doi: 10.1111/j.1365-3121.2009.00882.

Global hydrocarbon seep-carbonate precipitation correlates with

deep-water temperatures and eustatic sea-level fluctuations since
the Late Jurassic
Steffen Kiel
Institut für Geowissenschaften, Christian-Albrechts-Universität, Ludewig-Meyn-Str. 10, 24118 Kiel, Germany and Department of Paleobiology,
Smithsonian Natural History Museum, PO Box 37012, Washington, DC 20013-7012, USA

ABSTRACT
The anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM) in marine sedi-
ments, most obviously at cold seeps, is a major sink for this
important greenhouse gas and is associated with the precip-
itation of carbonates. The geological record of seep carbon-
ates provides insights into the long-term dynamics of this
process. Since the Late Jurassic, rates of seep-carbonate
precipitation have been high during times of low sea levels
and cold deep-water temperatures, and vice versa. One
possibility is that sea-level fall decreases the thickness of the
methane hydrate stability zone in the sediment so that gas
hydrates decompose in deeper sediments, thereby increasing
seepage and carbonate precipitation. Alternatively, low deep-
water temperature facilitates gas hydrate formation on con-
tinental slopes and may thereby increase methane availability
for AOM-performing consortia and associated carbonate pre-
cipitation. These correlations and their potential causes may
be of interest for the modelling of global carbon budgets and
of past and future climates.
Terra Nova, 21, 279–284, 2009

cycles their occurrence appears to that all formations contain an equal

Introduction
Methane is an important greenhouse
gas that influenced the global climate
in the geological past and will
undoubtedly do so in the future
(Maslin and Thomas, 2003). A major
sink for methane in marine sediments
is the anaerobic oxidation of methane
(AOM) carried out by a microbial
consortium oxidising methane in a
direct coupling with sulphate reduc-
tion (Boetius et al., 2000). The pre-
cipitation of carbonate is a by-product
of this process, most obviously at
places known as cold seeps, where
flux rates of methane are high (Kulm
et al., 1986; Peckmann et al., 2001).
Seep carbonates are known from the
geological record (Fig. 1) and are an
archive of the history of methane
oxidation in the geological past (Peck-
mann and Thiel, 2004). Recent
improvements in dating seep carbon-
ates indicate that they have not
formed continuously through time:
during Pleistocene glacial–interglacial
Correspondence: Steffen Kiel, Institut für
Geowissenschaften, Christian-Albrechts-
Universität, Ludewig-Meyn-Str. 10, 24118
Kiel, Germany and Department of
Paleobiology, Smithsonian Natural History
Museum, PO Box 37012, Washington, DC
20013-7012, USA. Tel.: +49 (0)431 880
2856; fax: +49 (0)431 880 4376; e-mail:
steffen.kiel@gmx.de
correlate with sea-level low-stands
and cold periods (Teichert et al.,
2003; Watanabe et al., 2008) and it
was suggested that the rate of seepage
is sensitive to pressure changes in-
duced by the overlying water column
(cf., Teichert et al., 2003). Using seep-
carbonate-bearing rock formations as
a proxy, I show in this article that this
correlation also exists on a much
larger geological time-scale, from the
Late Jurassic to the Recent. Potential
reasons for this correlation are
discussed.
Proxies and assumptions
To directly quantify the volume of
seep carbonate in the geological
record is not feasible, hence proxies
have to be used and simplifications
have to be made. The most commonly
used proxies for rock volume in the
geological record are named forma-
tions (Peters and Foote, 2001, 2002),
gap-bound sequences (Peters, 2005,
2008) and outcrop area (Smith et al.,
2001; Crampton et al., 2003). The
latter two are not applicable in this
context because the relevant fossil
seep-carbonate occurrences have been
reported under various scopes and
conditions from 18 countries on five
continents. Thus, seep-carbonate-
bearing rock formations in a broad
sense are used here. Doing so implies
amount of seep carbonate. This is
admittedly a crude simplification but,
given the heterogeneous nature of the
data, it is currently the most feasible
proxy.
Seep-bearing formations vs. sea
level and deep-water temperature
To evaluate the relationships between
seep-carbonate precipitation and long-
term fluctuations in sea level and deep-
water temperature, the frequency
distribution of seep-bearing rock for-
mations since the Late Jurassic was
compared with global sea-level and
temperature curves. The basis for the
comparison is an updated compilation
of seep-bearing rock formations from
Kiel and Little (2006). Updates include
the exclusion of sites with typical seep
macrofauna but without carbonate (i.e.
in Majima et al., 2005) and the inclu-
sion of non-fossiliferous seep carbon-
ates (Fig. 2; see Table S1). The 66
formations were binned into 10-Ma
intervals from the present to 150 Ma
ago. Each formation was counted once
for each time bin, regardless of the
number of individual seep deposits it
contained. When a formation spanned
more than one time bin the formation
was counted for each time bin in which
seep carbonates occur (see Supporting
Information). The resulting frequency
distribution is shown in Fig. 3. This

