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Orbitally paced climate oscillations across the Oligocene/Miocene boundary

Nature volume 388, pages 567–570 (1997)Cite this article

Abstract

The late Oligocene and early Miocene periods, some 21 to 27 million years ago, have generally been viewed as times of moderate global warmth and ice-free conditions. Yet several lines of evidence suggest that this interval was punctuated by at least one, and possibly several, episodes of high-latitude cooling and continental glaciation1,2,3. Here, we present stable-isotope and per cent coarse-fraction data from an equatorial, western Atlantic deep-sea-sediment core that provide high-resolution records of the climate variability across the Oligocene/Miocene transition (22.5–25.7 million years ago). A strong 40-kyr periodicity in the oxygen isotope record is consistent with a high-latitude orbital (obliquity) control on ice-volume and temperature. Orbital influences are also apparent at precession and eccentricity frequencies, including a series of ∼400-kyr oscillations that culminate in distinct maxima at the Oligocene/Miocene boundary, about 23.7 million years ago. Covariance between the carbon and oxygen isotope records suggests that the oceanic carbon cycle may have contributed to global cooling during the ∼400-kyr cycles, particularly at the Oligocene/Miocene boundary.

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Figure 1: a, Benthic foraminifer stable-isotope and % coarse fraction (%CF) records for Hole 929A plotted versus age.
Figure 2: Power spectra (variance versus frequency) of three variables, the benthic δ18O and δ13C, and %CF values.
Figure 3: Top panels, coherence spectra of the δ13C (panel a) and %CF (panel b) time series relative to δ18O (solid lines).

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Acknowledgements

We thank S. Clemens, P. DeMenocal, P. Koch, N. Shackleton, J. Revenaugh and Q.Williams for comments and discussion; K. Vencil for technical assistance; and S. D'Hondt, L. Hinnov and K. Miller for reviews that significantly improved the manuscript. Samples for this project were provided by the Ocean Drilling Program. This work was supported by the USSSP and NSF.

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Author notes

  1. Benjamin P. Flower

    Present address: Department of Marine Science, University of South Florida, St Petersburg, Florida, 33701, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Earth Science Department, University of California, Santa Cruz, 95064, California, USA

    James C. Zachos & Hilary Paul

  2. Institute of Marine Sciences, University of California, Santa Cruz, 95064, California, USA

    Benjamin P. Flower

Authors
  1. James C. Zachos
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  2. Benjamin P. Flower
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  3. Hilary Paul
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to James C. Zachos.

Supplementary information

Supplementary Image

Coherency spectrum based on a linear regression fit to 6 upper Oligocene and lower Miocene microfossil datums (JPG 93 kb)

Supplementary Information

Information on the Hole 929A time seriesanalytical work and age model (DOC 20 kb)

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Zachos, J., Flower, B. & Paul, H. Orbitally paced climate oscillations across the Oligocene/Miocene boundary. Nature 388, 567–570 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1038/41528

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