Changes in the Chemical Composition of the Atmosphere During the Phanerozoic

Budyko, M. I.; Ronov, A. B.; Yanshin, A. L.

doi:10.1080/00206818509466430

Cited by 19 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…Monographic effects add bias to ammonite diversities (Kennedy 1977) especially for the middle Jurassic and middle Cretaceous; they explain some of the divergences among the different diversity curves. The Jurassic and Cretaceous megacycles of diversity are in phase with cycles of carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere as estimated by Budyko & Ronov (1979) and shown on Fig. 17.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 82%

Mesozoic palaeoceanography of the North Atlantic and Tethys Oceans

Roth

1986

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SUM MARY: The biogeography and preservation of calcareous nannofossil assemblages allow mapping of surface water fertility patterns and put constraints on carbonate dissolution in the global oceans of the middle Cretaceous. Cyclic changes in carbonate dissolution and surface water biologic productivity in the Cretaceous oceans were linked to oceanographic and climatic changes that had frequencies close to the Milankovitch cycles (tens of thousands to hundreds of thousand years). Evolution of calcareous nannoplankton during the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods occurred in two primary cycles of about 75 Ma duration that were punctuated by major diversification events, occurring every 15-30 Ma, that marked the beginning of periods of increased marine organic matter production and preservation (stagnation events). Calcareous nannoplankton evolved largely in shallow seas during the Rhaetian to Kimmeridgian. In the latest Jurassic, calcareous nannoplankton conquered the oceanic realm, became major producers of pelagic carbonates, and are thus responsible for the shift of carbonate deposition from shallow seas to the deep ocean. In the late Cretaceous chalk seas, nannofossils replaced shallow water benthos as major carbonate producers. Warm climates, due to high atmospheric CO2 concentrations and increased albedo during high sealevel stands caused by global tectonic processes, made these tiny creatures flourish during the late Mesozoic.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 82%

Mesozoic palaeoceanography of the North Atlantic and Tethys Oceans

Roth

1986

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“…This proved to be incorrect because they had neglected to include the carbonate deposited in the deep sea (Hay 1985) and because they did not take sedimentary recycling into account. However, Budyko and Ronov (1979) and Budyko et al (1987) reasoned that the CO content of the atmosphere should parallel the waxing and waning of volcanic activity recorded by the mass/age distribution of volcanic rocks, a correct assumption. Berner et al (1983), Lasaga et al (1985), and Berner (1991Berner ( , 1994 have attempted to quantify the concentrations of atmospheric CO in the past using estimates of variations of the rate of sea-floor spreading as a proxy for global volcanic activity.…”

Section: Carbondioxidementioning

confidence: 97%

“…Shortly after it was discovered by Arrhenius that CO traps radiation and moderates the temperature of the atmosphere, Chamberlin (1899) suggested that higher levels of atmospheric CO might be responsible for the warm climates of the Mesozoic. Because of its effects as a greenhouse gas, Budyko and Ronov (1979) proposed that increased levels of atmospheric CO were responsible for the warm polar conditions that prevailed during the Late Cretaceous. They also believed that they could quantify major long-term increases and decreases in the CO content of the atmosphere from the masses of carbonate rocks of different ages preserved on the continents.…”

Section: Carbondioxidementioning

confidence: 99%

Climate: Is the past the key to the future?

Hay

DeConto

Wold

1997

Geologische Rundschau

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The climate of the Holocene is not well suited to be the baseline for the climate of the planet. It is an interglacial, a state typical of only 10% of the past few million years. It is a time of relative sea-level stability after a rapid 130-m rise from the lowstand during the last glacial maximum. Physical geologic processes are operating at unusual rates and much of the geochemical system is not in a steady state. During most of the Phanerozoic there have been no continental ice sheets on the earth, and the planet's meridional temperature gradient has been much less than it is presently. Major factors influencing climate are insolation, greenhouse gases, paleogeography, and vegetation; the first two are discussed in this paper. Changes in the earth's orbital parameters affect the amount of radiation received from the sun at different latitudes over the course of the year. During the last climate cycle, the waxing and waning of the northern hemisphere continental ice sheets closely followed the changes in summer insolation at the latitude of the northern hemisphere polar circle. The overall intensity of insolation in the northern hemisphere is governed by the precession of the earth's axis of rotation, and the precession and ellipticity of the earth's orbit. At the polar circle a meridional

