Dal Corso, Jacopo, Preto, Nereo, Agnini, Claudia, Hohn, Sönke, Merico, Agostino ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8095-8056, Willems, Helmut and Gianolla, Piero (2021) Rise of calcispheres during the Carnian Pluvial Episode (Late Triassic). Global and Planetary Change, 200 . p. 103453. DOI https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloplacha.2021.103453.

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Abstract

It has been argued that the beginning of significant pelagic calcification could have been linked to the Carnian Pluvial Episode (CPE), a climate change in the Late Triassic (~234–232 Ma) that was marked by C-cycle disruption and global warming. Nevertheless, abundant calcareous nannofossils have been described so far only in post-CPE rocks, and therefore no conclusive hypotheses can be drawn on possible causal links with it. Here we show that in deep-water successions of the Western Tethys, Orthopithonella calcispheres interpreted as calcareous dinocysts became an important component of carbonate sedimentation from the onset of the CPE, and could constitute up to 8% of hemipelagic limestones. Before the CPE, in similar depositional environments, calcispheres are rare or absent, and never constitute a significant part of the sediment. This change in the deep-water carbonate sedimentation, is mirrored in the shallow water environments by the rise of the reefs built by Scleractinia corals. These important innovations in Earth's carbonate systems may indicate a deep modification in the ocean biogeochemistry during the CPE.

Document Type: Article
Programme Area: PA2
Research affiliation: Integrated Modelling > Systems Ecology
Refereed: Yes
Open Access Journal?: No
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloplacha.2021.103453
ISSN: 09218181
Date Deposited: 02 Nov 2021 09:07
Last Modified: 24 Nov 2021 12:51
URI: http://cris.leibniz-zmt.de/id/eprint/4756

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