Equatorial convergence of India and early Cenozoic climate trends
India's northward flight and collision with Asia was a major driver of global tectonics in the Cenozoic and, we argue, of atmospheric CO2 concentration (pCO2) and thus global climate. Subduction of Tethyan oceanic crust with a carpet of carbonate-rich pelagic sediments deposited during transit...
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ftcolumbiauniv:oai:academiccommons.columbia.edu:10.7916/D8WM1PZH 2023-05-15T13:50:01+02:00 Equatorial convergence of India and early Cenozoic climate trends Kent, Dennis V. Muttoni, Giovanni 2008 https://doi.org/10.7916/D8WM1PZH English eng https://doi.org/10.7916/D8WM1PZH Geomorphology Paleoclimatology Articles 2008 ftcolumbiauniv https://doi.org/10.7916/D8WM1PZH 2019-04-04T08:07:15Z India's northward flight and collision with Asia was a major driver of global tectonics in the Cenozoic and, we argue, of atmospheric CO2 concentration (pCO2) and thus global climate. Subduction of Tethyan oceanic crust with a carpet of carbonate-rich pelagic sediments deposited during transit beneath the high-productivity equatorial belt resulted in a component flux of CO2 delivery to the atmosphere capable to maintain high pCO2 levels and warm climate conditions until the decarbonation factory shut down with the collision of Greater India with Asia at the Early Eocene climatic optimum at ≈50 Ma. At about this time, the India continent and the highly weatherable Deccan Traps drifted into the equatorial humid belt where uptake of CO2 by efficient silicate weathering further perturbed the delicate equilibrium between CO2 input to and removal from the atmosphere toward progressively lower pCO2 levels, thus marking the onset of a cooling trend over the Middle and Late Eocene that some suggest triggered the rapid expansion of Antarctic ice sheets at around the Eocene-Oligocene boundary. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Columbia University: Academic Commons Antarctic |
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Open Polar |
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Columbia University: Academic Commons |
op_collection_id |
ftcolumbiauniv |
language |
English |
topic |
Geomorphology Paleoclimatology |
spellingShingle |
Geomorphology Paleoclimatology Kent, Dennis V. Muttoni, Giovanni Equatorial convergence of India and early Cenozoic climate trends |
topic_facet |
Geomorphology Paleoclimatology |
description |
India's northward flight and collision with Asia was a major driver of global tectonics in the Cenozoic and, we argue, of atmospheric CO2 concentration (pCO2) and thus global climate. Subduction of Tethyan oceanic crust with a carpet of carbonate-rich pelagic sediments deposited during transit beneath the high-productivity equatorial belt resulted in a component flux of CO2 delivery to the atmosphere capable to maintain high pCO2 levels and warm climate conditions until the decarbonation factory shut down with the collision of Greater India with Asia at the Early Eocene climatic optimum at ≈50 Ma. At about this time, the India continent and the highly weatherable Deccan Traps drifted into the equatorial humid belt where uptake of CO2 by efficient silicate weathering further perturbed the delicate equilibrium between CO2 input to and removal from the atmosphere toward progressively lower pCO2 levels, thus marking the onset of a cooling trend over the Middle and Late Eocene that some suggest triggered the rapid expansion of Antarctic ice sheets at around the Eocene-Oligocene boundary. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Kent, Dennis V. Muttoni, Giovanni |
author_facet |
Kent, Dennis V. Muttoni, Giovanni |
author_sort |
Kent, Dennis V. |
title |
Equatorial convergence of India and early Cenozoic climate trends |
title_short |
Equatorial convergence of India and early Cenozoic climate trends |
title_full |
Equatorial convergence of India and early Cenozoic climate trends |
title_fullStr |
Equatorial convergence of India and early Cenozoic climate trends |
title_full_unstemmed |
Equatorial convergence of India and early Cenozoic climate trends |
title_sort |
equatorial convergence of india and early cenozoic climate trends |
publishDate |
2008 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.7916/D8WM1PZH |
geographic |
Antarctic |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic |
op_relation |
https://doi.org/10.7916/D8WM1PZH |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.7916/D8WM1PZH |
_version_ |
1766252749596393472 |