Biogeographic response to Carboniferous place movements: marine and terrestrial patterns

Conference · Mon Dec 31 23:00:00 EST 1984 · Geol. Soc. Am., Abstr. Programs; (United States)

OSTI ID:6319600

Raymond, A; Lutken, C B; Kelley, P H

At the beginning of the Lower Carboniferous, east-west equatorial oceans and epicontinental seas circled the globe. By the end of the period, the collision of Laurussia and Gondwana split this equatorial ocean. The warm circum-equatorial current was deflected to the north and south along the east coast of the new landmass. This deflection could have had either of two effects: 1) climatic warming in the middle and high paleolatitudes; or 2) global cooling when warm currents became refrigerated in polar regions. The distribution of Lower Carboniferous plants and brachiopods suggests that the deflection of equatorial currents caused climatic warming. Early in the period, middle paleolatitudes and equatorial paleolatitudes each have distinctive palynomorph and plant macrofossil assemblages. This distinction disappears in the late Visean-earliest Namurian. All plant macrofossil genera that change range between the middle Visean and the late Visean-earliest Namurian move north, from low to high paleolatitudes. Brachiopod migrations had generic diversity fluctuations suggest that climatic warming occurred between the middle and late Visean. In the Tournaisian northern hemisphere, northward and southward migrations are approximately equal. Between the middle and late Visean, nearly all migrations represent expansion of range to the north. Northward and southward migrations between the late Visean and the earliest Namurian are again balanced. The late Visean was a time of taxonomic turnover, marked by increased origination and extinction rates, linked to the reorganization of climatic patterns.

• Research Organization: Texas A and M Univ., College Station (USA)
• OSTI ID: 6319600
• Report Number(s): CONF-8510489-
• Journal Information: Geol. Soc. Am., Abstr. Programs; (United States), Journal Name: Geol. Soc. Am., Abstr. Programs; (United States) Vol. 17; ISSN GAAPB
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

58 GEOSCIENCES
580100 -- Geology & Hydrology-- (-1989)
580201* -- Geophysics-- Seismology & Tectonics-- (1980-1989)
ANIMALS
AQUATIC ORGANISMS
ARTHROPODS
BRANCHIOPODS
CRUSTACEANS
FOSSILS
GEOGRAPHICAL VARIATIONS
GEOLOGIC AGES
GEOLOGIC HISTORY
GLOBAL ASPECTS
INVERTEBRATES
MIGRATION
MISSISSIPPIAN PERIOD
OCEANIC CIRCULATION
PALEOCLIMATOLOGY
PALEONTOLOGY
PALEOZOIC ERA
PLATE TECTONICS
ROCKS
SEDIMENTARY ROCKS
SPECIES DIVERSITY
TECTONICS
VARIATIONS