| Title: | Integrated terrestrial and marine climate history of the terminal Cretaceous |
| Author: | Peter Wilf |
| Date Submitted: | 04/30/2002 |
| Address: | Pennsylvania State University,
Department of Geosciences, Deike Building
University Park
PA
USA
16802
|
| Phone: | 814-865-6721 |
| Email: | pwilf@geosc.psu.edu |
| Co-Authors: | Johnson, Kirk R., Denver Museum of Nature & Science, KJohnson@dmns.org; Huber, Brian T., Smithsonian Institution, Huber.Brian@NMNH.SI.EDU |
| Affiliation: | Pennsylvania State University |
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| Abstract URL: | http://cis.whoi.edu/science/GG/ccod/viewAbstracts.cfm?RefNumber=19725564 |
| Author Homepage: | http://www.geosc.psu.edu/People/Faculty/FacultyPages/Wilf/index.html |
| Keywords: | mass extinctions, plant extinctions, foraminifera, paleoclimate, Cretaceous, Paleogene, Paleocene, K-T, K-P, paleobotany, leaf-margin analysis, North Dakota, Hell Creek Formation, Fort Union Formation, Site 525, Site 690, Site 1050, Bass River |
| Abstract: | Terrestrial climates near the time of the end-Cretaceous mass extinctions are poorly understood. We estimate and correlate paleotemperatures for the terminal Cretaceous (~66.7 to 65.5 Ma), using megafloral data from North Dakota and foraminiferal data from four middle- and high-latitude sites. Both plants and foraminifera indicate warming near 66.0 Ma, a warming peak from ~65.8 to 65.6 Ma, and cooling near 65.6 Ma to pre-warming temperatures, which lasted into the early Paleocene. At similar temperatures, Cretaceous floras from North Dakota were rich, but Paleocene floras were impoverished. Climatic and facies changes are insufficient explanations for plant extinctions in this area, which we attribute to the effects of bolide impact. |
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