Body of water that once separated North America from South America
The Central American Seaway (also known as the Panamanic Seaway, Inter-American Seaway and Proto-Caribbean Seaway) was a body of water that once separated
North America from
South America. It formed during the
Jurassic (200–154
Ma) during the breakup of the supercontinent
Pangaea, and closed when the
Isthmus of Panama was formed by
volcanic activity in the late
Pliocene (2.76–2.54 Ma).
The closure of the Central American Seaway had tremendous effects on
oceanic circulation and the
biogeography of the adjacent seas, isolating many species and triggering
speciation and diversification of tropical and sub-tropical marine fauna.[1] The inflow of
nutrient-rich water of deep Pacific origin into the
Caribbean was blocked and so local species had to adapt to an environment of lower productivity.[2] It had an even larger impact on terrestrial life. The seaway had isolated South America for much of the
Cenozoic, which allowed the evolution of a wholly-unique diverse mammalian fauna there. When it closed, a
faunal exchange with North America ensued and led to the extinction of many of the native South American forms.[3][4]
Evidence
The evidence for when the Central American landmass emerged and the closing of the Central American Seaway can be divided into three categories. The first is the direct geologic observation of crustal thickening and submarine deposits in Central America. The second is the
Great American Interchange of
vertebrates between North and South America which required a continuous land bridge across the two areas for the organisms to travel along with a climate that was very different from the climate today. Lastly is the development of differences in marine assemblages and their
isotopic signatures in the Caribbean from those in the Pacific.[5][6] The Central American Seaway was closed by the elevation of the
Central American Isthmus which is proposed to have occurred three and a half to five million years ago. The closing of the Central American Seaway is also supported by the evolution of taxa on different sides of the Central American Isthmus along with the different histories of the oceans on either side of the isthmus.
Details
The first closure and the final closure remain a matter for debate:
Direct geologic observation of crustal thickening and submarine deposits in Central America
It is postulated that the geological collision started about 25 million years ago,[7] the deep ocean connections had ceased by between 12 and 9.2 million years ago [8] and the final shallow temporary connection terminated at the latest by 2.45 million years ago.[9]
The earliest recent literature date for first closure is 15 million years ago
The first exchanges (land) and separation of species (sea) took place by 20 million years ago[8] but genetic drift data seems to indicate that surface ocean connections may have existed of the order of 1 million years ago.[10]
Development of differences in marine assemblages and their
isotopic signatures in the Caribbean from those in the Pacific
The saline and carbon data are fairly suggestive for a range of surface water interface loss between 4.6 million years ago to 4.2 million years ago[8]
Consequences
The closing of the seaway allowed a major migration of land mammals between North and South America, known as the Great American Interchange. That allowed species of mammals such as cats, canids, horses, elephants, and camels to migrate from North America to South America, and
porcupines,
ground sloths,
glyptodonts and
terror birds made the reverse migration. There is much controversy about glacial and
interglacial climates in South America. Research shows that vegetation in most of the
Amazon basin has changed very little since glacial times, but it is believed there was more savanna present during that period. A closed seaway would have led to a very different North Atlantic Ocean circulation, but it impacted the surrounding atmospheric temperatures, which in turn affected the glacial cycle. The emergence of the isthmus caused a reflection of the westward-flowing
North Equatorial Current northward and enhanced the northward-flowing
Gulf Stream.[11] The Pacific coast of South America would have cooled as the input of warm water from the Caribbean was cut off. That trend is thought to have caused the extinction of the
marine sloths of the area.[12]
The closure of the seaway led to an increased poleward salt and heat transport, which strengthened the North Atlantic
thermohaline circulation 2.95–2.82 million years ago. That in turn increased the moisture supply to Arctic latitudes, which contributed to both Arctic
continental glaciation and
sea ice formation. This eventually led, with the aid of the
orbitally-paced extension of
Gelasian ice sheets, to the
Quaternary ice age.[13]
^Lessios, H.A. (December 2008). "The Great American Schism: Divergence of Marine Organisms After the Rise of the Central American Isthmus". Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics. 39. Palo Alto: 63–91.
doi:
10.1146/annurev.ecolsys.38.091206.095815.
S2CID33313323.
^Jain, S.; Collins, L. S. (2007-04-30). "Trends in Caribbean Paleoproductivity related to the Neogene closure of the Central American Seaway". Marine Micropaleontology. 63 (1–2): 57–74.
Bibcode:
2007MarMP..63...57J.
doi:
10.1016/j.marmicro.2006.11.003.
^Grossman, Ethan L.; Robbins, John A.; Rachello-Dolmen, Paola G.; Tao, Kai; Saxena, Divya; O’Dea, Aaron (2019). "Freshwater input, upwelling, and the evolution of Caribbean coastal ecosystems during formation of the Isthmus of Panama". Geology. 47 (9): 857–861.
Bibcode:
2019Geo....47..857G.
doi:
10.1130/G46357.1.
S2CID199095294.
^Ochoa-Zavala, Maried; Jaramillo-Correa, Juan Pablo; Piñero, Daniel; Nettel-Hernanz, Alejandro; Núñez-Farfán, Juan (2019). "Contrasting colonization patterns of black mangrove (Avicennia germinans (L.) L.) gene pools along the Mexican coasts". Journal of Biogeography. 46 (5): 884–898.
doi:
10.1111/jbi.13536.
S2CID109795658.
^Amson, E.; Argot, C.; McDonald, H. G.; de Muizon, C. (2015). "Osteology and functional morphology of the axial postcranium of the marine sloth Thalassocnus (Mammalia, Tardigrada) with paleobiological implications". Journal of Mammalian Evolution. 22 (4): 473–518.
doi:
10.1007/s10914-014-9280-7.
S2CID16700349.