Sluijs, A.; Brinkhuis, Henk; Stickley, Catherine E.; Warnaar, J.; Williams, G. L.; Fuller, Michael D. (2004): Dinoflagellate cysts from the Eocene-Oligocene transition in the Southern Ocean; results from ODP Leg 189. Texas A&M University, Ocean Drilling Program, College Station, TX, United States, In: Exon, Neville F., Kennett, James P., Malone, Mitchell J., Brinkhuis, Henk, Chaproniere, George C. H., Ennyu, Atsuhito, Fothergill, Patrick, Fuller, Michael D., Grauert, Marianne, Hill, Peter J., Janecek, Thomas R., Kelly, Daniel C., Latimer, Jennifer C., Nees, Stefan, Ninnemann, Ulysses S., Nuernberg, Dirk, Pekar, Stephen F., Pellaton, Caroline C., Pfuhl, Helen A., Robert, Christian M., Roessig, Kristeen L. McGonigal, Roehl, Ursula, Schellenberg, Stephen A., Shevenell, Amelia E., Stickley, Catherine E., Suzuki, Noritoshi, Touchard, Yannick, Wei, Wuchang, White, Timothy S., Proceedings of the Ocean Drilling Program; scientific results; the Tasmanian gateway; Cenozoic climatic and oceanographic development; covering Leg 189 of the cruises of the drilling vessel JOIDES Resolution; Hobart, Tasmania, to Sydney, Australia; Sites 1168-1172; 11 March-6 May 2000, 189, georefid:2005-011450

Abstract:
At Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Leg 189 Sites 1170-1172, the climatologically critical Eocene-Oligocene (E-O) transition is barren of any calcareous microfossils but contains rich marine organic walled dinoflagellate cyst (dinocyst) and diatom assemblages, suitable for detailed biostratigraphic and paleoenvironmental analysis. The resulting first-ever integrated dinocyst/diatom magnetostratigraphy allows confident correlation of the E-O interval between all Leg 189 sites, including Site 1168. Our correlations indicate that the (deep) opening of the Tasmanian Gateway occurred quasi-synchronously throughout the Tasmanian region, starting at approximately 35.5 Ma. At Sites 1170-1172, quantitatively, three distinct dinocyst assemblages may be distinguished that reflect the relatively rapid and pronounced stepwise environmental changes associated with the E-O transition in the Tasmanian region, from a pro-deltaic setting to a deep marine pelagic setting. Moreover, synchronous with the deepening of the gateway, at the southern and eastern Sites 1170-1172, typical endemic Antarctic assemblages were replaced by more cosmopolitan dinocyst communities. In marked contrast, at Site 1168 off western Tasmania, endemic Antarctic taxa are virtually absent during the E-O transition. At Sites 1170-1172, the endemic Antarctic dinocyst assemblage (Transantarctic Flora) drastically changes into a more cosmopolitan assemblage at approximately 35.5 Ma, with a more offshore character, reflecting the arrival of different oceanographic and environmental conditions associated with the deepening of the Tasmanian Gateway. In turn, this assemblage grades at approximately 34 Ma into one more typical for even more offshore and/or upwelling conditions at Site 1172. In slightly younger deposits at all sites, organic microfossils are virtually absent, reflecting winnowing and oxidation, indicative of a next step of oceanographic development. This phase may be dated as close to the Oceanic Anoxic (Oi)-1 18O (Antarctic glaciation) event ( approximately 33.3 Ma). In a single productive sample from the earliest Oligocene the northern Site 1172, a relatively warm-water cosmopolitan assemblage has been recovered. This aspect contrasts findings from coeval deposits from the Ross Sea, where endemic Antarctic species remain dominant. Somewhere between the paleogeographic positions of Site 1172 and the Ross Sea, a strong differentiation of surface waters occurred in the earliest Oligocene, possibly reflecting the onset of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current.
Coverage:
West: 146.0200 East: 149.5600 North: -43.5700 South: -48.3000
Relations:
Expedition: 189
Site: 189-1170
Site: 189-1171
Site: 189-1172
Supplemental Information:
Available only on CD-ROM in PDF format and on the Web in PDF or HTML; includes appendix
Data access:
Provider: SEDIS Publication Catalogue
Data set link: http://sedis.iodp.org/pub-catalogue/index.php?id=10.2973/odp.proc.sr.189.104.2003 (c.f. for more detailed metadata)
Data download: application/pdf
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