The formation of the Alleghenian Isthmus triggered the Bashkirian glaciation: Constraints from warm-water benthic foraminifera

Abstract

© 2017 Elsevier B.V. The timing of the final collision of Laurentia and Gondwana as well as the disappearance of the gateway between the Rheic and Tethyan oceans are quite controversial and poorly established. Accurate constraints on the gateway closure are vitally important for the understanding of global sea-level fluctuations, ocean circulation, regional and global environments, salinity and reorganization of the thermohaline circulation in the western Tethys, the Bashkirian glacial episode and the overall decline of atmospheric CO 2 concentrations. Here we present a new approach by applying warm-water benthic foraminifera (WWBF) data to precisely constrain the Rheic-Tethys gateway (RTG) closure, utilizing taxonomic and statistical methods. The link to the RTG closure and the profound biotic transformations in the oceans, sea-level, and expansion of the Gondwana ice sheet are discussed herein. The WWBF records in the studied regions constrain the timing of the RTG disappearance and support a linkage between the appearance of the Alleghenian Isthmus and the onset of the Bashkirian glaciation.