The Antarctic Paleoenvironment: A Perspective on Global Change

Transcription

1 The Antarctic Paleoenvironment: A Perspective on Global Change Part Two

2 ANTARCTIC American Geophysical Union RESEARCH SERIES

3 Physical Sciences ANTARCTIC OCEANOLOGY Joseph L. Reid, Editor ANTARCTIC OCEANOLOGY II: THE AUSTRALIAN- NEW ZEALAND SECTOR Dennis E. Hayes, Editor ANTARCTIC SNOW AND ICE STUDIES Malcolm Mellor, Editor ANTARCTIC SNOW AND ICE STUDIES II A. P. Crary, Editor CONTRIBUTIONS TO ANTARCTIC RESEARCH I David H. Elliot, Editor CONTRIBUTIONS TO ANTARCTIC RESEARCH II David H. Elliot, Editor CONTRIBUTIONS TO ANTARCTIC RESEARCH III David H. Elliot, Editor PHYSICAL AND BIOGEOCHEMICAL PROCESSES IN ANTARCTIC LAKES William J. Green and E. Imre Friedmann, Editors ANTARCTIC SOILS AND SOIL FORMING PROCESSES J. C. F. Tedrow, Editor DRY VALLEY DRILLING PROJECT L. D. McGinnis, Editor GEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS IN NORTHERN VICTORIA LAND Edmund Stump, Editor GEOLOGY AND PALEONTOLOGY OF THE ANTARCTIC Jarvis B. Hadley, Editor GEOLOGY OF THE CENTRAL TRANSANTARCTIC MOUNTAINS Mort D. Turner and John F. Splettstoesser, Editors GEOMAGNETISM AND AERONOMY A. H. Waynick, Editor METEOROLOGICAL STUDIES AT PLATEAU STATION, ANTARCTICA Joost A. Businger, Editor OCEANOLOGY OF THE ANTARCTIC CONTINENTAL SHELF Stanley S. Jacobs, Editor STUDIES IN ANTARCTIC METEOROLOGY Morton J. Rubin, Editor UPPER ATMOSPHERE RESEARCH IN ANTARCTICA L. J. Lanzerotti and C. G. Park, Editors THE ROSS ICE SHELF: GLACIOLOGY AND GEOPHYSICS C. R. Bentley and D. E. Hayes, Editors VOLCANOES OF THE ANTARCTIC PLATE AND SOUTHERN OCEANS W. E. LeMasurier and J. T. Thomson, Editors MINERAL RESOURCES POTENTIAL OF ANTARCTICA John F. Splettstoesser and Gisela A. M. Dreschhoff, Editors MARINE GEOLOGICAL AND GEOPHYSICAL ATLAS OF THE CIRCUM-ANTARCTIC TO 30 S Dennis E. Hayes, Editor MOLLUSCAN SYSTEMATICS AND BlOSTRATIGRAPHY Jeffrey D. Stilwell and William J. Zinsmeister THE ANTARCTIC PALEOENVIRONMENT: A PERSPECTIVE ON GLOBAL CHANGE James P. Kennett and Detlef A. Warnke, Editors

