10.6084/m9.figshare.3454619.v1 Elizabeth V. Nunn Elizabeth V. Nunn Gregory D. Price Gregory D. Price Malcolm B. Hart Malcolm B. Hart Kevin N. Page Kevin N. Page Melanie J. Leng Melanie J. Leng Isotopic signals from Callovian–Kimmeridgian (Middle–Upper Jurassic) belemnites and bulk organic carbon, Staffin Bay, Isle of Skye, Scotland Geological Society of London 2016 δ 13 C org carbon isotope excursions Staffin Bay Staffin Bay data oxygen isotope values carbon isotope excursion belemnite carbon isotope data carbon reservoir Staffin Shale formations Geology 2016-06-21 12:14:47 Dataset https://geolsoc.figshare.com/articles/dataset/Isotopic_signals_from_Callovian_Kimmeridgian_Middle_Upper_Jurassic_belemnites_and_bulk_organic_carbon_Staffin_Bay_Isle___of_Skye_Scotland/3454619 <p>The stable isotope data presented here significantly extend and expand upon previous isotopic investigations of the Middle to Late Jurassic interval. The belemnite samples collected from the Staffin Bay and Staffin Shale formations from the Isle of Skye, Scotland, yielded oxygen isotope values consistent with Callovian–Kimmeridgian palaeotemperatures of 6.7–20.6 °C. The carbon isotope data comprise one of the first moderately high-resolution investigations of the relationship between terrestrial δ<sup>13</sup>C<sub>org</sub> (predominantly fossil wood debris) and marine δ<sup>13</sup>C<sub>carb</sub> (belemnites) as derived from a geologically coeval record. The Staffin Bay data reveal a broad Early to Mid-Oxfordian positive carbon isotope excursion. The excursion maximum occurs in the <em>cordatum</em> Zone (British Boreal ammonite zonation), although high values persist into the <em>tenuiserratum</em> Zone. The correspondence between the marine and terrestrial records indicates a strong coupling of the ocean–atmosphere system and suggests that the total exchangeable carbon reservoir would have been affected at this time. The Mid-Oxfordian negative carbon isotope excursions identified in published Tethyan records and commonly attributed to methane release are not recorded in the Staffin Bay data, which may suggest that the Tethyan excursions do not represent fluctuations in the global carbon reservoir and that the fidelity of the methane hypothesis should be re-evaluated. </p>