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Eocene–Oligocene extinction event

Eocene–Oligocene extinction event

The transition between the end of the Eocene (33.9 Ma) and the beginning of the Oligocene is marked by large-scale extinction and floral and faunal turnover (although minor in comparison to the largest mass extinctions).[1] Most of the affected organisms were marine or aquatic in nature. They included the last of the ancient cetaceans, the Archaeoceti.

This was a time of major climatic change, especially cooling, not obviously linked with any single major impact or any catastrophic volcanic event.[2] One cause of the extinction event is speculated to be extended volcanic activity. Another speculation is that the extinctions are related to several large meteorite impacts that occurred about this time. One such event caused the Chesapeake Bay impact crater 40 km (25 mi), and another at the Popigai crater 100 km (62 mi) of central Siberia, scattering debris perhaps as far as Europe. New dating of the Popigai meteor suggests it may be a cause of the mass extinction.[3]

A leading scientific theory on climate cooling at this time predicts a decrease in atmospheric carbon dioxide, which slowly declined in the mid to late Eocene and possibly reached some threshold approximately 34 million years ago. This boundary is closely linked with the Oligocene Oi-1 event, an oxygen isotope excursion that marks the beginning of ice sheet coverage on Antarctica.[4][5]

Grande Coupure

The Grande Coupure, or "great break" in continuity,[6] with a major European turnover in mammalian fauna about 33.5 Ma, marks the end of the last phase of Eocene assemblages, the Priabonian, and the arrival in Europe of Asian species. The Grande Coupure is characterized by widespread extinctions and allopatric speciation in small isolated relict populations.[7] It was given its name in 1910 by the Swiss palaeontologist Hans Georg Stehlin,[8] to characterise the dramatic turnover of European mammalian fauna, which he placed at the Eocene-Oligocene boundary. A comparable turnover in Asian fauna has since been called the "Mongolian Remodelling".

The Grande Coupure marks a break between endemic European faunas before the break and mixed faunas with a strong Asian component afterwards. J. J. Hooker and his team summarized the break:[9]

"Pre-Grande Coupure faunas are dominated by the perissodact familyPalaeotheriidae(distanthorserelatives), six families of artiodactyls (cloven-hoofed mammals) (Anoplotheriidae,Xiphodontidae, Choeropotamidae, Cebochoeridae,Dichobunidaeand Amphimerycidae), the rodent family Pseudosciuridae, the primate familiesOmomyidaeandAdapidae, and thearchontanfamily Nyctitheriidae.
"Post-Grande Coupure faunas include the true rhinoceros (familyRhinocerotidae), three artiodactyl families (Entelodontidae,AnthracotheriidaeandGelocidae) related respectively topigs,hipposandruminants, therodentfamiliesEomyidae,Cricetidae(hamsters) andCastoridae(beavers), and the lipotyphlan familyErinaceidae(hedgehogs). The speciose genusPalaeotheriumplus *Anoplotherium
  • and the families Xiphodontidae and Amphimerycidae were observed to disappear completely.
"Only themarsupialfamilyHerpetotheriidae, the artiodactyl familyCainotheriidae, and the rodent families Theridomyidae and Gliridae (dormice) crossed the faunal divide undiminished."

It has been suggested that this was caused by climate change associated with the earliest polar glaciations[10] and a major fall in sea levels, or by competition with taxa dispersing from Asia. However, few argue for an isolated single cause. Other possible causes are related to the impact of one or more large bolides in northern hemisphere at Popigai, Toms Canyon and Chesapeake Bay. Improved correlation of northwest European successions to global events[9] confirms the Grande Coupure as occurring in the earliest Oligocene, with a hiatus of about 350 millennia prior to the first record of post-Grande Coupure Asian immigrant taxa.

An element of the paradigm of the Grande Coupure was the apparent extinction of all European primates at the Coupure: the 1999 discovery[11] of a mouse-sized early Oligocene omomyid, reflecting the better survival chances of small mammals, further undercut the Grand Coupure paradigm.

Evidence in the world's ocean current system indicates an abrupt cooling from 34.1 to 33.6 Ma across the Eocene–Oligocene boundary at 33.9 Ma. The remarkable cooling period in the ocean is correlated with pronounced mammalian faunal replacement within continental Asia as well. The Asian biotic reorganization events are comparable to the Grande Coupure in Europe and the Mongolian Remodeling of mammalian communities.[12] The global cooling is also correlated with marked drying conditions in low-latitudes Asia.[13]

