Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Letter
  • Published:

Contribution of Late Permian palaeogeography in maintaining a temperate climate in Gondwana

Nature volume 361, pages 51–54 (1993)Cite this article

Abstract

NUMERICAL simulations based on general circulation and energy-balance models consistently indicate that the high latitudes of Gondwana experienced seasonal extremes in climate during the Late Permian period1–3. But palaeogeographic maps based on the distribution of climate-sensitive rocks4, palynological and palaeobotanical data5,6 and dicynodont fossil records7 all imply a temperate climate. The reason for this discrepancy has not been clear. Recently, it has emerged from studies of Upper Permian fluviolacustrine deposits throughout southern Africa that the geography was dominated by a series of giant lakes, perhaps interconnected within major fluvial frameworks8. Here I review these data and their implications for a temperate climate. I suggest that the discrepancy between the climate modelling results which indicate seasonal temperature extremes, and the increasing body of geological information documenting a temperate climate, may be explained by the fact that the palaeogeography used in the models does not take into account the existence of these lakes and rivers, which would have had a major influence on the regional climate. The results demonstrate the importance of incorporating accurate palaeogeographies into numerical modelling studies when attempting to reconstruct past climates.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Kutzbach, J. E. & Gallimore, R. G. J. geophys. Res. 94, 3341–3357 (1989).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  2. Moore, G. T., Hayashida, D. N., Ross, C. A. & Jacobson, S. R. in Abstr Vol. Project Pangaea, May 23–27, 1992 (Kansas, 1992).

  3. Crowley, T. J., Hyde, W. T. & Short, D. A. Geology 17, 457–460 (1989)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  4. Robinson, P. L. in Implications of Continental Drift to the Earth Sciences (ed Tarling, D. H. & Runcorn, S. K.) 451–476 (Academic, London, 1973).

    Google Scholar 

  5. Kremp, G. O. W. Paleo-Data-Banks 7, 1–21 (1977).

    Google Scholar 

  6. Ziegler, A. M. in Palaeozoic Palaeogeography and Biogeography (eds McKerrow, W. S. & Scotese, C. R.) 363–379 (Geological Society Memoir, Oxford, 1990).

    Google Scholar 

  7. Parrish, J. M., Parrish, J. T. & Ziegler, A. M. in The Ecology and Biology of Mammal-like Reptiles (eds Maclean, P. D., Roth, J. J. & Roth, E. C.) 109–131 (Smithsonian Institute Press, Washington DC, 1986).

    Google Scholar 

  8. Yemane, K. & Kelts, K. in Major Afircan Continental Phanerozoic Complexes and Dynamics of Sedimentation (eds Kogbe, C. & Lang, J.) 169–185 (Pergamon, Paris, 1990).

    Google Scholar 

  9. Walter, H. Vegetation of the Earth, 3rd Edn (Springer, Berlin, 1985).

    Google Scholar 

  10. Anderson, J. M. Mem. Botan. Surv. S. Africa 41 (1977).

  11. Stewart, W. N. Paleobotany and the Evolution of Plants (Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge, 1983).

    Google Scholar 

  12. Plumstead, E. P. in Atlas of Palaeobiogeography (ed. Hallam, A.) 187–205 (Elsevier, Amsterdam, 1973).

    Google Scholar 

  13. Taylor, E. L., Taylor, T. N. & Cúneo, N. R. Science 257, 1675–1677 (1992).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Kitching, J. W. Mem. Bernard Price Inst. Palaeont Res. 1, 1–131 (1977).

    Google Scholar 

  15. Hotton, N. III, in The Ecology and Biology of Mammal-like Reptiles (eds Maclean, P. D., Roth, J. J. & Roth, E. C.) 71–82 (Smithsonian Institute Press. Washington DC, 1986).

    Google Scholar 

  16. King, G. The Dicynodonts, A Study in Palaeobiology (Chapman and Hall, London, 1990).

    Google Scholar 

  17. Colbert, E. H. in The Ecology and Biology of Mammal-like Reptiles (eds Maclean, P. D., Roth, J. J. & Roth, E. C.) 133–145 (Smithsonian Institute Press, Washington DC, 1986).

    Google Scholar 

  18. Cluver, M. A. Ann. S. Afr. Mus. 76, 213–246 (1978).

    Google Scholar 

  19. Smith, R. M. H. Palaeogeogr. Palaeoclimatol. Palaeoecol. 60, 155–170 (1987).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Tankard, A. J. et al. Crustal Evolution of Southern Africa: 3.8 byr of Earth History (Springer, New York, 1982).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  21. Rust, I. in Gondwana Geology (ed. Campbell, K. S. W.) 537–564 (Australian National Univ. Press, Canberra, 1975).

