Effects of Past Global Change on Life (1995)
Chapter: Front Matter
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Effects of past global change on life / Board on Earth Sciences and Resources, Commission on Geosciences, Environment, and Resources, National Research Council.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-309-05127-4
1. Paleoecology. 2. Paleoclimatology. I. National Research Council (U.S.). Board on Earth Sciences and Resources.
QE720.E32 1994
560'.45—dc20 94-38695
Copyright 1995 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
Printed in the United States of America
Panel on Effects of Past Global Change on Life
STEVEN M. STANLEY,
The Johns Hopkins University,
Chairman
JAMES P. KENNETT,
University of California, Santa Barbara,
Co-Vice Chairman
ANDREW H. KNOLL,
Harvard University,
Co-Vice Chairman
ROSEMARY A. ASKIN,
University of California, Riverside
ERIC J. BARRON,
Pennsylvania State University
WILLIAM B. BERRY,
University of California, Berkeley
DAVID C. CHRISTOPHEL,
University of Adelaide, Australia
WILLIAM A. DIMICHELE,
National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution
BENJAMIN P. FLOWER,
University of California, Santa Barbara
ERLE G. KAUFFMAN,
University of Colorado
GERTA KELLER,
Princeton University
WILLIAM F. RUDDIMAN,
Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory
ROBERT A. SPICER,
Oxford University, U.K.
S. DAVID WEBB,
University of Florida
THOMPSON WEBB III,
Brown University
Staff
THOMAS M. USSELMAN, Associate Director
JUDITH ESTEP, Administrative Assistant
Board on Earth Sciences and Resources
FREEMAN GILBERT,
Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, Calif.,
Chair
GAIL M. ASHLEY,
Rutgers University, Piscataway, N.J.
THURE CERLING,
University of Utah, Salt Lake City
MARK P. CLOOS,
University of Texas at Austin
NEVILLE G.W. COOK,
University of California, Berkeley
JOEL DARMSTADTER,
Resources for the Future, Washington, D.C.
DONALD J. DEPAOLO,
University of California, Berkeley
MARCO EINAUDI,
Stanford University, Stanford, Calif.
NORMAN H. FOSTER,
Independent Petroleum Geologist, Denver, Colo.
CHARLES G. GROAT,
Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge
DONALD C. HANEY,
Kentucky Geological Survey, Lexington
ANDREW H. KNOLL,
Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass.
PHILIP E. LAMOREAUX,
P.E. LaMoreaux and Associates, Inc., Tuscaloosa, Ala.
SUSAN LANDON,
Thomasson Partner Associates, Denver, Colo.
MARCIA K. McNUTT,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge
J. BERNARD MINSTER,
University of California, San Diego
JILL D. PASTERIS,
Washington University, St. Louis, Mo.
EDWARD C. ROY, JR.,
Trinity University, San Antonio, Tex.
Staff
JONATHAN G. PRICE, Staff Director
THOMAS M. USSELMAN, Associate Staff Director
WILLIAM E. BENSON, Senior Program Officer
KEVIN CROWLEY, Senior Program Officer
ANNE LINN, Program Officer
Commission on Geosciences, Environment, and Resources
M. GORDON WOLMAN,
The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Md.,
Chairman
PATRICK R. ATKINS,
Aluminum Company of America, Pittsburgh, Pa.
JAMES P. BRUCE,
Canadian Climate Program Board, Ottawa, Canada
WILLIAM L. FISHER,
University of Texas at Austin
EDWARD A. FRIEMAN,
Scripps Institution of Oceanography, LaJolla, Calif.
GEORGE M. HORNBERGER,
University of Virginia, Charlottesville
W. BARCLAY KAMB,
California Institute of Technology, Pasadena
PERRY L. McCARTY,
Stanford University, Stanford, Calif.
RAYMOND A. PRICE,
Queen's University at Kingston, Ontario, Canada
THOMAS C. SCHELLING,
University of Maryland, College Park
ELLEN SILBERGELD,
Environmental Defense Fund, Washington, D.C.
STEVEN M. STANLEY,
The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Md.
VICTORIA J. TSCHINKEL,
Landers and Parson, Tallahassee, Fla.
EDITH BROWN WEISS,
Georgetown University Law Center, Washington, D.C.
Staff
STEPHEN RATTIEN, Executive Director
STEPHEN D. PARKER, Associate Executive Director
MORGAN GOPNIK, Assistant Executive Director
JEANETTE SPOON, Administrative Officer
SANDI FITZPATRICK, Administrative Associate
Studies in Geophysics*
ENERGY AND CLIMATE
Roger R. Revelle, panel chairman, 1977, 158 pp.
ESTUARIES, GEOPHYSICS, AND THE ENVIRONMENT
Charles B. Officer, panel chairman, 1977, 127 pp.
CLIMATE, CLIMATIC CHANGE, AND WATER SUPPLY
James R. Wallis, panel chairman, 1977, 132 pp.
THE UPPER ATMOSPHERE AND MAGNETOSPHERE
Francis S. Johnson, panel chairman, 1977, 168 pp.
