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Paleotemperature proxy data form the cornerstone of paleoclimate research and are integral to understanding the evolution of the Earth system across the Phanerozoic Eon. Here, we present PhanSST, a database containing over 150,000 data points from five proxy systems that can be used to estimate past sea surface temperature. The geochemical data hav...
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Understanding past climate is invaluable for evaluating the natural context of man‐made warming. Long term surface‐air temperature records only exist at a few locations. To reconstruct global trends further back in time proxies must then be used. Measurements from such systems are then calibrated against observed climate vari...
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... Our understanding of ocean temperatures throughout the Phanerozoic is primarily derived from stable oxygen isotope (δ 18 O)-based temperature reconstructions (Gaskell et al., 2022;Grossman and Joachimski, 2022;Judd et al., 2024Judd et al., , 2022Scotese et al., 2021;Veizer and Prokoph, 2015). Stable oxygen isotope data acquired on carbonate or phosphate biominerals represent half of the entries in a recent Phanerozoic-scale compilation of sea-surface temperature (SST) proxy data and constitute the only proxy extending from the Cambrian to Modern (Judd et al., 2024(Judd et al., , 2022. ...
... Our understanding of ocean temperatures throughout the Phanerozoic is primarily derived from stable oxygen isotope (δ 18 O)-based temperature reconstructions (Gaskell et al., 2022;Grossman and Joachimski, 2022;Judd et al., 2024Judd et al., , 2022Scotese et al., 2021;Veizer and Prokoph, 2015). Stable oxygen isotope data acquired on carbonate or phosphate biominerals represent half of the entries in a recent Phanerozoic-scale compilation of sea-surface temperature (SST) proxy data and constitute the only proxy extending from the Cambrian to Modern (Judd et al., 2024(Judd et al., , 2022. SST reconstructions are pivotal for our understanding of the evolution of Earth's climate, which in turn is crucial for investigating the co-evolution of marine biodiversity and the physical environment (Ontiveros et al., 2023;Trotter et al., 2008). ...
... The strongest biases correspond to SST overestimations in regions of low salinity at higher latitudes. Fig. 7c shows that mean SSTs are consistently overestimated in the 45 • -60 • latitude band in each hemisphere; this latitudinal window represents the high-latitude edge of the region for which most δ 18 O proxy data are available ( Fig. 7a; see also Judd et al., 2022). There are two clear intervals of substantial biases in these latitudinal bands: the southern hemisphere during the Devonian to Permian, and the northern hemisphere during the Triassic to present-day, with zonally-averaged biases of the order of +5 • C and +2.5 • C, respectively. ...
Stable oxygen isotopes (δ18O) are routinely used to reconstruct sea-surface temperatures (SSTs) in the geological past, with mineral δ18O values reflecting a combination of the temperature and oxygen isotope composition of seawater (δ18Osw). Temporal variation of mean-ocean δ18Osw is usually accounted for following estimates of land-ice volume. Spatial variations in δ18Osw, however, are often neglected or corrected using calibrations derived from the present-day or recent past. Geochemical methods for constraining δ18Osw and isotope-enabled general circulation model (GCM) simulations are still technically challenging. This lack of constraints on ancient δ18Osw is a substantial source of uncertainty for SST reconstructions. Here we use the co-variation of δ18Osw and seawater salinity, together with GCM simulations of ocean salinity, to propose estimations of spatial variability in δ18Osw over the Phanerozoic. Sensitivity tests of the δ18Osw-salinity relationship and climate model, and comparison with results of isotope-enabled GCMs, suggest that our calculations are robust at first order. We show that continental configuration exerts a primary control on δ18Osw spatial variability. Complex ocean basin geometries in periods younger than 66 Ma lead to strong inter-basinal contrasts in δ18Osw. Latitudinal SST gradients may be steeper than previously suggested during most of the Mesozoic and Cenozoic. This work has limitations, with δ18Osw-salinity relationships being less reliable in both low-latitude epicontinental settings and high-latitude regions of deep-water formation. Whilst our calculations are limited use in correcting δ18O measurements for local δ18Osw, they identify the time slices and paleogeographical regions that should be prioritized for future work using isotope-enabled GCMs.
