Atlas of Cenozoic Climate Zones 4

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Atlas of Cenozoic Climate Zones 4 AN ATLAS OF CENOZOIC CLIMATE ZONES by CLINTON WHITAKER CROWLEY Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of The University of Texas at Arlington in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE IN GEOLOGY THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT ARLINGTON May 2012 Copyright © by Clinton W. Crowley 2012 All Rights Reserved ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank Dr. Scotese for making me a part of the PALEOMAP Project. Our collaboration put my artwork in the National Geographic—the magazine that introduced science and discovery to me as a child. I thank Dr. Arne Winguth and Dr. Harry Rowe for their work reviewing this thesis. Dr. Winguth’s own work is relevant to this topic, and I refer to it in these pages. Dr. Gary Upchurch of Texas State University, though not a committee member, has worked with Dr. Scotese. He gave me a great deal of his research to use in this atlas. Thanks to Derek Main, of the Arlington Archosaur Site, I can now say my art is on the cover of an international scientific journal, and has been printed in other periodicals as well. Thanks also to Dean Williams and Mark Kalpakis at Joint Resources Company. They gave me the resources and the time to complete this degree, and a concurrent education in the oil business. Many other people in the department helped me out through my graduate student career. My compliments to all of you—Dr. John Wickham, Beth Ballard, Kim Gray, Paula Burkhart, Wanda Slagle, Pat Cowan, Dr. Gloria Eisenstadt, and Dr. Larry Standlee. My parents sparked my interest in geology. Claude and Carolyn Crowley took their children outdoors to see streams and roadcuts at a very early age. They told us of the long-ago worlds that made the rocks we lived on in Tennessee and Texas. When I found out that the continents themselves were moving, my vocation became clear. I’m fortunate to have known Dr. Donald Reaser, who took a lively interest in my career, turbocharging my interest in local geology. We agreed that a worthy geologist should die clutching a rock hammer, or while looking down a microscope. I intend to go out like that, myself. April 9, 2012 iii ABSTRACT AN ATLAS OF CENOZOIC CLIMATE ZONES Clinton W. Crowley, M.S. The University of Texas at Arlington, 2012 Supervising Professor: Christopher Scotese This atlas illustrates global climatic zones in five major turning points of Cenozoic climate history: the K/T, the Paleocene/Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM), the Eocene/Oligocene Transition (EOT), the Late Miocene (Messinian), and the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). The maps were produced from a combination of climate simulations (FOAM, CCSM, ECHAM, BESTGUESS, GENESIS and others) and climatic zone reconstructions based on lithologic data. Paleogeographic base maps of the time intervals from the PALEOMAP Project were then illustrated with an artist’s rendition of the Earth’s appearance. The color scheme was based on NASA’s Blue Marble images. An overview of the conditions that shaped global climate zones in each time interval accompanies the atlas: plate tectonics, paleogeography, configuration of ocean basins and currents, greenhouse gas concentration, plant life, and other climate forcing mechanisms. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS................................................................................................................ iii ABSTRACT...................................................................................................................................... iv LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.............................................................................................................. xi LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................................... xii Chapter Page 1. INTRODUCTION……………………………………..………..…........................................1 1.1 Global Climates of the Cenozoic Era ...............................................................1 2. GEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE AND PREVIOUS WORK....................................................6 2.1 Types of Data Assembled ................................................................................6 2.2 Climate Models.................................................................................................6 2.2.1 CCSM ...............................................................................................7 2.2.2 ECHAM.............................................................................................8 2.2.3 FOAM ...............................................................................................8 2.3 Isotopic data .....................................................................................................8 2.3.1 Oxygen isotopes...............................................................................9 2.3.2 Carbon isotopes .............................................................................11 2.3.3 Less-common isotopes ..................................................................12 2.4 Paleobotany....................................................................................................12 2.5 Micropaleontology ..........................................................................................13 2.6 Lithology .........................................................................................................13 2.7 Previous Climatic Reconstructions.................................................................14 v 3. METHODOLOGY .........................................................................................................16 3.1 Plate Tectonic Basemaps...............................................................................16 3.2 Visualizing Climatic Zones..............................................................................16 3.3 The Mapmaking Process: A Step by Step Description .................................16 4. CRETACEOUS/TERTIARY (K/T) CLIMATE................................................................22 4.1 Introduction to the K/T ....................................................................................22 4.1.1 Plate Tectonics...............................................................................22 4.1.2 Paleogeography .............................................................................25 4.1.3 Paleoclimate of the K/T in Context of the Late Cretaceous ...........26 4.2 Discussion of K/T Paleoclimate Reconstruction.............................................27 4.2.1 Description of Climatic Zones.........................................................27 4.2.1.1 Equatorial Wet Climatic Zone ............................................27 4.2.1.1.1 Lithologic and Paleontologic Data for the Equatorial Wet Zone .............................28 4.2.1.2 Arid and Semiarid Climatic Zones .....................................28 4.2.1.2.1 Lithologic and Paleontologic Data for the Arid and Semiarid Zones ......................28 4.2.1.3 Warm Temperate Climatic Zone........................................28 4.2.1.3.1 Lithologic and Paleontologic Data for the Warm Temperate Zone.........................29 4.2.1.4 Cool Temperate Climatic Zone..........................................29 4.2.1.4.1 Lithologic and Paleontologic Data for the Cool Temperate Zone ...........................30 4.2.1.5 Polar Climatic Zone ...........................................................30 4.2.1.5.1 Lithologic and Paleontologic Data for the Polar Zone.............................................30 4.3 Summary of K/T Global Climate.....................................................................31 5. PALEOCENE/EOCENE THERMAL MAXIMUM (PETM) CLIMATE ............................33 5.1 Introduction to the PETM................................................................................33 5.1.1 Plate Tectonics...............................................................................35 vi 5.1.2 Paleogeography .............................................................................37 5.1.3 Paleoclimate of the PETM in Context of the Paleogene ................38 5.2 Discussion of PETM Paleoclimate Reconstruction ........................................41 5.2.1 Description of Climate Zones .........................................................41 5.2.1.1 Equatorial Wet Climatic Zone ............................................41 5.2.1.1.1 Lithologic and Paleontologic Data for the Equatorial Wet Zone .............................41 5.2.1.2 Arid and Semiarid Climatic Zones .....................................42 5.2.1.2.1 Lithologic and Paleontologic Data for the Arid and Semiarid Zones ......................42 5.2.1.3 Warm Temperate Climatic Zone........................................43 5.2.1.3.1 Lithologic and Paleontologic Data for the Warm Temperate Zone.........................43 5.2.1.4 Cool Temperate Climatic Zone..........................................43 5.2.1.4.1 Lithologic and Paleontologic Data for the Cool Temperate Zone ...........................44 5.2.1.5 Polar Climatic Zone ...........................................................44 5.3 Summary of PETM Global Climate ................................................................44 6. EOCENE-OLIGOCENE TRANSITION (EOT) CLIMATE .............................................46 6.1 Introduction to the EOT ..................................................................................46 6.1.1 Plate Tectonics...............................................................................47 6.1.2 Paleogeography .............................................................................49
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