: Paleoclimatology: Eocene-Oligocene

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Eocene-Oligocene

The Eocene–Oligocene extinction event, also called the Eocene-Oligocene transition (EOT) or Grande Coupure (French for "great cut"), is the transition between the end of the Eocene and the beginning of the Oligocene, an extinction event and faunal turnover occurring between 33.9 and 33.4 million years ago. It was marked by large-scale extinction and floral and faunal turnover, although it was relatively minor in comparison to the largest mass extinctions. The boundary between the Eocene and Oligocene epochs is marked by the glaciation of Antarctica and the consequent beginning of the Late Cenozoic Ice Age. This enormous shift in climatic regime is the leading candidate for the extinction event's cause. Though ephemeral ice sheets may have existed on the Antarctic continent during parts of the Middle and Late Eocene, this interval of severe global cooling marked the beginning of permanent ice sheet coverage of Antarctica, and thus the end of the greenhouse climate of the Early Palaeogene. The global cooling also correlated with marked drying conditions in low-latitudes Asia, though a causal relationship between the two has been contradicted by some research. (Adapted from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eocene%E2%80%93Oligocene_extinction_event)

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