... Prior efforts by biologists and paleontologists have created biological-focused databases to synthesize disparate neontological and paleontological datasets (e.g., Lazarus 1994;Williams et al. 2018;Bijl 2022;Smith et al. 2023a;Smith et al. 2023b;Sessa et al. 2023). Similarly, working groups composed of (paleo)oceanographers, paleoclimatologists, geochemists, Earth systems modelers, and sedimentologists have worked to synthesize records of abiotic changes, often with a focus on improving climate models (e.g., Haywood et al. 2011;Judd et al. 2022). Although many individual biotic and abiotic records are available from data aggregators (e.g., PANGAEA, Diepenbroek et al. 2002), there is a lack of standardization or ability to aggregate and collate these disparate datasets easily, but some efforts have been made (e.g., Sessa et al. 2023). ...
The microfossil record contains abundant, diverse, and well‐preserved fossils spanning multiple trophic levels from primary producers to apex predators. In addition, microfossils often constitute and are preserved in high abundances alongside continuous high‐resolution geochemical proxy records. These characteristics mean that microfossils can provide valuable context for understanding the modern climate and biodiversity crises by allowing for the interrogation of spatiotemporal scales well beyond what is available in neo‐ecological research. Here, we formalize a research framework of “micropaleoecology,” which builds on a holistic understanding of global change from the environment to ecosystem level. Location: Global. Time period: Neoproterozoic‐Phanerozoic. Taxa studied: Fossilizing organisms/molecules. Our framework seeks to integrate geochemical proxy records with microfossil records and metrics, and draws on mechanistic models and systems‐level statistical analyses to integrate disparate records. Using multiple proxies and mechanistic mathematical frameworks extends analysis beyond traditional correlation‐based studies of paleoecological associations and builds a greater understanding of past ecosystem dynamics. The goal of micropaleoecology is to investigate how environmental changes impact the component and emergent properties of ecosystems through the integration of multi‐trophic level body fossil records (primarily using microfossils, and incorporating additional macrofossil data where possible) with contemporaneous environmental (biogeochemical, geochemical, and sedimentological) records. Micropaleoecology, with its focus on integrating ecological metrics within the context of paleontological records, facilitates a deeper understanding of the response of ecosystems across time and space to better prepare for a future Earth under threat from anthropogenic climate change.
... Existing proxy-based reconstructions are either restricted to sea-surface temperature (SST) data (18,19) or extrapolate GMST by combining the tropical SST record with paleo-Köppen climatic belts (14,15). However, the heterogeneous spatiotemporal coverage of proxy data can bias estimates of GMST (8,20,21), and the fidelity of both the data and the proxy system assumptions are progressively more uncertain with increasing geologic age. Conversely, calculating GMST from the full-field surface air temperature (SAT) outputs provided by ESMs is straightforward (4,16,17) but requires assumptions about boundary conditions (e.g., greenhouse gas concentrations, ice volume) that are challenging to constrain in deep time. ...
... Following the approach of recent DA reconstructions (30,31), we assimilated geochemical proxies of SST, which were drawn from the PhanSST database (21,29). We do not assimilate terrestrial temperature proxy information for several reasons. ...
... Details about each of these variables and how they were assembled can be found in the supplementary materials (29). In summary, the ESM simulations used in X prior come from the fully coupled atmosphere-ocean-vegetation Hadley Centre model, HadCM3L (33,34), and the proxy data used in Y obs were drawn from the PhanSST database (21), which contains over 150,000 proxy estimates from five geochemical proxy systems for SST. We calculated Y est , or the predicted proxy values, from our model priors using established forward models (table S1), accounting for the spatial and temporal variability in the seawater d 18 O, pH, and Mg/Ca values. ...
A long-term record of global mean surface temperature (GMST) provides critical insight into the dynamical limits of Earth’s climate and the complex feedbacks between temperature and the broader Earth system. Here, we present PhanDA, a reconstruction of GMST over the past 485 million years, generated by statistically integrating proxy data with climate model simulations. PhanDA exhibits a large range of GMST, spanning 11° to 36°C. Partitioning the reconstruction into climate states indicates that more time was spent in warmer rather than colder climates and reveals consistent latitudinal temperature gradients within each state. There is a strong correlation between atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) concentrations and GMST, identifying CO 2 as the dominant control on variations in Phanerozoic global climate and suggesting an apparent Earth system sensitivity of ~8°C.
