Eocene-Oligocene Climatic and Biotic Evolution

About this book

A reprint of a classical work in the Princeton Legacy Library. Originally published in 1992.

The transition from the Eocene to the Oligocene epochs was the most significant event in earth history since the extinction of dinosaurs. As the first Antarctic ice sheets appeared, major extinctions and faunal turnovers took place on the land and in the sea, eliminating forms adapted to a tropical world and replacing them with the ancestors of most of our modern animal and plant life. Through a detailed study of climatic conditions and of organisms buried in Eocene-Oligocene sediments, Eocene-Oligocene Climatic and Biotic Evolution shows that the separation of Antarctica from Australia was a critical factor in changing oceanic circulation and ultimately world climate. In Eocene-Oligocene Climatic and Biotic Evolution forty-eight leading scientists examine the full range of Eocene and Oligocene phenomena. Their articles cover nearly every major group of organisms in the ocean and on land and include evidence from paleontology, stable isotopes, sedimentology, seismology, and computer climatic modeling. Eocene-Oligocene Climatic and Biotic Evolution concludes with an update of the geochronologic framework of the late Paleogene.

Contents

List of Contributors    
Preface    
Eocene-Oligocene Climatic and Biotic Evolution: An Overview    1

Pt. I    The Chronological Framework    
1    Toward a Revised Paleogene Geochronology    29
2    Magnetostratigraphy and Geochronology of the Terrestrial Eocene-Oligocene Transition in North America    46
3    Magnetostratigraphy of the Lower and Middle Members of the Devil's Graveyard Formation (Middle Eocene), Trans-Pecos Texas    74
4    Redefinition of the Duchesnean Land Mammal "Age," Late Eocene of Western North America    88
5    Mammalian Range Zones in the Chadronian White River Formation at Flagstaff Rim, Wyoming    106
6    Eocene-Oligocene Climatic Change in North America: The White River Formation near Douglas East-Central Wyoming    116

Pt. II    Climatic Events    
7    Evidence from the Antarctic Continental Margin of Late Paleogene Ice Sheets: A Manifestation of Plate Reorganization and Synchronous Changes in Atmospheric Circulation over the Emerging Southern Ocean?    131
8    Middle Eocene to Oligocene Stable Isotopes Climate, and Deep-Water History: The Terminal Eocene Event?    160
9    Late Eocene and Early Oligocene in Southern Australia: Local Neritic Signals of Global Oceanic Changes    178
10    Paleogene Climatic Evolution: A Climate Model Investigation of the Influence of Continental Elevation and Sea-Surface Temperature upon Continental Climate    202

Pt. III    The Marine Record    
11    Eocene-Oligocene Faunal Turnover in Planktic Foraminifera, and Antarctic Glaciation    218
12    Middle Eocene-Late Oligocene Bathyal Benthic Foraminifera (Weddell Sea): Faunal Changes and Implications for Ocean Circulation    245
13    Late Paleogene Calcareous Nannoplankton Evolution: A Tale of Climatic Deterioration    272
14    Middle Eocene through Early Miocene Diatom Floral Turnover    310
15    Late Paleogene Dinoflagellate Cysts with Special Reference to the Eocene/Oligocene Boundary    327
16    The Patterns and Causes of Molluscan Extinction across the Eocene/Oligocene Boundary    341
17    Evolution of Paleogene Echinoids: A Global and Regional View    349
18    Cetacean Evolution and Eocene/Oligocene Environments    368

Pt. IV    The Terrestrial Record    
19    Paleosols and Changes in Climate and Vegetation across the Eocene/Oligocene Boundary    382
20    Low-Biomass Vegetation in the Oligocene?    399
21    Climatic, Floristic, and Vegetational Changes near the Eocene/Oligocene Boundary in North America    421
22    Vegetational and Floristic Changes around the Eocene/Oligocene Boundary in Western and Central Europe    437
23    Western North American Reptile and Amphibian Record across the Eocene/ Oligocene Boundary and Its Climatic Implications    451
24    Mammalian Faunas in North America of Bridgerian to Early Ankareean "Ages" (Eocene and Oligocene)    464
25    British Mammalian Paleocommunities across the Eocene-Oligocene Transition and Their Environmental Implications    494
26    The Evolution of Mammalian Faunas in Europe during the Eocene and Oligocene    516
27    The Chinese Oligocene: A Preliminary Review of Mammalian Localities and Local Faunas    529
28    The Eocene-Oligocene Transition in Continental Africa    548

Index    567

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