Cetacean bone oxygen isotopes as proxies for Miocene ocean composition and glaciation

R. E. Barrick, A. G. Fischer, Y. Kolodny, B. Luz, D. Bohaska

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

26 Scopus citations

Abstract

δ13O analyses of phosphate in cetacean bones, presumably precipitated at body temperatures of 36-37°C, offer a potential means of determining the isotopic composition of Tertiary seas. Isotopic analyses of Recent marine cetaceans suggest that their body fluids are only slightly "heavier' than ambient sea water. Analyses of Miocene cetacean bone from the Chesapeake Group (Maryland) show consistent values for each stratigraphic level and show stratigraphic oscillations in isotopic values truncated by disconformities. The magnitude of the stratigraphic oscillation of isotopic values implies variations in Miocene ice volume exceeding those of the Pleistocene, and sea levels as low as those estimated for the last glacial maximum, interpretations in conflict with current views. -from Authors

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)521-531
Number of pages11
JournalPalaios
Volume7
Issue number5
DOIs
StatePublished - 1992
Externally publishedYes

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