Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Mid-Eocene sea surface cooling in the easternmost proto-Paratethys sea: constraints from quantitative temperatures in halite fluid inclusions

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
International Journal of Earth Sciences Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The temperature fluctuations in the Eocene climate are one of the most mysterious phenomena in Cenozoic climate dynamics, and they severely affected the marine and terrestrial biospheres. However, quantitative and comprehensive temperature reconstructions for middle Eocene climatic variations remain limited due to fragmentary paleotemperature records, especially in the easternmost proto-Paratethys sea (Kuqa Depression), where traditional paleoclimatic proxies are restricted by the occurrence of extensive and thick evaporite deposits. In this study, we reconstruct middle Eocene sea surface temperatures (SST) and even air temperatures in the Kuqa Depression based on 584 homogenization temperatures (Th) for fluid inclusions in cumulate and chevron halite crystals from cores DW1 and KL4. The Th values from core DW1 have ranges of 10.5–45.7 °C, the Th values from core KL4 have ranges of 12.6–35.2 °C. The measured Th values are mainly concentrated within 20–30 °C, and an average Th value of 25.6 °Crepresents the SST and is consistent with previous coeval research results. The highest recorded Th is 45.7 °C, clearly representing local hot climate conditions. The average and maximum SST in the middle Eocene Kuqa Depression are cooled by 5.2–11.3 °C and 6.5–14.1 °C, respectively. The cooling trend in the Kuqa Depression occurred in response to global and Tethyan realm cooling in the middle Eocene, but the cooling amplitude in the study area was greater than that of the global climate. The Th data for primary halite fluid inclusions can effectively and quantitatively track past environmental and climatic variations, especially in evaporitic basins where traditional paleoclimatic proxies are often not available.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Benison KC (1995) Permian surface water temperatures from Nippewalla Group halite, Kansas. Carbonates Evaporites 10:245–251

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Benison KC, Goldstein RH (1999) Permian paleoclimate data from fluid inclusions in halite. Chem Geol 154:113–132

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bijl PK, Schouten S, Sluijs A, Reichart GJ, Zachos JC, Brinkhuis H (2009) Early Palaeogene temperature evolution of the southwest Pacific Ocean. Nature 461:776–779

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bohaty SM, Zachos JC (2003) Significant Southern Ocean warming event in the late middle Eocene. Geology 31:1017–1020

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bosboom R, Dupont-Nivet G, Grothe A, Brinkhuis H, Villa G, Mandic O, Stoica M, Huang W, Yang W, Guo Z, Krijgsman W (2014) Linking Tarim Basin sea retreat (west China) and Asian aridification in the late Eocene. Basin Res 26:621–640

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bougeois L, Rafélis M, Reichart GJ, Nooijer LJ, Nicollin F, Dupont-Nivet G (2014) A high resolution study of trace elements and stable isotopes in oyster shells to estimate Central Asian middle Eocene seasonality. Chem Geol 363:200–212

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bowen GJ, Wilkinson B (2015) Spatial distribution of δ18O in meteoric precipitation. Geology 30:315–318

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cao YT, Liu CL, Yang HJ, Gu QY, Jiao PC, Lu YH (2010a) Identification and correlation of the Paleogene and Neogene evaporites sedimentary cycle in Kuqa Basin. J Palaeogeogr 12:31–41 (in Chinese with English abstract)

    Google Scholar 

  • Cao YT, Yang HJ, Liu CL, Gu QY, Jiao PC, Lu YH (2010b) Response on sediment of evaporite in Kuqa Basin from Paleogene to Neogene period and Himalayan tectonic phase. Acta Sedimentol Sin 28:1054–1065 (in Chinese with English abstract)

    Google Scholar 

  • Carrapa B, De Celles PG, Wang X, Clementz MT, Mancin N, Stoica M, Kraatz B, Meng J, Abdulov S, Chen FH (2015) Tectono-climatic implications of Eocene Paratethys regression in the Tajik basin of central Asia. Earth Planet Sci Lett 424:168–178

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Casas E, Lowenstein TK (1989) Diagenesis of saline pan halite: comparison of petrographic features of modern, Quaternary and Permian Halites. J Sediment Res 59:724–739

    Google Scholar 

  • Chen XW, Chen HL, Lin XB, Cheng XG, Yang R, Ding WW, Gong JF, Wu L, Zhang FQ, Chen SQ, Zhang Y, Yan JK (2018) Arcuate Pamir in the Paleogene? Insights from a review of stratigraphy and sedimentology of the basin fills in the foreland of NE Chinese Pamir, western Tarim Basin. Earth Sci Rev 180:1–16

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • DeConto RM, Pollard D (2003) Rapid Cenozoic glaciation of Antarctica induced by declining atmospheric CO2. Nature 421:245–249

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dercourt J, Ricou LE, Vrielynck B (1993) Atlas Tethys Paleoenvironmental maps. Commision for the Geological Map of the World, Paris, pp 21–43

    Google Scholar 

  • Edgar KM, Wilson PA, Sexton PF, Suganuma Y (2007) No extreme bipolar glaciation during the main Eocene calcite compensation shift. Nature 448:908–911

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goldstein RH, Reynolds TJ (1994) Systematics of fluid inclusions in diagenetic minerals. Society for Sedimentary Geology, p 31

  • Handford CR (1990) Halite depositional facies in a solar salt pond: a key to interpreting physical energy and water depth in ancient deposits. Geology 18:691–694

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hao Y (1982) Late Cretaceous and Tertiary strata and Foraminifera in western Talimu Basin. Sci China (Earth Sci) 2:119–146 (in Chinese with English abstract)

    Google Scholar 

  • Hay WW, Floegel S (2012) New thoughts about the Cretaceous climate and oceans. Earth Sci Rev 115:262–272

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hollis CJ, Taylor KWR, Handley L, Pancost RD, Huber M, Creech JB, Hines BR, Crouch EM, Morgans HEG, Crampton JS, Gibbs S, Pearson PN, Zachos JC (2012) Early Paleogene temperature history of the Southwest Pacific Ocean: reconciling proxies and models. Earth Planet Sci Lett 349–350:53–66

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holser WT (1979) Mineralogy of evaporates. Mar Miner 6:211–294

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huyghe D, Merle D, Lartaud F, Cheype E, Emmanuel L (2012) Middle Lutetian climate in the Paris Basin: implications for a marine hotspot of paleobiodiversity. Facies 58:587–604

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huyghe D, Lartaud F, Emmanuel L, Merle D, Renard M (2015) Palaeogene climate evolution in the Paris Basin from oxygen stable isotope (δ18O) compositions of marine molluscs. J Geol Soc 172:576–587

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Inglis GN, Farnsworth A, Lunt D, Foster GL, Hollis CJ, Pagani M, Jardine PE, Pearson PN, Markwick P, Galsworthy AMJ, Raynham L, Taylor KWR, Pancost RD (2015) Descent toward the Icehouse: Eocene sea surface cooling inferred from GDGT distributions. Paleoceanogr Paleoclimatol 30:1000–1020

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lan X (1997) Paleogene bivalve communities in the Western Tarim Basin and their paleoenvironmental implications. Paleoworld 7:137–157

  • Lear CH, Bailey TR, Pearson PN, Coxall HK, Rosenthal Y (2008) Cooling and ice growth across the Eocene–Oligocene transition. Geology 36:251–254

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Losey AB, Benison KC (2000) Silurian paleoclimate data from fluid inclusions in the Salina Group halite Michigan Basin. Carbonates Evaporites 15:28–36

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lowenstein TK, Demicco RV (2006) Elevated Eocene atmospheric CO2 and its subsequent decline. Science 313:1928–1928

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lowenstein TK, Hardie LA (1985) Criteria for the recognition of salt-pan evaporites. Sedimentology 32:627–644

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lowenstein TK, Li JR, Brown CB (1998) Paleotemperatures from fluid inclusions in halite: method verification and a 100,000 year paleotemperature record, Death Valley, CA. Chem Geol 150:223–245

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lowenstein TK, Li JR, Brown C, Roberts SM, Ku TL, Luo S, Yang W (1999) 200 k.y. paleoclimate record from Death Valley salt core. Geology 27:3–6

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Methner K, Mulch A, Fiebig J, Wacker U, Gerdes A, Graham SA, Chamberlain P (2016) Rapid middle Eocene temperature change in western North America. Earth Planet Sci Lett 450:132–139

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Miller KG, Fairbanks RG, Mountain GS (1987) Tertiary oxygen isotope synthesis, sea level history, and continental margin erosion. Paleoceanography 2:1–19

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nicolo MJ, Dickens GR, Hollis CJ, Zachos JC (2007) Multiple early Eocene hyperthermals: their sedimentary expression on the New Zealand continentalmargin and in the deep sea. Geology 35:699–702

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pagani M, Zachos JC, Freeman KH, Tipple B, Bohaty S (2005) Marked decline in atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations during the Paleogene. Science 309:600–603

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pearson PN, Palmer MR (2000) Atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations over the past 60 million years. Nature 406:695–699

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Petrichenko IO (1979) Methods of study of inclusions inminerals in saline deposits. Fluid Incl Res 12:114–274

    Google Scholar 

  • Roberts SM, Spence RJ (1995) Paleotemperatures preserved in fluid inclusions in halite. Geochimicaet Cosmochimica Acta 59:3929–3942

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roedder E (1984) The fluids in salt. Am Miner 69:413–439

    Google Scholar 

  • Roedder E, Belkin HE (1980) Thermal gradient migration of fluid inclusions in single crystals of salt from the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant site (WIPP). Scientific basis for nuclear waste management. Springer, pp 453–464

  • Satterfield CL (2005) Paleobrine temperatures, chemistries, and paleoenvironments of Silurian salina formation F-1 salt, Michigan Basin, USA, from petrography fluid inclusions in halite. J Sediment Res 75:534–546

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sexton PF, Wilson PA, Norris RD (2006) Testing the Cenozoic multisite composite δ18O and δ13C curves: New monospecific Eocene records from a single locality, Demerara Rise (Ocean Drilling Program Leg 207). Paleoceanography 21:1–17

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sexton PF, Norris RD, Wilson PA, Palike H, Westerhold T, Rohl U, Bolton CT, Gibbs S (2011) Eocene global warming events driven by ventilation of oceanic dissolved organic carbon. Nature 471:349–352

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sluijs A, Roij LV, Harrington GJ, Schouten S, Sessa JA, LeVay LJ, Reichart GJ, Slomp CP (2013) Extreme warming, photic zone euxinia and sea level rise during the Paleocene/Eocene thermal maximum on the Gulf of Mexico Coastal Plain; connecting marginal marine biotic signals, nutrient cycling and ocean deoxygenation. Clim Past Discuss 9:6459–6494

    Google Scholar 

  • Sun DH, Wang X, Li BF, Chen FH, Wang F, Li ZJ, Liang BQ, Ma ZW (2013) Evolution of Cenozoic Tethys and its environmental effects on inland drought. Mar Geol Q Geol 33:135–151

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sun JM, Windley BF, Zhang ZL, Fu BH, Li SH (2016) Diachronous seawater retreat from the southwestern margin of the Tarim Basin in the late Eocene. J Asian Earth Sci 116:222–231

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sun JM, Liu WG, Liu ZH, Fu BH (2017a) Effects of the uplift of the Tibetan Plateau and retreat of Neotethys Ocean on the stepwise aridification of mid-latitude Asian interior. Bull Chin Acad Sci 9:39–46 (in Chinese with English abstract)

    Google Scholar 

  • Sun XH, Zhao YJ, Liu CL, Jiao PC, Zhang H, Wu CH (2017b) Paleoclimatic information recorded in fluid inclusions in halites from Lop Nor, Western China. Sci Rep 7:1–9

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Teng ZH, Yue LP, He DF, Deng XQ, Bian XW (1997) Magnetostratigraphic research of Cenozoic section of Kuche River area, South Xinjiang. J Stratigr 21:55–62 (in Chinese with English abstract)

    Google Scholar 

  • Tindall J, Flecker R, Valdes P, Schmidt DN, Markwick P, Harris J (2010) Modelling the oxygen isotope distribution of ancient seawater using a coupled ocean–atmosphere GCM: implications for reconstructing early Eocene climate. Earth Planet Sci Lett 292:265–273

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wade BS, Kroon D (2002) Middle Eocene regional climate instability: evidence from the western North Atlantic. Geology 30:1011–1014

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang CL, Liu CL, Xu HM, Wang LC, Zhang LB (2013) homogenization temperature study of salt inclusions from the upper section of Shashi Formation in Jiangling Depression. Acta Petrol ET Mineral 32:383–392 (in Chinese with English abstract)

    Google Scholar 

  • Xu Y, Liu CL, Jiao PC, Chen YZ, Cao YT (2017) Paleocene-Eocene evaporites geochemistry characteristics and potash formation analysis in Kuqa depression of Xinjiang: a case study of borehole KL4. Acta Petrol Mineral 36:755–764 (in Chinese with English abstract)

    Google Scholar 

  • Xu Y, Cao YT, Liu CL, Jiao PC (2018) Provenance and degree of evaporation and concentration of Eocene salt lake in the Kuqa Basin. Acta Geol Sin 92:1617–1629 (in Chinese with English abstract)

