Dr Hugh Jenkyns

University Lecturer


Research Theme
Environment, oceans and climate

Research Area
Stratigraphy and sedimentology

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Email:hughj@earth.ox.ac.uk
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Research Profile

My research is concerned primarily with the palaeoceanography and palaeoclimatology of Jurassic and Cretaceous marine sediments. Areas of study include northern and southern Europe and the Pacific Ocean. My approach has been to elucidate the causality of major global events in Earth history by examining their sedimentary and geochemical records. To this end, I have studied the distribution, in time and space, of sediments unusually rich in organic carbon as well as the stratigraphic distribution of oxygen, carbon, nitrogen and strontium isotopes in rocks and fossils. I am also interested in the preservation of climatic signals in marine and continental sediments. Specific research topics include the causes and consequences of Oceanic Anoxic Events, particularly those of the early Toarcian (183Ma), the early Aptian (120Ma) and the Cenomanian-Turonian boundary (93Ma). This latter interval was apparently characterized by the highest global palaeotemperatures of the last 115Ma, represented a huge disturbance of the carbon cycle, and was a major turning point in the climatic history of the Earth. I have also been involved in a multidisciplinary study of the type Kimmeridge Clay, through the Kimmeridge Drilling Project. In addition, I have  investigated the origin of north Pacific guyots - drowned carbonate platforms capping volcanic seamounts - which we believe were formed as a result of suppression of shallow-water carbonate production as northward plate movement pushed the edifices into peri-equatorial waters whose surface temperatures were >30 degrees C. Tropical waters were simply too hot for many carbonate-secreting organisms to survive. Platform drowning can thus be related to the thermal maximum of the mid- to Late Cretaceous greenhouse earth. Cretaceous palaeoclimates in high latitudes are another interest, with the postulated high temperatures - at times in excess of 20 degrees C - posing a fundamental problem in understanding how heat was transported across the globe. Currently I am exploring the use of novel isotope systems (Fe, S, Cr) in Mesozoic palaeoceanography, and investigating the impact of Oceanic Anoxic Events on marine environments in the Southern Hemisphere.

Teaching Profile

My teaching involves sedimentology, stratigraphy and palaeoceanography,
primarily at 1st-, 2nd- and 4th-year level.

Selected Publications (Extended Publications)

