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Paleoceanographic implications of Miocene deep-sea hiatuses

Authors:
Gerta Keller at Princeton University
Gerta Keller
John Arthur Barron at United States Geological Survey, Menlo Park
John Arthur Barron
  • United States Geological Survey, Menlo Park
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Abstract

Miocene paleoceanographic evolution exhibits major changes resulting from the opening and closing of passages, the subsequent changes in oceanic circulation, and development of major Antarctic glaciation. The consequences and timing of these events can be observed in variations in the distribution of deep-sea hiatuses, sedimentation patterns, and biogeographic distribution of planktic organisms. The main aspects of the present oceanic circulation system and sediment distribution pattern were established by 13.5 to 12.5 Ma (hiatus NH 3), coincident with the establishment of a major East Antarctic ice cap. -from Authors
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Supplementary resources (2)

(Table 7) Hiatuses and compressed intervals at DSDP Leg 85 sediments, supplement to: Barron, John A; Nigrini, Catherine A; Pujos, Annick; Saito, Tsunemasa; Theyer, Fritz; Thomas, Ellen; Weinreich, Norbert (1985): Synthesis of biostratigraphy, central equatorial Pacific, Deep Sea Drilling Project Leg 85: refinement of Oligocene to Quaternary biochronology. In: Mayer, L; Theyer, E; et al. (eds.), Initial Reports of the Deep Sea Drilling Project, Washington (U.S. Govt. Printing Office), 85, 905-934
Data
January 1985
John Arthur Barron · Catherine A Nigrini · Annick Pujos · Tsunemasa Saito · Norbert Weinreich
Occurrence of hiatuses PH and NH 1 through NH 7 in DSDP holes, supplement to: Keller, Gerta; Barron, John A (1983): Paleoceanographic implications of Miocene deep-sea hiatuses. Geological Society of America Bulletin, 94(5), 590-613
Data
January 1983
Gerta Keller · John Arthur Barron
... Tectonic activity related to the migration of the Panamá Arc and its collision with northwestern South America caused the rise of the Isthmus of Panamá and the termination of the oceanic flow between the tropical Atlantic and Pacific oceans (Coates et al., 2003(Coates et al., , 2004Steph et al., 2010;Farris et al., 2011;Montes et al., 2012b;Zhang et al., 2012;Barat et al., 2014;O'Dea et al., 2016;Ramírez et al., 2016;Jaramillo, 2018). The timing of the interruption of this interoceanic flow is crucial because of its impact on the meridional overturning circulation of the Atlantic Ocean (Keller and Barron, 1983;Maier-Reimer et al., 1990;Nisancioglu et al., 2003;Poore et al., 2006;Schmidt, 2007;Sepulchre et al., 2014) and on oceanic productivity and circulation in the eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean (Keller and Barron, 1983;Mayer et al., 1986;Schneider and Schmittner, 2006;Khon et al., 2023). Over time, two proposals have emerged in this regard. ...
... Tectonic activity related to the migration of the Panamá Arc and its collision with northwestern South America caused the rise of the Isthmus of Panamá and the termination of the oceanic flow between the tropical Atlantic and Pacific oceans (Coates et al., 2003(Coates et al., , 2004Steph et al., 2010;Farris et al., 2011;Montes et al., 2012b;Zhang et al., 2012;Barat et al., 2014;O'Dea et al., 2016;Ramírez et al., 2016;Jaramillo, 2018). The timing of the interruption of this interoceanic flow is crucial because of its impact on the meridional overturning circulation of the Atlantic Ocean (Keller and Barron, 1983;Maier-Reimer et al., 1990;Nisancioglu et al., 2003;Poore et al., 2006;Schmidt, 2007;Sepulchre et al., 2014) and on oceanic productivity and circulation in the eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean (Keller and Barron, 1983;Mayer et al., 1986;Schneider and Schmittner, 2006;Khon et al., 2023). Over time, two proposals have emerged in this regard. ...
