Advances in Earth Science ›› 1996, Vol. 11 ›› Issue (3): 288-293. doi: 10.11867/j.issn.1001-8166.1996.03.0288

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GLOBAL EVENTS AT THE PALEOCENE-EOCENE BOUNDARY

Wang Chengshan; Liu Zhifei   

  1. Chengdu Institute of Technology, Chengdu 610059
  • Received:1995-05-22 Revised:1995-09-18 Online:1996-05-01 Published:1996-05-01

Wang Chengshan; Liu Zhifei. GLOBAL EVENTS AT THE PALEOCENE-EOCENE BOUNDARY[J]. Advances in Earth Science, 1996, 11(3): 288-293.

Lots of global changes at the Paleocene-Eocene boundary, Which were discovered by Deep Sea Drilling Project and which have been attracting geologists’ s attention, include: a change in lithology from glauconitic quartz sand to clay; a change in clay mineral suites from illite/smectite-dominated to kaolinite-dominated; the extinction and migration in the terrestrial flora; an increased species turnover rate in marine calcareous nanofossils; the extinction and lower diversity in the benthic foraminiferal assemblages; a considerable excursion in δ18O and δ13C values; a change in the evolution of land mammals; a significant reduction of the intensity of atmospheric circulation; a change in the style of abyssal circulation; an increase in water depth; and one to two order of magnitude increase in hydrothermal activity at the Paleocene-Eocene boundary. The Paleocene-Eocene boundary was the result of global tectonic events by researching lithology, palaeobiology, palaeoclimatology, palaeoceanography of the Paleocene-Eocene stratigraphic sections. The events include that global plate boundary rearrangement, changes in patterns of spreading centers and transform faults, and increase in hydrothermal activity.

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