The late Miocene biogenic bloom
Ocean productivity surges worldwide for several million years, for reasons still argued over.
- When
- —
- Duration
- 3.7 million years
- Known to
- ± 1 million years
- Era
- Miocene, Cenozoic
From roughly 9 to 4 million years ago, sediment records across the Pacific, Indian and Atlantic oceans show a large increase in the accumulation of plankton remains — a global rise in export productivity. Proposed causes include increased nutrient delivery from Himalayan erosion, changes in ocean circulation as the Panama seaway shoals, and monsoon-driven upwelling. Whatever drove it, it feeds the marine food chains that support the late Miocene's giant whales and sharks.