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“…Assuming the volcanic degassing rate was directly proportional to the rate of seafloor spreading, Berner, Lasaga & Garrels (1983) concluded that the degassing has been the primary factor in controlling atmospheric C0 2 and the Earth's surface temperature. Their computed results are contrary to those of Budyko & Ronov (1979); a part of the discrepancy could be related to unjustified assumptions by Lasaga, Berner & Garrels (1985). They assumed, for example, a variable seafloor spreading rate to obtain results of a maximum CO 2 content at, and thus a Tertiary warming trend until, about 40 Ma.…”

Section: Triassic Desert and Cretaceous Oceanmentioning

confidence: 90%

“…Budyko & Ronov (1979) had a simplistic model for relating the CO 2 budget to variable output of volcanic degassing, but their conclusion of a warming trend in late Cretaceous and middle Miocene time is contradicted by oxygen isotope data (Fig. 5).…”

Section: Triassic Desert and Cretaceous Oceanmentioning

confidence: 99%

Is Gaia endothermic?

Hsü

1992

Geol. Mag.

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Geological evidence suggests that Gaia is endothermic: her body temperature has varied, but within limits; there has been no runaway greenhouse like Venus, nor deep freeze like Mars. This paper presents a hypothesis that the Earth's climate has been ameliorated by living organisms: they have served either as heaters or air-conditioners, and their ecological tolerance is the sensor of Gaia's thermostat. At the beginning, 3.8 or 3.5 Ga ago, only anaerobic autotrophs capable of tolerating high temperatures thinned out the atmospheric CO 2 through carbon fixation. Fossil organic carbon was utilized by anaerobic heterotrophs to reinforce the effectiveness of the late Archean greenhouse, when solar luminosity was weaker than it is now. With the increasing solar luminosity during early Proterozoic time, new life forms such as cyanobacteria evolved, removing CO 3 from the atmosphere and storing it in stromatolitic carbonates. Over-eager cyanobacteria may have consumed too much greenhouse CO 2 to cause glaciation. Their decline coincided in timing with the rise of the Ediacaran faunas which had no carbonate skeletons. The change in the mode of carbon-cycling may have started the warming trend after the Proterozoic glaciation. The Cambrian explosion was an event when skeletal eukaryotes usurped the function of prokaryotes in removing greenhouse CO 2 through CaCO 3 precipitation. With the evolution of land plants, coal-makers took over the 'air-conditioning' duty. They over-did it, and Permo-Carboniferous glaciation ensued. After a wholesale turnover of the faunas and floras at the end of the Palaeozoic, more CO 2 was released than fixed in early Mesozoic time. The warming trend reached its zenith in the early Cretaceous, when flowering trees and calcareous plankton began to flourish. The decline since then, with a temporary restoration during early Palaeogene time, could be a manifestation of the varying efficiency of extracting and burying carbon dioxide, in the form of inorganic and organic carbon. The relation of atmospheric CO 2 and climatic variation is documented by study of air bubbles in ice cores. Yet there is also correlation to astronomical cycles. The latter seem to have triggered changes which are amplified by feedback mechanisms of carbon cycling.

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Changes in the Chemical Composition of the Atmosphere During the Phanerozoic

Cited by 19 publications

References 4 publications

Mesozoic palaeoceanography of the North Atlantic and Tethys Oceans

Mesozoic palaeoceanography of the North Atlantic and Tethys Oceans

Climate: Is the past the key to the future?

Is Gaia endothermic?

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