Modern open-ocean sea-surface temperatures rarely exceed approximately 28-29 degrees C, and the same has been thought to represent a rough maximum for past tropical climates. However, new isotopic estimates from the uppermost Cenomanian in the tropical western North Atlantic suggest that mixed-layer temperatures reached approximately 33-34 degrees C (+ or -2 degrees C) during the middle Cretaceous hothouse. Uppermost Cenomanian tropical sea-surface temperatures may have been as much as 4-7 degrees C warmer than the highest modern mean annual temperatures. Such extreme conditions suggest that warm tropical oceans could have driven substantially intensified atmospheric heat transport near the Cenomanian-Turonian boundary. The tropical "thermostat" was set higher than today, challenging the hypothesis of tropical climate stability.

West: -54.2031 East: -54.2031 North: 9.2714 South: 9.2714

Expedition: 14

Site: 14-144

Provider: SEDIS Publication Catalogue

Data set link: http://sedis.iodp.org/pub-catalogue/index.php?id=2002-030917 (c.f. for more detailed metadata)

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