What was the climate of the Cretaceous period?
The Cretaceous was a period with a relatively warm climate, resulting in high eustatic sea levels that created numerous shallow inland seas. These oceans and seas were populated with now-extinct marine reptiles, ammonites, and rudists, while dinosaurs continued to dominate on land.
What caused the unusually warm climates of the Cretaceous period?
The climate was generally warmer and more humid than today, probably because of very active volcanism associated with unusually high rates of seafloor spreading. The polar regions were free of continental ice sheets, their land instead covered by forest. Dinosaurs roamed Antarctica, even with its long winter night.
What was the climate when dinosaurs lived?
When dinosaurs ruled the Earth, the climate was most likely hot and humid. There is no evidence of Ice Ages or glaciations found in rocks of this age. There is a lot of evidence of tropical species existing at this time. Atmospheric carbon dioxide was close to present-day levels.
What are two possible causes of the Cretaceous extinction event?
The Cretaceous/Paleogene (K/Pg) mass extinction coincided with two major global environmental perturbations: heightened volcanism associated with the Deccan Traps and the Chicxulub asteroid impact (Fig. 1A) (4).
What can the Cretaceous tell us about our climate?
A stable and warm climate Another intriguing aspect of the Cretaceous period is the warm and stable climate, with tropical and polar temperatures higher than today, lower gradient from the Equator to the Poles, as well as from the land to the ocean and fewer seasonal extremes.
What was the influence of a warm climate on oceans during the Cretaceous?
The Cretaceous Period (145–66 Ma), overall, had a relatively warm climate which resulted in high eustatic sea levels and created numerous shallow inland seas. In the Late Cretaceous, the climate was much warmer than present; however, throughout most of the period, a cooling trend is apparent.
What caused dinosaur extinction?
Evidence suggests an asteroid impact was the main culprit. Volcanic eruptions that caused large-scale climate change may also have been involved, together with more gradual changes to Earth’s climate that happened over millions of years.
How hot was it in the Cretaceous period?
The Cretaceous, which occurred approximately 145 million to 66 million years ago, was one of the warmest periods in the history of Earth. The poles were devoid of ice and average temperatures of up to 35 degrees Celsius prevailed in the oceans.
What caused the Holocene extinction?
The Holocene extinction is mainly caused by human activities. Extinction of animals, plants, and other organisms caused by human actions may go as far back as the late Pleistocene, over 12,000 years ago.
What is the hypothesized cause of the Cretaceous-Tertiary mass extinction?
The impact hypothesis states that an asteroid hit Earth sending a cloud of dust and debris into the stratosphere, blocking out the sun, stalling photosynthesis and killing plants. The impact hypothesis is widely considered to be the cause for the Cretaceous-Tertiary mass extinction.