An early Cambrian greenhouse climate
The oceans of the early Cambrian (~541 to 509 million years ago) were the setting for a marked diversification of animal life. However, sea temperatures — a key component of the early Cambrian marine environment — remain unconstrained, in part because of a substantial time gap in the stable oxygen i...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
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American Association for the Advancement of Science
2018
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| Online Access: | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/51706/ |
| _version_ | 1848798556256731136 |
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| author | Hearing, Thomas W. Harvey, Thomas H.P. Williams, Mark Leng, Melanie J. Lamb, Angela L. Wilby, Philip R. Gabbott, Sarah E. Pohl, Alexandre Donnadieu, Yannick |
| author_facet | Hearing, Thomas W. Harvey, Thomas H.P. Williams, Mark Leng, Melanie J. Lamb, Angela L. Wilby, Philip R. Gabbott, Sarah E. Pohl, Alexandre Donnadieu, Yannick |
| author_sort | Hearing, Thomas W. |
| building | Nottingham Research Data Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | The oceans of the early Cambrian (~541 to 509 million years ago) were the setting for a marked diversification of animal life. However, sea temperatures — a key component of the early Cambrian marine environment — remain unconstrained, in part because of a substantial time gap in the stable oxygen isotope (delta 18 O) record before the evolution of euconodonts. We show that previously overlooked sources of fossil biogenic phosphate have the potential to fill this gap. Pristine phosphatic microfossils from the Comley Limestones, UK, yield a robust delta 18 O signature, suggesting sea surface temperatures of 20° to 25°C at high southern paleolatitudes (~65°S to 70°S) between ~514 and 509 million years ago. These sea temperatures are consistent with the distribution of coeval evaporite and calcrete deposits, peak continental weathering rates, and also our climate model simulations for this interval. Our results support an early Cambrian greenhouse climate comparable to those of the late Mesozoic and early Cenozoic, offering a framework for exploring the interplay between biotic and environmental controls on Cambrian animal diversification. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T20:21:39Z |
| format | Article |
| id | nottingham-51706 |
| institution | University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T20:21:39Z |
| publishDate | 2018 |
| publisher | American Association for the Advancement of Science |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | nottingham-517062020-05-04T19:35:58Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/51706/ An early Cambrian greenhouse climate Hearing, Thomas W. Harvey, Thomas H.P. Williams, Mark Leng, Melanie J. Lamb, Angela L. Wilby, Philip R. Gabbott, Sarah E. Pohl, Alexandre Donnadieu, Yannick The oceans of the early Cambrian (~541 to 509 million years ago) were the setting for a marked diversification of animal life. However, sea temperatures — a key component of the early Cambrian marine environment — remain unconstrained, in part because of a substantial time gap in the stable oxygen isotope (delta 18 O) record before the evolution of euconodonts. We show that previously overlooked sources of fossil biogenic phosphate have the potential to fill this gap. Pristine phosphatic microfossils from the Comley Limestones, UK, yield a robust delta 18 O signature, suggesting sea surface temperatures of 20° to 25°C at high southern paleolatitudes (~65°S to 70°S) between ~514 and 509 million years ago. These sea temperatures are consistent with the distribution of coeval evaporite and calcrete deposits, peak continental weathering rates, and also our climate model simulations for this interval. Our results support an early Cambrian greenhouse climate comparable to those of the late Mesozoic and early Cenozoic, offering a framework for exploring the interplay between biotic and environmental controls on Cambrian animal diversification. American Association for the Advancement of Science 2018-05-09 Article PeerReviewed Hearing, Thomas W., Harvey, Thomas H.P., Williams, Mark, Leng, Melanie J., Lamb, Angela L., Wilby, Philip R., Gabbott, Sarah E., Pohl, Alexandre and Donnadieu, Yannick (2018) An early Cambrian greenhouse climate. Science Advances, 4 (5). eaar5690. ISSN 2375-2548 http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/4/5/eaar5690 doi:10.1126/sciadv.aar5690 doi:10.1126/sciadv.aar5690 |
| spellingShingle | Hearing, Thomas W. Harvey, Thomas H.P. Williams, Mark Leng, Melanie J. Lamb, Angela L. Wilby, Philip R. Gabbott, Sarah E. Pohl, Alexandre Donnadieu, Yannick An early Cambrian greenhouse climate |
| title | An early Cambrian greenhouse climate |
| title_full | An early Cambrian greenhouse climate |
| title_fullStr | An early Cambrian greenhouse climate |
| title_full_unstemmed | An early Cambrian greenhouse climate |
| title_short | An early Cambrian greenhouse climate |
| title_sort | early cambrian greenhouse climate |
| url | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/51706/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/51706/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/51706/ |