 2009 Blackwell Publishing Ltd 279

Linking seep carbonates, sea level and temperature • S. Kiel
.............................................................................................................................................................
Fig. 1 Two seep carbonate bodies (white arrows) in the Late Miocene Morai
Formation, western Hokkaido, Japan.
dataset was compared with the curve of
first-order sea-level fluctuations pub-
lished by Haq et al. (1987). To facili-
tate a numerical comparison, the
amplitude of this curve was divided
into 10 equally spaced intervals, with
the present sea level coded as zero and
the maximum sea-level high stand, at
c. 93 Ma, coded as 10. The mean value
for each 10 Ma bin was calculated
as (valuestart date+valuemedian date+
valueend date) ⁄ 3. The comparison shows
that high numbers of seep-bearing
Fig. 2 Map showing the geographical distribution of the Late Jurassic to Pleistocene seep-bearing formations used here. Numbers
correspond to those in Table S1.
280
formations correlate with low sea levels
and vice versa. This negative correla-
tion is statistically significant (Spear-
manÕs q < 0.01).
Comparing the frequency distribu-
tion of seep-bearing formations with
deep-water temperature, is temporally
limited. Oxygen isotope data obtained
from benthic foraminifera from deep-
sea drill cores provide the most reliable
proxy for deep-water temperature.
Such data are available for the Ceno-
zoic and the larger part of the Creta-
Terra Nova, Vol 21, No. 4, 279–284
ceous but beyond 100 Ma ago they are
scarce or not available. Rather than
mixing the foraminifera data with
other proxies for deep-water tempera-
ture, such as high-latitude surface
temperatures derived from belemnite
fragmocones or glendonites (cf., Price,
1999; Price and Mutterlose, 2004), the
time span from 100 to 150 Ma ago has
been omitted from this analysis. The
data used here are the absolute tem-
peratures calculated for a non-glacial
world by Zachos et al. (2001) and
Huber et al. (2002). The value for each
10 Ma bin is the mean of the temper-
atures at its start, median and end
dates. The comparison (Fig. 3) shows a
significant correlation (SpearmanÕs
q = 0.01) between high numbers of
seep-bearing formations and low
deep-water temperatures.
Significance of sampling
It may be argued that the frequency
distribution of the currently known
seep-bearing formations only inciden-
tally correlates with the sea-level and
temperature curves and that future
discoveries of seep-bearing formations
could change this result. To test this
hypothesis, the significance of the cor-
relations was calculated with the
number of seep-bearing formations
that were known each year from 1996
to 2008. The start date was chosen
 2009 Blackwell Publishing Ltd
Terra Nova, Vol 21, No. 4, 279–284 S. Kiel • Linking seep carbonates, sea level and temperature
.............................................................................................................................................................
methane out of the underlying source