... The (Haq, 2018;Haq et al., 1987;Haq & Schutter, 2008 ; Table S1), are always present throughout the Phanerozoic, suggesting that continental ice has always been there, even during the period of so-called greenhouse conditions (see also Bornemann et al., 2008). One may argue that δ 18 O records, in particular, lack evidence for significant water storage in continental ice over long intervals during the Phanerozoic (Grossman & Joachimski, 2020Judd et al., 2022). On the contrary, proxy data such as δ 13 C and δ 18 O (e.g., Gradstein et al., 2020) are usually sparser than sea level based on onlaps identification and their variations are subject to more intertwined and complex causes. ...
Throughout the Phanerozoic and more, the Earth has experienced cold and hot periods, which are typically associated with long‐lasting (hundreds of million years, Ma) greenhouse and icehouse climate regimes. Now, most published sea‐level curves report two main maxima in the Cretaceous and Ordovician superimposed on a multitude of short‐term fluctuations. The big humps are shown to be predominantly the results of the plate tectonic configuration, not icehouse and greenhouse regimes, suggesting that the small oscillations are related to continental ice variations. From this point of view, it can be inferred that polar ice caps are present almost all the time, and climate regime changes appear much more frequent and shorter than usually considered and are not well‐documented from glaciogenic deposits. Relying on short‐term oscillations, the volume of continental ice can be retrieved over the Phanerozoic.
... The Cretaceous (145-66 Ma) is one of the typical greenhouse periods during the Phanerozoic eon, i.e. from ~538.8 Ma to the present (Royer et al., 2004;Goddéris et al., 2012;Judd et al., 2022). Paleo-temperature reconstructions from this period indicate much higher values compared to today (Pearson et al., 2001;Huber et al., 2002;Klages et al., 2020;Steinig et al., 2020;Burgener et al., 2023). ...
... Such a greenhouse world, accompanied by no or much less polar ice was mainly maintained by some key factors, such as higher atmospheric carbon dioxide (pCO 2 ) levels, lower atmospheric oxygen concentrations, cloud feedback mechanisms, vegetation, and paleogeography (Poulsen et al., 1998(Poulsen et al., , 2015Otto-Bliesner et al., 2002;Poulsen, 2004;Bice et al., 2006;Kump and Pollard, 2008;Goddéris et al., 2012Goddéris et al., , 2014Tabor et al., 2016;Steinig et al., 2020). Among them, higher atmospheric pCO 2 levels are usually considered to be one of the most important drivers (Bice and Norris, 2002;Otto-Bliesner et al., 2002;Wang et al., 2014;Klages et al., 2020;Li et al., 2023a), as well as during the whole Phanerozoic eon (Berner, 1990;Berner, 1994;Berner and Kothavala, 2001;Royer et al., 2004;Franks et al., 2014;Royer, 2014;Judd et al., 2022). The mid-Cretaceous (~120-90 Ma) with much higher pCO 2 values was warmer than the early and late Cretaceous with relatively lower pCO 2 values (Bice and Norris, 2002;Forster et al., 2007;Hasegawa et al., 2012;Wang et al., 2014;Cao et al., 2020b;Klages et al., 2020). ...
... As the most important greenhouse gas, the change in atmospheric pCO 2 levels has always been considered to play a considerable role in the evolution of the Earth's climate system during the Phanerozoic eon (Berner, 1990;Berner, 1994;Berner and Kothavala, 2001;Royer et al., 2004;Franks et al., 2014;Royer, 2014;Judd et al., 2022), as well as during the Cretaceous (Bice and Norris, 2002;Otto-Bliesner et al., 2002;Wang et al., 2014;Klages et al., 2020;Li et al., 2023a). In general, the mid-Cretaceous climate with higher atmospheric pCO 2 levels was warmer than the early and late Cretaceous climates (Hasegawa et al., 2012;Wang et al., 2014). ...
