Anders Lindskog

Onset of main Phanerozoic marine radiation sparked by emerging Mid Ordovician icehouse

The Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event (GOBE) was the most rapid and sustained increase in marine Phanerozoic biodiversity. What generated this biotic response across Palaeozoic seascapes is a matter of debate; several intrinsic and extrinsic drivers have been suggested. One is Ordovician climate, which in recent years has undergone a paradigm shift from a text-book example of an extended greenhouse to an interval with transient cooling intervals – at least during the Late Ordovician. Here, we show the first unambiguous evidence for a sudden Mid Ordovician icehouse, comparable in magnitude to the Quaternary glaciations. We further demonstrate the initiation of this icehouse to coincide with the onset of the GOBE. This finding is based on both abiotic and biotic proxies obtained from the most comprehensive geochemical and palaeobiological dataset yet collected through this interval. We argue that the icehouse conditions increased latitudinal and bathymetrical temperature and oxygen gradients initiating an Early Palaeozoic Great Ocean Conveyor Belt. This fuelled the GOBE, as upwelling zones created new ecospace for the primary producers. A subsequent rise in δ13C ratios known as the Middle Darriwilian Isotopic Carbon Excursion (MDICE) may reflect a global response to increased bioproductivity encouraged by the onset of the GOBE.

Cosmic-ray exposure ages of fossil micrometeorites from mid-Ordovician sediments at Lynna River, Russia

We measured the He and Ne concentrations of 50 individual extraterrestrial chromite grains recovered from mid-Ordovician (lower Darriwilian) sediments from the Lynna River section near St. Petersburg, Russia. High concentrations of solar wind-like He and Ne found in most grains indicate that they were delivered to Earth as micrometeoritic dust, while their abundance, stratigraphic position and major element composition indicate an origin related to the L chondrite parent body (LCPB) break-up event, 470 Ma ago. Compared to sediment-dispersed extraterrestrial chromite (SEC) grains extracted from coeval sediments at other localities, the grains from Lynna River are both highly concentrated and well preserved. As in previous work, in most grains from Lynna River, high concentrations of solar wind-derived He and Ne impede a clear quantification of cosmic-ray produced He and Ne. However, we have found several SEC grains poor in solar wind Ne, showing a resolvable contribution of cosmogenic Ne-21. This makes it possible, for the first time, to determine robust cosmic-ray exposure (CRE) ages in these fossil micrometeorites, on the order of a few hundred-thousand years. These ages are similar to the CRE ages measured in chromite grains from cm-sized fossil meteorites recovered from coeval sediments in Sweden. As the CRE ages are shorter than the orbital decay time of grains of this size by Poynting-Robertson drag, this suggests that the grains were delivered to Earth through direct injection into an orbital resonance. We demonstrate how CRE ages of fossil micrometeorites can be used, in principle, to determine sedimentation rates, and to correlate the sediments at Lynna River with the fossil meteorite-bearing sediment layers in Sweden. In some grains with high concentrations of solar wind Ne, we nevertheless find a well-resolved cosmogenic Ne-21 signal. These grains must have been exposed for up to several 10 Ma in the regolith layer of the pre-break-up L chondrite parent body. This confirms an earlier suggestion that such regolith grains should be abundant in sediments deposited shortly after the break-up of the LCPB asteroid

Refined Ordovician timescale reveals no link between asteroid breakup and biodiversification

The catastrophic disruption of the L chondrite parent body in the asteroid belt c. 470 Ma initiated a prolonged meteorite bombardment of Earth that started in the Ordovician and continues today. Abundant L chondrite meteorites in Middle Ordovician strata have been interpreted to be the consequence of the asteroid breakup event. Here we report a zircon U-Pb date of 467.50±0.28 Ma from a distinct bed within the meteorite-bearing interval of southern Sweden that, combined with published cosmic-ray exposure ages of co-occurring meteoritic material, provides a precise age for the L chondrite breakup at 468.0±0.3 Ma. The new zircon date requires significant revision of the Ordovician timescale that has implications for the understanding of the astrogeobiologic development during this period. It has been suggested that the Middle Ordovician meteorite bombardment played a crucial role in the Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event, but this study shows that the two phenomena were unrelated.

The Volkhov–Kunda transition and the base of the Holen Limestone at Kinnekulle, Västergötland, Sweden

The transition between the Volkhov and Kunda Baltoscandian stages (Darriwilian, Middle Ordovician) is associated with a notable sea-level fall. This study documents the lithologic and sedimentologic expression of this event in the “orthoceratite limestone” at the Hällekis quarry, Kinnekulle, Sweden. The uppermost Volkhov strata are characterized by abundant limonitic hardgrounds and relatively coarse carbonate textures, including intraclasts and ferruginous coated grains. The top of a conspicuous wacke-packstone interval is identified as the local Volkhov–Kunda and Lanna Limestone–Holen Limestone boundary. The boundary is overlain by marly limestone, in which limonitic hardgrounds become uncommon and a temporary fining of carbonate textures occurs. An overall trend of increasing (mainly skeletal) grain concentration and diversity is seen throughout the studied succession. Based on the collective observations, a sea-level curve for the upper Volkhov and lower Kunda is presented.

