"This volume summarizes new developments in understanding the longest-lived icehouse period in Phanerozoic Earth history, the late Paleozoic ice age. Resolving the Late Paleozoic Ice Age in Time and Space provides summaries of existing and new data from the various Gondwanan continental relics, and also reviews stratigraphic successions from the paleotropical and temperate regions of Laurussia that preserve an indirect record of glaciation. It addresses the extent to which records of glaciation indicate protracted, long-term climatic austerity, as opposed to fluctuating, more dynamic climate, and provides new constraints on the timing of glaciation. Additionally, it tackles questions of synchroneity of glaciation across the various Gondwanan continental relics, and timing relationships between near-field and far-field records at greater levels of resolution than has been possible previously. Results point toward a dynamic icehouse regime that is comparable to the Cenozoic icehouse, and away from traditional interpretations of the late Paleozoic ice age as a single, protracted event that involved stable, long-lived ice centers."--Publisher's website.

The following dissertation chapters refine the timing and spatial distribution of ice throughout western Gondwana during Earth’s penultimate icehouse. The glaciation history of the Paraná Basin is now restricted to the latest Carboniferous, and likely occurs in sync with a late Carboniferous deglaciation in the Karoo Basin. Furthermore, two additional deglaciation events in the Karoo Basin are contemporaneous with base-level rise in the Paraná Basin and occur at 296 and 282 Ma. Accompanying the deglaciation events and base-level fluctuations across the latest Carboniferous and early Permian in this region of Gondwana are large shifts in detrital zircon provenance. In the Paraná and Tepuel basins, sub-glacial and ice-proximal deposits are largely enriched in local zircon sources, whereas the terminal phase of glaciation in these basins are associated with far-field sediment sources. In the Paraná Basin, the Damara Orogenic Belt and east African Congo and Tanzania cratons supply far-field sediments. In the Tepuel Basin, far field sediments are likely sourced from the Ellsworth Block of Antarctica. In closing, significant questions about the glaciation history, ice distribution and climate system across the LPIA are raised by this contribution, which require future study. The observed deglacial events in the Paraná and Karoo basins track with the pCO2 record across the Carboniferous and early Permian and suggest a global shift in the climate system may be the primary driver for the aforementioned deglaciation events. The refined high-resolution stratigraphic framework for the Paraná and Karoo basins needs to be tested against other high-fidelity ice proximal records in eastern Africa and Australia in order to discern the regional - global response of elevated pCO2 on the ice record. Furthermore, a source for pCO2 needs to be evaluated. Lastly, better temporal and spatial estimates of ice through time are needed to further resolve the scale of deglaciation events and subsequent base-level response across LPIA. These aforementioned opportunities for future study will enable a more holistic view of the Earth’s system and its response in an icehouse-greenhouse transition.

This volume presents results of a variety of case studies documenting the Late Palaeozoic climate changes and cyclicity of deposition. The collected papers cover many aspects related to palaeoenvironmental analysis with sedimentological, stratigraphic, palaeobiological, geochemical, and palaeomagnetic studies of the fossil record around the Late Palaeozoic Ice Age and soon after. They span a stratigraphic interval from Carboniferous to Permian–Triassic transition around the world. This book comprising results for a range of disciplines, is a valuable source for not only researchers who are actively working on specific aspects of the Late Palaeozoic and looking for an up-to-date reference on this inhospitable time in the Earth’s history. It is also of interest to climate modellers and the wider scientific community with an interest in the latest research on the decline of the Palaeozoic World.

Looks at the fossil plant history of Antarctica and its relationship to the global record of environmental and climate change.

Encyclopedia of Geology, Second Edition presents in six volumes state-of-the-art reviews on the various aspects of geologic research, all of which have moved on considerably since the writing of the first edition. New areas of discussion include extinctions, origins of life, plate tectonics and its influence on faunal provinces, new types of mineral and hydrocarbon deposits, new methods of dating rocks, and geological processes. Users will find this to be a fundamental resource for teachers and students of geology, as well as researchers and non-geology professionals seeking up-to-date reviews of geologic research. Provides a comprehensive and accessible one-stop shop for information on the subject of geology, explaining methodologies and technical jargon used in the field Highlights connections between geology and other physical and biological sciences, tackling research problems that span multiple fields Fills a critical gap of information in a field that has seen significant progress in past years Presents an ideal reference for a wide range of scientists in earth and environmental areas of study

Picture a world of dog-sized scorpions and millipedes as long as a car; tropical rainforests with trees towering over 150 feet into the sky and a giant polar continent five times larger than Antarctica. That world was not imaginary; it was the earth more than 300 million years ago in the Carboniferous period of the Paleozoic era. In Carboniferous Giants and Mass Extinction, George R. McGhee Jr. explores that ancient world, explaining its origins; its downfall in the end-Permian mass extinction, the greatest biodiversity crisis to occur since the evolution of animal life on Earth; and how its legacies still affect us today. McGhee investigates the consequences of the Late Paleozoic ice age in this comprehensive portrait of the effects of ancient climate change on global ecology. Carboniferous Giants and Mass Extinction examines the climatic conditions that allowed for the evolution of gigantic animals and the formation of the largest tropical rainforests ever to exist, which in time turned into the coal that made the industrial revolution possible—and fuels the engine of contemporary anthropogenic climate change. Exploring the strange and fascinating flora and fauna of the Late Paleozoic ice age world, McGhee focuses his analysis on the forces that brought this world to an abrupt and violent end. Synthesizing decades of research and new discoveries, this comprehensive book provides a wealth of insights into past and present extinction events and climate change.