Global heat budget, plate tectonics and climatic change

Abstract

Harris, S.A ., 2002: Global heat budget, plate tectonics and climatic change. Geogr. Ann ., 84 A (1): 1-9.ABSTRACT. For the past 2000 Ma, the temperature of the Earth's surface has fluctuated around a mean similar to that of today, although individual locations have undergone long-term changes of 30°C at different times in different places. Water bodies absorb at least five times as much solar radiation as land surfaces, and ocean currents transport the excess heat absorbed in the tropics towards the poles. Changes in the distribution of land and sea due to plate tectonics explain the major temperature fluctuations (>25 ° C) around the globe in the last 350 Ma, and are first-order controls. Large-scale changes in ocean currents and thermohaline circulations are probably second-order controls (15-25 ° C). The Milankovitch orbital cycles are third-order controls producing variations in air temperature of the order of 10 ° C, while massive volcanic eruptions and changes in carbon dioxide are amongst the fourth-order controls producing minor perturbations (<5 ° C). The major climatic fluctuations are continuous but regional in effect and not global. Extraterrestrial factors may not cause major changes in climate when viewed from a geological perspective.

Permafrost in Svalbard: a review of research history, climatic background and engineering challenges

“…By 3.5 Mya, the climate of the Northern Hemisphere had cooled considerably, as refl ected in the oxygen isotope record of marine cores (Ruddiman et al 1986;Raymo 1992;Harris 2002). The stage was set for subsequent massive Quaternary glaciations and widespread establishment of permafrost.…”

The Role that Diastrophism and Climatic Change Have Played in Determining Biodiversity in Continental North America

“…This had an enormous effect on the temperature of the Earth since water absorbs approximately five times as much solar radiation as soil. This ocean provided warm surface and thermohaline currents that carried heat northwards to the Arctic Ocean via the North Pacific, as well as hot tropical air masses (Harris, 2002a). The ice cap over Antarctica melted, leaving a series of large islands where a tropical forest evolved (Francis et al, 2008).…”

“…This resulted in the crumpling of the marine sediments in the former Tethys, which were uplifted into the mountains ranges of Iraq, Persia and Afghanistan (Nomura et al, 1997). Gone was a substantial part of the heat source for the Arctic, and the climate of the northern land areas was cooling (Harris, 2002a). The gradual closing of the gap between Asia and North America reduced the flow of warm ocean currents into the Arctic Basin by about 23.5 million years before present, though this was ultimately offset by currents flowing along the sea connection by the opening of the North Atlantic Ocean about 20 million years ago.…”

Greenhouse Gases and Their Importance to Life

“…Initially, the bulk of its surface may have been covered by water (Carver and Vardavas, 1994;1995), indicating that the mean annual air temperature (MAAT) was below 100 ˚C. Assuming that the equatorial regions were under water, the MAAT would have been higher than now since water absorbs about five times as much solar radiation as soil or rock (Pavlov, 1999: Harris, 2002. Gases are believed to have been vented from volcanoes and probably determined the composition of the atmosphere.…”