Quantitative comparison of geological data and model simulations constrains early Cambrian geography and climate

Thomas W. Wong Hearing (), Alexandre Pohl (), Mark Williams (), Yannick Donnadieu, Thomas H. P. Harvey, Christopher R. Scotese, Pierre Sepulchre, Alain Franc and Thijs R. A. Vandenbroucke
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Thomas W. Wong Hearing: Ghent University
Alexandre Pohl: University of California
Mark Williams: School of Geography, Geology and the Environment, University of Leicester
Yannick Donnadieu: Aix-Marseille Univ, CNRS, IRD, INRA, Coll. France, CEREGE
Thomas H. P. Harvey: School of Geography, Geology and the Environment, University of Leicester
Christopher R. Scotese: Northwestern University
Pierre Sepulchre: Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l’Environnement, LSCE/IPSL, CEA-CNRS-UVSQ, Université Paris-Saclay
Alain Franc: INRAE, University of Bordeaux, BIOGECO
Thijs R. A. Vandenbroucke: Ghent University

Nature Communications, 2021, vol. 12, issue 1, 1-11

Abstract: Abstract Marine ecosystems with a diverse range of animal groups became established during the early Cambrian (~541 to ~509 Ma). However, Earth’s environmental parameters and palaeogeography in this interval of major macro-evolutionary change remain poorly constrained. Here, we test contrasting hypotheses of continental configuration and climate that have profound implications for interpreting Cambrian environmental proxies. We integrate general circulation models and geological observations to test three variants of the ‘Antarctocentric’ paradigm, with a southern polar continent, and an ‘equatorial’ configuration that lacks polar continents. This quantitative framework can be applied to other deep-time intervals when environmental proxy data are scarce. Our results show that the Antarctocentric palaeogeographic paradigm can reconcile geological data and simulated Cambrian climate. Our analyses indicate a greenhouse climate during the Cambrian animal radiation, with mean annual sea-surface temperatures between ~9 °C to ~19 °C and ~30 °C to ~38 °C for polar and tropical palaeolatitudes, respectively.

Date: 2021
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-24141-5

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