This book is a comprehensive collection of the best scholarship available on the transition between the Paleocene and Eocene epochs--when the earth experienced the warmest climatic episode of the Cenozoic era. These 21 contributions detail the major turnover among marine and terrestrial organisms that resulted from sudden global warming.
The fossil history of plant life in Antarctica is central to our understanding of the evolution of vegetation through geological time and also plays a key role in reconstructing past configurations of the continents and associated climatic conditions. This book provides the only detailed overview of the development of Antarctic vegetation from the Devonian period to the present day, presenting Earth scientists with valuable insights into the break up of the ancient supercontinent of Gondwana. Details of specific floras and ecosystems are provided within the context of changing geological, geographical and environmental conditions, alongside comparisons with contemporaneous and modern ecosystems. The authors demonstrate how palaeobotany contributes to our understanding of the paleoenvironmental changes in the southern hemisphere during this period of Earth history. The book is a complete and up-to-date reference for researchers and students in Antarctic paleobotany and terrestrial paleoecology.
Concern about the effects of global change on our planet's future has driven much research into the last few thousand years of earth history. In contrast, this volume takes a much longer viewpoint to provide a historical perspective to recent and future global change. Over 40 international specialists investigate the reaction of life to global environmental changes, from Cretaceous times to the turn of the century. During this time earth's climate has changed from a very warm, 'greenhouse' phase with no significant ice sheets to today's 'ice-house' world. A wide spectrum of animal, plant and protistan life is discussed, encompassing terrestrial, shallow-marine and deep-marine realms. Each chapter considers a particular taxonomic group, looking first at the general picture and then focusing on more specialized aspects such as extinctions, diversity and biogeography. This volume will form an invaluable reference for researchers and graduate students in paleontology, geology, biology, oceanography and climatology.
Initially, this work was designed to document and study the diversification of modern mammalian groups and was quite successful and satisfying. However, as field and laboratory work continued, there began to develop a suspicion that not all of the Eocene story was being told. It became apparent that most fossil samples, especially those from the American West, were derived from similar preservational circumstances and similar depositional settings. A program was initiated to look for other potential sources of fossil samples, either from non-traditional lithologies or from geographic areas that were not typically sampled. As this program of research grew it began to demonstrate that different lithologies and different geographic areas told different stories from those that had been developed based on more typical faunal assemblages. This book is conceived as an introduction to non-traditional Eocene fossils samples, and as a place to document and discuss features of these fossil assemblages that are rare or that come from rarely represented habitats.
This long-awaited book about non-pollen palynomorphs (NPPs) aims to cover gaps in our knowledge of these abundant but understudied palynological remains. NPPs, such as fungal spores, testate amoebae, dinoflagellate cysts, acritarchs and animal remains, are routinely recovered from palynological preparations of marine or terrestrial material, from Proterozoic to recent geological times. This book gives the reader a comprehensive overview of the different types of NPPs, with examples from diverse time periods and environments. It provides guidance on sample preparation to maximize the recovery of these NPPs, detailed information on their diversity and ecological affinity, clarification on the nomenclature and demonstrates their value as environmental indicators. This volume will become the reference guide for any student, academic or practitioner interested in everything else in their palynological preparations.
The Geologic Time Scale 2012, winner of a 2012 PROSE Award Honorable Mention for Best Multi-volume Reference in Science from the Association of American Publishers, is the framework for deciphering the history of our planet Earth. The authors have been at the forefront of chronostratigraphic research and initiatives to create an international geologic time scale for many years, and the charts in this book present the most up-to-date, international standard, as ratified by the International Commission on Stratigraphy and the International Union of Geological Sciences. This 2012 geologic time scale is an enhanced, improved and expanded version of the GTS2004, including chapters on planetary scales, the Cryogenian-Ediacaran periods/systems, a prehistory scale of human development, a survey of sequence stratigraphy, and an extensive compilation of stable-isotope chemostratigraphy. This book is an essential reference for all geoscientists, including researchers, students, and petroleum and mining professionals. The presentation is non-technical and illustrated with numerous colour charts, maps and photographs. The book also includes a detachable wall chart of the complete time scale for use as a handy reference in the office, laboratory or field. The most detailed international geologic time scale available that contextualizes information in one single reference for quick desktop access Gives insights in the construction, strengths, and limitations of the geological time scale that greatly enhances its function and its utility Aids understanding by combining with the mathematical and statistical methods to scaled composites of global succession of events Meets the needs of a range of users at various points in the workflow (researchers extracting linear time from rock records, students recognizing the geologic stage by their content)
Earth System: History and Natural Variability theme is a component of Encyclopedia of Natural Resources Policy and Management, in the global Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems (EOLSS), which is an integrated compendium of twenty one Encyclopedias. The Theme on Earth System: History and Natural Variability with contributions from distinguished experts in the field, presents a description of the cosmic environment around our planet influencing the Earth in a number of ways through variation of solar energy or meteorite impacts. The structure of the Earth and its rocks, waters and atmosphere is described. The Theme focuses on geological and evolutionary processes through the history of Earth's epochs and biomes since the Early Earth to the Quaternary. The unifying processes between the Earth's life and its rocks, waters and atmosphere are global natural cycles of carbon, sulfur and other elements that connect and influence the rate of geological processes, climate change, biological evolution and human economy. These five volumes are aimed at the following five major target audiences: University and College students Educators, Professional practitioners, Research personnel and Policy analysts, managers, and decision makers and NGOs.
