The climate-forming role of Early Paleogene marine currents in high latitudes of Eurasia

Abstract

Paleobotanical evidence for the climate-forming significance of marine currents in the Early Paleogene of the Arctic is reported. It is based on the analysis of mega- and microfossil plant assemblages derived from the outcrops located along the Arctic coastline of Eurasia and on the islands within the Arctic shelf. The occurrence of warm marine water masses is inferred from findings of Lower Paleogene microplankton and megafossils and palynomorphs of higher plants including Lauraceae, Magnoliaceae, Araliaceae, Loranthaceae, Palmaceae, and members of other thermophilic groups along the Arctic coast. The Early Paleogene climate in this realm was milder and was influenced by currents washing the continent and by marine heat transfer via the Trans-Siberian strait together with the atmospheric heat transfer.