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Milankovitch climatic origin of mid-Cretaceous black shale rhythms in central Italy

Abstract

The Earth's orbital variations, reflected in Pleistocene ice volume, were also recorded in non-glacial times. Carbonate production in pelagic mid-Cretaceous sediments, quantified by calcium carbonate and optical densitometry time series, reflects the orbital eccentricity and precessional cycles. Minimal eccentricity brought deep-sea anoxia. Most of the sedimentary variability of this 100-Myr-old sequence lies within the Milankovitch (orbital) frequency band.

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Herbert, T., Fischer, A. Milankovitch climatic origin of mid-Cretaceous black shale rhythms in central Italy. Nature 321, 739–743 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1038/321739a0

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