Evidence for Late Cretaceous (Late Turonian) climate cooling from oxygen-isotope variations and palaeobiogeographic changes in Western and Central Europe
S. Voigt et F. Wiese, Evidence for Late Cretaceous (Late Turonian) climate cooling from oxygen-isotope variations and palaeobiogeographic changes in Western and Central Europe, J GEOL SOC, 157, 2000, pp. 737-743
Trends of stable oxygen-isotope data through four European sections of Midd
le-Upper Turonian sediments show three phases of synchronous variations, ea
ch phase having a duration of about 250 ka. The isotopic variations are ind
ependent of local facies, sedimentary thickness and diagenetic history. Two
positive delta(18)O shifts are associated with a southward spread of north
ern macrofaunas. This coincidence of geochemical and palaeontological data
implies that the delta(18)O trends reflect a southward shift of cooler wate
r masses. This southward extension of cooler waters was caused by changes i
n ocean circulation and was associated with a major regression in the early
Late Turonian.