    Google Scholar 

  22. Hart, G. F. in Aspects of Palynology (eds Tschudy, R. H. & Scott, R. A.) 271–289 (Wiley, New York, 1969).

    Google Scholar 

  23. Isbell, J. L. thesis, Ohio State Univ. (1990).

  24. Climate Atlas of Canada: A Series of Maps Portraying Canada's Climate. Canadian Climate Program Map Series 1—Temperature and degree days (Canadian Government Publishing Center, Ottawa, 1984).

  25. Last, W. M. Sedim. Geol. 64, 207–221 (1989).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  26. Teller, J. T. & Last, W. M. Palaeogeogr. Palaeoclimatol. Palaeoecol. 76, 215–240 (1990).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Renaut, R. W. & Long, P. R. Sedim. Geol. 64, 239–264 (1989).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  28. Encyclopaedia Britannica, Macropaedia 28, (Chicago, 1991).

  29. Trofimov, V. T., Kudryashov, V. G. & Galaktionov, B. V. Sov. Engng Geol. 1, 63–86 (1989).

    Google Scholar 

  30. Stankevich, E. F., Batalin, Y. V. & Sinyavskii, E. I. Sov. Engng Geol. 31, 31–37 (1990).

    Google Scholar 

  31. Melnikov, V. P., Devyatkin, V. N. & Bevzenko, Y. P. in Proc. 5th int. Congr. Permafrost. Vol. 1 (ed. Senneset, K.) 815–818 (Trondheim, 1988).

    Google Scholar 

  32. Gradusov, B. P. & Sokolov, I. A. Sov. Soil Sci. 22, 80–87 (1990).

    Google Scholar 

  33. Eichenlaub, V. The Weather and Climate of the Great Lakes Regions (Univ. of Notre Dame Press, 1979).

    Google Scholar 

  34. Dixey, F. Trans. geol. Soc. S. Africa 29, 59–68 (1972).

    Google Scholar 

  35. Yemane, K., Siegenthaler, C. & Kelts, K. Palaeogeogr. Palaeoclimatol. Palaeoecol. 70, 165–178 (1989).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  36. Kreuser, T. Geol. Inst. Univ. Köln Sonderveröffentlichungen 45, 1–217 (1983).

    Google Scholar 

  37. Oesterlen, M. Geol. Jb. Riehe B36, 1–44 (1979).

    Google Scholar 

  38. Kelts, K. & Hsü, K. in Lakes, Chemistry, Geology, Physics (ed. Lerman. A.) 295–323 (Springer, New York, 1978).

    Google Scholar 

  39. Englund, J. O., Jørgensen, P., Roaldset, E. & Aagaard, P. in Proc. int. Symp. Interactions between Sediments and Freshwater (ed. Golterman, H. L.) 125–132 (The Hague, Netherlands, 1977).

    Google Scholar 

  40. Muller, G. & Quakernaat, J. Contr. Mineral. Petrol. 22, 268–275 (1969).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  41. Moore, J. E. J. sedim. Petrol 31, 402–436 (1961).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  42. Andrew, A. R. & Bailey, T. E. G. Q. Jl geol. Soc. Lond. 66, 202–204 (1910).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  43. Utting, J. in Proc. 4th int. Palynology Conf. Lucknow, India, 1976 (eds Bharadway, D. C. Singh, H. P. & Tiwari, T. S.) 208–219 (Tej Kumar, Lucknow, 1980).

  44. Falcon, R. in: Proc. 4th int. Palynology Conf. Lucknow, India, 1976 (eds Bharadway, D. C, Singh, H. P. & Tiwari, T. S.) 165–174 (Tej Kumar, Lucknow, 1980).

  45. Yurtsever, Y. & Gat, J. R. in The Water Cycle (eds Gat, J. R. & Gonfiantini, R.) 103–142 (International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna, 1981).

    Google Scholar 

  46. Gat, J. R. Water Resources Res. 7, 980–993.

  47. Hays, P. D. & Grossman, E. L. Geology 19, 441–444 (1991).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  48. Yemane, K. thesis, ETH (1990).

  49. Scotese, C. R. & Golonka, J. Paleogeographic Atlas, Paleomap Progress Report no. 20 (Univ. of Texas at Arlington, 1992).

  50. Visser, J. N. J. in C. R. XII int. congr. Carboniferous and Permian Stratigraphy and Geology (Buenos Aires, Argentina, in the press).

Download references

Author information

Author notes

  1. Keddy Yemane

    Present address: Department of Geology, University of Pennsylvania, 240 South 33rd Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19104-6316, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Geological Institute, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), Zurich, CH 8092, Switzerland

    Keddy Yemane

Authors
  1. Keddy Yemane
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Yemane, K. Contribution of Late Permian palaeogeography in maintaining a temperate climate in Gondwana. Nature 361, 51–54 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1038/361051a0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/361051a0

This article is cited by

Comments

By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing