TY - JOUR

T1 - Shallow Water Records of the PETM

T2 - Novel Insights From NE India (Eastern Tethys)

AU - Sarkar, Suman

AU - Cotton, Laura J.

AU - Valdes, Paul J.

AU - Schmidt, Daniela N.

N1 - Funding Information: SS would like to thank the Royal Society, UK and SERB, India for the Newton International Fellowship (NIF\R1\181330). DNS was acknowledging support from the Royal Society for the Wolfson Merit Award. The staff members of the MCCL quarry are acknowledged for their support during the fieldwork, Alexandra Nederbragt (Cardiff University) the isotope analyses, Cesare Papazzoni for taxonomic discussions, and Tom Dunkley Jones (University of Birmingham) for assessing the material for nannofossils. Sincere gratitude is expressed to Christopher Scotese, Alexander Farnsworth, Abiraman Govindan, and the late AK Jauhri. Antonino Briguglio, Andrea Benedetti, and two anonymous reviewers are thanked for their comments that considerably improved the manuscript. Funding Information: SS would like to thank the Royal Society, UK and SERB, India for the Newton International Fellowship (NIF\R1\181330). DNS was acknowledging support from the Royal Society for the Wolfson Merit Award. The staff members of the MCCL quarry are acknowledged for their support during the fieldwork, Alexandra Nederbragt (Cardiff University) the isotope analyses, Cesare Papazzoni for taxonomic discussions, and Tom Dunkley Jones (University of Birmingham) for assessing the material for nannofossils. Sincere gratitude is expressed to Christopher Scotese, Alexander Farnsworth, Abiraman Govindan, and the late AK Jauhri. Antonino Briguglio, Andrea Benedetti, and two anonymous reviewers are thanked for their comments that considerably improved the manuscript. Publisher Copyright: © 2022. The Authors.

PY - 2022

Y1 - 2022

N2 - The Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) is associated with major extinctions in the deep ocean, and significant paleogeographic and ecological changes in surface ocean and terrestrial environments. However, the impact of the associated environmental change on shelf biota is less well understood. Here, we present a new PETM record of a low paleolatitude shallow-marine carbonate platform from Meghalaya, NE India (eastern Tethys). The biotic assemblage was distinctly different to other Tethyan PETM records dominated by larger benthic foraminifera and calcareous algae both in the Paleocene and Eocene. A change in taxa and forms indicating deeper waters with a concurrent decrease in abundance of shallow water algae suggests a sea-level rise during the onset of the PETM. The record is lacking the ecological change from corals to larger foraminiferal assemblages and the Lockhartia dominance, characteristic of several other sections in the Tethys. Comparison with a global circulation model (GCM) indicates high regional temperatures in the Thanetian which may have excluded corals from the region. Furthermore, the regional circulation pattern is isolating the site from the wider Paratethys. Our study highlights the need for a diverse global perspective on shallow-marine response to the PETM and the strength of coupling data to global climate models for interpretation.

AB - The Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) is associated with major extinctions in the deep ocean, and significant paleogeographic and ecological changes in surface ocean and terrestrial environments. However, the impact of the associated environmental change on shelf biota is less well understood. Here, we present a new PETM record of a low paleolatitude shallow-marine carbonate platform from Meghalaya, NE India (eastern Tethys). The biotic assemblage was distinctly different to other Tethyan PETM records dominated by larger benthic foraminifera and calcareous algae both in the Paleocene and Eocene. A change in taxa and forms indicating deeper waters with a concurrent decrease in abundance of shallow water algae suggests a sea-level rise during the onset of the PETM. The record is lacking the ecological change from corals to larger foraminiferal assemblages and the Lockhartia dominance, characteristic of several other sections in the Tethys. Comparison with a global circulation model (GCM) indicates high regional temperatures in the Thanetian which may have excluded corals from the region. Furthermore, the regional circulation pattern is isolating the site from the wider Paratethys. Our study highlights the need for a diverse global perspective on shallow-marine response to the PETM and the strength of coupling data to global climate models for interpretation.

U2 - 10.1029/2021PA004257

DO - 10.1029/2021PA004257

M3 - Journal article

AN - SCOPUS:85135072348

VL - 37

JO - Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology

JF - Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology

SN - 0883-8305

IS - 7

M1 - e2021PA004257

ER -