Phanerozoic Paleoclimate

Abstract

This publication combines the interpretations of two major sets of data. One is the geophysical data that is used to interpret the position of the tectonic plates through geologic time. The other is based on a long time search of the geological literature to find, record, and evaluate the lithologic descriptions of countless reports around the globe; paying careful attention to those lithologies that have climatic implications. The introduction to this volume includes a detailed discussion of the lithologies, mineralogies and biogeographies that are considered to be the most reliable in identifying the climatic conditions existing during their formation and how they are used or not used in this compilation. Global paleoclimatic zones based on the climatically interpreted data points are identified during twenty-eight time periods from Cambrian to Miocene using paleotectonic reconstructed maps. The paleoclimate of each time period is summarized and includes a discussion of the specific referenced data points that have been interpreted to be the most reliable available for that time period and location.

Mountain building, climate cooling and the richness of cold‐adapted plants in the Northern Hemisphere

“…We combined these global data sets with a set of digital elevation models (Scotese & Wright, 2018) with lithological proxies of paleoclimate (Boucot & Scotese, 2013) to produce global estimates of temperature change for the last 60 Myr (Cenozoic). The combination of these biological data sets, paleotopographical models and paleotemperature estimates provide a novel framework to better understand the origin and species richness of cold-adapted taxa in arctic and alpine regions in the Northern Hemisphere.…”

“…Reconstructions of the ancient Köppen zones are based on the geographic distribution of lithological indicators of climate including coal, evaporite, bauxite, tillite, glendonite, dropstones and other fossils evidence such as high latitude occurrences of palms, mangroves and alligators (Boucot et al, 2013;Scotese, 2015). A complete description of the sources of these lithological indicators of climate can be found in Boucot et al (2013). The five principal Köppen climatic zones were drawn over 12 Cenozoic paleotopographic reconstructions according to the distribution of these lithological indicators of climate.…”

Late Eocene to early Oligocene quantitative paleotemperature record: Evidence from continental halite fluid inclusions

“…The continental and oceanic configuration during the middle–late Eocene was very similar to modern conditions12, therefore climatic changes during this interval can provide an analogue for predicting the evolution of future climate. Fortunately, the Bohai Bay Basin, North China has not experienced significant change in latitude for the past 65 Ma1314, which offers us an good opportunity to peer into past and future climate conditions.…”

Concurrent origins of the genetic code and the homochirality of life, and the origin and evolution of biodiversity. Part II: Technical appendix

“…The Phanerozoic climatic curve is based on the following four results (Fig S4b2): ( i ) the climatic gradient curve based on climate indicators in the Phanerozoic eon [80] [81] (Fig S4b1); ( ii ) the atmospheric CO 2 fluctuations in the Berner’s models that emphasise the weathering role of tracheophytes [82] [83] [84]; ( iii ) the marine carbonate 87 S r / 86 S r record in the Phanerozoic eon in Raymo’s model [85] [86]. The more positive 87 S r / 86 S r values, assumed to indicate enhanced CO 2 levels and globally colder climates; more negative 87 S r / 86 S r values, indicating enhanced sea-floor speeding and hydrothermal activity, are associated with increased CO 2 levels; ( iv ) the marine δ 18 O record in the Phanerozoic eon based on thermodynamic isotope effect [86] [87].…”

“…A consensus Phanerozoic climatic curve is obtained based on the above four independent results after nondimensionalization at equal weights. Namely, the Phanerozoic climatic curve is defined as the average of nondimensionalized climate indicator curve [80] [81], Berner’s CO 2 curve [82], 87 S r / 86 S r curve [85] [86] and δ 18 O curve [86] [87] (Fig S4b2).…”