Tropical Temperatures During the Late Paleozoic Ice Age

Tropical Temperatures During the Late Paleozoic Ice Age PDF Author: Garrett Shepherd
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
The Late Paleozoic Ice Age (LPIA) provides an opportunity to better understand how climate variations influence large-scale changes to the Earth's physical and chemical systems. Trends of LPIA climate have been compiled for decades using oxygen isotope ([delta]18O) thermometry and calcitic brachiopods from the US Midcontinent. These trends, however, may have been subject to more than 300 million years of post-depositional alteration and geochemical overprint. To evaluate the fidelity of these records and establish better constraints for LPIA temperature, this study utilizes petrographic microscopy and dual proxy paleothermometers--[delta]18O and carbonate clumped isotopes ([delta]47). Brachiopods and bulk-rock carbonates from three stratigraphic successions in the US Midcontinent of eastern Kansas--spanning uppermost Pennsylvanian to Lower Permian strata--reported [delta]18O temperatures ranging from 10--29 °C. Clumped isotope measurements from the same interval produced values of 35--79 °C, indicating that all sites in Kansas were influenced by some degree of diagenetic alteration. This alteration resulted in compromised [delta]47 values and distinct [delta]18O and [delta]47 populations between northeastern and southeastern Kansas. These isotopic differences, paired with petrographic evidence, are interpreted to reflect regionally divergent alteration styles. Isotopic evidence and good textural preservation from northeastern Kansas indicate its deposits were primarily impacted by burial diagenesis with little water-rock interaction. Southeastern samples, however, display poor preservation and isotopic signatures suggestive of alteration through both burial and hydrothermal activity, likely related to Ouachitan tectonism. Because fluid interaction overprints original geochemical signatures, carbonate deposits from southern Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas should be used with caution for LPIA climate interpretation due to their proximity to Late Paleozoic tectonism. Previous LPIA trends from the Midcontinent also exhibit isotopic heterogeneity between northern and southern locations and generally agree with the results of this study. This evidence suggests diagenesis has played a significant role in the geochemistry of Midcontinent carbonates. It also indicates that perhaps samples from northern regions of the US Midcontinent represent the most accurate records of LPIA climate.

Tropical Temperatures During the Late Paleozoic Ice Age

Tropical Temperatures During the Late Paleozoic Ice Age PDF Author: Garrett Shepherd
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Get Book Here

Book Description
The Late Paleozoic Ice Age (LPIA) provides an opportunity to better understand how climate variations influence large-scale changes to the Earth's physical and chemical systems. Trends of LPIA climate have been compiled for decades using oxygen isotope ([delta]18O) thermometry and calcitic brachiopods from the US Midcontinent. These trends, however, may have been subject to more than 300 million years of post-depositional alteration and geochemical overprint. To evaluate the fidelity of these records and establish better constraints for LPIA temperature, this study utilizes petrographic microscopy and dual proxy paleothermometers--[delta]18O and carbonate clumped isotopes ([delta]47). Brachiopods and bulk-rock carbonates from three stratigraphic successions in the US Midcontinent of eastern Kansas--spanning uppermost Pennsylvanian to Lower Permian strata--reported [delta]18O temperatures ranging from 10--29 °C. Clumped isotope measurements from the same interval produced values of 35--79 °C, indicating that all sites in Kansas were influenced by some degree of diagenetic alteration. This alteration resulted in compromised [delta]47 values and distinct [delta]18O and [delta]47 populations between northeastern and southeastern Kansas. These isotopic differences, paired with petrographic evidence, are interpreted to reflect regionally divergent alteration styles. Isotopic evidence and good textural preservation from northeastern Kansas indicate its deposits were primarily impacted by burial diagenesis with little water-rock interaction. Southeastern samples, however, display poor preservation and isotopic signatures suggestive of alteration through both burial and hydrothermal activity, likely related to Ouachitan tectonism. Because fluid interaction overprints original geochemical signatures, carbonate deposits from southern Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas should be used with caution for LPIA climate interpretation due to their proximity to Late Paleozoic tectonism. Previous LPIA trends from the Midcontinent also exhibit isotopic heterogeneity between northern and southern locations and generally agree with the results of this study. This evidence suggests diagenesis has played a significant role in the geochemistry of Midcontinent carbonates. It also indicates that perhaps samples from northern regions of the US Midcontinent represent the most accurate records of LPIA climate.

