Oceanic circulation as an element in palaeogeographical reconstructions: the Arenig (early Ordovician) as an example
✍ Scribed by J.L. Christiansen; S. Stouge
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 1999
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 287 KB
- Volume
- 11
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0954-4879
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
A new conceptual palaeo‐oceanographical model is outlined in this paper. The model differs from previous models by using shifts in Hadley circulation caused by orbital variations, and the rotation rate of the Earth, to locate the position of the planetary oceanic low‐and high‐pressure systems, around which the planetary ocean surface currents flow. Adapting the model to the Arenig (early Ordovician) the temperate low pressure zones were found to be located at 50° latitude and the subtropical high pressure zones at 25° latitude.
Traditionally, most Palaeozoic palaeogeographical recon‐structions are reconstructed using palaeomagnetic data supplemented with data from climate‐sensitive lithofacies and palaeo‐biogeographical distributions. However, as a new approach in palaeogeographical reconstructions, the con‐ceptual palaeo‐oceanographical model is combined with palaeobiogeographical data for the Arenig series, comple‐menting the palaeomagnetic data, and resulting in a new, refined palaeogeographical reconstruction.