astronomical tuning of early Danian polarity chron C29 and 40 Ar/ 39 Ar age calibration of the Campanian-Maastrichtian magnetic polarity time scale. The cycle-tuned Danianstage ( sensu Berggren et al . 1995 , in SEPM Special Publications, 54, 129–212) spans 3.65 Ma (65.5–61.85 Ma). Spreading rates on a reference South Atlantic synthetic profile display progressive slowing during the Maastrichtian to Danian stages, then remained relatively constant through late Palaeocene and early Eocene time.

Abstract Abundant well-preserved radiolarians were recovered from Ocean Drilling Program Leg 171B Hole 1051A, western North Atlantic, and range from upper middle Eocene radiolarian Zone RP16 through lower Palaeocene Zone RP6. This mid-latitude fauna contrasts with tropical faunas in lacking many tropical zonal markers and in its high proportion of diachronous first and last occurrences. The sequence from Hole 1051A contains the lower Eocene-middle Eocene and Palaeocene-Eocene (P-E) boundaries, and the only known record of a well-preserved Late Palaeocene Thermal Maximum (LPTM) radiolarian assemblage. There is no gross change observed in the composition of the fauna, only a minor increase in the number of first and last occurrences across the LPTM interval and P-E boundary. Calcareous evidence indicates two hiatuses, each 1–2 Ma long, one in the lowermost middle Eocene sequence and a second in the upper Palaeocene sequence. Presence of the middle Eocene hiatus is corroborated by an abnormally large radiolarian turnover. Twenty-six events are documented and show that most of radiolarian Zone RP10 and a substantial part of Zone RP9 are missing. Seven new species are described: Spongatractus klausi, Calocyclas aphradia, Lychnocanoma (?) parma, Sethocyrtis austellus, Sethocyrtis chrysallis, Thyrsocyrtis (Pentalacorys) krooni and Thyrsocyrtis (Thyrsocyrtis) norrisi .

Abstract The well-calibrated mid- to late Eocene sediment record of ODP Leg 171B (Site 1053A, Blake Nose) allows a detailed stratigraphic and palaeoenvironmental analysis of the dinoflagellate cyst (dinocyst) content. The recovered assemblages are a mixture of inner neritic, outer neritic and oceanic species. The autochthonous dinoflagellates, principally those of the Impagidinium group, indicate an oceanic milieu, with possibly some shallowing of water depth towards the top of the section. This trend is also indicated by a corresponding increase of inner neritic dinocysts. The close agreement in the abundance peaks of inner neritic dinocysts and terrestrial palynomorphs indicats that both are allochthonous. This is confirmed by the much higher number of neritic species found in JOIDES Holes 1 and 2, on the continental shelf of eastern Florida, immediately to the west of the Blake Nose. Lower-latitude species found in Hole 1053A, but not occurring at higher latitudes during late Eocene time, are Diphyes colligerum and Thalassiphora delicata . The presence of these, and other lower-latitude species, confirms that warmer-water conditions persisted during mid- to early late Eocene time in the vicinity of Site 1053. Eighteen new taxa are described, two of them formally: Charlesdowniea proserpina sp. nov. and Oligosphaeridium anapetum sp. nov.

Abstract Understanding the nature and causes of the variability associated with past warm, high p CO 2 climates presents a significant challenge to palaeoclimate research. In this paper we investigate the early Eocene climatic response in the North Atlantic region to forcing from an indirect effect of atmospheric methane (via polar stratospheric clouds (PSCs)), and we investigate the response of the climate system to forcing from a combination of orbital insolation changes and high atmospheric p CO 2 concentration. We find that sea surface temperatures (SSTs), sea ice extent, net surface moisture, continental runoff and upwelling in the North Atlantic Ocean are all sensitive to those forcing factors, and that the degree of sensitivity is a function of location and season. Our results suggest that high-latitude SST values can vary by as much as 20 °C during the winter season in response to precessional and polar cloud forcing, whereas in contrast summer temperature varies by 4 °C or less. Model predictions of net surface moisture balance also vary substantially with our prescribed forcing. There is a large difference in variability between the localized net surface moisture results and the mean North Atlantic Ocean results, which suggests that large-scale assumptions about past surface ocean salinities and seawater δ 18 O may need to be reassessed. According to model results, the influx of terrigenous material via continental runoff to the North Atlantic Ocean should be highly seasonal, with greatest runoff occurring in spring. Our model results also indicate that changes in wind-driven upwelling and in continental runoff on a precessional time scale should be seen in regions of the central North Atlantic.

Abstract Previous stable oxygen isotopic data from surface-dwelling foraminifera indicate that Eocene tropical sea surface temperatures (SSTs) were significantly lower than at present. Here we show that stable isotopic analyses (δ 18 O, δ 13 C) of the late mid-Eocene mixed-layer dweller Morozovella spinulosa are consistent with mid-Eocene mid-latitude SSTs close to, or slightly lower than modern temperatures at Blake Nose, western North Atlantic. In contrast, isotopic analyses of the benthic foraminifer, Nuttalides truempyi reveal a gradual fall in mean bottom-water temperatures from 8 to 7 °C over c . 500 ka years. These deep intermediate-water temperatures are significantly higher than modern ones and are similar to intermediate- and bottom-water temperatures recorded from earlier in Palaeogene and late Cretaceous time. Large shifts are seen in the δ 18 O and δ 13 C values of the planktonic foraminifers, of up to 1‰ and 2.6‰, respectively, that probably reflect temperature and nutrient fluctuations controlled by regional changes in upwelling intensity and runoff. The surface to benthos δ 18 O gradient decreases from 3‰ PDB to a minimum of c . 0.5‰ PDB over 400 ka, which could relate to the intensity of upwelling. Spectral analysis reveals precessional forcing in the foraminiferal δ 18 O records, which shows the direct influence of low-latitude insolation on surface-water stratification. Monsoonal wind systems may have forced the upwelling cycles and/or freshwater input. The benthic foraminifer δ 18 O record also contains the obliquity cycle, in addition to the precessional cycles, indicating the inheritance of mid- and high-latitude forcing to subtropical deep waters.

