Phanerozoic paleogeography, CO[sub 2], and global climate
- Ohio Univ., Athens, OH (United States). Dept. of Geological Sciences
- Univ. of Texas, Arlington, TX (United States)
From the paleogeographic reconstructions of Scotese and Golonka (1992), the authors estimated the amount and average latitude of land areas for 20 time slices since the Cambrian. The average latitude of land areas is defined as that latitude which bisects world landmass into equal poleward and equatorward halves, irrespective of hemisphere. The values for land area and average latitude were inserted into the simple silicate weathering model of Worsley and Kidder (1991), yielding CO[sub 2] levels and corresponding global, equatorial, and polar surface temperatures for each of the slices. Their paleogeography-only'' CO[sub 2] results qualitatively agree with those of the more sophisticated modeling of Berner (1990). Results for the Cambrian show an ice-free drowned ringworld (land concentrated near the equator) characterized by a low pole-equator temperature gradient. As Gondwana moved poleward in the Ordovician, this world rapidly evolved into a drowned capworld (land concentrated near the poles). The late Ordovician icecap formed as Gondwana approached the south pole but decayed as the supercontinent centered on the pole in the Silurian and Devonian. Throughout the Carboniferous and into the Permian, the Pangean sliceworld (land equally distributed with respect to latitude) was formed. The emergent Permo-Triassic sliceworld was characterized by cool global climates and a moderate pole-equator gradient. The latitude-parallel fragmentation of Pangean during the Jurassic and Cretaceous led to widespread inundation and subsequent warming. Cenozoic cooling and the regrowth of icecaps greeted continental re-emergence and the movement of India and Australia into low latitudes.
- OSTI ID:
- 5589744
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-921058-; CODEN: GAAPBC
- Journal Information:
- Geological Society of America, Abstracts with Programs; (United States), Vol. 24:7; Conference: 1992 annual meeting of the Geological Society of America (GSA), Cincinnati, OH (United States), 26-29 Oct 1992; ISSN 0016-7592
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
CENOZOIC ERA
PALEOCLIMATOLOGY
PLATE TECTONICS
MESOZOIC ERA
PALEOZOIC ERA
CARBON DIOXIDE
GEOGRAPHY
GEOLOGIC HISTORY
GEOLOGIC MODELS
PALEOTEMPERATURE
SILICATE MINERALS
WEATHERING
CARBON COMPOUNDS
CARBON OXIDES
CHALCOGENIDES
GEOLOGIC AGES
MINERALS
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PALEONTOLOGY
TECTONICS
580000* - Geosciences