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The temperatures and oxygen-isotope composition of early Devonian oceans

Nature volume 361, pages 712–714 (1993)Cite this article

Abstract

THE oxygen isotope composition of pre-Carboniferous (>360 Myr old) marine carbonates, cherts and phosphates has been reported1–8 to be lower than that of later (post-Devonian) samples. According to one explanation1,3, this is a reflection of warmer (generally ≥40°C) pre-Carboniferous oceans relative to modern oceans. Alternatively, it has been proposed5,7 that the pre-Carboniferous oceans were depleted in 18O (by 2‰ SMOW) relative to modern oceans. Here I report high δ18O values (−1.9 to −2.9‰ PDB) in normal, shallow-marine limestones (and three brachiopod shells) from the Lower Devonian Haragan and Bois d'Arc formations in south-central Oklahoma. I interpret these values as near-primary, and therefore constraining the temperature and oxygen isotope composition of early Devonian sea water to 25±7 °C and 0±1‰ SMOW respectively. In conjunction with similarly high δ18O values obtained from older (Ordovician and Silurian) samples8, these results imply that the temperature and oxygen isotope composition of pre-Carboniferous oceans may, at least during some time intervals, have been similar to those of modern oceans.

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  1. Department of Geological Sciences, University of Texas at Austin, Texas, 78712, USA

    Guoqiu Gao

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Gao, G. The temperatures and oxygen-isotope composition of early Devonian oceans. Nature 361, 712–714 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1038/361712a0

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