Paleolatitudinal distribution of lithologic indicators of climate in a paleogeographic framework

Abstract

-Whether the latitudinal distribution of climate-sensitive lithologies is stable through greenhouse and icehouse regimes remains unclear. Previous studies suggest that the palaeolatitudinal distribution of palaeoclimate indicators, including coals, evaporites, reefs and carbonates, has remained broadly similar since the Permian period, leading to the conclusion that atmospheric and oceanic circulation control their distribution rather than the latitudinal temperature gradient. Here we revisit a global-scale compilation of lithologic indicators of climate, including coals, evaporites and glacial deposits, back to the Devonian period. We test the sensitivity of their latitudinal distributions to the uneven distribution of continental areas through time and to global tectonic models, correct the latitudinal distributions of lithologies for sampling-and continental area-bias, and use statistical methods to fit these distributions with probability density functions and estimate their high-density latitudinal ranges with 50 % and 95 % confidence intervals. The results suggest that the palaeolatitudinal distributions of lithologies have changed through deep geological time, notably a pronounced poleward shift in the distribution of coals at the beginning of the Permian. The distribution of evaporites indicates a clearly bimodal distribution over the past ∼400 Ma, except for Early Devonian, Early Carboniferous, the earliest Permian and Middle and Late Jurassic times. We discuss how the patterns indicated by these lithologies change through time in response to plate motion, orography, evolution and greenhouse/icehouse conditions. This study highlights that combining tectonic reconstructions with a comprehensive lithologic database and novel data analysis approaches provide insights into the nature and causes of shifting climatic zones through deep time.

Investigating Mesozoic Climate Trends and Sensitivities With a Large Ensemble of Climate Model Simulations

“…difference between the DJF, MAM, JJA, and SON seasonal averages) for the 225 and 75 Ma timeslices of the P pCO2_1000ppm pathway. Gray lines indicate the tectonic plate boundaries in the rotation model of Scotese (2008) (as published by Cao et al., 2018). (c) The gray shading shows the changing latitudinal land area distribution implemented in the simulations.…”

“…In contrast to, for example, glacial deposits, they cannot be interpreted primarily as temperature proxies. Gray lines indicate the tectonic plate boundaries in the rotation model of Scotese (2008) (as published by Cao et al., 2018).…”

“…(2019). Cyan‐colored bars indicate the occurrence of glacial deposits (Boucot et al., 2013; Cao et al., 2018). (b) pCO 2 _ proxy (green) and pCO 2 _ COPSE (brown) reconstructions.…”

“…Trends of the atmospheric CO 2 concentration, considered a major driver of Phanerozoic climate, have been reconstructed from both proxies (Foster et al., 2017; Royer, 2014) and biogeochemistry box models (Berner, 2006; Mills et al., 2019) (see Figure 1b). Compilations of lithologic climate indicators, including coals and evaporites, have been used to infer climatic zonation at different stages of the Mesozoic (Boucot et al., 2013; Cao et al., 2018; Chumakov, 2004; Scotese et al., 2014; Ziegler et al., 2003).…”

GPlates: Building a Virtual Earth Through Deep Time

“…GPlates allows users to explore the evolution of the entire Earth system in accordance with past tectonic plate configurations (e.g., Matthews et al, ; Müller, Seton, et al, ) by combining GPlates with a variety of research tools, data, and workflows. GPlates applications include deep Earth dynamics (e.g., Bower et al, ; Coltice et al, ; Flament et al, ; Shephard et al, ), global and regional dynamic surface topography (e.g., Barnett‐Moore et al, ; Flament et al, ; Harrington et al, ; R. Müller et al, ; Rubey et al, ; Spasojevic & Gurnis, ), tectonics and continental margin reconstruction (e.g., Brune et al, ; Williams et al, ; Zahirovic et al, ), evolution of continental stress fields (e.g., Dyksterhuis & Müller, ; Müller et al, ), evolution of river systems (Salles et al, ) and carbonate reefs (DiCaprio et al, ), long‐term sea level change (e.g., Müller et al, ; Spasojevic & Gurnis, ), biological evolution (Lehtonen et al, ), the evolution of sedimentation in the ocean basins (Dutkiewicz et al, ), sedimentary basin kinematics (Heine et al, ; Pángaro & Ramos, ; Torsvik et al, ) and dynamic evolution (Yang et al, ; Zahirovic et al, ), mountain building processes (Cook et al, ), continental arc evolution (Cao, Lee, et al, ), global paleogeography (Cao et al, ; Herold et al, ; Herold et al, ; Scotese & Schettino, ; van Hinsbergen et al, ; Wright et al, ), and the evolution of climate and vegetation (Henrot et al, ; Herold et al, ; Huber, ; O'Regan et al, ) and ocean circulation (Hague et al, ; Herold et al, ; Scher et al, ).…”