Long-term Phanerozoic sea level change from solid Earth processes

Young, Alexander; Flament, Nicolas; Williams, Simon; Merdith, Andrew; Cao, Xianzhi; Müller, R. Dietmar

doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2022.117451

Cited by 31 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 75 publications

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“…The supercontinent cycle has a profound effect on global sea level as a result of its long-term control of both the elevation of the continents and the depth of the ocean basins. [62][63][64]66 In fact, the close correspondence between the changes in global sea level predicted by the cycle for the Phanerozoic, 61 which amounted to several hundred meters, and the contemporary depositional record of sea level change over the same interval 146 was a key argument used in support of the original hypothesis (Figure 5). Supercontinents tend to correspond to intervals of very low global sea level 112,147 as a result of their epeirogenic uplift, either because continental insulation traps mantle heat beneath them, and/or because descent of the subduction girdle to the core-mantle boundary fosters mantle upwelling beneath them.…”

Section: Influence On Global Sea Levelmentioning

confidence: 81%

“…The supercontinent cycle has a profound effect on global sea level as a result of its long‐term control of both the elevation of the continents and the depth of the ocean basins 62–64,66 . In fact, the close correspondence between the changes in global sea level predicted by the cycle for the Phanerozoic, 61 which amounted to several hundred meters, and the contemporary depositional record of sea level change over the same interval 146 was a key argument used in support of the original hypothesis (Figure 5).…”

Section: Influence On Global Climatementioning

confidence: 82%

“…The episodic cycle has been linked to global orogenesis, 31–33 granitoid magmatism and zircon age peaks, 34–37 crustal growth, 38–41 mineralization, 42–48 large igneous provinces (LIPs) 49–53 and deep mantle convection patterns 54–60 . Additionally, the cycle has been shown to have profound affects on sea level, 61–66 ocean chemistry, 35,67–69 the stable isotope record, 35,70–72 patterns of sedimentation, 73–75 atmospheric composition, 76–78 global biogeochemical cycles, 4,79,80 climate 74,81–84 marine biodiversity, 85,86 and the evolution of life 83,87,88 …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The supercontinent cycle and Earth's long‐term climate

Nance

2022

Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences

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Earth's long-term climate has been profoundly influenced by the episodic assembly and breakup of supercontinents at intervals of ca. 500 m.y. This reflects the cycle's impact on global sea level and atmospheric CO 2 (and other greenhouse gases), the levels of which have fluctuated in response to variations in input from volcanism and removal (as carbonate) by the chemical weathering of silicate minerals. Supercontinent amalgamation tends to coincide with climatic cooling due to drawdown of atmospheric CO 2 through enhanced weathering of the orogens of supercontinent assembly and a thermally uplifted supercontinent. Conversely, breakup tends to coincide with increased atmospheric CO 2 and global warming as the dispersing continental fragments cool and subside, and weathering decreases as sea level rises. Supercontinents may also influence global climate through their causal connection to mantle plumes and large igneous provinces (LIPs) linked to their breakup. LIPs may amplify the warming trend of breakup by releasing greenhouse gases or may cause cooling and glaciation through sulfate aerosol release and drawdown of CO 2 through the chemical weathering of LIP basalts. Hence, Earth's long-term climatic trends likely reflect the cycle's influence on sea level, as evidenced by Pangea, whereas its influence on LIP volcanism may have orchestrated between Earth's various climatic states. K E Y W O R D S atmospheric CO 2 , climate, large igneous provinces, sea level, supercontinent cycle This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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Section: Influence On Global Sea Levelmentioning

confidence: 81%

Section: Influence On Global Climatementioning

confidence: 82%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The supercontinent cycle and Earth's long‐term climate

