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Cited by 73Paleontology and Stratigraphy of FossilsGeology and Paleoclimatology ResearchGeological and Geochemical Analysis

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Earth orbital rhythms links timing of Deccan trap volcanism phases and global climate change

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Westerhold, Thomas, Dallanave, Edoardo, Penman, Donald, Schoene, Blair, Röhl, Ursula, Gussone, Nikolaus, Kuroda, Junichiro·2025·Science Advances
DOI 10.1126/sciadv.adr8584PMC PMC11887795
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Abstract

At the end of the Cretaceous, the massive Deccan trap (DT) volcanic eruptions are regarded as the primary driver of global climate deterioration. Accurate age models are key to unravel the sequence of events related to DT volcanism onset and effects on the global climate system. We establish a direct geochemical link between DT volcanism as recorded in marine osmium isotopic data and global climate change documented in benthic foraminifera carbon and oxygen isotope records. Based on our state-of-the-art astronomically calibrated age model, two major shifts in marine 187 Os/ 188 Os at 66.49 and 66.28 million years ago are contemporaneous with major eruption phases of the DT and disruptions of the global carbon cycle. Geochemical records and modeling suggest larger erupted volumes with high volatile emissions for the early phase of DT volcanism and point to differing emissions of SO 2 and CO 2 during the observed marine osmium shifts with diverse effects on the global climate system.

Overview

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TL;DR

New astronomically calibrated marine records link two major late Maastrichtian shifts in seawater 187Os/188Os at 66.49 and 66.28 Ma to Deccan trap eruption phases and synchronous global carbon-cycle and climate changes. The authors argue for earlier, larger, and compositionally distinct Deccan volatile emissions, including a sulfur-rich phase before the main warming.

Key findings

  • Two major decreases in marine 187Os/188Os occur at 66.49 Ma and 66.29 to 66.28 Ma, contemporaneous with Deccan trap eruption phases and disruptions of the global carbon cycle.
  • The first Os shift at 66.49 Ma coincides with a major Hg peak at 66.50 Ma and a negative 0.2‰ benthic δ18O shift from 66.50 to 66.45 Ma, indicating a maximum 1°C deep-sea warming.
  • From 66.30 to 66.28 Ma, a rapid 0.3‰ to 0.4‰ shift toward lighter benthic δ13C is synchronous with the second Os decrease; deep-sea warming of 3° to 4°C starts at 66.30 Ma and culminates at 66.19 Ma, marking the late Maastrichtian warming event.
  • A positive benthic δ13C shift from 66.35 to 66.30 Ma is attributed to an especially sulfur-rich Deccan phase; Os box modeling requires weathering of 1.2 × 10^5 to 1.8 × 10^5 km3 basalt for the first shift and 4.4 × 10^5 to 6.6 × 10^5 km3 for the second.

Methods

  • The study integrates new and published data from Pacific DSDP/ODP Sites 577, 1209, and 1210 and South Atlantic DSDP/ODP Sites 525, 527, 528, 1262, and 1267, plus the Tunisian Elles section, using XRF core scanning, benthic δ13C and δ18O, Os isotopes, magnetostratigraphy, and cyclostratigraphy.
  • New measurements include 404 benthic foraminifer stable isotope samples, 18 Os isotope samples at Site 1209 and 23 at Site 1262, and 32 oriented paleomagnetic cube specimens; records were correlated at the precession-cycle level, counting 85 precession cycles back from the K/Pg boundary and using 111 tie points between Shatsky Rise and Walvis Ridge.
  • The authors use an astronomically calibrated age model and cyclostratigraphic age model, plus LOSCAR carbon-cycle experiments with 10,000 GtC, 10,000 GtS, and combined C+S emissions over 100 kyr, and a simple 1-box marine Os cycle model.

Limitations

  • The paper states that the lack of narrow constraints on both Os concentration and isotopic composition in Deccan trap basalt propagates into notable uncertainties in modeled eruptive volumes, and that it is difficult to assess whether the required Os was supplied by basalt weathering because the basalts are in the lowermost Deccan sequence.
  • The paper states that some data were digitized from graphs, introducing uncertainty, though it says this did not affect any conclusion; it also notes that sedimentation rates diverge in the older interval likely because of a missing precession cycle around 276.5-m composite depth at Site 1209, with no correction implemented for the oldest part.
  • Evident from the text: the Os box model depends on assumed Os concentrations and isotopic compositions, and the orbital solutions for short eccentricity are described as never precise beyond 60 Ma, so the chronology relies on long-eccentricity tuning and precession-cycle counting.

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Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1126/sciadv.adr8584

