Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Letter
  • Published:

Atlantic cooling associated with a marine biotic crisis during the mid-Cretaceous period

Abstract

Most of the marine biotic crises that occurred during the hot Mesozoic era have been linked to episodes of extreme warmth1,2. Others, however, may have occurred during cooler intervals that interrupted Cretaceous greenhouse warmth3,4,5. There are some indications of cooling in the late Aptian6,7,8 (116–114 Myr ago), but it has not been definitively linked to biotic crisis. Here we assess the timing and magnitude of late Aptian cooling and its association with biotic crises using a suite of geochemical and micropalaeontological assessments from a marine sediment core from the North Atlantic Ocean as well as global biogeochemical modelling. Sea surface temperatures derived from the TEX86 proxy suggest that surface waters cooled by about 5 °C during the two million years, coincident with a positive δ13C excursion of approximately 2‰ in carbonates and organic carbon. Surface productivity was enhanced during this period, but the abundance of planktonic foraminifera and nannoconid phytoplankton declined. Our simulations with a biogeochemical model indicate that the δ13C excursion associated with the cooling could be explained by the burial of about 812,000 gigatons of carbon over 2.5 million years. About 50% of the this carbon burial occurred in the Atlantic, Southern and Tethys ocean basins. We conclude that global cooling during greenhouse conditions can cause perturbations to marine ecosystems and biogeochemical cycles at scales comparable to those associated with global warming.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Palaeogeographic setting of late Aptian Deep Sea Drilling Project Site 545, Mazagan Plateau.
Figure 2: High-resolution geochemical records.
Figure 3: Marine biotic response to late Aptian cooling.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Hallam, A. The Pliensbachian and Tithonian extinction events. Nature 319, 765–768 (1986).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Leckie, R. M., Bralower, T. J. & Cashman, R. Oceanic anoxic events and plankton evolution: Biotic response to tectonic forcing during the mid-Cretaceous. Paleoceanography 17, 1–29 (2002).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Herrle, J. O. & Mutterlose, J. Calcareous nannofossils from the Aptian–Lower Albian of southeast France: Palaeoecological and biostratigraphic implications. Cretac. Res. 24, 1–22 (2003).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Mutterlose, J., Bornemann, A. & Herrle, J. O. The Aptian–Albian cold snap: Evidence for mid Cretaceous icehouse interludes. Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie Abhandlungen 232, 217–225 (2009).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Iba, Y. et al. Belemnite extinction and the origin of modern cephalopods 35 m.y. prior to the Cretaceous–Paleogene event. Geology 39, 483–486 (2011).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Forster, A., Schouten, S., Bass, M. & Sinninghe Damsté, J. S. Mid-Cretaceous (Albian-Santonian) sea surface temperature record of the tropical Atlantic Ocean. Geology 35, 919–922 (2007).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Wagner, T. et al. Rapid warming and salinity changes of Cretaceous surface waters in the subtropical North Atlantic. Geology 36, 203–206 (2008).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Jenkyns, H. C., Schouten-Huibers, L., Schouten, S. & Sinninghe Damsté, J. S. Warm Middle Jurassic–Early Cretaceous high-latitude sea-surface temperatures from the Southern Ocean. Clim. Past 8, 215–226 (2012).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Gradstein, F. M., Ogg, J. G. & Smith, A. G. A Geologic Time Scale 2004 (Cambridge Univ. Press, 2004).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  10. Kemper, E. Das Klima der Kreidezeit. Geologisches Jahrbuch A 96, 5–185 (1987).

    Google Scholar 

  11. Weissert, H. & Lini, A. in Controversies in Modern Geology (eds Müller, W., McKenzie, J.A. & Weissert, H.) 173–191 (Academic, 1991).

    Google Scholar 

  12. Hong, S. K. & Lee, Y. I. Evaluation of atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations during the Cretaceous. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 327–328, 23–28 (2012).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Wagner, T. & Pletsch, T. in The Oil and Gas Habitats of the South Atlantic Vol. 153 (eds Cameron, N. R., Bate, R. H. & Clure, V. S.) 241–265 (Geol. Soc. Spec. Publ., Geological Society, 1999).

