Late Ordovician zooplankton maps and the climate of the Early Palaeozoic Icehouse
Vandenbroucke, T.; Armstrong, H.; Williams, M.; Paris, F.; Sabbe, K.; Zalasiewicz, J. (2013). Late Ordovician zooplankton maps and the climate of the Early Palaeozoic Icehouse. Mem. Geol. Soc. Lond. 38: 399-405. dx.doi.org/10.1144/M38.24
In: Geological Society Memoir. Geological Society: London. ISSN 0435-4052; e-ISSN 2041-4722, more
Chitinozoans and graptolites are the main components of preserved Ordovician zooplankton. As with much of the modern plankton, the 'first-order' species distributions of Ordovician plankton reflect water masses defined on the basis of sea surface temperatures. For 'time slices' of less than a few million years, zooplankton distribution patterns can be used to infer latitudinal sea surface temperature gradients, key palaeoceanographical boundaries and the position of Ordovician climate belts. Here, using two Late Ordovician time intervals - the early Sandbian and Hirnantian - we review how zooplankton distribution patterns identify Late Ordovician cooling and reflect the development of severe icehouse conditions.
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