The Geology of Iberia: A Geodynamic Approach

The Geology of Iberia: A Geodynamic Approach PDF Author: Cecilio Quesada
Publisher:
ISBN: 9783030105204
Category : Geology
Languages : en
Pages : 544

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Book Description
Taking a new global approach, this unique book provides an updated review of the geology of Iberia and its continental margins from a geodynamic perspective. Owing to its location close to successive plate margins, Iberia has played a pivotal role in the geodynamic evolution of the Gondwanan, Rheic, Pangea, Tethys s.l. and Eurasian plates over the last 600 Ma of Earth's history. The geological record starts with the amalgamation of Gondwana in the Neoproterozoic succeeded by the rifting and spreading of the Rheic ocean; its demise, which led to the amalgamation of Pangea in the late Paleozoic; the rifting and spreading of several arms of the Neotethys ocean in the Mesozoic Era and their ongoing closure, which was responsible for the Alpine orogeny. The significant advances in the last 20 years have attracted international research interest in the geology of the Iberian Peninsula. This volume presents the most comprehensive, careful and updated description of the variscan cycle in Iberia. This volume focuses in the different geological events since the Cambrian-Early Ordovician rift until the late variscan orocline formations including magmatic and metamorphic evolution.

The Geology of Iberia: A Geodynamic Approach

The Geology of Iberia: A Geodynamic Approach PDF Author: Cecilio Quesada
Publisher:
ISBN: 9783030105204
Category : Geology
Languages : en
Pages : 544

Get Book Here

Book Description
Taking a new global approach, this unique book provides an updated review of the geology of Iberia and its continental margins from a geodynamic perspective. Owing to its location close to successive plate margins, Iberia has played a pivotal role in the geodynamic evolution of the Gondwanan, Rheic, Pangea, Tethys s.l. and Eurasian plates over the last 600 Ma of Earth's history. The geological record starts with the amalgamation of Gondwana in the Neoproterozoic succeeded by the rifting and spreading of the Rheic ocean; its demise, which led to the amalgamation of Pangea in the late Paleozoic; the rifting and spreading of several arms of the Neotethys ocean in the Mesozoic Era and their ongoing closure, which was responsible for the Alpine orogeny. The significant advances in the last 20 years have attracted international research interest in the geology of the Iberian Peninsula. This volume presents the most comprehensive, careful and updated description of the variscan cycle in Iberia. This volume focuses in the different geological events since the Cambrian-Early Ordovician rift until the late variscan orocline formations including magmatic and metamorphic evolution.

Evolutionary Catastrophes

Evolutionary Catastrophes PDF Author: V. Courtillot
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521891189
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 192

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Book Description
Mass extinction and cataclysmic volcanic activity: will fascinate everyone interested in the history of life and death on our planet.

When the Invasion of Land Failed

When the Invasion of Land Failed PDF Author: George R. McGhee Jr.
Publisher: Columbia University Press
ISBN: 0231536364
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 345

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Book Description
The invasion of land by ocean-dwelling plants and animals was one of the most revolutionary events in the evolution of life on Earth, yet the animal invasion almost failed—twice—because of the twin mass extinctions of the Late Devonian Epoch. Some 359 to 375 million years ago, these catastrophic events dealt our ancestors a blow that almost drove them back into the sea. If those extinctions had been just a bit more severe, spiders and insects—instead of vertebrates—might have become the ecologically dominant forms of animal life on land. This book examines the profound evolutionary consequences of the Late Devonian extinctions and the various theories proposed to explain their occurrence. Only one group of four-limbed vertebrates exists on Earth, while other tetrapod-like fishes are extinct. This gap is why the idea of "fish with feet" seems so peculiar to us, yet such animals were once a vital part of our world, and if the Devonian extinctions had not happened, members of these species, like the famous Acanthostega and Ichthyostega, might have continued to live in our rivers and lakes. Synthesizing decades of research and including a wealth of new discoveries, this accessible, comprehensive text explores the causes of the Devonian extinctions, the reasons vertebrates were so severely affected, and the potential evolution of the modern world if the extinctions had never taken place.

