The Science behind the Zone of Fire
Posted: Fri Sep 16, 2005 1:36 pm
This is not a question thread, I think that there already has been a thread questionning this climatic or geologic anomaly.
But, I have found something very interesting.
[quote=]Many researchers, but not a real consensus, believe that sea temperatures near the equator may have become a bit too warm by the Aptian-Albian,[mid-Cretaceous], perhaps actually incompatible with ocean life. In addition, some data suggest that land areas near the equator were not jungle- or forest-covered, that plant diversity was low, and that these regions were arid despite being close to the sea. Deep ocean circulation may also have broken down. That is, water continued to circulate horizontally, but not vertically. The deep oceans weren't getting oxygen, and "black shales" appeared in the Aptian-Albian and High Cretaceous. These are large volumes of organic matter in the oceans which never completely decomposed because of lack of deep ocean oxygen. Still, the north-south temperature gradient remained very flat. [/quote]
I was reading this while looking for something about oxygen levels in the mesozoic. When I came by it, I automatically thought about the Zone of Fire, and that Mark might be interested in those details.
It's strange how they describ it the same way the zone of fire is. A rather arid zone, and an abiotic ocean. I don't know if it was thought as a region which couldn't be crossed, but at least, we know that it was devoided of life. (And creatures are known to despise places where there is less life, perhaps not crossing regions where there is no life...)
They give no cause for why this might have happened. A mystery on Earth as well. They did not speak of consequences either.
But, I have found something very interesting.
[quote=]Many researchers, but not a real consensus, believe that sea temperatures near the equator may have become a bit too warm by the Aptian-Albian,[mid-Cretaceous], perhaps actually incompatible with ocean life. In addition, some data suggest that land areas near the equator were not jungle- or forest-covered, that plant diversity was low, and that these regions were arid despite being close to the sea. Deep ocean circulation may also have broken down. That is, water continued to circulate horizontally, but not vertically. The deep oceans weren't getting oxygen, and "black shales" appeared in the Aptian-Albian and High Cretaceous. These are large volumes of organic matter in the oceans which never completely decomposed because of lack of deep ocean oxygen. Still, the north-south temperature gradient remained very flat. [/quote]
I was reading this while looking for something about oxygen levels in the mesozoic. When I came by it, I automatically thought about the Zone of Fire, and that Mark might be interested in those details.
It's strange how they describ it the same way the zone of fire is. A rather arid zone, and an abiotic ocean. I don't know if it was thought as a region which couldn't be crossed, but at least, we know that it was devoided of life. (And creatures are known to despise places where there is less life, perhaps not crossing regions where there is no life...)
They give no cause for why this might have happened. A mystery on Earth as well. They did not speak of consequences either.
