1999/04/01 by Tracy D. Frank, Michael A. Arthur · 137 citations
Earth and Planetary Sciences · #Paleontology and Stratigraphy of Fossils #Geology and Paleoclimatology Research #Geological formations and processes #Geology #North Atlantic Deep Water #Thermohaline circulation #Oceanography #Deep sea #Sill #Paleontology #Ocean current
paper · pdf · doi:10.1029/1998pa900017
published in Paleoceanography 14(2), 103-117 (American Geophysical Union)
openalex publication_date 1999/04/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01
A global compilation of deep‐sea isotopic records suggests that Maastrichtian ocean‐climate evolution was technically driven. During the early Maastrichtian the Atlantic intermediate‐deep ocean was isolated from the Pacific, Indian, and Southern Oceans; deep water formed in the high‐latitude North Atlantic and North Pacific. At the early/late Maastrichtian boundary a major reorganization of oceanic circulation patterns occurred, resulting in the development of a thermohaline circulation system similar to that of the modern oceans. A combination of isotopic and plate kinematic data suggests that this event was triggered by the final breaching of tectonic sills in the South Atlantic and the initiation of north‐south flow of intermediate and deep water in the Atlantic. The onset of Laramide tectonism during the mid Maastrichtian led to the concurrent draining of major epicontinental seaways. Together, these events caused cooling, increased latitudinal temperature gradients, increased ventilation of the deep ocean, and affected a range of marine biota.