High
Eustatic sea level fluctuation rock, resulting in the precipitation of
more seep carbonate. This mechanism
should act on seepage at any water
14 depth on the continental slopes,
regardless of the geological age and
Seep-bearing formations

12 Deep-water temperature
depth of the source rock(s). It may thus
10 contribute to the observed higher
frequency of seep-carbonate-bearing
8

Low
formations during times of sea-level
6 low-stands. However, this scenario is
contradicted by suggestions that the
4 local tectonic regime is the major force
2
driving methane out of the source rock
(Hensen et al., 2004; Aiello, 2005).
0 Alternatively, temperature could
150 140 130 120 110 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0
have an impact on methane flux into
Million years
a b the sulphate–methane transition zone
(SMTZ), where AOM actually takes
Fig. 3 Frequency distribution of seep-bearing formations since the Late Jurassic, place. The link may again be gas
binned into 10 Ma intervals. Black bars represent formations known in 1998; grey hydrate, which – when stable – might
bars represent the additional formations published in 1999–2003 (dark grey) and buffer fluctuating methane flux rates
2004–2008 (light grey). The sea-level curve shows first-order fluctuations after Haq in the uppermost 250 m of sediment
et al. (1987) (magnitude exaggerated). The deep-water temperature curve represents (cf., Boetius and Suess, 2004) as fol-
absolute temperatures calculated for a non-glacial world by Zachos et al. (2001) for lows: methane arriving at fluctuating
the Cenozoic and Huber et al. (2002) for the Cretaceous. (a) Inferred 50% drop in the
oceansÕ sulphate content (cf. Wortmann and Chernyavsky, 2007). (b) Onset of the
glaciation of Antarctica.
(a) 0.012

because since 1996 details on more than decomposition in deeper sediments.

Spearman’s ρ
twice as many new seep-bearing for- [This…] may then generate enhanced 0.01
mations have been published as time gas and fluid flow in the cold seep
bins used in this study (34 formations areasÕ. These mechanisms would result 0.008
vs. 15 time bins). Since 1996, the in the precipitation of fewer seep
correlations have always been statisti- carbonates during sea-level rises and
cally significant at levels well below the more seep carbonates during sea-level 0.006
critical point of q = 0.05 for both the falls. On larger geological time-scales,
sea-level and the temperature curves this scenario implies that seep-carbon- 96 98 00 02 04 06 08
19 19 20 20 20 20 20
(Fig. 4). Furthermore, standard regres- ate precipitation is enhanced during
sions show that the significance of both times of rapidly oscillating sea levels, (b)
correlations has increased with contin- because each individual sea-level fall 0.032
ued sampling (straight lines in Fig. 4). would result in the precipitation of
Spearman’s ρ

It is thus concluded that the correla- seep carbonate. In glacial times, the 0.024
tions shown here are unlikely to be a accumulation and melting of ice sheets
coincidental result of the current state caused by short-term climate changes 0.016
of research but reflect a real geological and Milankovitch cycles facilitated
phenomenon. oscillating sea levels (Hays et al., 0.008
1976). This could explain the coinci-
dence of the extreme increase in the 98 00 02 04 06 08
Discussion 96 20
number of seep-bearing formations 19 19 20 20 20 20
with the onset of the Antarctic glaci- Year
What might have caused the observed
correlations? For Pleistocene glacial– ation in the Late Eocene (Fig. 3; cf.,
Fig. 4 Statistical significance of the
interglacial cycles, Teichert et al. Zachos et al., 2001).
observed correlations with increased
(2003) suggested that increasing water Another way in which sea-level fluc- sampling. All values are better than
pressure on the plumbing system of tuations may influence methane flux q = 0.05; straight lines are the standard
the seep induced by a rising sea level rates is by controlling sediment load. regression showing that the significance
may inhibit the rise of fluids from the During times of low sea levels, more of the correlations increased with addi-
sediment. Furthermore, Teichert et al. sediment is deposited on the continen- tional sampling (lower q values indicate
(2003, p. 3855) also stated Ô...sea level tal slopes than during high-stands, higher statistical significance). (a) Cor-
lowering would shift the bottom of the when sedimentation on the shelves relation with sea-level fluctuations. (b)
gas hydrate stability zone into shal- prevails. It is possible that the Correlation with deep-water tempera-
lower depths followed by gas hydrate increased sediment load squeezes more ture.

