Heiko Pälike

TL;DR: In this article, an amended low-latitude (tropical and subtropical) Cenozoic planktonic foraminiferal zonation is presented, based on the first appearance dates of Globigerinatheka kugleri and Hantkenina singanoae.

TL;DR: The changes in oxygen-isotope composition across the Eocene/Oligocene boundary are too large to be explained by Antarctic ice-sheet growth alone and must therefore also indicate contemporaneous global cooling and/or Northern Hemisphere glaciation.

TL;DR: A new, highly resolved, astronomically dated, continuous composite of benthic foraminifer isotope records developed in the authors' laboratories reveals the key role that polar ice volume plays in the predictability of Cenozoic climate dynamics.

TL;DR: It is shown that sea surface temperatures near the North Pole increased from ∼18 °C to over 23‬°C during this event, which suggests that higher-than-modern greenhouse gas concentrations must have operated in conjunction with other feedback mechanisms—perhaps polar stratospheric clouds or hurricane-induced ocean mixing—to amplify early Palaeogene polar temperatures.

TL;DR: The compounded nature of the signals implies that far-field climate anomalies around 8,200 years ago cannot be used in a straightforward manner to assess the impact of a slowdown of North Atlantic Deep Water formation, and the geographical extent of the rapid cooling event 8, 200 years ago remains to be determined.