Kb. Follmi, 160-MY RECORD OF MARINE SEDIMENTARY PHOSPHORUS BURIAL - COUPLING OF CLIMATE AND CONTINENTAL WEATHERING UNDER GREENHOUSE AND ICEHOUSE CONDITIONS, Geology, 23(6), 1995, pp. 503-506
A compilation of all meaningful phosphate data published in the procee
dings of the Deep Sea Drilling Project and the Ocean Drilling Program
is used here for the extraction of a 160 m.y. marine burial record of
bulk phosphorus (all sediment types; 5648 measurements) and a 100 m.y.
marine burial record of biogenic phosphorus (pelagic, biogenic, sedim
ent types; 1754 data). These records serve as estimates for total and
dissolved (bioavailable) phosphorus flux rates, which in turn are high
ly dependent on total and chemical continental weathering rates, respe
ctively. The similarity of both records indicates that in the past 100
m.y., changes in total weathering rates may have been tracked by chan
ges in chemical weathering rates. Prior to 32 Ma, phosphorus burial an
d long-term sea-level change are positively correlated; from 32 Ma to
the present, this correlation is inverse. This points to a fundamental
change in feedback mechanisms between continental weathering, phospho
rus, and climate which was probably linked to the onset of major glaci
ation.