 2009 Blackwell Publishing Ltd 281

Linking seep carbonates, sea level and temperature • S. Kiel
.............................................................................................................................................................
rates in the hydrate stability zone is
enclosed in hydrates; continued sedi-
mentation moves the methane hy-
drates deeper into the sediment and
ultimately out of the hydrate stability
zone; this results in their dissociation
and the release of methane, thereby
providing a relatively constant source
of methane for AOM and associated
carbonate precipitation in the SMTZ.
When high deep-water temperatures
prevent gas hydrate formation, this
buffering effect disappears and meth-
ane arrives in the SMTZ at the
fluctuating rates at which it is expelled
from the source rock. In this case,
more methane could potentially
escape oxidation by AOM consortia,
resulting in the precipitation of less
carbonate. The upper depth limit at
which methane hydrates can form is
determined by the pressure (as
imposed by the water depth) and the
temperature (Fig. 5). Whereas in the
oceans today the upper depth limit of
gas hydrate stability is around 500 m,
it would have been 1000–1500 m
deeper in the Cretaceous greenhouse
climate (Fig. 5), leaving a significant
part of the continental slopes free of
100
500
Water depth (m)
1000
Gas hydrate
~2000 m
5000
10 000
0 10
Temperature (°C)
Fig. 5 Stability diagram for gas hydrates
(redrawn from Kvenvolden, 1993). Gas
hydrates are stable in the shaded zone.
(a) Upper depth limit of the hydrate
stability zone during the peak of the
Cretaceous greenhouse climate. (b)
Same as (a) but adjusted for a 200 m
higher sea level than presently; note that
this counters only a minor increase in
temperature.
282
gas hydrate, thereby contributing to
the scarcity of seep carbonates during
this time. A potential argument
against this hypothesis is that the
higher sea level would counter this
effect, because the higher water pres-
sure would enhance hydrate forma-
tion. But, as indicated in Fig. 5, a
temperature increase of only 1–2 C
will ÔcompensateÕ for the effect of a sea
level 200 m higher than today, as
assumed for the maximum flooding
of the Late Cretaceous (Hay, 2008).
Thus a rising sea level seems insuffi-
cient to counter the effect of temper-
ature increase in driving the upper
depth limit of hydrate formation
down the continental slopes. A poten-
tially important implication is that
under such conditions not only would
gas hydrates fail to act as a methane
sink but to some extent so also would
seep carbonates, contributing further
to climate warming (see also Archer,
2007). However, two observations
contradict this scenario: (i) AOM
and associated seep-carbonate forma-
tion are known from areas without
underlying gas hydrates (Jensen et al.,
1992; Hjelsteun et al., 1999; Peck-
mann et al., 2001) and (ii) AOM
consortia are known to adapt rapidly
to changing methane fluxes (Boetius
and Wegener, 2008).
Lastly, temperature may have an
impact on the microbial consortia
responsible for AOM. Nauhaus et al.
Methane gas + water (2005) showed that ANME II Archaea
are more adapted to cold temperatures
than ANME I Archaea. ANME II
Archaea have significantly higher cell-
b specific AOM rates than ANME I
Archaea, and thus the more rapid turn-
a over should be accompanied by a
(relatively) higher alkalinity and thus
carbonate precipitation. This may add
to the observed correlation between
deep-water temperature and seep-car-
bonate precipitation. Contrarily, Kall-