GEOPHYSICAL PREDICTIONS
Helmut E. Landsberg, panel chairman, 1978, 215 pp.
IMPACT OF TECHNOLOGY ON GEOPHYSICS
Homer E. Newell, panel chairman, 1979, 136 pp.
CONTINENTAL TECTONICS
B. Clark Burchfiel, Jack E. Oliver, and Leon T. Silver, panel co-chairmen, 1980, 197 pp.
MINERAL RESOURCES: GENETIC UNDERSTANDING FOR PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS
Paul B. Barton, Jr., panel chairman, 1981, 119 pp.
SCIENTIFIC BASIS OF WATER-RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Myron B. Fiering, panel chairman, 1982, 127 pp.
SOLAR VARIABILITY, WEATHER, AND CLIMATE
John A. Eddy, panel chairman, 1982, 104 pp.
CLIMATE IN EARTH HISTORY
Wolfgang H. Berger and John C. Crowell, panel co-chairmen, 1982, 198 pp.
FUNDAMENTAL RESEARCH ON ESTUARIES: THE IMPORTANCE OF AN INTERDISCIPLINARY APPROACH
L. Eugene Cronin and Charles B. Officer, panel co-chairmen, 1983, 79 pp.
EXPLOSIVE VOLCANISM: INCEPTION, EVOLUTION, AND HAZARDS
Francis R. Boyd, panel chairman, 1984, 176 pp.
GROUNDWATER CONTAMINATION
John D. Bredehoeft, panel chairman, 1984, 179 pp.
ACTIVE TECTONICS
Robert E. Wallace, panel chairman, 1986, 266 pp.
THE EARTH'S ELECTRICAL ENVIRONMENT
E. Philip Krider and Raymond G. Roble, panel co-chairmen, 1986, 263 pp.
SEA-LEVEL CHANGES
Roger Revelle, panel chairman, 1990, 217 pp.
THE ROLE OF FLUIDS IN CRUSTAL PROCESSES
John D. Bredehoeft and Denis L. Norton, panel co-chairmen, 1990, 170 pp.
MATERIAL FLUXES ON THE SURFACE OF THE EARTH
William W. Hay, panel chairman, 1994, 170 pp.
EFFECTS OF PAST GLOBAL CHANGE ON LIFE
Steven M. Stanley, panel chairman, Andrew H. Knoll and James P. Kennett, panel co-vice-chairmen, 1995, 250 pp.
Preface
This report is part of a series, Studies in Geophysics, that has been carried out over the past 15 years to provide (1) a source of information from the scientific community to aid policymakers on decisions on societal problems that involve geophysics and (2) assessments of emerging research topics within the broad scope of geophysics. An important part of such reports is an evaluation of the adequacy of current geophysical knowledge and the appropriateness of current research programs in addressing needed information.
The study "Effects of Past Global Change on Life" is designed to help provide a scientific framework to assist the evaluation of the possible impacts of present and future global changes on the biosphere. Such a framework is based on the geologic record, which provides a unique, long-term history of changes in the global environment and of the impact of these changes on life. Because organisms are intimately related to their environment, we can infer that environmental changes of the past will have molded the history of life, and the geologic record confirms this inference for a wide range of temporal and spatial scales. The geologic record also reveals how particular kinds of environmental change have caused species to migrate, become extinct, or give rise to new species. More generally, it shows that many kinds of species and ecosystems are naturally fragile, and therefore transient, whereas other kinds are inherently more stable.
The topic was initiated by the Geophysics Study Committee in consultation with the liaison representatives of the federal agencies that support the committee, relevant boards and committees within the National Research Council, and members of the scientific community. While this report was being completed, the Geophysics Study Committee ceased operations and its parent Board on Earth Sciences and Resources assumed the responsibility for the completion of this report.
The preliminary scientific findings of the authored background chapters were presented at a symposium during October 1989 meeting of the Geological Society of America. In completing their chapters, the authors had the benefit of discussions at this symposium as
well as the comments of several scientific referees. Ultimate responsibility for the individual chapters, however, rests with the authors.
The Overview of the study draws from the scientific materials presented in the authored chapters and from other materials available in the traditional scientific literature to summarize the subject. The Overview also formulates conclusions and recommendations. In preparing the Overview, the panel chairmen had the benefit of meetings that took place at the symposium, comments of the panel, and the comments of scientists, who reviewed the report according to procedures established by the National Research Council's Report Review Committee. Responsibility of the Overview rests with the Board on Earth Sciences and Resources and the chairman and two co-vice chairmen of the panel.
Contents
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Oxygen and Proterozoic Evolution: An Update |
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Impact of Late Ordovician Glaciation-Deglaciation on Marine Life |
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Global Change Leading to Biodiversity Crisis in a Greenhouse World: The Cenomanian-Turonian (Cretaceous) Mass Extinction |
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Cretaceous-Tertiary (K/T) Mass Extinction: Effect of Global Change on Calcareous Microplankton |
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Terminal Paleocene Mass Extinction in the Deep Sea: Association with Global Warming |
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Tropical Climate Stability and Implications for the Distribution of Life |
