Mid Pleistocene foraminiferal mass extinction coupled with phytoplankton evolution

Understanding the interaction between climate and biotic evolution is crucial for deciphering the sensitivity of life. An enigmatic mass extinction occurred in the deep oceans during the Mid Pleistocene, with a loss of over 100 species (20%) of sea floor calcareous foraminifera. An evolutionarily co...

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Main Authors:	Kender, Sev, McClymont, Erin L., Elmore, Aurora C., Emanuele, Dario, Leng, Melanie J., Elderfield, Henry
Format:	Article
Language:	English
Published:	Nature Publishing Group 2016
Online Access:	http://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/34725/ http://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/34725/ http://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/34725/ http://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/34725/1/Kender%20et%20al%202016%20mid%20Pleistocene.pdf

id	nottingham-34725
recordtype	eprints
spelling	nottingham-347252018-07-02T09:06:39Z http://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/34725/ Mid Pleistocene foraminiferal mass extinction coupled with phytoplankton evolution Kender, Sev McClymont, Erin L. Elmore, Aurora C. Emanuele, Dario Leng, Melanie J. Elderfield, Henry Understanding the interaction between climate and biotic evolution is crucial for deciphering the sensitivity of life. An enigmatic mass extinction occurred in the deep oceans during the Mid Pleistocene, with a loss of over 100 species (20%) of sea floor calcareous foraminifera. An evolutionarily conservative group, benthic foraminifera often comprise 450% of eukaryotebiomass on the deep-ocean floor. Here we test extinction hypotheses (temperature corrosiveness and productivity) in the Tasman Sea, using geochemistry and micropalaeontology and find evidence from several globally distributed sites that the extinction was caused by a change in phytoplankton food source. Coccolithophore evolution may have enhanced the seasonal ‘bloom’ nature of primary productivity and fundamentally shifted it towards a more intra-annually variable state at B0.8 Ma. Our results highlight intra-annual variability as a potential new consideration for Mid Pleistocene global biogeochemical climate models, and imply that deep-sea biota may be sensitive to future changes in productivity. Nature Publishing Group 2016-06-17 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en cc_by http://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/34725/1/Kender%20et%20al%202016%20mid%20Pleistocene.pdf Kender, Sev and McClymont, Erin L. and Elmore, Aurora C. and Emanuele, Dario and Leng, Melanie J. and Elderfield, Henry (2016) Mid Pleistocene foraminiferal mass extinction coupled with phytoplankton evolution. Nature Communications, 7 . 11970/1-11970/8. ISSN 2041-1723 http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ncomms11970 doi:10.1038/ncomms11970 doi:10.1038/ncomms11970
repository_type	Digital Repository
institution_category	Local University
institution	University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus
building	Nottingham Research Data Repository
collection	Online Access
language	English
description	Understanding the interaction between climate and biotic evolution is crucial for deciphering the sensitivity of life. An enigmatic mass extinction occurred in the deep oceans during the Mid Pleistocene, with a loss of over 100 species (20%) of sea floor calcareous foraminifera. An evolutionarily conservative group, benthic foraminifera often comprise 450% of eukaryotebiomass on the deep-ocean floor. Here we test extinction hypotheses (temperature corrosiveness and productivity) in the Tasman Sea, using geochemistry and micropalaeontology and find evidence from several globally distributed sites that the extinction was caused by a change in phytoplankton food source. Coccolithophore evolution may have enhanced the seasonal ‘bloom’ nature of primary productivity and fundamentally shifted it towards a more intra-annually variable state at B0.8 Ma. Our results highlight intra-annual variability as a potential new consideration for Mid Pleistocene global biogeochemical climate models, and imply that deep-sea biota may be sensitive to future changes in productivity.
format	Article
author	Kender, Sev McClymont, Erin L. Elmore, Aurora C. Emanuele, Dario Leng, Melanie J. Elderfield, Henry
spellingShingle	Kender, Sev McClymont, Erin L. Elmore, Aurora C. Emanuele, Dario Leng, Melanie J. Elderfield, Henry Mid Pleistocene foraminiferal mass extinction coupled with phytoplankton evolution
author_facet	Kender, Sev McClymont, Erin L. Elmore, Aurora C. Emanuele, Dario Leng, Melanie J. Elderfield, Henry
author_sort	Kender, Sev
title	Mid Pleistocene foraminiferal mass extinction coupled with phytoplankton evolution
title_short	Mid Pleistocene foraminiferal mass extinction coupled with phytoplankton evolution
title_full	Mid Pleistocene foraminiferal mass extinction coupled with phytoplankton evolution
title_fullStr	Mid Pleistocene foraminiferal mass extinction coupled with phytoplankton evolution
title_full_unstemmed	Mid Pleistocene foraminiferal mass extinction coupled with phytoplankton evolution
title_sort	mid pleistocene foraminiferal mass extinction coupled with phytoplankton evolution
publisher	Nature Publishing Group
publishDate	2016
url	http://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/34725/ http://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/34725/ http://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/34725/ http://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/34725/1/Kender%20et%20al%202016%20mid%20Pleistocene.pdf
first_indexed	2018-09-06T12:30:28Z
last_indexed	2018-09-06T12:30:28Z
_version_	1610861278543216640

Mid Pleistocene foraminiferal mass extinction coupled with phytoplankton evolution

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