4 American Geophysical Union ANTARCTIC RESEARCH SERIES Biological and Life Sciences BIOLOGY OF THE ANTARCTIC SEAS Milton O. Lee, Editor BIOLOGY OF THE ANTARCTIC SEAS II George A. Llano, Editor BIOLOGY OF THE ANTARCTIC SEAS III George A. Llano and Waldo L. Schmitt, Editors BIOLOGY OF THE ANTARCTIC SEAS IV George A. Llano and I. Eugene Wallen, Editors BIOLOGY OF THE ANTARCTIC SEAS V David L. Pawson, Editor BIOLOGY OF THE ANTARCTIC SEAS VI David L. Pawson, Editor BIOLOGY OF THE ANTARCTIC SEAS VII David L. Pawson, Editor BIOLOGY OF THE ANTARCTIC SEAS VIII David L. Pawson and s BIOLOGY OF THE ANTARCTIC SEAS IX BIOLOGY OF THE ANTARCTIC SEAS X BIOLOGY OF THE ANTARCTIC SEAS XI BIOLOGY OF THE ANTARCTIC SEAS XII David L. Pawson, Editor BIOLOGY OF THE ANTARCTIC SEAS XIII BIOLOGY OF THE ANTARCTIC SEAS XIV BIOLOGY OF THE ANTARCTIC SEAS XV BIOLOGY OF THE ANTARCTIC SEAS XVI BIOLOGY OF THE ANTARCTIC SEAS XVII BIOLOGY OF THE ANTARCTIC SEAS XVIII BIOLOGY OF THE ANTARCTIC SEAS XIX BIOLOGY OF THE ANTARCTIC SEAS XX BIOLOGY OF THE ANTARCTIC SEAS XXI BIOLOGY OF THE ANTARCTIC SEAS XXII Stephen D. Cairns, Editor ANTARCTIC TERRESTRIAL BIOLOGY George A. Llano, Editor TERRESTRIAL BIOLOGY II Bruce Parker, Editor TERRESTRIAL BIOLOGY III Bruce Parker, Editor ANTARCTIC ASCIDIACEA Patricia Kott ANTARCTIC BIRD STUDIES Oliver L. Austin, Jr., Editor ANTARCTIC PINNIPEDIA William Henry Burt, Editor ANTARCTIC ClRRIPEDIA William A. Newman and Arnold Ross BIRDS OF THE ANTARCTIC AND SUB-ANTARCTIC George E. Watson ENTOMOLOGY OF ANTARCTICA J. Linsley Gressitt, Editor HUMAN ADAPTABILITY TO ANTARCTIC CONDITIONS E. K. Eric Gunderson, Editor POLYCHAETA ERRANTIA OF ANTARCTICA Olga Hartman POLYCHAETA MYZOSTOMIDAE AND SEDENTIARIA OF ANTARCTICA Olga Hartman RECENT ANTARCTIC AND SUBANTARCTIC BRACHIOPODS Merrill W. Foster

5 ANTARCTIC Volume 60 RESEARCH SERIES The Antarctic Paleoenvironment: A Perspective on Global Change Part Two James P. Kennett Detlef A. Warnke Editors American Geophysical Union Washington, D.C. 1993

6 Volume 60 ANTARCTIC RESEARCH SERIES Published under the aegis of the Board of Associate Editors, Antarctic Research Series David H. Elliot, Chairman John B. Anderson, Robert Bindschadler, Stephen D. Cairns, Rodney M. Feldmann, Stanley Jacobs, John Priscu, Charles R. Stearns Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data (Revised for vol. 2) The Antarctic paleoenvironment. (Antarctic research series, ; v. 56, 60) Papers from a conference held at the University of California, Santa Barbara, Aug , Includes bibliographical references. 1. Paleogeography Antarctic regions Congresses. 2. Paleocology Antarctic regions Congresses. I. Kennett, James P. II. Warnke, Detlef A. QE501.4.P3A '.45' ISBN (pt. 1) ISBN (pt. 2) ISSN Copyright 1993 by the American Geophysical Union 2000 Florida Avenue, N.W. Washington, DC Figures, tables, and short excerpts may be reprinted in scientific books and journals if the source is properly cited. Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use, or the internal or personal use of specific clients, is granted by the American Geophysical Union for libraries and other users registered with the Copyright Clearance Center (CCC) Transactional Reporting Service, provided that the base fee of $1.00 per copy plus $0.10 per page is paid directly to CCC, 21 Congress Street, Salem, MA /92/$ This consent does not extend to other kinds of copying, such as copying for creating new collective works or for resale. The reproduction of multiple copies and the use of full articles or the use of extracts, including figures and tables, for commercial purposes requires permission from AGU. Published by American Geophysical Union Printed in the United States of America. viii