meyer and Boetius (2004) showed that
20 30
as-yet-unidentified AOM microbial
consortia in a hydrothermal vent setting
showed highest AOM activities be-
tween 35 and 90 C. Clearly, further
studies are needed to elucidate the long-
term effect of temperature on AOM-
performing consortia.
An alternative explanation for the
observed frequency distribution of
seep carbonates since the Late Juras-
sic may involve changing sulphate
availability, because AOM is usually
Terra Nova, Vol 21, No. 4, 279–284
coupled to sulphate reduction. How-
ever, even a major decrease in the
oceansÕ sulphate content of perhaps
50% because of evaporite (gypsum)
deposition at c.120 Ma ago with a
subsequent return to previous levels
at c. 95–75 Ma ago (cf., Paytan et al.,
2004; Wortmann and Chernyavsky,
2007), appears to have had no
effect on seep-carbonate abundances
(Fig. 3).
Clearly, factors other than those
discussed in this article might also
have influenced seep-carbonate pre-
cipitation through Earth history, and
those discussed above might well have
acted in concert with as-yet-unknown
degrees of significance. However, it is
hoped that this first attempt to quan-
tify methane seepage through Earth
history using geological data will
inspire further investigations in this
field.
Conclusions
Statistically relevant correlations
between the frequencies of seep-
carbonate-bearing rock formations on
the one hand and sea-level fluctuations
and deep-water temperature on the
other hand are documented here for
the past 150 and 100 Ma, respectively.
High numbers of seep-carbonate-
bearing formations correlate with low
sea levels and low deep-water tempera-
tures, and vice versa, indicating that
sea-level fluctuations and deep-water
temperatures have an effect on the
rates of methane flux and ⁄ or oxidation
and the associated precipitation of
carbonate.
Potential explanations include the
possibility that a falling sea level may
result in the precipitation of more seep
carbonate because (i) it increases fluid
flow at seeps because of decreasing
hydraulic pressure on its plumbing
system, (ii) it decreases the thickness
of the methane hydrate stability zone
so that gas hydrates decompose in
deeper sediments thereby increasing
seepage, and (iii) it increases the sedi-
ment load on the continental slopes,
thereby increasing lithostatic pressure
on the methane source rock. A possible
implication of the first two hypotheses
is that seep-carbonate precipitation
should be enhanced during times of
rapidly oscillating sea levels such as
glacial times. This is supported by the
coincidence of the extreme increase in
 2009 Blackwell Publishing Ltd
Terra Nova, Vol 21, No. 4, 279–284
.............................................................................................................................................................
the number of seep-bearing formations
with the onset of the Antarctic
glaciation in the Late Eocene. Low
deep-water temperature facilitates gas
hydrate formation on continental
slopes and may thereby increase meth-
ane availability for AOM consortia
and associated carbonate precipita-
tion.
This study demonstrates that seep
carbonates, which are a long-term sink
for the greenhouse gas methane, have
precipitated in strongly variable
amounts throughout Earth history,
apparently in relation to sea-level and
climate changes. This may be of interest
for modelling of global carbon budgets
and of past and future climates.
Acknowledgements
Thanks to B. Huber, D. Jablonski,
S. Kidwell and J. Peckmann for encourage-
