Oxygen Isotopes from Apatite of Middle and Late Ordovician Conodonts in Peri-Baltica (The Holy Cross Mountains, Poland) and Their Climatic Implications

Abstract

This report provides oxygen isotopes from apatite of late Middle and Late Ordovician conodonts from the southern Holy Cross Mountains in south-eastern Poland. It was a unique time interval characterised by a significant change in the Ordovician climate, tectonic, and ocean chemistry. In the Middle and early Late Ordovician, the Holy Cross Mountains were located in the mid-latitude climatic zone at the southwestern periphery of Baltica; therefore, the δ18Oapatite values from this region provide new data on the 18O/16O budget in the Ordovician seawater reconstructed mainly from the tropical and subtropical realms. Oxygen isotopes from mixed conodont samples were measured using the SHRIMP IIe/MC ion microprobe in the Polish Geological Institute in Warsaw. The δ18Oapatite values range from 16.75‰VSMOW to 20.66‰VSMOW with an average of 18.48‰VSMOW. The oxygen isotopes from bioapatite of the studied section display an increasing trend, suggesting a progressive decrease in sea-surface temperature roughly consistent with an overall cooling of the Ordovician climate. Two distinctive positive excursions of δ18Oapatite have been reported in the upper Sandbian and middle Katian of the studied section and correlated with cooling events recognised in Baltica. They are interpreted as an isotope temperature proxy of climate changes triggered by a growing continental polar ice cap, but increased δ18Oapatite in the late Sandbian contradicts recently postulated climate warming during that time in subtropical Laurentia.

Keywords

• oxygen isotopes
• conodonts
• Ordovician
• palaeotemperature
• climate