Tropical shoreline ice in the late Cambrian: Implications for earth's climate between the Cambrian Explosion and the Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event
GSA Today
By: Anthony C. Runkel, T.J. MacKey, Clinton A. Cowan, and David L. Fox
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Abstract
Middle to late Cambrian time (ca. 513 to 488 Ma) is characterized by an unstable plateau in biodiversity, when depauperate shelf faunas suffered repeated extinctions. This poorly understood interval separates the Cambrian Explosion from the Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event and is generally regarded as a time of sustained greenhouse conditions. We present evidence that suggests a drastically different climate during this enigmatic interval: Features indicative of meteoric ice are well preserved in late Cambrian equatorial beach deposits that correspond to one of the shelf extinction events. Thus, the middle to late Cambrian Earth was at least episodically cold and might best be considered a muted analogue to the environmental extremes that characterized the Proterozoic, even though cooling in the two periods may have occurred in response to different triggers. Such later Cambrian conditions may have significantly impacted evolution preceding the Ordovician radiation.
Suggested Citation
Runkel, A.C., MacKey, T., Cowan, C.A., and Fox, D.L., 2010, Tropical shoreline ice in the late Cambrian: Implications for earth's climate between the Cambrian Explosion and the Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event: GSA Today, v. 20, no. 11, p. 4-10, https://doi.org/10.1130/GSATG84A.1.
| Publication type | Article |
|---|---|
| Publication Subtype | Journal Article |
| Title | Tropical shoreline ice in the late Cambrian: Implications for earth's climate between the Cambrian Explosion and the Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event |
| Series title | GSA Today |
| DOI | 10.1130/GSATG84A.1 |
| Volume | 20 |
| Issue | 11 |
| Year Published | 2010 |
| Language | English |
| Larger Work Type | Article |
| Larger Work Subtype | Journal Article |
| Larger Work Title | GSA Today |
| First page | 4 |
| Last page | 10 |