Miocene vanishing of the Central American Seaway between the Panamá Arc and the South American Plate
Article
  • Apr 2024
A controversy has developed in recent years regarding the timing of the closure of the Central American Seaway. This tectonic event significantly impacted oceanic circulation between the tropical Pacific and Atlantic oceans and resulted in the formation of a land bridge connecting the South and North American continents. The long-held view of a Pliocene age (ca. 3 Ma) for the closure of the Central American Seaway has been challenged by the proposal that the Panamá Arc collided with South America during the Middle Miocene (15−13 Ma) as a deep oceanic gap between them closed along the Uramita suture zone. However, direct geologic evidence from this suture zone to support either interpretation has been lacking. Here, we report on a comprehensive study of three stratigraphic transects across the Uramita suture zone, using a host of methodologies including sedimentological, ichnological, micropaleontological, U-Pb detrital geochronological, and provenance analyses. Our data reveal that lower offshore to slope conditions prevailed in the Central American Seaway along the suture zone during the latest Early to earliest Middle Miocene (16.4−15.1 Ma) and that oceanic conditions there ceased to exist between the Middle and Late Miocene. These results agree with the Middle Miocene age proposed for the Central American Seaway closure along the tectonic boundary. However, other deeper portions of the Central American Seaway persisted in western Colombia, which challenges the notion of a Central American Seaway confined to the suture zone between the Panamá Arc and South American Plate during the Middle Miocene.
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... A stratigraphically complete Oligocene/Miocene boundary interval is rare in the deep sea (e.g., Keller and Barron 1983), particularly in the Southern Ocean (see discussion in Wilson et al. 2009). The majority of localities in which to study the open ocean during this interval are in the southern or tropical Atlantic Ocean, despite a few recently cored sites or reexamined sections (e.g., Beddow et al. 2016). ...
... This lack of complete sections is global. Analysis of sedimentation has found a pattern of hiatuses at the late Oligocene and early Miocene around the globe (e.g., Keller and Barron 1983;Peters et al. 2013;Fraass et al. 2015). Additional work has suggested that the glaciation was the driver for many of these hiatuses (Pekar and Miller 1996;Naish et al. 2008). ...
Reappraisal of Oligocene-Miocene chronostratigraphy and the Mi-1 event: Ocean Drilling Program Site 744, Kerguelen Plateau, southern Indian Ocean
Article
  • Jan 2019
  • STRATIGRAPHY
The Oligocene-Miocene Transition (OMT) is an important interval in Earth's history, with substantial changes in Antarctic ice volume and mean temperature. The OMTis complicated in paleoclimatology, chronostratigraphy, and terminology, and there is a need for additional sites outside of the tropic/subtropics or Atlantic Basin to better understand the cause(s) and consequences of the OMT. Ocean Drilling Program Hole 744A sits on the southern edge of the Kerguelen Plateau, and is thus a sensitive recorder of changes on Antarctica and in the Indian Ocean sector of the Southern Ocean. Previous stratigraphic studies have concluded that the Oligocene/Miocene boundary is contained within a short coring gap (1 m) between Cores 744A-11 and 12. A new benthic foraminiferal stable isotope curve is at odds with the existing age model for the upper ~0.5mof Core 12. A number of different explanations for age models are discussed, and we find there is only one plausible explanation for the chronostratigraphy through Core 12. We suggest therewas a short (~150-200 kyr) hiatus, encompassing the peak Mi-1 excursion, based on interpreted magnetostratigraphy. This hiatus has no obvious lithologic expression.
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... As the Bering Land Bridge existed at this time period 19 , the main cause of this vicariance event may be due to the temperature drop brought on by the glaciation. After 14 Ma, global temperatures entered a phase of decline, creating lowtemperature difficulties for species crossing the high latitude areas 52,54,62,63 . Based on our results, most vicariance events in Fraxinus occurred during this period. ...
Historical climate change and vicariance events contributed to the intercontinental disjunct distribution pattern of ash species (Fraxinus, Oleaceae)
Article
Full-text available
  • May 2024
The Northern Hemisphere temperate forests exhibit a disjunct distributional pattern in Europe, North America, and East Asia. Here, to reveal the promoter of intercontinental disjunct distribution, Fraxinus was used as a model organism to integrate abundant fossil evidence with high-resolution phylogenies in a phytogeographic analysis. We constructed a robust phylogenetic tree using genomic data, reconstructed the geographic ancestral areas, and evaluated the effect of incorporating fossil information on the reconstructed biogeographic history. The phylogenetic relationships of Fraxinus were highly resolved and divided into seven clades. Fraxinus originated in western North America during Eocene, and six intercontinental dispersal events and five intercontinental vicariance events were occured. Results suggest that climate change and vicariance contributed to the intercontinental disjunct distribution pattern of Fraxinus. Moreover, results highlight the necessity of integrating phylogenetic relationship and fossil to improve the reliability of inferred biogeographic events and our understanding of the processes underlying disjunct distributions.