    Google Scholar 

  • Yin A, Harrison MT (2000) Geologic evolution of the Himalayan-Tibetan orogen. Annu Rev Earth Planet Sci 28:211–280

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yin A, Rumelhart PE, Butler R, Cowgill E, Harrison TM, Foster DA, Ingersoll RV, Zhang Q, Zhou XQ, Wang XF, Hanson R (2002) Tectonic history of the Altyn Tagh fault system in northern Tibet inferred from Cenozoic sedimentation. Geol Soc Am Bull 114:1257–1295

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yuan JQ, Cai KQ, Xiao RG, Chen HQ (1991) The characteristics and genesis of inclusions in salt from Mengyejing potash deposit in Yunnan Province. Earth Sci J China Univ Geosci 16:137–142 (in Chinese with English abstract)

    Google Scholar 

  • Zachos JC, Quinn TM, Salamy KA (1996) High-resolution (104 years) deep-sea foraminiferal stable isotope records of the Eocene–Oligocene climate transition. Paleoceanography 11:251–266

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zachos JC, Dickens GR, Zeebe RE (2008) An early Cenozoic perspective on greenhouse warming and carbon-cycle dynamics. Nature 451:279–283

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zambito JJ, Benison KC (2013) Extremely high temperatures and paleoclimate trends recorded in Permian ephemeral lake halite. Geology 41:587–590

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang YM, He GZ, Wang ZR (1982) Analysis of the Tertiary Salt Rock System and Potassium Fertilizer in Kuqa Basin. Northwest Geol 4:44–52 (in Chinese with English abstract)

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhang YG, Pagani M, Liu Z, Bohaty SM, Deconto R (2013) A 40-million-year history of atmospheric CO2. Philos Trans R Soc A Math Phys Eng Sci 371:20130096

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang H, Liu CL, Zhao YJ, Mischke S, Fang XM, Ding T (2015) Quantitative temperature records of mid Cretaceous hothouse: evidence from halite fluid inclusions. Palaeogeogr Palaeoclimatol Palaeoecol 437:33–41

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang H, Lü FL, Mischke S, Fan ML, Zhang F, Liu CL (2017) Halite fluid inclusions and the late Aptian sea surface temperatures of the Congo Basin, northern South Atlantic Ocean. Cretac Res 71:85–95

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhao YJ, Zhang H, Liu CL, Liu BK, Ma LC, Wang LC (2014) Late Eocene to early Oligocene quantitative paleotemperature record: evidence from continental halite fluid inclusions. Sci Rep 4:5776

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zheng M, Meng ZF (2006) Magnetostratigraphy of tertiary system in Baicheng, Xinjiang. Acta Sedimentol Sin 24(5):650–656 (in Chinese with English abstract)

  • Zheng H, Tada R, Jia J, Lawrence C, Wang K (2010) Cenozoic sediments in the southern Tarim Basin: implications for the uplift of northern Tibet and evolution of the Taklimakan Desert. Geol Soc Lond Spec Publ 342:67–78

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhu YH, Zhao YY, Zhong SL (2012) Palaeogene calcareous nannofossils from the Xiaokuzibai section of the Kuqa depression, Tarim Basin. Acta Palaeontol Sin 51:328–333

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Basic Research Project for the Central Public Welfare Scientific Institutions (No. YYWF201716) granted by the Institute of Mineral Resources Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences; National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 41902064); Scientific Research Foundation for PhD, East China University of Technology (No. DHBK2018029) and Independent Fund from State Key Laboratory of Nuclear Resources and Environment (No. 2020Z11). We especially thank the Editor-in-Chief and anonymous reviewers for constructive comments and suggestions that have greatly improved the quality of this manuscript.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Nuclear Resources and Environment, East China University of Technology, Nanchang, 330013, China

    Yang Xu

  2. MLR Key Laboratory of Metallogeny and Mineral Assessment, Institute of Mineral Resources, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, Beijing, 100037, China

    Yangtong Cao & Chenglin Liu

Authors
  1. Yang Xu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Yangtong Cao
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Chenglin Liu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Yang Xu or Yangtong Cao.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Xu, Y., Cao, Y. & Liu, C. Mid-Eocene sea surface cooling in the easternmost proto-Paratethys sea: constraints from quantitative temperatures in halite fluid inclusions. Int J Earth Sci (Geol Rundsch) 110, 1713–1727 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00531-021-02037-5

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00531-021-02037-5

Keywords

Search

Navigation