1 research outputs found
Isotopic signals from Callovian–Kimmeridgian (Middle–Upper Jurassic) belemnites and bulk organic carbon, Staffin Bay, Isle of Skye, Scotland
<p>The stable isotope data presented here significantly extend and expand upon previous isotopic investigations of the Middle
to Late Jurassic interval. The belemnite samples collected from the Staffin Bay and Staffin Shale formations from the Isle
of Skye, Scotland, yielded oxygen isotope values consistent with Callovian–Kimmeridgian palaeotemperatures of 6.7–20.6 °C.
The carbon isotope data comprise one of the first moderately high-resolution investigations of the relationship between terrestrial
δ<sup>13</sup>C<sub>org</sub> (predominantly fossil wood debris) and marine δ<sup>13</sup>C<sub>carb</sub> (belemnites) as derived from a geologically coeval record. The Staffin Bay data reveal a broad Early to Mid-Oxfordian positive
carbon isotope excursion. The excursion maximum occurs in the <em>cordatum</em> Zone (British Boreal ammonite zonation), although high values persist into the <em>tenuiserratum</em> Zone. The correspondence between the marine and terrestrial records indicates a strong coupling of the ocean–atmosphere system
and suggests that the total exchangeable carbon reservoir would have been affected at this time. The Mid-Oxfordian negative
carbon isotope excursions identified in published Tethyan records and commonly attributed to methane release are not recorded
in the Staffin Bay data, which may suggest that the Tethyan excursions do not represent fluctuations in the global carbon
reservoir and that the fidelity of the methane hypothesis should be re-evaluated.
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