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Science 18 December 1998:
Vol. 282. no. 5397, pp. 2199 - 2200
DOI: 10.1126/science.282.5397.2199
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Perspectives

Also see the archival list of Science's Compass: Enhanced Perspectives

PALEOCLIMATE:
Enhanced: Tropical Paradise at the Cretaceous Poles?

Brian T. Huber

A growing body of evidence indicates that the polar regions were at one time much warmer than they are now. In his Perspective, Huber discusses a report in the same issue by Tarduno et al. that describes the fossil remains of a crocodile-like creature discovered in the high Canadian Arctic zone at Axel Heiberg Island. This, together with other elements of the paleobiological record, provides further evidence of polar warmth during the Cretaceous. The source of the warming appears to be high concentrations of carbon dioxide during this period, although further modeling and physical evidence will be needed to conclusively sort out the causes.

The author is in the Department of Paleobiology, NHB MRC 121, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20560, USA. E-mail: huber.brian{at}nmnh.si.edu

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THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
HIGH-RESOLUTION STABLE ISOTOPE PROFILES OF A DIMITOBELID BELEMNITE: IMPLICATIONS FOR PALEODEPTH HABITAT AND LATE MAASTRICHTIAN CLIMATE SEASONALITY.
A. DUTTON, B. T. HUBER, K. C LOHMANN, and W. J. ZINSMEISTER (2007)
Palaios 22, 642-650
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
A Review of Paleotemperature Lapse Rate Methods for Estimating Paleoelevation from Fossil Floras.
H. W. Meyer (2007)
Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry 66, 155-171
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Geologic controls on transgressive-regressive cycles in the upper Pictured Cliffs Sandstone and coal geometry in the lower Fruitland Formation, northern San Juan Basin, New Mexico and Colorado.
W. A. Ambrose and W. B. Ayers Jr. (2007)
AAPG Bulletin 91, 1099-1122
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Mid-Cretaceous stratigraphy of the James Ross Basin, Antarctica.
J. A. Crame, D. Pirrie, and J. B. Riding (2006)
Geological Society, London, Special Publications 258, 7-19
   Abstract »    PDF »
Marine volcaniclastics of the Hidden Lake Formation (Coniacian) of James Ross Island, Antarctica: an enigmatic element in the history of a back-arc basin.
A. G. Whitham, J. R. Ineson, and D. Pirrie (2006)
Geological Society, London, Special Publications 258, 21-47
   Abstract »    PDF »
Palaeoclimate analysis of Late Cretaceous angiosperm leaf floras, James Ross Island, Antarctica.
P. A. Hayes, J. E. Francis, D. J. Cantrill, and J. A. Crame (2006)
Geological Society, London, Special Publications 258, 49-62
   Abstract »    PDF »
Late Cretaceous Antarctic fish diversity.
J. Kriwet, J. M. Lirio, H. J. Nunez, E. Puceat, and C. Lecuyer (2006)
Geological Society, London, Special Publications 258, 83-100
   Abstract »    PDF »
Palaeobiological significance of high-latitude Late Cretaceous vertebrate fossils from the James Ross Basin, Antarctica.
J. E. Martin and J. A. Crame (2006)
Geological Society, London, Special Publications 258, 109-124
   Abstract »    PDF »
Isotopic signals from late Jurassic-early Cretaceous (Volgian-Valanginian) sub-Arctic belemnites, Yatria River, Western Siberia.
G.D. Price and J. Mutterlose (2004)
Journal of the Geological Society 161, 959-968
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Campanian (Upper Cretaceous) ostracods from southern James Ross Island, Antarctica.
G. Fauth, J. Seeling, and A. Luther (2003)
Micropaleontology 49, 95-107
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Jiggling the tropical thermostat in the Cretaceous hothouse.
R. D. Norris, K. L. Bice, E. A. Magno, and P. A. Wilson (2002)
Geology 30, 299-302
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Cretaceous patterns of floristic change in the Antarctic Peninsula.
D. J. Cantrill and I. Poole (2002)
Geological Society, London, Special Publications 194, 141-152
   Abstract »    PDF »
Stable oxygen and carbon isotopes from brachiopods of southern England and northwestern Germany: estimation of Upper Turonian palaeotemperatures.
S. Voigt and S. VOIGT (2000)
Geological Magazine 137, 687-703
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »


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