Warm Climates in Earth History

by Brian T. Huber, Kenneth G. Macleod, Scott L. Wing

Overview

The study of greenhouse climates in the earth's past leads to a greater understanding of the factors that influence today's climate. In this fully integrated volume, leading experts in paleoclimatology present cutting edge paleontological, geological, and theoretical research to assess intervals of global warmth. Coverage examines warm climate intervals during the Paleozoic, Mesozoic and Cenozoic from the same perspectives: oceanic and terrestrial, theoretical and observational. This approach illuminates the differences and, more importantly, the commonalities of warm climate intervals. The book also provides a comprehensive overview of the advantages and limitations of different types of climate models that are currently used, and it discusses major factors that have caused global climatic change across geologic time scales. Central problems that remain unresolved are clearly identified. The book will be of great interest to researchers in paleoclimatology, and it will also be useful as a supplementary text in advanced undergraduate or graduate level courses in paleoclimatology and earth science.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521641425
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	12/02/1999
Pages:	480
Product dimensions:	7.09(w) x 10.04(h) x 1.10(d)

Table of Contents

Preface Brian T. Huber, Kenneth G. MacLeod, Scott L. Wing; Part I. Approaches to the Study of Paleoclimates: 1. Warm climate forcing mechanisms Paul J. Valdes; 2. Recent advances in paleoclimate modeling: closing the gap on model-data comparisons Robert DeConto, Starley Thompson and Dave Pollard; 3. Comparisons of zonal temperature profiles for past warm time periods Tom Crowley and Jim C. Zachos; Part II. Case Studies: Latest Paleocene-Early Eocene: 4. High resolution global ocean circulation Karen Bice, Lisa Sloan and Eric Barron; 5. Deep-sea environments in the absence of polar ice caps: the case of the early Eocene Ellen Thomas and Jim C. Zachos; 6. Mountains and Eocene climate Richard Norris, Richard Corfield and Karen Hayes-Baker; 7. An early Eocene period? Evidence for continental cooling during the warmest part of the Cenozoic Scott Wing, Paul Koch and H. Bao; Part III. Case Studies: Mesoic: 8. Paleontological and geochemical constraints on changes in the deep ocean during the Cretaceous greenhouse interval Kenneth G. MacLeod, Brian T. Huber and My Le Ducharme; 9. Late Cretaceous climate, vegetation and ocean interactions Robert DeConto, Esther C. Brady, Jon Bergengren, Starley Thompson, David Pollard and William Hay; 10. Jurassic phytogeography and climates: new data and model comparisons Alistair Rees, Alfred M. Ziegler and Paul J. Valdes; Part IV. Case studies: Paleozoic: 11. Permian and Triassic high latitude paleoclimates: evidence from fossil biotas Edith Taylor, Thomas Taylor and N. Rubén Cúneo; 12. Organic carbon burial and faunal dynamics in the Appalachian basin during the Devonian (Givetian-Famennian) greenhouse: an integrated Paleoecological/biogeochemical approach Adam Murphy, Bradley B. Sageman and Charles Ver Straeten; 13. Glaciation in the early Paleozoic 'greenhouse': the roles of paleogeography and atmospheric CO2 Mark Gibbs, Karen Bice, Lee Kump and Eric Barron; Part V. Overview: Climate Across Tectonic Timescales: 14. Carbon dioxide and Phanerozoic climate Tom Crowley; Index.

Editorial Reviews

"This very readable, carefully edited volume is an important contribution to a better understanding of past events that have great consequences for anticipating future environmental change." Quarterly Review of Biology

"the assembled papers will be of interest to a broad spectrum of Earth scientists and present many useful insights into the "state of the art" of paleoclimate studies using data and numerical models." Palaios Aug 2001

From the Publisher