Nance

2022

Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences

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“…In past studies, there is an additional sub‐crustal layer in which density anomalies are also assumed to be in isostatic equilibrium. The (sometimes arbitrary) depths to which isostasy is assumed include: the base of the lithosphere at ∼100 km (Molnar et al., 2015), 220 km (Müller et al., 2008; Steinberger, 2007), 250 km (Spasojevic & Gurnis, 2012), 300 km (Conrad & Husson, 2009), 350 km (Flament et al., 2013; Young et al., 2022), or 400 km (Afonso et al., 2019; Fullea et al., 2021). In most of these studies that employed seismic tomography models to represent mantle heterogeneity, the adoption of separate age‐dependent, and in some cases isopycnic (e.g., under continents), representations for sub‐crustal contributions to isostatic topography involved “zeroing out” all density anomalies above the lower boundary chosen for the isostatic layer.…”

Section: Dynamic Topography Modelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Earth's Isostatic and Dynamic Topography—A Critical Perspective

Forte

Rowley

2022

Geochem Geophys Geosyst

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Earth's topography arises from the linear superposition of isostatic and dynamic contributions. The isostatic contribution reflects the distribution of thickness and density of the crust overlying a static, non‐convecting mantle. We argue that isostatic topography should be limited to the crust, thereby delimiting all sources for dynamic topography below the Moho. Dynamic topography is the component of the topography produced by normal stresses acting on the Moho that deflect the isostatic topography away from crustal isostatic equilibrium largely as a consequence of mantle flow dynamics. These normal stresses arise from pressure variations and vertical gradients of the radial flow in the convecting mantle. The best estimate of dynamic topography is from the residual topography, which is the difference between observed topography and crustal isostatic topography. Dynamic and residual topography are the same. It is clear that thermal anomalies horizontally advected by plate motions would not exist if the mantle were not convecting, therefore their contribution to topography is inherently dynamic in origin. The global integral of dynamic topography that encompasses all non‐crustal buoyancy sources is demonstrated to be equal to zero. It follows that mantle convection cannot change the mean radius or mean elevation of the Earth. Since changes in ocean basin volume driven by changes in mean depth of the oceans are inherently part of dynamic topography, thereby requiring that continental elevations must also change, such that the global integral of these perturbations must also be equal to zero. This constraint has important implications for global long‐term sea level and the stratigraphic record, among other features of the Earth system impacted by changes in Earth's dynamic topography.

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“…It was marked by anoxia [1-3], glacial advance [4,5], sea-level drop [6], and mass extinction [7][8][9]. However, many aspects of these events and their spatio-temporal appearance are yet to be fully understood, and new investigations bring "surprises" [10,11]. In order to document better the biotic events at the Devonian-Carboniferous transition, attention should be paid to the patterns of the diversity dynamics of many fossil groups and in many regions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bryozoan Diversity Dynamics at the Devonian–Carboniferous Transition: Evidence from Transcaucasia

Tolokonnikova

Ruban

2022

JMSE

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The Devonian–Carboniferous transition was marked by a series of perturbations in the geological and biological evolution. The palaeontological data from Transcaucasia allowed the bryozoan diversity dynamics on the northern Gondwanan margin (southern periphery of the Palaeo-Tethys Ocean) to be documented at this transition. Taxonomic ranges of 43 species, 26 genera, 19 families, and 4 orders were analysed to reveal changes in the total diversity, the number of appearances, the number of disappearances, and the turnover rates per substages. It is established that the bryozoan diversity was rather high in the beginning and the end of the Famennian, as well as in the Late Tournaisian. It declined significantly in the Middle–Late Famennian and the Early Tournaisian due to the combination of the high number of disappearances and the low number of appearances. The turnovers remained strong, and they peaked in the mid-Famennian. These regionally documented diversity changes match the patterns recorded globally and in Southern Siberia. Hypothetically, the Middle–Late Famennian and Early Tournaisian crises established in Transcaucasia were related to the global events (anoxia and mass extinctions), a series of which weakened the bryozoans’ resistivity to negative external influences.

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Long-term Phanerozoic sea level change from solid Earth processes

Cited by 31 publications

References 75 publications

The supercontinent cycle and Earth's long‐term climate

The supercontinent cycle and Earth's long‐term climate

Earth's Isostatic and Dynamic Topography—A Critical Perspective

Bryozoan Diversity Dynamics at the Devonian–Carboniferous Transition: Evidence from Transcaucasia

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