Pele III, plate tectonics, atmospheric and biotic evolution

Conference · Fri Apr 01 00:00:00 EST 1994 · Geological Society of America, Abstracts with Programs; (United States)

OSTI ID:7123304

Sloan, R E ^[1]

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1. Univ. of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN (United States). Dept. of Geology and Geophysics

This paper is an elaboration of Pele I and II, Landis et al GSA Abstr. V. 25 No.6, and Hengst et al GSA Abstr. V. 25 No.6. The Pele hypothesis is that CO[sub 2] concentration in the atmosphere is directly related to the rate of seafloor spreading and the existence of superplumes. Excess CO[sub 2] favors expansion of plants and is converted to O[sub 2] by photosynthesis and deposition of buried carbon and carbonate. O[sub 2] is removed from the atmosphere by weathering. Resulting major variations in atmospheric CO[sub 2] and O[sub 2] have significant impact on the evolution and extinction of organisms.

• OSTI ID: 7123304
• Report Number(s): CONF-9404217-; CODEN: GAAPBC
• Journal Information: Geological Society of America, Abstracts with Programs; (United States), Vol. 26:5; Conference: 27. annual conference of the North-Central Section of the Geological Society of America (GSA), Kalamazoo, MI (United States), 28-29 Apr 1994; ISSN 0016-7592
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

58 GEOSCIENCES
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
CARBON DIOXIDE
ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRY
ECOLOGICAL CONCENTRATION
EARTH CRUST
ORIGIN
PLATE TECTONICS
GEOLOGIC MODELS
SEA-FLOOR SPREADING
CARBON COMPOUNDS
CARBON OXIDES
CHALCOGENIDES
CHEMISTRY
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
TECTONICS
580000* - Geosciences
540110