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... The vast majority of Cenozoic hiatuses were formed by erosion and redistribution of sediments by bottom currents 19,24,25 . An assessment of the paleo-water depth at which each hiatus in our dataset formed versus regional reconstructions of the carbonate compensation depth (CCD)the depth at which the rate of supply of carbonate is balanced by its dissolution 26 , shows that only a small number of hiatuses from a dozen holes may either be the result of carbonate dissolution or non-deposition of carbonate 19 . ...
Deep-sea hiatus record reveals orbital pacing by 2.4 Myr eccentricity grand cycles
Article
Full-text available
  • Mar 2024
Astronomical forcing of Earth’s climate is embedded in the rhythms of stratigraphic records, most famously as short-period (10⁴–10⁵ year) Milankovitch cycles. Astronomical grand cycles with periods of millions of years also modulate climate variability but have been detected in relatively few proxy records. Here, we apply spectral analysis to a dataset of Cenozoic deep-sea hiatuses to reveal a ~2.4 Myr eccentricity signal, disrupted by episodes of major tectonic forcing. We propose that maxima in the hiatus cycles correspond to orbitally-forced intensification of deep-water circulation and erosive bottom current activity, linked to eccentricity maxima and peaks in insolation and seasonality. A prominent episode of cyclicity disturbance coincides with the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) at ~56 Myr ago, and correlates with a chaotic orbital transition in the Solar System evident in several astronomical solutions. This hints at a potential intriguing coupling between the PETM and Solar System chaos.
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... More stable slope conditions after the late Miocene combined with the intensification of AABW enabled the development and preservation of contourite drifts (Figure 10c). This is consistent with paleoceanographic studies that have suggested that Antarctic currents advanced towards lower latitudes and intensified through the Miocene (Keller & Barron, 1983;Maldonado et al., 2005;Tagliaro et al., 2022;Tagliaro, Wainman, & Fulthorpe, 2021). In the southern region near the Chuí Megaslide, continued MTD formation throughout the Pliocene and Quaternary continued to hinder the preservation of contourite drifts. ...
Neogene evolution of the margin adjacent to the La Plata River Delta (Pelotas Basin): Sedimentary pathways and the origins of the Rio Grande Cone
Article
Full-text available
  • Feb 2024
Continental margins that exhibit high terrigenous input are generally located near deltas that are capable of transporting large quantities of sediments into the basin. However, in rare cases, high terrigenous sedimentation occurs in regions deprived of major riverine systems where the sedimentary pathway is enigmatic. One such case is the Neogene of the Pelotas Basin of Brazil and Uruguay, adjacent to the La Plata River mouth. Since the Miocene, anomalous sedimentation formed a giant progradational wedge, the Rio Grande Cone, one of the largest submarine fan‐like features on Earth. To understand the Neogene evolution of the margin and the origins of the Rio Grande Cone, here we present a seismic‐stratigraphic framework based on well‐logs and 2D seismic data. Three depositional environments are identified: (1) on the shelf, upper Miocene to Pliocene fluvial channels delivered sand deposits on the mud‐dominated shelf; (2) on the slope, sediment instability resulted in structural deformation and multiple phases of mass transport deposition and (3) on the lower slope and basin floor, large contourite drifts formed by sediment reworking. We classify the Rio Grande Cone as a megaslide complex, due to its depositional and structural setting. Local deltaic systems were active on the shelf in the Neogene, but the limited size of their paleo‐drainage systems in comparison to the volume of sedimentation in the margin suggests that an additional sedimentary pathway existed. In this sense, the demise of an epicontinental sea over the La Plata Basin during the Neogene likely enabled the input of large volumes of fine sediments into the margin, via the La Plata plume water. We suggest that the desiccation of this epicontinental sea and the intensification of ocean currents since the middle Miocene explains the anomalous Neogene terrigenous influx into the SW Atlantic margin.