Abstract The late Palaeocene Thermal Maximum (LPTM) was a brief interval at c . 55 Ma characterized by a −2.5 to −3‰ shift in the δ 13 C of global carbon reservoirs. The geochemical perturbation probably represents a massive input of 12 C-rich carbon to the exogenic carbon cycle. Largely unresolved issues concerning this carbon injection during the LPTM are the rates of carbon input and removal. Simple expressions are developed here to describe a δ 13 C excursion in the exogenic carbon cycle after carbon input. A change in global δ 13 C (dδ Ex /d t ) can be explained to a first approximation by a set of parameters: the initial mass and isotopic composition of the global carbon cycle ( M Ex(o) , δ Ex(o) ), and the fluxes and isotopic compositions of external carbon inputs, outputs and injected carbon ( F In , δ In , F Out , δ Out , F Add , δ Add ). In general, for a given exogenic carbon cycle, a large F Add or low δ Add results in a larger δ 13 C excursion. Likewise, for a given negative δ 13 C excursion, a large M Ex or low δ Ex requires a greater input of 12 C. Differences in F In , δ In , F Out and δ Out cause changes in the response of δ Ex over time. For a negative δ 13 C excursion of given magnitude, a greater F In requires a greater input of 12 C and lessens the time for δ Ex to return to initial conditions. A decrease in δ Out (caused by an increase in the relative output of organic matter and carbonate) has a similar effect. Variable d M Add /d t produces transients in δ Ex that are related to the source function but modified by carbon removal. In theory, a well-dated and representative global δ 13 C excursion could be used to derive the carbon inputs and ouputs. Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Site 1051 has an expanded early Palaeogene section, and recent work at this location has provided a well-dated δ 13 C record across the LPTM. This δ 13 C record contains transient variations of apparently global nature. These observed transients are best explained by a pulsed injection of CH 4 into an exogenic carbon cycle with a greater carbon throughput or enhanced burial of organic matter after carbon addition.

Abstract Clay mineral analyses were performed on Eocene sediments from drill sites in the western Central Atlantic. The investigated sites cover the full range of early Palaeogene deep waters above and below the calcite compensation depth (CCD), but otherwise represent different depositional and hydrographic regimes. Palygorskite clays with authigenic microstructures were discovered in Lower Eocene hemipelagic sediments from the distal end of the Blake Nose depth transect and in pelagic clays of the same age from the distal Nares Abyssal Plain, where terrigenous input was reduced. Palygorskite clays were not detected in coeval sediments from a distal near-CCD setting on Bermuda Rise that received major terrigenous input. The distribution of palygorskite clays at these sites, the microstructures of the constituent minerals, their absence from contemporaneous deposits on the American margin, and the position of the northerly sites outside the range of a potential African aeolian supply strongly suggest an authigenic origin of these clays at the early Eocene sea floor. Palygorskite clays are widely distributed in lower Eocene sediments from about 50° N to 50° S palaeolatitude. The most widespread distributions and peak abundances in Atlantic oceanic sediments are reported from shelf to deep-water sites of the palaeo-tropical and -subtropical belt and correlate with the Early Eocene period of extreme warmth. Marine authigenic palygorskite clay may provide an indication of the localities and the time periods that were characterized by high bottom-water temperatures, by elevated alkalinity, silica and magnesium concentrations, and by reduced sediment accumulation rates.

Abstract Palaeogene and Cretaceous palaeoceanography has been the focus of intense international interest in the last few years, spurred by deep ocean drilling at Blake Nose in the North Atlantic as well as the need to use past climate change as input for modelling future climate change. This book brings together a number of review papers that describe ancient oceans and unique events in the Earth’s climatic history and evolution of biota. The papers show evidence of periods characterized by exceptional global warmth such as the Late Palaeocene Thermal Maximum and Cretaceous anoxic events. Geochemical records and modelling will make the reader aware that these periods were forced by greenhouse gases. This information is essential for understanding the response of the ocean—climate system to the current input of fossil fuels. In this sense, the book contributes to the understanding of fundamental aspects of Earth’s climate, the carbon cycle, and marine ecosystems. A number of papers describe massive mass wasting deposits resulting from the energy released by the bolide impact at the Cretaceous—Tertiary boundary as well as the geochemistry of the boundary itself. Additional papers cover aspects of cyclostratigraphy and biostratigraphy of Palaeogene and Cretaceous records. This book will be of interest to a broad audience of Earth Scientists interested in Palaeogene—Cretaceous palaeoceanography, extreme climate modelling, Cretaceous—Tertiary boundary, Late Palaeocene Thermal Maximum, Cretaceous anoxic events, as well as those specifically interested in radiolarian, dinoflagellate and coccolithophorid stratigraphy.