The ocean-continent transition zones: Stratigraphic and paleoecosystem studies

Journal Article · Mon Mar 01 00:00:00 EST 1993 · International Geology Review; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1080/00206819309465524· OSTI ID:6290958

Gladenkov, Yu B ^[1]

---

1. Inst. of Geology, Moscow (Russian Federation)

The author uses the Cenozoic of the Russian Pacific coast, drawing particularly on his 30-year experience with the molluscan faunas, as the source of examples of the ways that regional and global changes in the inorganic world affect the living world, as reflected in the stratigraphic and paleontologic record. The shelf ecosystem, despite its relative stability, shows periods of rapid change, reflecting both migration and accelerated evolution. The shelf ecosystem of the boreal belt evolved during Cenozoic time in an environment of changing paleoclimatic and paleogeographic phenomena. In spite of all their complexity and the considerable stressed nature of situations during individual moments in geological time, the ecosystem displayed a relative stability. The composition and structure of biotic communities, judging by the mollusks, changed with a definite trend (since Oligocene time, mainly on the species level), with gradual replacement through time of some forms by others, and with an increase in the percentage of Holocene species. This linear process was complicated by moments when the process accelerated. The problems encountered require wider discussion. The observed patterns of development of abiotic and biotic phenomena in this region, with its definite cyclicity and synchroneity, may be valuable in deciphering such patterns in other regions of the globe. The trends seen in the evolution of the biotic communities during Cenozoic time may also provide a basis for predicting the development of shelf ecosystems in the forthcoming decades and centuries. 46 refs., 2 figs., 2 tabs.

• OSTI ID: 6290958
• Journal Information: International Geology Review; (United States), Vol. 35:3; ISSN 0020-6814
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
CONTINENTAL SHELF
PALEONTOLOGY
PACIFIC OCEAN
RUSSIAN FEDERATION
COASTAL REGIONS
BASELINE ECOLOGY
BIOLOGICAL EVOLUTION
CENOZOIC ERA
MOLLUSCS
PALEOCLIMATOLOGY
ANIMALS
AQUATIC ORGANISMS
CONTINENTAL MARGIN
EASTERN EUROPE
ECOLOGY
EUROPE
GEOLOGIC AGES
INVERTEBRATES
SEAS
SURFACE WATERS
540310* - Environment
Aquatic- Basic Studies- (1990-)