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Detailed Reference Information |
Caldeira, K. and Rampino, M.R. (1991). The Mid-Cretaceous Super Plume, carbon dioxide, and global warming. Geophysical Research Letters 18: doi: 10.1029/91GL01237. issn: 0094-8276. |
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Carbon-dioxide releases associated with a mid-Cretaceous super plume and the emplacement of the Ontong-Java Plateau have been suggested as a principal cause of the mid-Cretaceous global warming. We developed a carbonate-silicate cycle model to quantify the possible climatic effects of these CO2 releases, utilizing four different formulations for the rate of silicate-rock weakthering as a function of atmospheric CO2. We find that CO2 emissions resulting from super-plume tectonics could have produced atmospheric CO2 levels from 3.7 to 14.7 times the modern pre-industrial value of 285 ppm. Based on the temperature sensitivity to CO2 increases used in the weathering-rate formulations, this would cause a global warming of from 2.8 to 7.7 ¿C over today's global mean temperature. Altered continental positions and higher sea level may have been contributed about 4.8 ¿C to mid-Cretaceous warming. Thus, the combined effects of paleogeographic changes and super-plume related CO2 emissions could be in the range of 7.6 to 12.5 ¿C, within the 6 to 14 ¿C range previously estimated for mid-Cretaceous warming. CO2 releases from oceanic plateaus alone are unlikely to have been directly responsible for more than 20% of the mid-Cretaceous increase in atmospheric CO2. ¿ American Geophysical Union 1991 |
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Abstract |
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Keywords
Volcanology, Atmospheric effects, Information Related to Geologic Time, Mesozoic, Atmospheric Composition and Structure, Geochemical cycles, Meteorology and Atmospheric Dynamics, Paleoclimatology |
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Publisher
American Geophysical Union 2000 Florida Avenue N.W. Washington, D.C. 20009-1277 USA 1-202-462-6900 1-202-328-0566 service@agu.org |
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