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... The timing of the unconformities recorded in this study coincides with the global deep-sea hiatuses recorded by Keller and Barron (1983). They attributed the hiatus to periodic cool climates and the eustatic sealevel fall. ...
Archive for the East Australian Current: carbonate contourite depositional system on the Marion Plateau, Northeast Australia
Article
  • Mar 2024
  • MAR GEOL
The modern East Australian Current (EAC) sweeps across the Marion Plateau, forming a widespread contourite depositional system. The history of the EAC is recorded in the contourite drifts that have evolved through time as topographic, sea level, and oceanographic changes have influenced the current flow. During the Miocene, five isolated carbonate platforms on the Marion Plateau formed obstacles for the EAC, leading to the development of a complex contourite drift system in which drift types and non-depositional/erosional features transition laterally and temporally because of continuously evolving platform-current interactions. The significant topographic changes are caused by two episodes of platform drowning in the Middle and Late Miocene. We reinterpreted 2D seismic, well, and core data from ODP Legs 133 and 194 and updated the ages of the seismic sequences. The updated ages enable the reconstruction of the evolution of the EAC since the Miocene. The influence of the EAC in the study area began at 13.5 Ma, with five significant phases of change identified by shifts in contourite drifts' geometry and thickness. During the first phase (13.5 Ma – 11 Ma), strong currents carried sediment across platforms and deposited as periplatform drifts (Marion Drift B6), previously identified as a lowstand platform. In Phase 2 (11 Ma – 7 Ma), strong EAC caused the formation of Marion Drift C, characterized by thick, confined, and elongated mounded drifts separated by the wide moats and a marginal valley along the drowned Northern Marion Platform. At 7.5 Ma, a major re-arrangement of the contourite depositional system documents the influence of EAC across the drowned platforms. The subsequent Marion Drift D smoothed out some of the antecedent topography. However, the Marion Reef and Southern Marion Platform still presented obstacles to the EAC, leading to the deposition of multi-crested drifts. Phase 4 (5.7 Ma – 3.3 Ma) is marked by decreased sedimentation rates, possibly due to sea level fall at Mi-7 and the restriction of the Indonesian Throughflow. The youngest and currently active depositional phase began at around 3.3 Ma with a change in drift geometry from multi-crested to elongated mounded, coinciding with the onset of the Northern Hemisphere Glaciation and further reduction of the Indonesian Throughflow.
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Biotic response of plankton communities to Middle to Late Miocene monsoon wind and nutrient flux changes in the Oman margin upwelling zone
Article
Full-text available
  • Nov 2023
  • CLIM PAST
Understanding past dynamics of upwelling cells is an important aspect of assessing potential upwelling changes in future climate change scenarios. Our present understanding of nutrient fluxes throughout the world's oceans emphasizes the importance of intermediate waters transporting nutrients from the Antarctic divergence into the middle and lower latitudes. These nutrient-rich waters fuel productivity within wind-driven upwelling cells in all major oceans. One such upwelling system is located along the Oman margin in the western Arabian Sea (WAS). Driven by cross-hemispheric winds, the WAS upwelling zone's intense productivity led to the formation of one of the most extensive oxygen minimum zones known today. In this study covering the Middle to Late Miocene at Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Site 722, we investigate the inception of upwelling-derived primary productivity. This study presents new plankton assemblage data in the context of existing model- and data-based evidence constraining the tectonic and atmospheric boundary conditions for upwelling in the WAS. With this research, we build upon the original planktonic foraminifer-based research by Dick Kroon in 1991 as part of his research based on the ODP LEG 117. We show that monsoonal winds likely sustained upwelling since the emergence of the Arabian Peninsula after the Miocene Climatic Optimum (MCO) ∼ 14.7 Ma, with fully monsoonal conditions occurring since the end of the Middle Miocene Climatic Transition (MMCT) at ∼ 13 Ma. However, changing nutrient fluxes through Antarctic Intermediate and sub-Antarctic Mode Waters (AAIW/SAMW) were only established after ∼ 12 Ma. Rare occurrences of diatom frustules correspond to the maximum abundances of Reticulofenestra haqii and Reticulofenestra antarctica, indicating higher upwelling-derived nutrient levels. By 11 Ma, diatom abundance increases significantly, leading to alternating diatom blooms and high-nutrient-adapted nannoplankton taxa. These changes in primary producers are also well reflected in geochemical proxies with increasing δ15Norg. values (> 6 ‰) and high organic carbon accumulation. These proxies provide further independent evidence for high productivity and the onset of denitrification simultaneously. Our multi-proxy-based evaluation of Site 722 primary producers provides evidence for a stepwise evolution of Middle to Late Miocene productivity in the western Arabian Sea for the first time. The absence of a clear correlation with existing deep marine climate records suggests that both local wind patterns and intermediate water nutrient changes likely modulated productivity in the western Arabian Sea during the Middle to Late Miocene. Finally, we show that using a multi-proxy record provides novel insights into how plankton responded to changing nutrient conditions through time in a monsoon-wind-driven upwelling zone.
