Tectonic Boundary Conditions for Climate Reconstructions

About this book

In the last ten to fifteen years there has been a movement to break down old disciplinary boundaries in the geosciences in order to develop a more unified view of the earth as an integrated system. Much of this effort has been stimulated by developments in the atmosphere and ocean sciences that study the effect of humanity's impact on the environment. However, solid earth sciences also have a role to play in the Earth System Science/Global Change Programs but efforts to integrate solid and fluid elements of the geosciences have not progressed as rapidly as other elements of these programs. In this book, the authors present examples of how integrating solid earth and climate studies can lead to better understanding of both disciplines. The focus on the role of tectonic boundary conditions for paleoclimate reconstructions. Chapters presenting background material on the impact of tectonic changes on climate will be followed by individual chapters on the "uncertainties" - with respect to orography, geography, timing of ocean gatewary closures, bathymetry, and CO[2 levels in the atmosphere. The book developed from a discussion at the Geodynamics Committee of the Board on Earth Sciences and Resources of the United States National Academy of Sciences.

Contents

Introduction; 1. Significance of Tectonic Boundary Conditions for Paleoclimate Simulations; I. Role of Continental Configuration; 2. The Role of Geography and Atmospheric CO2 in Long-Term Climate Change: Results from Model Simulations for the Late Permian to the Present; II. Continental Elevation; 3. Orographic Evolution of the Himalaya and Tibetan Plateau; 4. Topographic History of the Western Cordillera of North America and Controls on Climate; 5. Effects of Tropical Mountain Elevations on the Climate of the Late Carboniferous: Climate model Simulations; 6. The Role of Mountains and Plateaus in a Triassic Climate Model; III. Epeiric Seas; 7. The Vanishing Record of Epeiric Seas, With Emphasis on the Late Cretaceous 'Hudson Seaway'; IV. Ocean Gateways; 8. Caribbean Constraints on Circulation Between Atlantic and Pacific Oceans Over the Past 40 Million Years; 9. The Role of the Greenland-Scotland Ridge in Neogene Climate Changes; 10. Opening of Drake Passage and its Impact on Cenozoic Ocean Circulation; V. Bathymetry; 11. Reconstruction of Realistic Early Eocene Palaeobathymetry and Ocean GCM Sensitivity Basin Configuration; VI. Tectonics and CO2; 12; 13. The Transition from Arc Volcanism to Exhumation, Weathering of Young Ca, Mg, St Silicates, and Co 2 Drawdown

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