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Influence of Continental Positions on Early Tertiary Climates

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Abstract

CONTINENTS can be positioned in their earlier places on the Cainozoic globe by means of their rock magnetism; continents for which such data are lacking can be placed in their relative positions by removing the subsequently generated seafloor. On such a reconstructed globe for a particular time in the Cainozoic the distribution of palaeoclimates, as deduced from significant rock-types and fossil plants and animals, can be plotted in their true geographical relationships. Locations of the continents and subcontinents with respect to the rotational coordinate system, as well as to each other, will largely determine the prevailing climatic trends by affecting the circulation patterns in oceans and atmosphere. Here we attempt to model, in a semi-quantitative way, the climates of the Earth in the later half of the Eocene (40–48 m.y. ago) and in the early half of the Oligocene (30–37 m.y. ago), an interval of marked climatic change.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geology, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida

    LAWRENCE A. FRAKES & ELIZABETH M. KEMP

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  1. LAWRENCE A. FRAKES
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  2. ELIZABETH M. KEMP
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FRAKES, L., KEMP, E. Influence of Continental Positions on Early Tertiary Climates. Nature 240, 97–100 (1972). https://doi.org/10.1038/240097a0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/240097a0

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