Cretaceous sea-surface temperature evolution: Constraints from TEX86 and planktonic foraminiferal oxygen isotopes

It is well established that greenhouse conditions prevailed during the Cretaceous Period (~ 145–66 Ma). Determining the exact nature of the greenhouse-gas forcing, climatic warming and climate sensitivity remains, however, an active topic of research. Quantitative and qualitative geochemical and palaeontological proxies provide valuable observational constraints on Cretaceous climate. In particular, reconstructions of Cretaceous sea-surface temperatures (SSTs) have been revolutionised firstly by the recognition that clay-rich sequences can host exceptionally preserved planktonic foraminifera allowing for reliable oxygen-isotope analyses and, secondly by the development of the organic palaeothermometer…

• RS
  Royal Society
• SR
  Sight Research UK

  Awards: NE/K014757/1, NE/K012479/1
• MV
  Ministerie van Onderwijs, Cultuur en Wetenschap
• NE
  Netherlands Earth System Science Centre
• EA
  Economic and Social Research Council
• NE
  Natural Environment Research Council

  Awards: NE/K012479/1, NE/K014757/1, NE/K014757/1, NE/K012479/1