Abstract
Oxygen isotope analyses of foraminiferal tests in deep-sea cores have been interpreted as showing that the temperature of seawater in the Caribbean and equatorial Atlantic varied by as much as 6° C during glacial cycles. This evidence has now been reinterpreted, and changes in oxygen isotope composition are now said to correspond with the extraction of large amounts of water from the oceans during glacial periods and the recirculation of this water during periods when glaciers were at their present levels.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Urey, H. C., J. Chem. Soc., 562 (1947).
Epstein, S., Buchsbaum, R., Lowenstam, H. A., and Urey, H. C., Bull. Geol. Soc. Amer., 62, 417 (1951).
Epstein, S., Buchsbaum, R., Lowenstam, H. A., and Urey, H. C., Bull. Geol. Soc. Amer., 64, 1315 (1953).
Emiliani, C., J. Geol., 74, 109 (1966).
Ericson, D. B., and Wollin, G., Deep-Sea Res., 3, 104 (1956).
Ericson, D. B., and Wollin, G., Micropaleontology, 2, 257 (1956).
Lidz, L., Science, 154, 1448 (1966).
Ericson, D. B., and Wollin, G., The Deep and the Past, 109 (Jonathan Cape, London, 1966).
Olausson, E., Prog. Oceanography, 3, 221 (1915).
Picciotto, E., Cameron, R., Crozaz, G., Deutsch, S., and Wilgain, S., Internal Rep., Univ. Brussels and Ohio State Univ. (1967).
Dansgaard, W., Tellus, 16, 436 (1964).
Nye, J. F., J. Glaciology, 3, 493 (1959).
Emiliani, C., J. Geol., 74, 120, note 6 (1966).
Emiliani, C., J. Geol., 63, 538 (1955).
Wust, G., Stratification and Circulation in the Antillean-Caribbean Basins, Plate XLVII (Columbia Univ. Press, London and New York, 1964).
Epstein, S., and Mayeda, T., Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta, 4, 213, sample 4, (1953).
Wust, G., Stratification and Circulation in the Antillean-Caribbean Basins, Plate L (Columbia Univ, Press, London and New York, 1964).
Svedrup, H. U., Johnson, M. W., and Fleming, R. H., The Oceans Fig. 210 (Prentice-Hall, New York, 1942).
Arrhenius, G., in The Sea (edit. by Hill, M. N.), 3, 659 (Interscience, Wiley, 1963).
Shackleton, N. J., J. Sci. Instrum., 42, 689 (1965).
Shackleton, N. J., “Some variations in the technique for measuring carbon and oxygen isotope ratios in small quantities of calcium carbonate”. Paper read at Third Intern. Conf. Nuclear Geol., Spoleto, Italy, 1965 (proceedings in the press).
Emiliani, C., J. Geol., 63, 538, Table 14 (1955).
Emiliani, C., and Flint, R. F., in The Sea (edit. by Hill, M. N.), 3, 910 (Interscience, Wiley, 1963).
Blackman, A., and Somayajulu, B. L. K., Science, 154, 886 (1966).
Blackman, A., and Somayajulu, B. L. K., Science, 154, 886, Fig. 2 (1966).
Svedrup, H. U., Johnson, M. W., and Fleming, R. H., The Oceans, Fig. 211 (Prentice-Hall, New York, 1942).
The isotopic composition of Pacific deep waters is very constantly near – 0.17 parts per thousand; communication presented by L. I. Gordon on behalf of Professor H. Craig, Spoleto, Italy, July 1966 (in the press).
Broecker, W. S., in Isotope Geochemistry and the Pleistocene Climatic Record in the Quaternary of the United States (edit. by Wright, H. E., and Frey, D. G.) (Princeton, New Jersey, 1965).
Broecker, W. S., Ewing, M., and Heezen, B. C., Amer. J. Sci., 258, 429 (1960).
Emiliani, C., J. Geol., 63, 538, Fig. 2 (1965).
Emiliani, C., Amer. J. Sci., 252, 149 (1954).
Emiliani, C., J. Geol., 66, 264 (1958).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
SHACKLETON, N. Oxygen Isotope Analyses and Pleistocene Temperatures Re-assessed. Nature 215, 15–17 (1967). https://doi.org/10.1038/215015a0
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/215015a0
This article is cited by
-
Benthic δ18O records Earth’s energy imbalance
Nature Geoscience (2023)
-
A global synthesis of high-resolution stable isotope data from benthic foraminifera of the last deglaciation
Scientific Data (2023)
-
The PaleoJump database for abrupt transitions in past climates
Scientific Reports (2023)
-
Fast and pervasive diagenetic isotope exchange in foraminifera tests is species-dependent
Nature Communications (2022)
-
The role of calcareous nannofossils in building age models for Cenozoic marine sediments: a review
Rendiconti Lincei. Scienze Fisiche e Naturali (2022)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.