ment and stimulating discussion and to the
five reviewers for their constructive
and insightful criticism. This study was
supported by a Walcott fellowship of the
Smithsonian Institution and a Marie-Curie
Intra-European fellowship by the European
Commission (MEIF-CT-2005-515420).
References
Aiello, I.W., 2005. Fossil seep structures
of the Monterey Bay region and
tectonic ⁄ structural controls on fluid flow
in an active transform margin. Palaeo-
geogr. Palaeoclimatol. Palaeoecol., 227,
124–142.
Archer, D., 2007. Methane hydrate stabil-
ity and anthropogenic climate change.
Biogeosciences, 4, 521–544.
Boetius, A. and Suess, E., 2004. Hydrate
Ridge: a natural laboratory for the study
of microbial life fueled by methane from
near-surface gas hydrates. Chem. Geol.,
205, 291–310.
Boetius, A. and Wegener, G., 2008. Short-
term changes in anaerobic oxidation of
methane in response to varying methane
and sulfate fluxes. Biogeosci. Discussion,
5, 3069–3090.
Boetius, A., Ravenschlag, K., Schubert, C.J.,
Rickert, D., Widdel, F., Gieseke, A.,
Amann, R., Jørgensen, B.B., Witte, U.
and Phannkuche, O., 2000. A marine
microbial consortium apparently mediat-
ing anaerobic oxidation of methane.
Nature, 407, 623–625.
Crampton, J.S., Beu, A.G., Cooper, R.A.,
Jones, C.M., Marshall, B.A. and
Maxwell, P.A., 2003. Estimating the
rock volume bias in paleobiodiversity
studies. Science, 301, 358–360.
Haq, B.U., Hardenbol, J. and Vail, P.R.,
1987. Chronology of fluctuating sea-
 2009 Blackwell Publishing Ltd
S. Kiel • Linking seep carbonates, sea level and temperature
levels since the Triassic. Science, 235,
1156–1167.
Hay, W.W., 2008. Evolving ideas about the
Cretaceous climate and ocean circula-
tion. Cretaceous Res., 29, 725–753.
Hays, J.D., Imbrie, J. and Shackleton, N.J.,
1976. Variations in the EarthÕs orbit:
pacemaker of the ice ages. Science, 194,
1121–1132.
Hensen, C., Wallmann, K., Schmidt, M.,
Ranero, C.R. and Suess, E., 2004. Fluid
expulsion related to mud extrusion off
Costa Rica – a window to the subducting
slab. Geology, 32, 201–204.
Hjelsteun, B.O., Eldholm, O., Faleide, J.I.
and Vogt, P.R., 1999. Regional settings of
Hakon Mosby Mud Volcano, SE Barents
Sea margin. Geo-Mar. Lett., 19, 22–28.
Huber, B.T., Norris, R.D. and MacLeod,
K.G., 2002. Deep-sea paleotemperature
record of extreme warmth during the
Cretaceous. Geology, 30, 123–126.
Jensen, P., Aagaard, I., Burke, R.A.J.,
Dando, P.R., Jørgensen, N.O., Kuijpers,
A., Laier, T., OÕHara, S.C.M.O. and
Schmaljohann, R., 1992. ÔBubbling reefsÕ
in the Kattegat: submarine landscapes of
carbonate-cemented rocks support a
diverse ecosystem at methane seeps.
Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser., 83, 103–112.
Kallmeyer, J. and Boetius, A., 2004. Effects
of temperature and pressure on sulfate
reduction and anaerobic oxidation of
methane in hydrothermal sediments of
Guaymas Basin. Appl. Environ. Micro-
biol., 70, 1231–1233.
Kiel, S. and Little, C.T.S., 2006. Cold seep
mollusks are older than the general
marine mollusk fauna. Science, 313,
1429–1431.
Kulm, L.D., Suess, E., Moore, J.C.,
Carson, B., Lewis, B.T., Ritger, S.D.,
Kadko, D.C., Thornburg, T.M.,
Embley, R.W., Rugh, W.D., Massoth,
G.J., Langseth, M.G., Cochrane, G.R.
and Scamman, R.L., 1986. Oregon sub-
duction zone: venting, fauna, and car-
bonates. Science, 231, 561–566.
Kvenvolden, K.A., 1993. A primer on gas
hydrates. U.S. Geol. Surv. Prof. Pap.,
1570, 279–291.
Majima, R., Nobuhara, T. and Kitazaki,
T., 2005. Review of fossil chemo-
synthetic assemblages in Japan. Palaeo-