7 CONTENTS The Antarctic Research Series: Statement of Objectives Board of Associate Editors Preface James P. Kennett and Detlef A. Warnke Acknowledgments James P. Kennett and Detlef A. Warnke Southern Ocean Influences on Late Eocene to Miocene Deepwater Circulation James D. Wright and Kenneth G. Miller Late Eocene to Oligocene Vertical Oxygen Isotopic Gradients in the South Atlantic: Implications for Warm Saline Deep Water Gregory A. Mead, David A. Hodell, and Paul F. Ciesielski Eocene to Oligocene Oceanography and Temperatures in the Antarctic Indian Ocean Enriqueta Barrera and Brian T. Huber Nothofagus Fossils in the Sirius Group, Transantarctic Mountains: Leaves and Pollen and Their Climatic Implications Robert S. Hill and Elizabeth M. Tr us well Cenozoic Glacial Sequences of the Antarctic Continental Margin as Recorders of Antarctic Ice Sheet Fluctuations Alan K. Cooper, Stephen Eittreim, Uri ten Brink, and Igor Zayatz Cenozoic Sedimentary and Climatic Record, Ross Sea Region, Antarctica Michael J. Hambrey and Peter J. Barrett Cenozoic Southern Mid- and High-Latitude Biostratigraphy and Chronostratigraphy Based on Planktonic Foraminifera D. Graham Jenkins Cenozoic Southern Ocean Reconstructions From Sedimentologic, Radiolarian, and Other Microfossil Data Dave Lazarus and Jean Pierre Caulet The Evolution of the Cenozoic Southern High- and Mid-Latitude Planktonic Foraminiferal Faunas D. Graham Jenkins

8 Unusual Silicoflagellate Skeletal Morphologies From the Upper Miocene-Lower Pliocene: Possible Ecophenotypic Variations From the High- Latitude Southern Oceans Kevin McCartney and Sherwood W. Wise, Jr. 195 Late Neogene Antarctic Glacial History: Evidence From Central Wright Valley M. L. Prentice, J. G. Bockheim, S. C. Wilson, L. H. Burckle, D. A. Hodell, C. Schluchter, and D. E. Kellogg 207 Coastal East Antarctic Neogene Sections and Their Contribution to the Ice Sheet Evolution Debate Patrick G. Quilty Year Cyclicity in Organic Matter Preservation in Antarctic Fjord Sediments Eugene W. Domack, Tracy A. Mashiotta, Lewis A. Burkley, and Scott E. Ishman 265 List of Co-chief Scientists on DSDP and ODP Legs 273

9 The Antarctic Research Series: STATEMENT OF OBJECTIVES The Antarctic Research Series provides for the presentation of detailed scientific research results from Antarctica, particularly the results of the United States Antarctic Research Program, including monographs and long manuscripts. The series is designed to make the results of Antarctic fieldwork available. The Antarctic Research Series encourages the collection of papers on specific geographic areas within Antarctica. In addition, many volumes focus on particular disciplines, including marine biology, oceanology, meteorology, upper atmosphere physics, terrestrial biology, geology, glaciology, human adaptability, engineering, and environmental protection. Topical volumes in the series normally are devoted to papers in one or two disciplines. Multidisciplinary volumes, initiated in 1990 to enable more rapid publication, are open to papers from any discipline. The series can accommodate long manuscripts and utilize special formats, such as maps. Priorities for publication are set by the Board of Associate Editors. Preference is given to research manuscripts from projects funded by U.S. agencies. Because the series serves to emphasize the U.S. Antarctic Research Program, it also performs a function similar to expedition reports of many other countries with national Antarctic research programs. The standards of scientific excellence expected for the series are maintained by the review criteria established for the AGU publications program. Each paper is critically reviewed by two or more expert referees. A member of the Board of Associate Editors may serve as editor of a volume, or another person may be appointed. The Board works with the individual editors of each volume and with the AGU staff to assure that the objectives of the series are met, that the best possible papers are presented, and that publication is timely. Proposals for volumes or papers offered should be sent to the Board of Associate Editors, Antarctic Research Series, at 2000 Florida Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C Publication of the series is partially supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation. Board of Associate Editors Antarctic Research Series xi