References

[1]
Citation Link//www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11057663Ivany, Linda C.; Patterson, William P.; Lohmann, Kyger C. (2000). "Cooler winters as a possible cause of mass extinctions at the Eocene/Oligocene boundary" (PDF). Nature. 407 (6806): 887–890. doi:10.1038/35038044. hdl:2027.42/62707. PMID 11057663.
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[2]
Citation Link//doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.marmicro.2005.11.006Molina, Eustoquio; Gonzalvo, Concepción; Ortiz, Silvia; Cruz, Luis E. (2006-02-28). "Foraminiferal turnover across the Eocene–Oligocene transition at Fuente Caldera, southern Spain: No cause–effect relationship between meteorite impacts and extinctions". Marine Micropaleontology. 58 (4): 270–286. Bibcode:2006MarMP..58..270M. doi:10.1016/j.marmicro.2005.11.006.
Sep 26, 2019, 12:59 AM
[3]
Citation Linknews.yahoo.com"Russia's Popigai Meteor Crash Linked to Mass Extinction". June 16, 2014.
Sep 26, 2019, 12:59 AM
[4]
Citation Linkportal.issn.orgZachos, James C.; Quinn, Terrence M.; Salamy, Karen A. (1996-06-01). "High-resolution (104 years) deep-sea foraminiferal stable isotope records of the Eocene-Oligocene climate transition". Paleoceanography. 11 (3): 251–266. Bibcode:1996PalOc..11..251Z. doi:10.1029/96PA00571. ISSN 1944-9186.
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[5]
Citation Link//doi.org/10.1016%2F0031-0182%2886%2990008-8Shackleton, N. J. (1986-10-01). "Boundaries and Events in the Paleogene Paleogene stable isotope events". Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 57 (1): 91–102. Bibcode:1986PPP....57...91S. doi:10.1016/0031-0182(86)90008-8.
Sep 26, 2019, 12:59 AM
[6]
Citation Linkopenlibrary.orgalso termed the MP 21 event.
Sep 26, 2019, 12:59 AM
[7]
Citation Linkopenlibrary.orgCalled "dispersal-generated origination" in Hooker et al. 2004
Sep 26, 2019, 12:59 AM
[8]
Citation Linkopenlibrary.orgH.G. Stehlen, 1910. "Remarques sur les faunules de Mammifères des couches eocenes et oligocenes du Bassin de Paris," in Bulletin de la Société Géologique de France, 4'.9, pp 488–520.
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[9]
Citation Link//doi.org/10.1144%2F0016-764903-091Hooker, J.J.; Collinson, M.E.; Sille, N.P. (2004). "Eocene-Oligocene mammalian faunal turnover in the Hampshire Basin, UK: calibration to the global time scale and the major cooling event". Journal of the Geological Society. 161 (2): 161–172. doi:10.1144/0016-764903-091.
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[10]
Citation Linkopenlibrary.orgA major cooling event preceded the Grande Coupure, based on pollen studies in the Paris Basin conducted by Chateauneuf (J.J. Chateauneuf, 1980. "Palynostratigraphie et paleoclimatologie de l'Éocene superieur et de l'Oligocene du Bassin de Paris (France)" in Mémoires du Bureau de Recherches Géologiques et Minières, 116 1980).
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[11]
Citation Linkportal.issn.orgKöhler, M; Moyà-Solà, S (December 1999). "A finding of oligocene primates on the European continent". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 96 (25): 14664–7. Bibcode:1999PNAS...9614664K. doi:10.1073/pnas.96.25.14664. ISSN 0027-8424. PMC 24493. PMID 10588762.
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[12]
Citation Link//doi.org/10.1007%2Fs00531-012-0776-1Zhang, R.; Kravchinsky, V.A.; Yue, L. (2012). "Link between Global Cooling and Mammalian Transformation across the Eocene-Oligocene Boundary in the Continental Interior of Asia]". International Journal of Earth Sciences. 101 (8): 2193–2200. Bibcode:2012IJEaS.101.2193Z. doi:10.1007/s00531-012-0776-1.
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[13]
Citation Linkportal.issn.orgLi, Y. X.; Jiao, W. J.; Liu, Z. H.; Jin, J. H.; Wang, D. H.; He, Y. X.; Quan, C. (2016-02-11). "Terrestrial responses of low-latitude Asia to the Eocene–Oligocene climate transition revealed by integrated chronostratigraphy". Clim. Past. 12 (2): 255–272. Bibcode:2016CliPa..12..255L. doi:10.5194/cp-12-255-2016. ISSN 1814-9332.
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[14]
Citation Linkwww.ucmp.berkeley.eduExtinction an essay by Richard Cowen
Sep 26, 2019, 12:59 AM
[15]
Citation Linkdeepblue.lib.umich.edu"Cooler winters as a possible cause of mass extinctions at the Eocene/Oligocene boundary"
Sep 26, 2019, 12:59 AM
[16]
Citation Linkdoi.org10.1038/35038044
Sep 26, 2019, 12:59 AM
[17]
Citation Linkhdl.handle.net2027.42/62707
Sep 26, 2019, 12:59 AM
[18]
Citation Linkwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov11057663
Sep 26, 2019, 12:59 AM
[19]
Citation Linkui.adsabs.harvard.edu2006MarMP..58..270M
Sep 26, 2019, 12:59 AM
[20]
Citation Linkdoi.org10.1016/j.marmicro.2005.11.006
Sep 26, 2019, 12:59 AM