Average Generic Age, the Planetary Temperature Gradient, and Pole Location

• Published in: Systematic Biology
• Main Authors: Durazzi, Joseph T., Stehli, Francis G.
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford University Press 1972
• Subjects: Articles; North Pole
• Online Access: http://sysbio.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/short/21/4/384; https://doi.org/10.1093/sysbio/21.4.384

Average Generic Age, the Planetary Temperature Gradient, and Pole Location. Syst. Zool. 21:384–389 .—Data for the average generic age of assemblages of benthonic foraminifera at 104 stations have been examined for temperature correlation which was found to be pronounced. Using this set of data and various curve and surface fitting techniques, it was found possible because of the temperature correlation to locate the equator and the north pole with good precision. This kind of data is seemingly less distorted by poor sampling than is comparable diversity data and appears promising as a means of setting constraints which must be satisfied by continental drift models.