Resolving the Late Paleozoic Ice Age in Time and Space

Resolving the Late Paleozoic Ice Age in Time and Space PDF Author: Christopher R. Fielding
Publisher: Geological Society of America
ISBN: 0813724414
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 366

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Book Description
"This volume summarizes new developments in understanding the longest-lived icehouse period in Phanerozoic Earth history, the late Paleozoic ice age. Resolving the Late Paleozoic Ice Age in Time and Space provides summaries of existing and new data from the various Gondwanan continental relics, and also reviews stratigraphic successions from the paleotropical and temperate regions of Laurussia that preserve an indirect record of glaciation. It addresses the extent to which records of glaciation indicate protracted, long-term climatic austerity, as opposed to fluctuating, more dynamic climate, and provides new constraints on the timing of glaciation. Additionally, it tackles questions of synchroneity of glaciation across the various Gondwanan continental relics, and timing relationships between near-field and far-field records at greater levels of resolution than has been possible previously. Results point toward a dynamic icehouse regime that is comparable to the Cenozoic icehouse, and away from traditional interpretations of the late Paleozoic ice age as a single, protracted event that involved stable, long-lived ice centers."--Publisher's website.

Carboniferous Giants and Mass Extinction

Carboniferous Giants and Mass Extinction PDF Author: George R. McGhee Jr.
Publisher: Columbia University Press
ISBN: 0231543387
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 279

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Book Description
Picture a world of dog-sized scorpions and millipedes as long as a car; tropical rainforests with trees towering over 150 feet into the sky and a giant polar continent five times larger than Antarctica. That world was not imaginary; it was the earth more than 300 million years ago in the Carboniferous period of the Paleozoic era. In Carboniferous Giants and Mass Extinction, George R. McGhee Jr. explores that ancient world, explaining its origins; its downfall in the end-Permian mass extinction, the greatest biodiversity crisis to occur since the evolution of animal life on Earth; and how its legacies still affect us today. McGhee investigates the consequences of the Late Paleozoic ice age in this comprehensive portrait of the effects of ancient climate change on global ecology. Carboniferous Giants and Mass Extinction examines the climatic conditions that allowed for the evolution of gigantic animals and the formation of the largest tropical rainforests ever to exist, which in time turned into the coal that made the industrial revolution possible—and fuels the engine of contemporary anthropogenic climate change. Exploring the strange and fascinating flora and fauna of the Late Paleozoic ice age world, McGhee focuses his analysis on the forces that brought this world to an abrupt and violent end. Synthesizing decades of research and new discoveries, this comprehensive book provides a wealth of insights into past and present extinction events and climate change.

Understanding Earth's Deep Past

Understanding Earth's Deep Past PDF Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309209196
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 153

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Book Description
There is little dispute within the scientific community that humans are changing Earth's climate on a decadal to century time-scale. By the end of this century, without a reduction in emissions, atmospheric CO2 is projected to increase to levels that Earth has not experienced for more than 30 million years. As greenhouse gas emissions propel Earth toward a warmer climate state, an improved understanding of climate dynamics in warm environments is needed to inform public policy decisions. In Understanding Earth's Deep Past, the National Research Council reports that rocks and sediments that are millions of years old hold clues to how the Earth's future climate would respond in an environment with high levels of atmospheric greenhouse gases. Understanding Earth's Deep Past provides an assessment of both the demonstrated and underdeveloped potential of the deep-time geologic record to inform us about the dynamics of the global climate system. The report describes past climate changes, and discusses potential impacts of high levels of atmospheric greenhouse gases on regional climates, water resources, marine and terrestrial ecosystems, and the cycling of life-sustaining elements. While revealing gaps in scientific knowledge of past climate states, the report highlights a range of high priority research issues with potential for major advances in the scientific understanding of climate processes. This proposed integrated, deep-time climate research program would study how climate responded over Earth's different climate states, examine how climate responds to increased atmospheric carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, and clarify the processes that lead to anomalously warm polar and tropical regions and the impact on marine and terrestrial life. In addition to outlining a research agenda, Understanding Earth's Deep Past proposes an implementation strategy that will be an invaluable resource to decision-makers in the field, as well as the research community, advocacy organizations, government agencies, and college professors and students.

Ice Ages, Climate Dynamics and Biotic Events: The Late Pennsylvanian World

Ice Ages, Climate Dynamics and Biotic Events: The Late Pennsylvanian World PDF Author: S.G. Lucas
Publisher: Geological Society of London Special Publications
ISBN: 1786205912
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 505

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Book Description
The Late Pennsylvanian was a time of ice ages and associated climate dynamics. A major reduction in Gondwana ice-volume was followed by a prolonged period of relative global warmth, culminating in the last great ice age of the late Paleozoic. It also was a major turning point in the evolution of life on land, when the coal forests of the Middle Pennsylvanian gave way to new kinds of Late Pennsylvanian wetland vegetation, and new kinds of animals appeared. Changes in the terrestrial biota began during the Middle Pennsylvanian, accelerating and proceeding in a spatially complex manner throughout the Late Pennsylvanian. The Late Pennsylvanian is thus a laboratory for studying environmental changes in a glacial world, and for assessing coeval biotic changes, in part to establish the possible links between the two. No book has been dedicated to this time interval, so this volume fills a gap in our understanding of a dynamic Late Pennsylvanian world that is much like the late Cenozoic world.