Darriwilian (Middle Ordovician) worms of southern Sweden

Abstract The record of scolecodonts (polychaete jaws) from the Ordovician of Sweden is very poor. In this paper, we document a Darriwilian (Middle Ordovician) assemblage recovered from palynological samples from the “orthoceratite limestone” (Lanna and Holen limestones) of Mount Kinnekulle, Västergötland, southern Sweden. The collection of diminutive specimens forms an assemblage taxonomically composed mainly of simple placognath (mochtyellids, xanioprionids) and ctenognath (tetraprionids) taxa, whereas labidognaths (polychaetaspids) and taxa with other evolutionary grade-type apparatuses are very rare or absent. In addition, putative priapulid (penis worm) teeth were identified, possibly representing the first fossil representatives recorded in Sweden. The highest scolecodont abundance coincides with the lower to middle part of the “Täljsten” interval (lower Kunda Baltoscandian Stage). These strata are interpreted as having been formed during a marked regressional phase, suggesting that the palaeobathymetry and/or bottom substrate was optimal for polychaete colonization at that time. This new assemblage from Kinnekulle adds to the global scolecodont record in which data on Middle Ordovician and older specimens are still rudimentary but of importance for understanding early polychaete phylogeny.

Megascopic processes reflected in the microscopic realm : sedimentary and biotic dynamics of the Middle Ordovician “orthoceratite limestone” at Kinnekulle, Sweden

Abstract The Middle Ordovician (Dapingian–middle Darriwilian) “orthoceratite limestone” is documented in its traditional type area at Kinnekulle in the province of Västergötland in southern Sweden. Detailed field studies combined with systematic qualitative and quantitative analyses of carbonate microfacies at high stratigraphic resolution show that this suite of cool-water carbonate rocks is more variable than is suggested by its overall homogeneous macroscopic appearance. Long-term changes in carbonate textures and fossil grain assemblages, together with pervasive rhythmic/cyclic patterns, suggest a strong influence from sea level on microfacies characteristics. Assessment of the results in light of regional facies patterns indicates that the cool-water “orthoceratite limestone” behaved much like “model” siliciclastic sedimentary systems, in that carbonate texture varied with depositional depth as particle size of siliclastics does. Carbonate texture thus appears to reflect absolute depth well, whereas grain assemblages record high-frequency cycles of changes in both sea level and substrate conditions. A relative sea level curve compiled from the collective data shows excellent agreement with previously published curves based on different proxies. The most important factor for the long-term establishment and regional dominance of the “orthoceratite limestone” throughout much of the Early and Middle Ordovician appears to have been a limited terrigenous sediment input to the Baltoscandian paleobasin. Hence, much of the regional facies zonation may reflect distance from weathering sources rather than bathymetric conditions.

Conodont biostratigraphy and carbon isotope stratigraphy of the Middle Ordovician (Darriwilian) Komstad Limestone, southern Sweden

Abstract The Komstad Limestone forms a distal part of the widespread ‘orthoceratite limestone’ of the Baltoscandian continent. In this paper, we present an integrated conodont biostratigraphy and carbon isotope stratigraphy for a major part of this formation and address its significance for evaluating Middle Ordovician correlation and overall stratigraphy. Four conodont zones are distinguished, including the Lenodus antivariabilis Zone, Lenodus variabilis Zone, the Yangtzeplacognathus crassus Zone, and the Eoplacognathus pseudoplanus Zone. Carbon isotopes have previously not been published from the Komstad Limestone. The data herein show that carbonate strata may retain a comprehensive pristine δ13C signal despite relatively strong thermal influence during diagenesis (Conodont Color Alteration Index 4–5).

Cambrian stratigraphy of the Tomten-1 drill core, Västergötland, Sweden

Abstract The Tomten-1 drilling at Torbjörntorp in Västergötland, southern Sweden, penetrated 29.85 m of Cambrian Series 2, Cambrian Series 3, Furongian, and Lower–Middle Ordovician strata. Lithostratigraphically, the succession includes the File Haidar, Borgholm and Alum Shale formations, and the Latorp and Lanna limestones. The drill core succession is described herein for the first time, with special focus on the biostratigraphy of the Cambrian Alum Shale Formation. In the Cambrian Series 3, through Furongian Alum Shale Formation, agnostoids and trilobites have been identified to species level and the succession is subdivided into nine biozones (in ascending order): the Ptychagnostus gibbus, Ptychagnostus atavus, Lejopyge laevigata, Agnostus pisiformis, Olenus gibbosus, Parabolina spinulosa, Ctenopyge tumida, Ctenopyge bisulcata and Ctenopyge linnarssoni zones. The succession is interrupted by numerous stratigraphic gaps of variable magnitudes, as is evident from the biostratigraphy and conspicuous unconformities.