  • Lu, ZL, Jenkyns, HC, Rickaby, REM, (2010) 'Iodine to calcium ratios in marine carbonate as a paleo-redox proxy during oceanic anoxic events', GEOLOGY. pp. 1107-1110 doi: 10.1130/G31145.1
  • Jenkyns, HC, (2010) 'Geochemistry of oceanic anoxic events', GEOCHEM GEOPHY GEOSY. pp. doi: 10.1029/2009GC002788
  • Korte, C, Hesselbo, SP, Jenkyns, HC, Rickaby, REM, Spotl, C, (2009) 'Palaeoenvironmental significance of carbon- and oxygen-isotope stratigraphy of marine Triassic-Jurassic boundary sections in SW Britain', J GEOL SOC LONDON. pp. 431-445 doi: 10.1144/0016-76492007-177
  • Bernoulli, D, Jenkyns, HC, (2009) 'Ancient oceans and continental margins of the Alpine-Mediterranean Tethys: deciphering clues from Mesozoic pelagic sediments and ophiolites', SEDIMENTOLOGY. pp. 149-190 doi: 10.1111/j.1365-3091.2008.01017.x
  • Sabatino, N, Neri, R, Bellanca, A, Jenkyns, HC, Baudin, F, Parisi, G, Masetti, D, (2009) 'Carbon-isotope records of the Early Jurassic (Toarcian) oceanic anoxic event from the Valdorbia (Umbria-Marche Apennines) and Monte Mangart (Julian Alps) sections: palaeoceanographic and stratigraphic implications', SEDIMENTOLOGY. pp. 1307-1328 doi: 10.1111/j.1365-3091.2008.01035.x
  • Hermoso, M, Minoletti, F, Le Callonnec, L, Jenkyns, HC, Hesselbo, SP, Rickaby, REM, Renard, M, de Rafelis, M, Emmanuel, L, (2009) 'Global and local forcing of Early Toarcian seawater chemistry: A comparative study of different paleoceanographic settings (Paris and Lusitanian basins)', PALEOCEANOGRAPHY. pp. doi: 10.1029/2009PA001764
  • Bernoulli, D, Jenkyns, HC, (2009) 'Ophiolites in ocean-continent transitions: From the Steinmann Trinity to sea-floor spreading', COMPTES RENDUS GEOSCIENCE. pp. 363-381 doi: 10.1016/j.crte.2008.09.009
  • Tiraboschi, D, Erba, E, Jenkyns, HC, (2009) 'Origin of rhythmic Albian black shales (Piobbico core, central Italy): Calcareous nannofossil quantitative and statistical analyses and paleoceanographic reconstructions', PALEOCEANOGRAPHY. pp. doi: 10.1029/2008PA001670
  • Scopelliti, G, Bellanca, A, Erba, E, Jenkyns, HC, Neri, R, Tamagnini, P, Luciani, V, Masetti, D, (2008) 'Cenomanian-Turonian carbonate and organic-carbon isotope records, biostratigraphy and provenance of a key section in NE Sicily, Italy: Palaeoceanographic and palaeogeographic implications', PALAEOGEOGR PALAEOCL. pp. 59-77 doi: 10.1016/j.palaeo.2008.04.022
  • Parente, M, Frijia, G, Di Lucia, M, Jenkyns, HC, Woodfine, RG, Baroncini, F, (2008) 'Stepwise extinction of larger foraminifers at the Cenomanian-Turonian boundary: A shallow-water perspective on nutrient fluctuations during Oceanic Anoxic Event 2 (Bonarelli Event)', GEOLOGY. pp. 715-718 doi: 10.1130/G24993A.1
  • Woodfine, RG, Jenkyns, HC, Sarti, M, Baroncini, F, Violante, C, (2008) 'The response of two Tethyan carbonate platforms to the early Toarcian (Jurassic) oceanic anoxic event: environmental change and differential subsidence', SEDIMENTOLOGY. pp. 1011-1028 doi: 10.1111/j.1365-3091.2007.00934.x
  • Karakitsios, V, Tsikos, H, van Breugel, Y, Koletti, L, Damste, JSS, Jenkyns, HC, (2007) 'First evidence for the Cenomanian-Turonian oceanic anoxic event (OAE2, 'Bonarelli' event) from the Ionian Zone, western continental Greece', INT J EARTH SCI. pp. 343-352 doi: 10.1007/s00531-006-0096-4
  • Hesselbo, SP, Jenkyns, HC, Duarte, LV, Oliveira, LCV, (2007) 'Carbon-isotope record of the Early Jurassic (Toarcian) Oceanic Anoxic Event from fossil wood and marine carbonate (Lusitanian Basin, Portugal)', EARTH PLANET SC LETT. pp. 455-470 doi: 10.1016/j.epsl.2006.11.009
  • Jenkyns, HC, Matthews, A, Tsikos, H, Erel, Y, (2007) 'Nitrate reduction, sulfate reduction, and sedimentary iron isotope evolution during the Cenomanian-Turonian oceanic anoxic event', PALEOCEANOGRAPHY. pp. doi: 10.1029/2006PA001355
  • Jarvis, I, Gale, AS, Jenkyns, HC, Pearce, MA, (2006) 'Secular variation in Late Cretaceous carbon isotopes: a new delta C-13 carbonate reference curve for the Cenomanian-Campanian (99.6-70.6 Ma)', GEOL MAG. pp. 561-608 doi: 10.1017/S0016756806002421
  • Li, XH, Jenkyns, HC, Wang, CS, Hu, XM, Chen, X, Wev, Y, Huang, YJ, Cui, J, (2006) 'Upper Cretaceous carbon- and oxygen-isotope stratigraphy of hemipelagic carbonate facies from southern Tibet, China', J GEOL SOC LONDON. pp. 375-382 doi: 10.1144/0016-764905-046
  • Jenkyns, HC, Forster, A, Schouten, S, Sinninghe Damsté, JS, (2004) 'High temperatures in the Late Cretaceous Arctic Ocean.', Nature. pp. 888-892 doi: 10.1038/nature03143
  • Tsikos, H, Jenkyns, HC, Walsworth-Bell, B, Petrizzo, MR, Forster, A, Kolonic, S, Erba, E, Silva, IP, Baas, M, Wagner, T, Damste, JSS, (2004) 'Carbon-isotope stratigraphy recorded by the Cenomanian-Turonian Oceanic Anoxic Event: correlation and implications based on three key localities', JOURNAL OF THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY. pp. 711-719 doi: 10.1144/0016-764903-077
  • Luciani, V, Cobianchi, M, Jenkyns, HC, (2004) 'Albian high-resolution biostratigraphy and isotope stratigraphy: The Coppa della Nuvola pelagic succession of the Gargano Promontory (Southern Italy)', ECLOGAE GEOL HELV. pp. 77-92 doi: 10.1007/s00015-004-1106-9
  • Matthews, A, Morgans-Bell, HS, Emmanuel, S, Jenkyns, HC, Erel, Y, Halicz, L, (2004) 'Controls on iron-isotope fractionation in organic-rich sediments (Kimmeridge Clay, Upper Jurassic, southern England)', GEOCHIM COSMOCHIM AC. pp. 3107-3123 doi: 10.1016/j.gca.2004.01.019
  • Tsikos, H, Karakitsios, V, Van Breugel, Y, Walsworth-Bell, B, Bombardiere, L, Petrizzo, MR, Damste, JSS, Schouten, S, Erba, E, Silva, IP, Farrimond, P, Tyson, RV, Jenkyns, HC, (2004) 'Organic-carbon deposition in the Cretaceous of the Ionian basin, NW Greece: the Paquier Event (OAE 1b) revisited', GEOL MAG. pp. 401-416 doi: 10.1017/S0016756804009409
  • Wall, GRT, Jenkyns, HC, (2004) 'The age, origin and tectonic significance of Mesozoic sediment-filled fissures in the Mendip Hills (SW England): implications for extension models and Jurassic sea-level curves', GEOL MAG. pp. 471-504 doi: 10.1017/S0016756804009185
  • Jenkyns, HC, (2003) 'Evidence for rapid climate change in the Mesozoic-Palaeogene greenhouse world.', Philos Transact A Math Phys Eng Sci. pp. 1885-1916 doi: 10.1098/rsta.2003.1240
  • Jenkyns, HC, Jones, CE, Grocke, DR, Hesselbo, SP, Parkinson, DN, (2002) 'Chemostratigraphy of the Jurassic System: applications, limitations and implications for palaeoceanography', J GEOL SOC LONDON. pp. 351-378 doi: 10.1144/0016-764901-130
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