Eocene Shark Teeth From Peninsular Antarctica: Windows to Habitat Use and PaleoceanographyShow others and affiliations
2024 (English)In: Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology, ISSN 2572-4517, E-ISSN 2572-4525, Vol. 39, no 11, article id e2024PA004965Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
Eocene climate cooling, driven by the falling pCO2 and tectonic changes in the Southern Ocean, impacted marine ecosystems. Sharks in high‐latitude oceans, sensitive to these changes, offer insights into both environmental shifts and biological responses, yet few paleoecological studies exist. The Middle‐to‐Late Eocene units on Seymour Island, Antarctica, provide a rich, diverse fossil record, including sharks. We analyzed the oxygen isotope composition of phosphate from shark tooth bioapatite (δ18Op) and compared our results to co‐occurring bivalves and predictions from an isotope‐enabled global climate model to investigate habitat use and environmental conditions. Bulk δ18Op values (mean 22.0 ± 1.3‰) show no significant changes through the Eocene. Furthermore, the variation in bulk δ18Op values often exceeds that in simulated seasonal and regional values. Pelagic and benthic sharks exhibit similar δ18Op values across units but are offset relative to bivalve and modeled values. Some taxa suggest movements into warmer or more brackish waters (e.g., Striatolamia, Carcharias) or deeper, colder waters (e.g., Pristiophorus). Taxa like Raja and Squalus display no shift, tracking local conditions in Seymour Island. The lack of difference in δ18Op values between pelagic and benthic sharks in the Late Eocene could suggest a poorly stratified water column, inconsistent with a fully opened Drake Passage. Our findings demonstrate that shark tooth bioapatite tracks the preferred habitat conditions for individual taxa rather than recording environmental conditions where they are found. A lack of secular variation in δ18Op values says more about species ecology than the absence of regional or global environmental changes.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
John Wiley & Sons, 2024. Vol. 39, no 11, article id e2024PA004965
Keywords [en]
oxygen isotopes, shark teeth, Antarctic Peninsula, Eocene, climate cooling
National Category
Other Earth Sciences
Research subject
Ecosystems and species history; The changing Earth
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:nrm:diva-5683DOI: 10.1029/2024pa004965OAI: oai:DiVA.org:nrm-5683DiVA, id: diva2:1912232
Funder
Swedish Research Council, 2009‐4447Carl Tryggers foundation , 20:300
Note
The project analyses, GLC, and AA were supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) Awards 1842049 and 1842059 to SLK and MH, respectively. Fieldwork was supported by the Swedish Research Council (VR) Grant 2009‐4447 and the Carl Tryggers Foundation (CTS) Grant 20:300 to TM. The study of the chondrichthyan remains was supported by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) Grant P 26465 to JK. We would like to acknowledge high‐performance computing support from the Derecho system (https://doi.org/10.5065/qx9a‐pg09) provided by the NSF National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), sponsored by the National Science Foundation.
2024-11-112024-11-112025-09-12Bibliographically approved