Cretaceous Period - Climate, Extinction, Dinosaurs

In general, the climate of the Cretaceous Period was much warmer than at present, perhaps the warmest on a worldwide basis than at any other time during the Phanerozoic Eon. The climate was also more equable in that the temperature difference between the poles and the Equator was about one-half that of the present. Floral evidence suggests that tropical to subtropical conditions existed as far as 45° N, and temperate conditions extended to the poles. Evaporites are plentiful in Early Cretaceous rocks&#;a fact that seems to indicate an arid climate, though it may have resulted more from constricted ocean basins than from climatic effects. The occurrence of evaporites mainly between latitudes 10° and 30° N suggests arid subtropics, but the presence of coals poleward of 30° indicates humid midlatitudes. Occurrences of Early Cretaceous bauxite and laterite, which are products of deep weathering in warm climates with seasonal rainfall, support the notion of humid midlatitudes.

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Temperatures were lower at the beginning of the period, rising to a maximum in the mid-Cretaceous and then declining slightly with time until a more accentuated cooling during the last two ages of the period. Ice sheets and glaciers were almost entirely absent except in the high mountains, so, although the end of the Cretaceous was coolest, it was still much warmer than it is today.

Models of Earth&#;s climate for the mid-Cretaceous based on the positions of the continents, location of water bodies, and topography suggest that winds were weaker than at present. Westerly winds were dominant in the lower to midlatitudes of the Pacific for the entire year. In the North Atlantic, however, winds blew from the west during winter but from the east during summer. Surface water temperatures were about 30 °C (86 °F) at the Equator year-round, but at the poles they were 14 °C (57 °F) in winter and 17 °C (63 °F) in summer. A temperature of 17 °C is suggested for the ocean bottom during the Albian Age, but it may have declined to 10 °C (50 °F) by the Maastrichtian. These temperature values have been calculated from oxygen isotope measurements of the calcitic remains of marine organisms. The data support models that suggest diminished ocean circulation both vertically and latitudinally. As stated in the section Paleogeography, above, low circulation could account for the periods of black shale deposition during the Cretaceous.

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Other paleontological indicators suggest details of ocean circulation. The occurrence of early and mid-Cretaceous rudists and larger Tethyan foraminiferans in Japan may very well mean that there was a warm and northward-flowing current in the region. A similar occurrence of these organisms in Aptian-Albian sediments as far south as southern Tanzania seems to indicate a southward-flowing current along the east coast of Africa. The fact that certain warm-water life-forms found in the area of present-day Argentina are absent from the west coast of Africa suggests a counterclockwise gyre in the South Atlantic. In addition, the presence of larger foraminiferans in Newfoundland and Ireland indicates the development of a &#;proto-Gulf Stream&#; by the mid-Cretaceous.

'Greenhouse' and 'Icehouse' worlds

During the late Cretaceous to Eocene (100-34 million years ago), global mean annual temperatures were up to 8C warmer than today. This is referred to as the 'Greenhouse World'. Fossil data suggest that temperature-sensitive flora and fauna, such as reptilians and frost intolerant trees, were living in the Arctic-circle during this period. This indicates a climate system that operated in a fundamentally different way to the modern 'Icehouse World' that we live in.

However, General Circulation Models of climate do not reproduce this warmth which has important implications for the prediction of future climates and might suggest that we may currently be underestimating future climate change in such polar regions.

Was the difference between equatorial and polar temperatures was substantially reduced? 

Tackling this research requires an interdisciplinary approach between geologists and chemists. Professor Gregory Price and Dr Sabine Lengger from the University of Plymouth are collaborating with Dr Rhodri Jerrett, Dr Bart Van Dongen, and Emily Dearing Crampton-Flood at the University of Manchester.

The NERC-funded &#;Equable Earth&#; project seeks to provide evidence to answer a critical question about past greenhouse climates:

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