The Simplon Fault Zone

The Simplon Fault Zone PDF Author: Neil S. Mancktelow
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Faults (Geology)
Languages : en
Pages : 88

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Book Description


The Worst of Times

The Worst of Times PDF Author: P. B. Wignall
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691176027
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 219

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Book Description
260 million years ago, life on Earth suffered wave after wave of cataclysmic extinctions, with the worst--the end-Permian extinction--wiping out nearly every species on the planet. This book delves into the mystery behind these extinctions and sheds light on the fateful role the primeval supercontinent, known as Pangea, may have played in causing these global catastrophes. Drawing on the latest discoveries as well as his own field expeditions to remote corners of the world, Paul Wignall reveals what scientists are only now beginning to understand about the most prolonged period of environmental crisis in Earth's history. He describes how a series of unprecedented extinction events swept across the planet in a span of eighty million years, rapidly killing marine and terrestrial life on a scale more devastating than the dinosaur extinctions that would come later. Wignall shows how these extinctions--some of which have only recently been discovered--all coincided with gigantic volcanic eruptions of flood basalt lavas that occurred when the world's landmasses were united into a single vast expanse. Unraveling one of the great enigmas of ancient Earth, this book also explains how the splitting apart of Pangea into the continents we know today ushered in a new age of vibrant and more resilient life on our planet.--Adapted from book jacket.

Devonian Climate, Sea Level and Evolutionary Events

Devonian Climate, Sea Level and Evolutionary Events PDF Author: R. T. Becker, 1st
Publisher: Geological Society of London
ISBN: 1862397341
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 481

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Book Description
The geological and palaeontological records of climate change and evolutionary events reflect Earth’s widely fluctuating climate systems. Past climates hold the clues to understanding future developments. In this context, research on linked climate, biodiversity and sea-level fluctuations of the Devonian contributes to the general knowledge of deep-time climate dynamics. A fruitful co-operation between the International Geoscience Programme IGCP 596 and the International Subcommission on Devonian Stratigraphy (SDS) addressed the complex succession of climate-linked Devonian global events of varying magnitude. The primary goal of IGCP 596 was to assess mid-Palaeozoic climate changes and their impact on marine and terrestrial biodiversity using an interdisciplinary approach. The focus of SDS includes a revision of the eustatic sea-level curve and the integration of refined chrono- and biostratigraphy with modern chemo-, magneto-, cyclo-, event- and sequence stratigraphy. This enabled the much improved dating and correlation of abiotic perturbations, evolutionary changes, organism and ecosystem ranges. Results by 37 authors are presented in 14 chapters, which cover the entire Devonian.

Fossil Algae

Fossil Algae PDF Author: E. Flügel
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 3642665160
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 628

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Book Description


The Mojave-Sonora Megashear Hypothesis

The Mojave-Sonora Megashear Hypothesis PDF Author: Thomas Howard Anderson
Publisher: Geological Society of America
ISBN: 0813723930
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 726

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Book Description


Paleoecology

Paleoecology PDF Author: David J. Bottjer
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1118455819
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 232

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Book Description
Paleoecology is a discipline that uses evidence from fossils to provide an understanding of ancient environments and the ecological history of life through geological time. This text covers the fundamental approaches that have provided the foundation for present paleoecological understanding, and outlines new research areas in paleoecology for managing future environmental and ecological change. Topics include the use of actualism in paleoecology, development of paleoecological models for paleoenvironmental reconstruction, taphonomy and exceptional fossil preservation, evolutionary paleoecology and ecological change through time, and conservation paleoecology. Data from studies of invertebrates, vertebrates, plants and microfossils, with added emphasis on bioturbation and microbial sedimentary structures, are discussed. Examples from marine and terrestrial environments are covered, with a particular focus on periods of great ecological change, such as the Precambrian-Cambrian transition and intervals of mass extinction. Readership: This book is designed for advanced undergraduates and beginning graduate students in the earth and biological sciences, as well as researchers and applied scientists in a range of related disciplines.

The Appalachian-Ouachita Orogen in the United States

The Appalachian-Ouachita Orogen in the United States PDF Author: Robert D. Hatcher, Jr.
Publisher: Geological Society of America
ISBN: 0813754526
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 784

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Book Description