The Paleocene record of marine diatoms in deep-sea sediments
<p>Marine planktonic diatoms, as today's ocean main carbon and silicon exporters, are central to developing an understanding of the interplay between the evolution of marine life and climate change. The diatom fossil record extends as far as the Early Cretaceous, and the late Paleogene...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Copernicus Publications
2018-08-01
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| Series: | Fossil Record |
| Online Access: | https://www.foss-rec.net/21/183/2018/fr-21-183-2018.pdf |
| Summary: | <p>Marine planktonic diatoms, as today's ocean main carbon and silicon
exporters, are central to developing an understanding of the interplay
between the evolution of marine life and climate change. The diatom fossil
record extends as far as the Early Cretaceous, and the late Paleogene to
Recent interval is relatively complete and well documented. Their early
Paleogene record, when diatoms first expanded substantially in the marine
plankton, is hampered by decreased preservation (notably an episode of
intense chertification in the early Eocene) as well as by observation bias.
In this article, we attempt to correct for the latter by collecting diatom
data in various Paleocene samples from legacy Deep Sea Drilling Project and Ocean Drilling Program deep-sea sediment
sections. The results show a different picture from what previous analyses
concluded, in that the Paleocene deep-sea diatoms seem in fact to have been as
diverse and abundant as in the later Eocene, while exhibiting very
substantial survivorship of Cretaceous species up until the Eocene.</p> |
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| ISSN: | 2193-0066 2193-0074 |