Stable oxygen and carbon isotopes from brachiopods of southern England andnorthwestern Germany: estimation of Upper Turonian palaeotemperatures

More than 190 articulate brachiopods from Turonian sections in northwestern Germany and southern England were studied for their stable carbon and oxyg en isotopic composition, and some of them for their elemental composition. Most of the brachiopod shells are well preserved, and oxygen isotope compos ition reflects the temperate conditions of the European epicontinental sea. Upper Turonian mean delta O-18 values from Lower Saxony and southern Engla nd show bottom-water temperatures in the range of 14.2 to 18.2 degreesC (de lta O-18(W) = -1.5 parts per thousand SMOW for an ice-free world). The rela tive trend of mean brachiopod oxygen and carbon isotopes shows a short-term (200 k.y.) increase in the mid-Upper Turonian horizons that confirms the c limate cooling (similar to2 degreesC) observed in bulk-rock samples at diff erent sites in Europe. Interbasinal comparisons between England and Germany show similar delta C-13 values in both basins, whereas oxygen isotopes are heavier in northwestern Germany than in England, suggesting a cool-water i nfluence from the North Sea basin and temperate conditions in the Angle-Par is basin.