The Vegetation of Antarctica through Geological Time

The Vegetation of Antarctica through Geological Time PDF Author: David J. Cantrill
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 113956028X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 489

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Book Description
The fossil history of plant life in Antarctica is central to our understanding of the evolution of vegetation through geological time and also plays a key role in reconstructing past configurations of the continents and associated climatic conditions. This book provides the only detailed overview of the development of Antarctic vegetation from the Devonian period to the present day, presenting Earth scientists with valuable insights into the break up of the ancient supercontinent of Gondwana. Details of specific floras and ecosystems are provided within the context of changing geological, geographical and environmental conditions, alongside comparisons with contemporaneous and modern ecosystems. The authors demonstrate how palaeobotany contributes to our understanding of the paleoenvironmental changes in the southern hemisphere during this period of Earth history. The book is a complete and up-to-date reference for researchers and students in Antarctic paleobotany and terrestrial paleoecology.

Pre-Mesozoic Ice Ages

Pre-Mesozoic Ice Ages PDF Author: John C. Crowell
Publisher: Geological Society of America
ISBN: 9780813711928
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 126

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Book Description
Ancient ice ages are revealed by distinctive stratal facies that tell us much about the times of coolness and how the climate system works. Several strong ice ages were recorded in the late Paleozic time and during transitions from the Devonian in to the Carboniferous and from the Ordovician in to the Silurian. In Precambrian time, several are documented for both the late and early Proterozoic age. This title explores findings on the pre-Mesozoic ice ages, examining climate in relation to tectonobiogeochemical activities rooted in the changing earth-air-ocean system.

The Web of Geological Sciences

The Web of Geological Sciences PDF Author: Marion Eugene Bickford
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780813725239
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 446

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Book Description
The web of geological sciences, Special papers 500 and 523, written in celebration of the 125th anniversary of the Geological Society of America.

Late Paleozoic Glacial Events and Postglacial Transgressions in Gondwana

Late Paleozoic Glacial Events and Postglacial Transgressions in Gondwana PDF Author: Oscar R. López-Gamundí
Publisher: Geological Society of America
ISBN: 0813724686
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 218

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Book Description


Treatise on Geomorphology

Treatise on Geomorphology PDF Author:
Publisher: Academic Press
ISBN: 0080885225
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 6392

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Book Description
The changing focus and approach of geomorphic research suggests that the time is opportune for a summary of the state of discipline. The number of peer-reviewed papers published in geomorphic journals has grown steadily for more than two decades and, more importantly, the diversity of authors with respect to geographic location and disciplinary background (geography, geology, ecology, civil engineering, computer science, geographic information science, and others) has expanded dramatically. As more good minds are drawn to geomorphology, and the breadth of the peer-reviewed literature grows, an effective summary of contemporary geomorphic knowledge becomes increasingly difficult. The fourteen volumes of this Treatise on Geomorphology will provide an important reference for users from undergraduate students looking for term paper topics, to graduate students starting a literature review for their thesis work, and professionals seeking a concise summary of a particular topic. Information on the historical development of diverse topics within geomorphology provides context for ongoing research; discussion of research strategies, equipment, and field methods, laboratory experiments, and numerical simulations reflect the multiple approaches to understanding Earth’s surfaces; and summaries of outstanding research questions highlight future challenges and suggest productive new avenues for research. Our future ability to adapt to geomorphic changes in the critical zone very much hinges upon how well landform scientists comprehend the dynamics of Earth’s diverse surfaces. This Treatise on Geomorphology provides a useful synthesis of the state of the discipline, as well as highlighting productive research directions, that Educators and students/researchers will find useful. Geomorphology has advanced greatly in the last 10 years to become a very interdisciplinary field. Undergraduate students looking for term paper topics, to graduate students starting a literature review for their thesis work, and professionals seeking a concise summary of a particular topic will find the answers they need in this broad reference work which has been designed and written to accommodate their diverse backgrounds and levels of understanding Editor-in-Chief, Prof. J. F. Shroder of the University of Nebraska at Omaha, is past president of the QG&G section of the Geological Society of America and present Trustee of the GSA Foundation, while being well respected in the geomorphology research community and having won numerous awards in the field. A host of noted international geomorphologists have contributed state-of-the-art chapters to the work. Readers can be guaranteed that every chapter in this extensive work has been critically reviewed for consistency and accuracy by the World expert Volume Editors and by the Editor-in-Chief himself No other reference work exists in the area of Geomorphology that offers the breadth and depth of information contained in this 14-volume masterpiece. From the foundations and history of geomorphology through to geomorphological innovations and computer modelling, and the past and future states of landform science, no "stone" has been left unturned!