Sedimentary records indicate that subtropical and mid-latitude East Asia exhibited considerable drying and wetting, respectively, during the mid-Cretaceous, which is considered to be relevant to much higher atmospheric carbon dioxide (pCO 2) concentrations and/or proto-Tibetan Plateau (proto-TP) uplift. In order to explore and compare their roles on the East Asian climate evolution, we conducted simulations of the mid-Cretaceous climate system with different atmospheric pCO 2 levels and varying topographies. The results show that both factors had significant influences on the East Asian climate. As the increase in atmospheric pCO 2 levels from ~560-1120 ppmv to ~1120-2240 ppmv, the precipitation increases considerably over mid-latitude East Asia, but only small changes in the subtropical portion of East Asia occur. Simultaneously, the effects of the proto-TP uplift are opposite to those of global warming trend during that period. Generally, it leads to a precipitation decrease over subtropical East Asia, but rather minor changes over mid-latitude East Asia. These changes are qualitatively consistent with the deduction based on the geological records, but the magnitudes of the modeled precipitation changes are relatively smaller. Therefore, we can conclude that the subtropical East Asian drying during the mid-Cretaceous can be partly explained by the proto-TP uplift, while the mid-latitude East Asian wetting was partly due to global warming. However, additional factor(s) also played a significant role in the East Asian climate evolution during the mid-Cretaceous.
... Recent advances in the synthesis of palaeoclimatic data (e.g. Veizer and Prokoph, 2015;Hollis et al., 2019;Song et al., 2019;Grossman and Joachimski, 2022;Judd et al., 2022) are offering unprecedented insights into the complex and dynamic nature of the Earth's climate system, yet a fundamental challenge remains: the proxy record of past climates is spatially incomplete and afflicted by imperfect preservation and uneven sampling (Judd et al., 2020;Jones and Eichenseer, 2022;Judd et al., 2022). ...
... Recent advances in the synthesis of palaeoclimatic data (e.g. Veizer and Prokoph, 2015;Hollis et al., 2019;Song et al., 2019;Grossman and Joachimski, 2022;Judd et al., 2022) are offering unprecedented insights into the complex and dynamic nature of the Earth's climate system, yet a fundamental challenge remains: the proxy record of past climates is spatially incomplete and afflicted by imperfect preservation and uneven sampling (Judd et al., 2020;Jones and Eichenseer, 2022;Judd et al., 2022). ...
Accurately reconstructing large-scale palaeoclimatic patterns from sparse local records is critical for understanding the evolution of Earth's climate. Particular challenges arise from the patchiness, uneven spatial distribution, and disparate nature of palaeoclimatic proxy records. Geochemical data typically provide temperature estimates via transfer functions derived from experiments. Similarly, transfer functions based on the climatic requirements of modern taxa exist for some fossil groups, such as pollen assemblages. In contrast, most ecological and lithological data (e.g. coral reefs and evaporites) only convey information on broad climatic requirements. Historically, most large-scale proxy-based reconstructions have used either geochemical or ecological data, but few studies have combined multiple proxy types into a single quantitative reconstruction. Large spatial gaps in existing proxy records have often been bridged by simple averaging, without taking into account the spatial distribution of samples, leading to biased temperature reconstructions. Here, we present a Bayesian hierarchical model to integrate ecological data with established geochemical proxies into a unified quantitative framework, bridging gaps in the latitudinal coverage of proxy data. We apply this approach to the early Eocene climatic optimum (EECO), the interval with the warmest sustained temperatures of the Cenozoic. Assuming the conservation of thermal tolerances of modern coral reefs and mangrove taxa, we establish broad sea surface temperature ranges for EECO coral reef and mangrove sites. We integrate these temperature estimates with the EECO geochemical shallow marine proxy record to model the latitudinal sea surface temperature gradient and global average temperatures of the EECO. Our results confirm the presence of a flattened latitudinal temperature gradient and unusually high polar temperatures during the EECO, which is supported by high-latitude ecological data. We show that integrating multiple types of proxy data, and adequate prior information, has the potential to enhance quantitative palaeoclimatic reconstructions, improving temperature estimates from datasets with limited spatial sampling.