10 PREFACE The Antarctic continent and the surrounding Southern Ocean represent one of the major climate engines of the Earth: coupled components critical in the Earth's environmental system. The contributions in this volume help with the understanding of the long-term evolution of Antarctica's environment and biota. The aim of this and the preceding companion volume is to help place the modern system within a historical context. The environment and biosphere of the Antarctic region have undergone dynamic changes through geologic time. These, in turn, have played a key role in long-term global paleoenvironmental evolution. The development of the Southern Ocean itself, resulting from plate tectonism, created first-order changes in the circulation of the global ocean, in turn affecting meridional heat transport and hence global climates. Biospheric changes responded to the changing oceanic climatic states. Comprehension of the climatic and oceanographic processes that have operated at various times in Antarctica's history is crucial to the understanding of the present-day global environmental system. This knowledge will become increasingly important in parallel with concerns about anthropogenically caused global change. How vulnerable is the Antarctic region, especially its ice sheets, to global warming? The question is not parochial, given the potential of sea level change resulting from any Antarctic cryospheric development. Conversely, how much of a role does the Antarctic region, this giant icebox, play in moderating global, including sea level, change? This is the second of two volumes in the American Geophysical Union's Antarctic Research Series to present contributions that deal with the paleoenvironmental and biotic evolution of the Antarctic region. The papers are based on work presented at a conference held at the University of California, Santa Barbara, August 28-31, 1991, entitled "The Role of the Southern Ocean and Antarctica in Global Change: An Ocean Drilling Perspective." This conference, jointly sponsored by JOI/USSAC and the Division of Polar Programs, National Science Foundation, was attended by more than 100 scientists from around the world. The primary objectives of the meeting were successful in providing a forum (1) to summarize existing paleoenvironmental data from the Antarctic region; (2) to identify and debate major remaining questions, most of which are thematic in nature; (3) to assist in formulating plans for future Antarctic ocean drilling; and (4) to organize publication of a series of summary/synthesis papers leading to two volumes. Although it has been the intention of the scientific community to produce summary or synthesis volumes of thematic or regional nature related to ocean drilling, few have yet been published. Therefore a major objective of this and the first volume is to help make the results of ocean drilling more widely available to the scientific community. In addition to these volumes the conference also led to the production of a white paper, compiled by J. Kennett and J. Barron (available from JOI/USSAC, Washington, D.C), that summarizes major remaining questions related to Southern Ocean paleoenvironmental evolution and outlines further ocean drilling required to assist in answering these questions. Selected material from the white paper was modified and incorporated in the introduction to the first volume. This volume presents 13 papers of general and synthetic nature on a wide variety of topics related to the environmental and biotic evolution of the Antarctic and southern high-latitude oceans. The contributions incorporate a range of recent concepts that deal with the paleoclimatology, paleoceanography and paleobiogeography of the Antarctic region, especially in relation to the evolution of the continental cryosphere. The volume is organized so that the papers are presented in general order of geologic age, beginning with the Eocene and ending with the last several hundred years. As in the first volume, this arrangement was selected to help emphasize the evolution of the Antarctic environmental and biotic system during the late Phanerozoic. The subject is not without controversy, as shown by a number of the papers included in this volume. The stratigraphic records from the deep sea, continental margins, and land have been examined in these contributions at various stratigraphic resolutions from tens of millions of years to as high as several decades. A wide range of approaches have been employed, either singly or in combination, to decipher the paleoenvironmental record and include oxygen and carbon isotopes, microfossils, plant fossils, sediments, glacial morphology, and seismic stratigraphy. James P. Kennett and Detlef A. Warnke x i n

11 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS A large number of workers have contributed much in providing the necessary reviews of the contributions published in this volume; we heartily thank you all: J. B. Anderson, R. A. Askin, P. J. Barrett, W. A. Berggren, G. W. Brass, L. H. Burckle, P. E. Calkin, P. F. Ciesielski, F. J. Davey, D. J, DeMaster, D. H. Elliot, D. M. Harwood, D. A. Hodell, N. de B. Hornibrook, B. T. Huber, G. Keller, D. E. Kellogg, L. A. Krissek, A. Leventer, H. Y. Ling, S. Locker, P. A. Mayewski, D. C. Mildenhall, T. C. Moore, Jr., C. Nigrini, S. B. O'Connell, M. L. Prentice, L. D. Stott, E. M. Truswell, D. A. Warnke, and J. D. Wright. Publication of this volume was made possible by JOI/USSAC. We thank Ellen Kappel of JOI/USSAC for her unwavering support of this project, and also H. Zimmerman of the National Science Foundation for his support of the conference leading to this volume. We also thank Diana M. Kennett, editorial assistant, for her major contributions toward the production of this volume and for her perseverance in keeping publication on schedule. James P. Kennett and Detlef A. Warnke xiv