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Long‐term (10 5 ) or short‐term (10 3 ) δ 13 C excursion near the Palaeocene‐Eocene transition: evidence from the Tethys
Author(s) -
Lu Gangyi,
Keller Gerta,
Adatte Thierry,
Ortiz Nieves,
Molina Eustoquio
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
terra nova
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.353
H-Index - 89
eISSN - 1365-3121
pISSN - 0954-4879
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-3121.1996.tb00567.x
Subject(s) - excursion , geology , calcite , paleontology , sedimentary rock , weathering , term (time) , physics , quantum mechanics , political science , law
Expanded sedimentary records from the Tethys reveal unique faunal and isotopic changes across the Palaeocene‐Eocene (P‐E) transition. Unlike in the open oceans, the Tethys exhibits a gradual decrease of 1.5% in δ 13 C values prior to the rapid δ 13 C excursion. Associated with the 6 13 C excursion is a decrease in calcite burial, increase in detrital content and appearance of a unique opportunistic planktic foraminifera1 assemblage (e.g. compressed acarininids). The existence of a prelude decrease in δ 13 C values in the Tethys suggests that the P‐E δ 13 C excursion may have occurred in two steps and over a few hundred thousand years, rather than as one step over a few thousand years as previously suggested. This slower excursion rate is readily explained by changing organic carbon weathering or burial rates and avoids the need of invoking ad hoc scenarios.