    Google Scholar 

  14. Föllmi, K. B., Godet, A., Bodin, S. & Linder, P. Interactions between environmental change and shallow water carbonate buildup along the northern Tethyan margin and their impact on the Early Cretaceous carbon isotope record. Paleoceanography 21, PA4211 (2006).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Kim, J-K. et al. New indices and calibrations derived from the distribution of crenarchaeal isoprenoid tetraether lipids: Implications for past sea surface temperature reconstructions. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 74, 4639–4654 (2010).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Flögel, S. et al. Simulating the biogeochemical effects of volcanic CO2 degassing on the oxygen-state of the deep ocean during the Cenomanian/Turonian Anoxic Event (OAE2). Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 305, 371–384 (2011).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Herrle, J. O., Pross, J., Friedrich, O., Kößler, P. & Hemleben, C. Forcing mechanisms for mid-Cretaceous black shale formation: Evidence from the Upper Aptian and Lower Albian of the Vocontian Basin (SE France). Palaeogeogr. Palaeoclim. Palaeoecol. 190, 399–426 (2003).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Huber, B. T. & Leckie, M. Planktonic foraminiferal species turnover across deep-sea Aptian/Albian boundary sections. J. Foraminiferal Res. 41, 53–95 (2011).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Erba, E. Fossils and superplumes; the early Aptian ‘nannoconid crisis’. Paleoceanography 9, 483–501 (1994).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Harwood, D. M., Nikolaev, V. A. & Winter, D. M. in Pond Scum to Carbon Sink: Geological and Environmental Applications of the Diatoms Vol. 13 (ed. Starratt, S.) 33–59 (Paleontol. Soc. Papers, 2007).

    Google Scholar 

  21. Weissert, H., Lini, A., Föllmi, K. B. & Kuhn, O. Correlation of Early Cretaceous carbon isotope stratigraphy and platform drowning events: A possible link? Palaeogeogr. Palaeoclimat. Palaeoecol. 137, 189–203 (1998).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Tucholke, B. E. & Vogt, R. R. in Initial Reports of the Deep Sea Drilling Program Vol. 43 (eds Tucholke, B. E. & Vogt, P. R.) 791–825 (US Gov. Printing Office, 1979).

    Google Scholar 

  23. Arthur, M. A. & Natland, J. H. in Deep Drilling Results in the Atlantic Ocean, Continental Margins and Paleoenvironment (eds Talwani, M., Hay, W. & Ryan, W. B. F.) 375–401 (Maurice Ewing Series, Vol. 3, AGU, 1979).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  24. Stein, R., Rullkötter, J. & Welte, D. H. Accumulation of organic-carbon-rich sediments in the Late Jurassic and Cretaceous Atlantic Ocean—A synthesis. Chem. Geol. 56, 1–32 (1986).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Poulsen, C. J., Barron, E. J., Arthur, M. A. & Peterson, W. H. Response of the Mid-Cretaceous global oceanic circulation to tectonic and CO2 forcings. Paleoceanography 16, 576–592 (2001).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Peters, S. E., Kelly, D. C. & Fraass, A. J. Oceanic controls on the diversity and extinction of planktic foraminifera. Nature 493, 398–401 (2013).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Boyden, J. A. et al. in Geoinformatics: Cyberinfrastructure for the Solid Earth Sciences (eds Keller, G. R. & Baru, C.) 95–114 (Cambridge Univ. Press, 2011).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  28. Williams, S., Müller, R. D., Landgrebe, T. C. W. & Whittaker, J. M. An open-source software environment for visualizing and refining plate tectonic reconstructions using high resolution geological and geophysical data sets. GSA Today 22, 4–9 (2012).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Herrle, J. O., Koessler, P., Friedrich, O., Erlenkeuser, H. & Hemleben, C. High resolution carbon isotope records of the Aptian to Lower Albian from SE France and the Mazagan plateau (DSDP Site 545); a stratigraphic tool for paleoceanographic and paleobiologic reconstruction. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 218, 149–161 (2004).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Wagner, T., Wallmann, K., Stüsser, I., Herrle, J. O. & Hofmann, P. Consequences of moderate 25,000 yr lasting emission of light CO2 into the mid-Cretaceous ocean. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 259, 200–211 (2007).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank K. Littler, K. Föllmi and M. Leckie for their constructive comments on an earlier version of this manuscript. This work was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) by a grant to P.H., J.O.H. and J.P., SF (SFB 754/A7 at GEOMAR-Kiel) and by the Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre Frankfurt (BIK-F). T.W. acknowledges support from the Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award. We thank F. Dunn and N. Mantke for technical assistance and the Science Research Infrastructure Fund (SRIF) from HEFCE for funding the purchase of the ThermoFinnigan LCQ ion trap mass spectrometer (Newcastle University).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Contributions

S.F., J.O.H., P.H., J.P., K.W. and T.W. designed the study; S.F., A.G, A.M., J.R., H.M.T. and K.W. performed analyses and contributed to the discussion; S.F., P.H., J.O.H., A.M. and T.W. wrote the paper, with overall coordination by T.W.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to A. McAnena or T. Wagner.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Supplementary information

Supplementary Information

Supplementary Information (PDF 1224 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

McAnena, A., Flögel, S., Hofmann, P. et al. Atlantic cooling associated with a marine biotic crisis during the mid-Cretaceous period. Nature Geosci 6, 558–561 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo1850

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo1850

This article is cited by

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing