none 10.2110/palo.2016.080 Society for Sedimentary Geology Society for Sedimentary Geology 860 89603211 46058 2026060205262639200 10.2110 2026-06-02T09:28:28Z 2017-04-18T20:30:30Z 22 Palaios 1938-5323 0883-1351 04 2017 04 01 2017 04 01 2017 32 4 ANDREW L.A. JOHNSON 1 Department of Natural Sciences, College of Life and Natural Sciences, University of Derby, Kedleston Road, Derby DE22 1GB, United Kingdom ANNEMARIE VALENTINE 1 Department of Natural Sciences, College of Life and Natural Sciences, University of Derby, Kedleston Road, Derby DE22 1GB, United Kingdom 2 Current address: Student Advice and Support Services, Loughborough University, Loughborough LE11 3TU, United Kingdom MELANIE J. LENG 3 NERC Isotope Geoscience Facilities, British Geological Survey, Nicker Hill, Keyworth NG12 5GG, United Kingdom HILARY J. SLOANE 3 NERC Isotope Geoscience Facilities, British Geological Survey, Nicker Hill, Keyworth NG12 5GG, United Kingdom BERND R. SCHÖNE 4 Institute of Geosciences, University of Mainz, Johann-Joachim-Becher-Weg 21, 55128 Mainz, Germany PETER S. BALSON 5 British Geological Survey, Nicker Hill, Keyworth NG12 5GG, United Kingdom 6 Current address: 6 Cherryholt Lane, East Bridgford NG13 8BN, United Kingdom Abstract Mean seasonal extreme temperatures on the seafloor calculated from the shell δ18O of the scallop Placopecten clintonius from the basal part of the early Pliocene Sunken Meadow Member (Yorktown Formation) in Virginia are very similar to those from the same horizon at the latitude of Cape Hatteras in North Carolina (∼ 210 km to the south). The lowest and highest temperatures calculated from each shell (using δ18Oseawater = +0.7‰) give mean values for winter and summer of 8.4 ± 1.1 °C (± 1σ) and 18.2 ± 0.6 °C in Virginia, and 8.6 ± 0.4 °C and 16.5 ± 1.1 °C in North Carolina (respective median temperatures: 13.3 °C and 12.6 °C). Patterns of ontogenetic variation in δ18O, δ13C and microgrowth increment size indicate summer water-column stratification in both areas, with summer surface temperatures perhaps 6 °C higher than on the seafloor. The low winter paleotemperatures in both areas are most simply explained by the greater southward penetration of cool northern waters in the absence of a feature equivalent to Cape Hatteras. The same current configuration but a warmer general climate can account for the high benthic seasonal range (over 15.0 °C in some cases) but warmer median temperatures (15.7–21.3 °C) derived from existing δ18O data from scallops of the higher Yorktown Formation (using δ18Oseawater = +0.7‰ for the upper Sunken Meadow Member and δ18Oseawater = +1.1‰ for the mid-Pliocene Rushmere, Morgarts Beach, and Moore House members). 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