Cretaceous Thermal Maximum

Cretaceous Thermal Maximum

Cretaceous Thermal Maximum, also known as Cretaceous Thermal Optimum, was a period during Earth's history notable for its dramatic increase in global temperatures.

Contents

Characteristics

Carbon dioxide levels reached astounding heights and the sea levels elevated. Plants such as plankton became "glassy" and temperatures increased. Scientists predicted that the Cretaceous Thermal Maximum occurred during the Cenomanian/Turonian transition based from the fact that there was a major downfall in global climate. It was also shown to be the most extreme carbon cycle recorded in the past 100 million years.[1][2]

Impact

Although there was clearly an impact, the results of the Cretaceous Thermal Maximum are a little unclear. However, we do know that the average temperature was between 27 degrees Celsius and 29 degrees Celsius. Even worse, locations bordering the Atlantic Ocean rose to about 35 degrees Celsius to 36 degrees Celsius. In fact, it was extremely rare for the temperature to drop 4 degrees Celsius even in winter. The constant peak of high temperature was mostly because there were high carbon dioxide formulations. All of this implies that the mid-Cretaceous "super-greenhouse" climate was more unstable than we had thought before.[1][2][3]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Foster, A., et al. "The Cretaceous Thermal Maximum and Oceanic Anoxic Event 2 in the Tropics: Sea- Surface Temperature and Stable Organic Carbon Isotopic Records from the Equatorial Atlantic." American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2006. The Smithsonian/NASA Astrophysics Data System. Web. 20 Oct. 2009. <http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2006AGUFMPP33C..04F>
  2. ^ a b Poulsen, Christopher J., Andrew S. Gendaszek, and Robert L. Jacob. "Did the rifting of the Atlantic Ocean cause the Cretaceous thermal maximum?" Geology 31.2 (2003): 115-118. Web. 20 Oct. 2009. <http://geology.geoscienceworld.org/cgi/content/abstract/31/2/115>.
  3. ^ Wilson, Paul A., Richard D. Norris, and Matthew J. Cooper. "Testing the Cretaceous greenhouse hypothesis using glassy foraminiferal calcite from the core of the Turonian tropics on Demerara Rise." Geology 30.7 (2002):607-610. Web. Oct.2009.<http://geology.geoscienceworld.org/cgi/content/abstract/30/7/607>.

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