... Specifically, oxygen isotopes from brachiopods and conodonts are widely used in the Paleozoic, while in the Mesozoic, oxygen isotopes from conodonts and belemnites are preferred. Moving into the Cenozoic, most published oxygen isotopes and Mg/Ca ratios were obtained from corals, foraminifers, and mollusks (e.g., Veizer and Prokoph, 2015;Song et al., 2019;Judd et al., 2022). ...
Climatic and environmental conditions play a pivotal role in the evolution of the biosphere, serving as the primary natural factors influencing biological evolution and the development of human civilization. The study of the evolution of Earth’s habitability primarily revolves around the reconstruction of climatic and oceanic conditions in geohistorical periods, shedding light on their dynamic changes. This paper collates classic geological indicators and geochemical proxies associated with paleo-climatic and oceanic environmental conditions. The latest “big data” analyses and simulations made possible by the availability of previously unimagined massive datasets reveal several key findings: During the early Paleozoic, atmospheric oxygen levels were low, and widespread oceanic anoxia was prevalent; the Devonian era witnessed a greenhouse climate, followed by the Carboniferous ice age characterized by higher oceanic oxidation levels and alkalinity. The latest Paleozoic deglaciation occurred under high pCO2 conditions, extending into much of the Mesozoic and early Cenozoic, marked by multiple hyperthermal and anoxia expansion events, until the resurgence of global glaciation in the middle-late stages of the Cenozoic, ultimately bringing environmental and climatic conditions closer to modern levels. By correlating the aforementioned long-term trends with major geological events, we can delineate the co-evolution of paleoclimate and oceanic environments in tandem with the development of Tethys tectonics as follows. (1) During the Proto-Tethys stage, global paleo-elevations were relatively low, and atmospheric oxygen levels were also relatively modest. Despite the occurrence of significant tectonic movements that led to noticeable transgressive-regressive cycles, their effects on climate and oceanic environments were somewhat limited due to the relatively weak interactions. (2) The emergence of the Paleo-Tethys was a significant event that coincided with the formation of the supercontinent Pangaea. Intensive orogenic movements during this period increased the global land area and elevation. This, in turn, led to enhanced terrestrial weathering, which elevated sea surface productivity and resulted in massive nutrient input into the oceans. Consequently, this process contributed to the rise of oxygen levels in the atmosphere and a decrease in atmospheric pCO2. These changes are considered potential driving mechanisms for late Paleozoic glaciation and oceanic oxygenation. (3) The transition from the Paleo-Tethys to the Neo-Tethys was closely linked to the breakup of Pangaea. During this period, the terrestrial weathering processes were relatively weak due to decreased continental elevations. This resulted in a long-term greenhouse climate and intermittent global oceanic events, which were responses to the high atmospheric pCO2 levels during the Mesozoic and early Cenozoic eras. (4) The Neo-Tethys stage ended with the dramatic uplift of the Alps-Himalaya Mountain ranges due to the collision of India and Asia. This uplift had a profound global impact, significantly increasing continental elevations. As a result, weathering and carbon burial processes intensified, leading to a reduction in atmospheric pCO2. Concurrently, this uplift played a crucial role in the establishment of the East Asian monsoon and North Atlantic deep-water circulations, both of which played a part in triggering the late Cenozoic ice age. These models suggest that the teleconnections between land and sea (orogeny-terrestrial weathering-marine carbon burial) span over the whole Phanerozoic and might have played a key role in balancing the Earth surface system. Combined, the tectonic, volcanic, paleo-climatic, as well as paleoenvironmental events recorded in the Tethys oceans and adjunct continents represent valuable natural experiments and lessons for understanding the present and the future of Earth’s habitability.
Marine glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers (GDGTs) are used in various proxies (such as TEX86) to reconstruct past ocean temperatures. Over 20 years of improvements in GDGT sample processing, analytical techniques, data interpretation and our understanding of proxy functioning have led to the collective development of a set of best practices in all these areas. Further, the importance of Open Science in research has increased the emphasis on the systematic documentation of data generation, reporting and archiving processes for optimal reusability of data. In this paper, we provide protocols and best practices for obtaining, interpreting and presenting GDGT data (with a focus on marine GDGTs), from sampling to data archiving. The purpose of this paper is to optimize inter-laboratory comparability of GDGT data, and to ensure published data follows modern open access principles.
