Accepted in revised form.
Sea floor spreading greenhouse world.
Falling sea level over a broad span of time may be a sign of reduced sea floor spreading and thus a fall in volcanic emissions of gases during the welding of pangaea.
The best documented example of rapid climate change that characterized the so called greenhouse world took place at the time of the palaeocene eocene boundary.
The eocene carbon dioxide greenhouse revisited james f.
The survey data was used to create three dimensional relief maps of the ocean floor and by 1953 american oceanic cartographer marie tharp had created the first of several maps that revealed the presence of an underwater mountain range.
During plate tectonics carbon is cycled endlessly between the earth s.
During this period submarine volcanic carbon dioxide emissions were released high enough to cause atmospheric co 2 concentrations in excess of 1000ppm.
The same greenhouse gas emissions that are causing the planet s climate to change are also causing the seafloor to dissolve.
At times of enhanced tectonic activity and sea floor spreading elevated levels of greenhouse gas emissions may initiate or augment a greenhouse world.
The seafloor spreading theory is one hypothesis introduced to suggest a mechanism of controlled co2 levels in the atmosphere causing the observed variations between warm co2 rich greenhouse intervals and cold co2 depleted global cooling intervals.
This theory focuses the control of co2 levels on plate tectonic processes.
Introduction of isotopically light carbon into the ocean atmosphere system accompanied by global warming of 5 8 c across a range of latitudes took place over a few thousand years.
For more than 50 ma the net effect of all the factors fed on each other to encourage and sustain a global fall in temperature.
Kasting nasa ames research center ms 245 3 moffett field ca 94035 and steven m.
Shortly after the conclusion of world war ii sonar equipped vessels crisscrossed the oceans collecting ocean depth profiles of the seafloor beneath them.
The cretaceous greenhouse world refers to a part of geological history that lasted from about 110 to 90 million years ago.
And new research has found the ocean bottom is melting away faster in.
As the newly formed plates diverge they slowly begin to cool and as the density of the exhumed rock increases so the ocean crust begins to subside as schematised in figure 2 5.
This theory focuses the control of co2 levels on plate tectonic processes.
The cretaceous climatic optimum.
Evidence for rapid climate change in the mesozoic palaeogene greenhouse world.
The seafloor spreading theory is one hypothesis introduced to suggest a mechanism of controlled co2 levels in the atmosphere causing the observed variations between warm co2 rich greenhouse intervals and cold co2 depleted global cooling intervals.
Caldeira k rampino m r 1991 this then caused rapid sea floor spreading and the break up of continents.
Richardson department of earth sciences iowa state university ames iowa 50011 received april 10 1985.
