MIDDLE EOCENE REFRIGERATION — NEW EVIDENCE FROM CALIFORNIA PLANKTONIC FORAMINIFERAL ASSEMBLAGES |
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| Authors: | P LEWIS STEINECK |
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| Institution: | Department of Geology, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, U.S.A., 70803 |
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| Abstract: | In California, faunal parameters of planktonic foraminiferal assemblages change dramatically at the Lower-Middle Eocene boundary. By analogy with modern distributional data, these changes are interpreted to reflect alteration of the prevailing water-mass character from warm-temperate to temperate. The change from warm-temperate to temperate planktonic foraminiferal assemblages occurring over the California continental borderland is reconcilable with a minimum southward displacement of 15° latitude in water-mass boundaries and lends support to the concept of a bipolar Middle Eocene refrigeration. |
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