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U–Pb and fission‐track dating of Miocene hydrocarbon source rocks in the Akita Basin, Northeast Japan , and implications for the timing of paleoceanographic changes in the sea of Japan
Article
  • Jul 2023
Middle to Late Miocene organic‐rich siliceous mudstones (Onnagawa Formation) in the Akita Basin, Northeast Japan have been an important target for both paleoceanographic studies and hydrocarbon exploration in Japan. However, the reliable age of their formation has remained poorly constrained. Here, we report new zircon U–Pb and fission‐track ages of the Onnagawa Formation from a previously well‐studied outcrop route in the Yashima area, central Akita Basin. The thin tuff bed in the lower Onnagawa Formation was dated at around 11.6 Ma, whereas thin tuff beds in the upper Onnagawa Formation was dated at 10.4–9.6 Ma. The new age model constrains the base of the succession as older than 15.6–13.8 Ma and the top of the succession as 8.7–8.2 Ma. The results suggest that the lowest part of the succession was deposited before the Onnagawa Stage. The new age model indicates a rapid deposition in the lower Onnagawa Stage. The new age model also clarifies a temporary decrease in the sedimentation rate during 10.9–9.4 Ma, which coincided with a hiatus or slow deposition reported from other areas along the Sea of Japan coast. The new age model also revises the timing of paleoceanographic changes, of the best hydrocarbon source horizon, and of hydrothermal activity responsible for seafloor chemoautotrophic communities in the Akita Basin. This revised timing reveals that the onset of paleoceanographic changes from oxidizing to anoxic bottom environments favorable for hydrocarbon source rock formation was closely related to the tectonic uplift of the Northeast Japan Arc at ~12 Ma, whereas the timing of hydrothermal activity was related to the following extensional tectonics at ~9 Ma. The results of this study thus shed light on hitherto unclarified relationships between tectonics, volcanism, and paleoceanographic changes in the Sea of Japan.
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Rapid Glacial Sedimentation and Overpressure in Oozes Causing Large Craters on the mid-Norwegian Margin: Integrated Interpretation of the Naust, Kai and Brygge Formations
Article
Full-text available
  • Jun 2023
Along continental margins with rapid sedimentation, overpressure may build up in porous and compressible sediments. Large-scale release of such overpressure has major implications on fluid migration and slope stability. Here, we study if the widespread crater-mound-shaped structures in the subsurface along the mid-Norwegian continental margin are caused by overpressure which accumulated within high-compressibility oozes sealed by low-permeability glacial muds. We interpret 56,000 km ² of 3D and 150,000 km ² of 2D-cubed seismic data in the Norwegian Sea, combining horizon picking, well ties, and seismic geomorphological analyses of the crater-mound landforms. Along the mid-Norwegian margin, the base of the glacially-influenced sediments abruptly deepens to form 28 craters with typical depths of ∼100 m, areal extents of up to 5130 km ² , and volumes of up to 820 km ³ . Mounds are observed in the vicinity of the craters at several stratigraphic levels above the craters. We present a new model for the formation of the craters and mounds where the mounds consist of remobilized oozes evacuated from the craters. In our model, repeated and overpressure-driven sediment failure is interpreted to cause the crater-mound structures, as opposed to erosive megaslides. Seismic geomorphological analyses suggest that ooze remobilization occurred as an abrupt energetic and extrusive process. The results also suggest rapidly-deposited, low-permeability and low-porosity glacial sediments seal overpressure which originated from fluids being expelled from the underlying, high-permeability and high-compressibility biosilicious oozes. Supplementary material at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.6710712
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