Quaternary
Abstract In the Cenozoic, the continents of the northern hemisphere shifted towards the North Pole, and Antarctica occupied the south polar section. This situation, plus climatic changes, were favourable for the formation of the permanent polar ice sheets of Arctica and Antarctica in the Pliocene an...
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Format: | Book Part |
Language: | unknown |
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Oxford University PressOxford
1994
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198546719.003.0013 https://academic.oup.com/book/chapter-pdf/52368611/isbn-9780198546719-book-part-13.pdf |
Summary: | Abstract In the Cenozoic, the continents of the northern hemisphere shifted towards the North Pole, and Antarctica occupied the south polar section. This situation, plus climatic changes, were favourable for the formation of the permanent polar ice sheets of Arctica and Antarctica in the Pliocene and Miocene, respectively. World temperature further declined after the Pliocene and the Earth has been experienced the late Cenozoic ice age. Quaternary biogeographical distributions were controlled by the above-mentioned plate-tectonic and palaeoclimatic changes. Thermophilous faunas migrated to low latitudes, temperate floras shifted southward and psychrophilous herbs and coniferous trees significantly increased in numbers. The modem provincialization therefore formed through addition of these alterations to the Tertiary biogeographical provincialization. |
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