geogr. Palaeoclimatol. Palaeoecol., 227,
86–123.
Maslin, M.A. and Thomas, E., 2003.
Balancing the deglacial global carbon
budget: the hydrate factor. Quat. Sci.
Rev., 22, 1729–1736.
Nauhaus, K., Treude, T., Boetius, A. and
Krüger, M., 2005. Environmental regu-
lation of the anaerobic oxidation of
methane: a comparison of ANME-I and
ANME-II communities. Environ.
Microbiol., 7, 98–106.
Paytan, A., Kastner, M., Campbell, D. and
Thiemens, M.H., 2004. Seawater sulfur
isotope fluctuations in the Cretaceous.
Science, 304, 1663–1665.
Peckmann, J. and Thiel, V., 2004. Carbon
cycling at ancient methane-seeps. Chem.
Geol., 205, 443–467.
Peckmann, J., Reimer, A., Luth, U., Luth,
C., Hansen, B.T., Heinicke, C., Hoefs, J.
and Reitner, J., 2001. Methane-derived
carbonates and authigenic pyrite from
the northwestern Black Sea. Mar. Geol.,
177, 129–150.
Peters, S.E., 2005. Geologic constraints on
the macroevolutionary history of marine
animals. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. U.S.A.,
102, 12326–12331.
Peters, S.E., 2008. Environmental deter-
minants of extinction selectivity in the
fossil record. Nature, 454, 626–629.
Peters, S.E. and Foote, M., 2001.
Biodiversity in the Phanerozoic: a
reinterpretation. Paleobiology, 27, 583–
601.
Peters, S.E. and Foote, M., 2002. Deter-
minants of extinction in the fossil record.
Nature, 416, 420–424.
Price, G.D., 1999. The evidence and
implications of polar ice during
the Mesozoic. Earth Sci. Rev., 48, 183–
210.
Price, G.D. and Mutterlose, J., 2004.
Isotopic signals from late Jurassic-early
Cretaceous (Volgian-Valanginian) sub-
Arctic belemnites, Yatria River, Western
Siberia. J. Geol. Soc. Lond., 161,
959–968.
Smith, A.B., Gale, A.S. and Monks,
N.E.A., 2001. Sea-level change and rock-
record bias in the Cretaceous: a problem
for extinction and biodiversity studies.
Paleobiology, 27, 241–253.
Teichert, B.M.A., Eisenhauer, A.,
Bohrmann, G., Haase-Schramm, A.,
Bock, B. and Linke, P., 2003. U ⁄ Th
systematics and ages of authigenic
carbonates from Hydrate Ridge, Cascadia
Margin: records of fluid flow variations.
Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta, 67, 3845–
3857.
Watanabe, M., Nakai, S.I., Hiruta, A.,
Matsumoto, R. and Yoshida, K., 2008.
U-Th dating of carbonate nodules from
methane seeps off Joetsu, Eastern margin
of Japan Sea. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett.,
272, 89–96.
Wortmann, U.G. and Chernyavsky, B.M.,
2007. Effect of evaporite deposition on
early Cretaceous carbon and sulphur
cycling. Nature, 446, 654–656.
Zachos, J.C., Pagani, M., Sloan, L.,
Thomas, E. and Billups, K., 2001.
Trends, rhythms, and aberrations in
global climate 65 Ma to present. Science,
292, 686–693.
Received 2 January 2009; revised version
accepted 16 April 2009
283
Linking seep carbonates, sea level and temperature • S. Kiel Terra Nova, Vol 21, No. 4, 279–284
.............................................................................................................................................................
Supporting Information Table S2 Mean values of sea-level supplied by the authors. Any queries
and deep-water temperatures used for (other than missing material) should
Additional Supporting Information
statistic comparison. be directed to the corresponding
may be found in the online version
Please note: Wiley-Blackwell is not author for the article.
of this article:
responsible for the content or func-
Table S1 List of seep-bearing for-
tionality of any supporting materials
mations.

284  2009 Blackwell Publishing Ltd