• DOI:10.1130/G30152A.1
• Corpus ID: 43639659

A major drop in seawater 87Sr/86Sr during the Middle Ordovician (Darriwilian): Links to volcanism and climate?

@article{Young2009AMD,
  title={A major drop in seawater 87Sr/86Sr during the Middle Ordovician (Darriwilian): Links to volcanism and climate?},
  author={Seth A. Young and Matthew R. Saltzman and Kenneth A. Foland and Jeff S. Linder and Lee R. Kump},
  journal={Geology},
  year={2009},
  volume={37},
  pages={951-954}
}

• Seth A. Young, M. Saltzman, +2 authors L. Kump
• Published 1 October 2009
• Environmental Science, Geography
• Geology

A large drop in seawater 87 Sr/ 86 Sr during the Middle Ordovician was among the most rapid in the entire Phanerozoic. New 87 Sr/ 86 Sr measurements from Nevada indicate that the rapid shift began in the Pygodus serra conodont zone of the upper Darriwilian Stage. We use a numerical model to explore the hypothesis that volcanic weathering provided the flux of nonradiogenic Sr to the oceans. A close balance between volcanic outgassing and CO 2 consumption from weathering produced steady p CO 2 levels and climate through the middle Katian, consistent with recent Ordovician paleotemperature estimates. In the late Katian, outgassing was reduced while volcanic weathering continued, and resulted in a cooling episode leading into the well-known end-Ordovician glaciation.