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Global Change Abstracts The Swiss Contribution - SCNAT

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170<br />

08.1-347<br />

Detailed record of the mid-Oxfordian (Late<br />

Jurassic) positive carbon- isotope excursion in<br />

two hemipelagic sections (France and Switzerland):<br />

A plate tectonic trigger?<br />

Louis Schmid B, Rais P, Bernasconi S M, Pellenard P,<br />

Collin P Y, Weissert H<br />

Switzerland, France<br />

Paleontology , Oceanography , Geology , Geochemistry<br />

& Geophysics<br />

<strong>The</strong> Oxfordian (Late Jurassic) was a time of widespread<br />

change in Jurassic marine (carbonate) sedimentation<br />

patterns. A marked positive excursion<br />

in delta C-13 is dated as Middle Oxfordian in age.<br />

In this study we investigate if changes in carbonate<br />

sedimentation coincided with altered carbon<br />

cycling and climate. We use C-isotope records as<br />

a proxy for the evolution of the carbon cycle and<br />

compare delta C-13- trends with the evolution of<br />

sedimentation in a segment of the opening Tethys<br />

seaway. One of the studied sections is located in<br />

the Subalpine basin of France (Trescleoux and<br />

Oze), the other in the <strong>Swiss</strong> Jura mountains (Liesberg).<br />

Carbon-isotope stratigraphy of carbonate<br />

carbon locates the peak values of the Middle Oxfordian<br />

positive excursion to the antecedens and<br />

parandieri subzones of the plicatilis and transversarium<br />

ammonite zones, respectively. Causes of<br />

the excursion remain enigmatic. <strong>The</strong> excursion<br />

seems not to coincide with a global oceanic anoxic<br />

event, but regionally enhanced organic carbon<br />

accumulation during the Early and early Middle<br />

Oxfordian may be the cause of the increase in<br />

delta C-13. <strong>The</strong> excursion occurs during a time of<br />

progressive climate warming, and its peak values<br />

coincide with the first calcareous sediments recurring<br />

after a period of reduced carbonate accumulation<br />

in the Early and early Middle Oxfordian.<br />

<strong>The</strong> excursion is also time-equivalent to a major<br />

reorganisation of global ocean currents: the opening<br />

Atlantic and Tethys oceans combined with rising<br />

sea level led to the formation of an efficient<br />

circumglobal seaway. We conclude that this favoured<br />

the widespread recurrence of carbonate<br />

producers by providing new habitats. As a result,<br />

C-carb burial increased, leading to a lower C- org/<br />

C-carb burial rate and therefore to stabilisation<br />

and decrease in delta C-13 in the Middle Oxfordian.<br />

Thus, the mid-Oxfordian positive excursion<br />

in carbonate C-isotopes may reflect changes in the<br />

carbon cycle that were triggered by a copious reorganisation<br />

of the ocean current system caused by<br />

major plate tectonic movements.<br />

Palaeogeography Palaeoclimatology Palaeoecology,<br />

2007, V248, N3-4, MAY 25, pp 459-472.<br />

<strong>Global</strong> <strong>Change</strong> <strong>Abstracts</strong> – <strong>The</strong> <strong>Swiss</strong> <strong>Contribution</strong> | Past <strong>Global</strong> <strong>Change</strong>s<br />

08.1-348<br />

Impact of methane seeps on the local carbonisotope<br />

record: a case study from a Late Jurassic<br />

hemipelagic section<br />

Louis Schmid B, Rais P, Logvinovich D, Bernasconi S<br />

M, Weissert H<br />

Switzerland<br />

Geology , Paleontology , Geochemistry &<br />

Geophysics<br />

An Oxfordian (Late Jurassic) hemipelagic succession<br />

from Beauvoisin (SE France) contains a<br />

pronounced, short-lived negative excursion in<br />

the bulk-carbonate carbon-isotope record, with<br />

an amplitude of 47 parts per thousand. it was<br />

shown previously that the Beauvoisin paleoenvironment<br />

was impacted by hydrocarbon seepage.<br />

New isotopic data corroborate that methane was<br />

a significant constituent of these hydrocarbons.<br />

<strong>The</strong> negative excursion was caused by transient<br />

enhanced precipitation of 13 C-depleted carbonate,<br />

mediated by anaerobic oxidation of methane.<br />

Despite its local diagenetic origin, the Beauvoisin<br />

excursion is similar in shape and duration to globally<br />

recognized negative C-isotope excursions that<br />

have been related to catastrophic, massive dissociation<br />

of methane hydrate. Shape and duration<br />

of negative excursions therefore cannot be used<br />

as an argument when determining their origin if<br />

they have not been shown to represent a global<br />

perturbation of the carbon cycle.<br />

Terra Nova, 2007, V19, N4, AUG, pp 259-265.<br />

08.1-349<br />

Plate tectonic trigger of changes in pCO(2)<br />

and climate in the Oxfordian (Late Jurassic):<br />

Carbon isotope and modeling evidence<br />

Louis Schmid B, Rais P, Schäffer P, Bernasconi S M,<br />

Weissert H<br />

Switzerland, France<br />

Modelling , Paleontology , Meteorology & Atmospheric<br />

Sciences , Geochemistry & Geophysics<br />

<strong>The</strong> transition from the Middle to the Late Jurassic<br />

was characterized by significant changes<br />

in oceanography and climate and by changes in<br />

global carbon cycle as shown in the C-isotope<br />

record. A prominent mid-Oxfordian positive excursion<br />

in bulk carbonate carbon isotope values<br />

(delta C-13(carb)) With an amplitude of more than<br />

1% has been documented from many sections in<br />

the Northern Tethys realm. In this study we present<br />

new bulk organic matter C-isotope data (delta<br />

C-13 (org)) from northwestern Tethys that do not<br />

record the mid-Oxfordian positive excursion in<br />

carbonate carbon. On the contrary, delta C-13<br />

(org) decreases during the interval of the most

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