Cenozoic Deep-Sea Temperatures and Global Ice Volumes from Mg/Ca in Benthic Foraminiferal Calcite

Abstract
A deep-sea temperature record for the past 50 million years has been produced from the magnesium/calcium ratio (Mg/Ca) in benthic foraminiferal calcite. The record is strikingly similar in form to the corresponding benthic oxygen isotope (δ 18 O) record and defines an overall cooling of about 12°C in the deep oceans with four main cooling periods. Used in conjunction with the benthic δ 18 O record, the magnesium temperature record indicates that the first major accumulation of Antarctic ice occurred rapidly in the earliest Oligocene (34 million years ago) and was not accompanied by a decrease in deep-sea temperatures.