Cites

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Figures

Fig. 1. Late Maastrichtian marine geochemical records from Atlantic and Pacific Ocean on a highly accurate astronomically calibrated age model show evidence for and the sequence of events related to the onset of the Deccan trap (DT) flood basalt volcanic activity. Most of the shown data are derived from marine sediment records recovered in the South Atlantic (Walvis Ridge, Sites 525, 1262, and 1267) and the western Equatorial Pacific (Shatsky Rise, Sites 577 and 1209). The mercury (Hg) concentration record (12), however, is from the Tunisian Elles land section. Benthic foraminifer stable carbon and oxygen isotopes, representative of changes in the global carbon cycle and deep-sea temperature, reveal major synchronous shifts/steps in the marine Os isotope data and peaks in Hg concentration, suggesting a causal relationship to massive volcanic eruptions. Coarse fraction data indicate dissolution changes in the sedimentary records. Dominating cyclic variations in these data and semiquantitative elemental concentration data of iron and barium from XRF core scanning are related to astronomical cycles. The eccentricity-modulated precession cycles encountered in the data are the base for defining an astrochronological age model for the late Maastrichtian. Ecological decline in the hell Creek region from (31) and (89).
Fig. 1. Late Maastrichtian marine geochemical records from Atlantic and Pacific Ocean on a highly accurate astronomically calibrated age model show evidence for and the sequence of events related to the onset of the Deccan trap (DT) flood basalt volcanic activity. Most of the shown data are derived from marine sediment records recovered in the South Atlantic (Walvis Ridge, Sites 525, 1262, and 1267) and the western Equatorial Pacific (Shatsky Rise, Sites 577 and 1209). The mercury (Hg) concentration record (12), however, is from the Tunisian Elles land section. Benthic foraminifer stable carbon and oxygen isotopes, representative of changes in the global carbon cycle and deep-sea temperature, reveal major synchronous shifts/steps in the marine Os isotope data and peaks in Hg concentration, suggesting a causal relationship to massive volcanic eruptions. Coarse fraction data indicate dissolution changes in the sedimentary records. Dominating cyclic variations in these data and semiquantitative elemental concentration data of iron and barium from XRF core scanning are related to astronomical cycles. The eccentricity-modulated precession cycles encountered in the data are the base for defining an astrochronological age model for the late Maastrichtian. Ecological decline in the hell Creek region from (31) and (89).CC BY · PubMed Central
Fig. 2. Deccan trap (DT) eruptive history and its fingerprint observed in ocean geochemistry. U/Pb and Ar/Ar ages of DT volcanic group from the Malwa Plateau and Western Ghats along marine sediment Os isotope record from the South Atlantic Walvis and the western Equatorial Pacific Shatsky rise. U/Pb ages are reported at the 2-sigma level without systematic uncertainties and refined by a stratigraphic Bayesian model after (14). Ar/Ar ages are displayed with a 2-sigma age uncertainty including analytical sources and calibrated after the Fish Canyon sanidine (FC) 28.294-Ma age (90). Systematic sources of uncertainty in both dating schemes are discussed in the Supplementary Materials.
Fig. 2. Deccan trap (DT) eruptive history and its fingerprint observed in ocean geochemistry. U/Pb and Ar/Ar ages of DT volcanic group from the Malwa Plateau and Western Ghats along marine sediment Os isotope record from the South Atlantic Walvis and the western Equatorial Pacific Shatsky rise. U/Pb ages are reported at the 2-sigma level without systematic uncertainties and refined by a stratigraphic Bayesian model after (14). Ar/Ar ages are displayed with a 2-sigma age uncertainty including analytical sources and calibrated after the Fish Canyon sanidine (FC) 28.294-Ma age (90). Systematic sources of uncertainty in both dating schemes are discussed in the Supplementary Materials.CC BY · PubMed Central

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Citations

Cites

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Research works printed but not linked: 16

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  7. M. Roy-Barman thesis Paris Université de Paris VII (1993).
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  9. J. Bowles in Proc. ODP Sci. Results 208: College Station TX (Ocean Drilling Program) D. Kroon J. C. Zachos C. Richter Eds. (2006).
  10. U. Bleil in Initial Reports of the Deep Sea Drilling Project Volume 86 G. R. Heath L. H. Burckle Eds. (US Government Printing Office 1985) pp. 441–458.
  11. J. Laskar in Geologic Time Scale 2020 F. M. Gradstein J. G. Ogg M. D. Schmitz G. M. Ogg Eds. (Elsevier 2020) pp. 139–158.
  12. Shipboard Scientific Party in Proc. ODP Init. Repts. 208: College Station TX J. C. Zachos D. Kroon P. Blum et al. Eds. (Ocean Drilling Program 2004) vol. 208 pp. 1–92.
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  14. J. D. A. Zijderveld in Methods in Paleomagnetism D. W. Collinson K. M. Creer S. K. Runcorn Eds. (Elsevier 1967) pp. 254–286.
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Metadata

Authors
Westerhold, T., Dallanave, E., Penman, D., Schoene, B., Röhl, U., Gussone, N., & Kuroda, J.
Affiliations
  • University of Bremen (DE)
  • Utah State University (US)
  • Princeton University (US)
  • University of Münster (DE)
  • Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute, The University of Tokyo (JP)
Corresponding author
Westerhold, Thomas
ORCID
Venue
Science Advances
Publisher
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Published
2025-03-07
Volume
11
Issue
10
Pages
eadr8584-eadr8584
ISSN
2375-2548 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1126/sciadv.adr8584
PMC
PMC11887795
OpenAlex
W4408236055
Cited by
17
References
123
Citations by year
2026: 10 · 2025: 7
FWCI
9.10
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
cc-by
Locations
  • Science Advances (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, other-oa)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Digital Commons - USU (Utah State University) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • Archivio Istituzionale della Ricerca (Universita Degli Studi Di Milano) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
Funders
Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (22K18426, 23K22613)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Paleontology › Paleontology and Stratigraphy of Fossils
  • Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Atmospheric Science › Geology and Paleoclimatology Research
  • Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Geochemistry and Petrology › Geological and Geochemical Analysis
Keywords
Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary, mass extinction, osmium isotopes, benthic foraminifera, carbon isotopes, oxygen isotopes, orbital forcing, age model, carbon cycle, volcanic gas emissions, sulfur dioxide, carbon dioxide, climate change

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