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Late Oligocene Warming Event in the southern North Sea Basin: benthic foraminifera as paleotemperature proxies

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 April 2016

E. De Man  and
S. Van Simaeys
E. De Man*
Affiliation:
Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Vautierstraat 29, B-1000 Brussels, Belgium
S. Van Simaeys
Affiliation:
Historical Geology, University of Leuven, Redingenstraat 16, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium
*
E-mail: [email protected](corresponding author)

Abstract

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The investigation of foraminiferal assemblages from a series of Oligocene borehole sections allowed paleoenvironment and paleoclimate reconstructions for the Rupelian and Chattian (Lower and Upper Oligocene) Stages in their type region, the southern North Sea Basin. A striking feature coinciding with the Rupelian-Chattian (R-C) unconformity is the major change in paleotemperature and paleobathymetry. The shallow marine to restricted marine subtropical fauna at the base of the Chattian is in strong contrast with the deeper marine and cooler upper Rupelian assemblages. This study suggests that the early Chattian transgression is genetically related to a widespread major warming pulse, known as the Late Oligocene Warming Event.

Keywords

benthic foraminiferaglobal warmingOligocenepaleotemperatureRupelian-Chattian boundary
Type
Research Article
Information
Netherlands Journal of Geosciences , Volume 83 , Issue 3 , September 2004 , pp. 227 - 239
Copyright
Copyright © Stichting Netherlands Journal of Geosciences 2004

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