Isotopic and trace element compositions of Miocene and Pliocene
phosphatic brachiopods (Lingulidae and Discinidae) from southern North
Sea, the Central Paratethys and the Atlantic coast of Europe were
investigated in order to trace past environmental conditions and marine
connections between the northern boreal and the southern
subtropical-tropical marine basins. The North Sea genus Glottidia
yielded low epsilon(Nd) and high delta O-18(PO4) values through the
Mio-Pliocene indicating cold habitat temperature where the local
seawater was dominated by the Atlantic Ocean. In contrast, the Middle
Miocene Lingulidae and Discinidae of the Paratethys inhabited warm
subtropical seawater with the possible influence of the Indian Ocean via
the Mediterranean, as supported by their average epsilon(Nd) value of
-8.3. The combined geochemical data support a thermal and marine
separation of the Paratethys from the North Sea with no direct
connection or major exchange of water from the Miocene onwards.
The temperature in the Paratethys was very similar to that inferred from
brachiopods from the Middle Miocene of western France, but the seawater
epsilon(Nd) value here is identical to that of contemporaneous Atlantic
Ocean. A Late Miocene lingulid brachiopod from southern Portugal has a
high delta O-18(PO4), similar to the specimens investigated from the
North Sea, reflecting either a deep water habitat or formation after the
onset of major global cooling that resulted in an increased delta O-18
value of seawater. The epsilon(Nd) value of -8.4 for this site is
compatible with an influence of Mediterranean outflow. (C) 2012 Elsevier
B.V. All rights reserved.