Vol. 15, No. 1, 2004
A Carboniferous Icehouse:
An Intercontinental Comparison of Mid-Carboniferous Tropical Floras and their Response to Global Climate Change
Energeia Vol. 15, No. 1, 2004 © UK Center for Applied Energy Research
Cortland F. Eble Kentucky Geological Survey University of Kentucky The Earth has experienced only two major intervals of globally cold climate since the establishment of vascular land plants. The earliest of these occurred during the Carboniferous and Early Permian periods and was by far the longest and most complex, lasting more than 50 million years. The second, and one in which we currently live, is the Quaternary (the last 2 million years), during which there have been several periods of colder climate alternating with warmer intervals, only the last of which has been studied ecologically in great detail. Between these two intervals of “Icehouse” conditions was a “Greenhouse” period that includes most of the Mesozoic Era (65 to 225 million years ago). Icehouse conditions occur when the Earth’s climate is cool enough to accumulate and retain polar ice caps. Greenhouse conditions occur when the Earth’s climate is warm enough to prevent polar ice from forming. (continued, page 2)
A Carboniferous Icehouse, (cont.)
Figure 1. Map showing the position of the basins that will be studied. Note that the position of the continents was different during the Carboniferous; the locations of better known geographical markers are labeled to help orient the reader. 1 - Central Appalachian Basin, 2/3 - Upper Silesian / Ostrava-Karvina basins, which are contiguous, and 4 - Lublin Basin.
The dynamics of vegetation during the Permian-Carboniferous ice age have received considerably less attention than those of the Quaternary, and thus have played less of a role in our understanding of the vegetation’s long-term response to climate change. Permian-Carboniferous patterns suggest that there may be short intervals of large-scale biotic turnover (i.e., many introductions and extinctions) embedded within longer intervals of smaller-scale turnover. This pattern is very similar to what is seen in the Quaternary, and is one of the intrinsic strengths of our research as it allows for direct comparison of the two systems.
GOALS OF THE PROJECT We are exploring the issues described above in a project funded by the National Science Foundation. Our work is designed to address, and provide insight to the following questions. · Are there rapid and widespread floral changes in the early part of the Carboniferous cold interval, or does the vegetation establish gradually and in a continuous manner? · Expressed quantitatively in extinctions and originations, how does turnover during the early phases of climate change compare with that from later intervals when the Carboniferous vegetation was more completely established?
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Are there ecological differences between those plants that survive the early phases of climate change versus those that become extinct? In other words, are there certain ecological niches that are more (or less) susceptible to climate change? Can migrations be detected between environments in the tropical lowlands, e.g., between peat substrates that later become coal and mineral soils that later become shales and siltstones, and are their differential rates of change in either environment that drive these migrations? What is the relationship of vegetational change to extrinsic factors like tectonic events and eustatic sea level changes, and were the vegetations’ responses to these events rapid and threshold-like, or slow and methodical?
One major challenge of this study will be to compare two floras that are completely different. There is no doubt that the Paleozoic flora was entirely distinct from extant flora at the level of major systematic groups. For example, most Carboniferous floras were dominated by plants that reproduce by spores (e.g., lycopods, ferns and sphenopsids), whereas modern floras are typically dominated by plants that reproduce by seeds (e.g., angioperms and gymnosperms). However, the floral architecture, and the floristic biogeography essentially
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parallel that of the present. As such, the Permian-Carboniferous provides an independent data set from which deductions can be made concerning generalized plant responses to changing extrinsic conditions. Comparing the present and the past can lead us to a more encompassing theoretical framework from which to predict dynamics of vegetational turnover and replacement during extended periods of climatic change.
REGIONAL SETTING AND MATERIALS This study will focus on three basins with sections that contain the most complete stratigraphic section of terrestrial Permian-Carboniferous strata (Figure 1). They are: (1) the Appalachian Basin in the Eastern USA, (2) the Ostrava-Karvina Basin in the Czech Republic, which is contiguous with the Upper Silesian Basin in southern Poland, and (3) the Lublin Basin in Eastern Poland. These basins have been investigated in detail over many decades, which has resulted in the accumulation of very large sets of data. An international team has been assembled, consisting of six American, five Polish, two Czech, and one Ukrainian colleague, to analyze and synthesize all paleobotanical, palynological, stratigraphical, and geochronological data for the same time interval in these three basins. (continued, page 3)
A Carboniferous Icehouse, (cont.) The Americans · · · · · ·
Hermann Pfefferkorn (University of Pennsylvania) Robert A. Gastaldo (Colby College) William H. Gillespie (West Virginia University) Cortland F. Eble (Kentucky Geological Survey) William A. DiMichele (Smithsonian Institution) Bascombe Mitch Blake (West Virginia Geological & Economic Survey)
The Polish · · · · ·
Albin Zdanowski (Polish Geological Institute) Aleksandra Trzepierczynska (Polish Geological Institute) Teresa Migier (Polish Geological Institute, retired) Adam Kotas (Polish Geological Institute) Anna Kotasowa (Polish Geological Institute)
The Czechs · ·
Eva Purkynova (Silesian Museum) Zbynek Simunek (Czech Geological Survey)
The Ukranian ·
Vitaly Shulga (National Academy of Sciences of the Ukraine)
THE PLAN The overall plan is to analyze the patterns in macrofloras and palynomorphs in each of the basins (Appalachian, Ostrava-Karvina, Upper Silesia, Lublin). This will result in eight independent data sets that will be compared and analyzed using a variety of statistical techniques. Similarities between plant assemblages in these basins will be used to document widespread continuity, with changes in the character of assemblages, either regionally or locally, as indicative of response to some change. Regional and local changes then can be evaluated to determine possible causes. The first step will be to check and standardize the use of nomenclature and taxonomy. This will happen during the early reciprocal visits because it will require discussions between the
Figure 2. Map of a portion of Central and Southern Poland showing the positon of the three major areas visited during early August, 2003. They are Warsaw (Warszawa in Polish, top center), Wlodawa (right), and Sosnowiec, a city that is part of the industrial metropolis centered around Katowice (left). participants while specimens, microscope slides, and the pertinent literature can be studied. Colleagues participating in this study use the same nomenclature for most species, but differences of opinions do exist. In addition, the nomenclature has to be updated for the older data sets. The second step is to enter the data into a computer database for statistical analysis. One of the principle investigators is associated with the Paleobiology Data Base Project, which is located in Santa Barbara, CA. North American data collected in this project will be entered into a standardized database, and queries, manipulations, and analyses can be then be performed. Foreign data will be handled in the same format, so that all data sets are directly comparable. Poland 2003 Work began in August, 2003 with the group meeting in Poland for a week-long work-
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shop. We first visited the main offices of the Polish Geological Institute (PGI) in Warsaw (Figure 2) to tour the facilities and discuss the project objectives with the deputy director of the PGI. We then traveled to a core repository near the town of Wlodowa where we spent a day examining a kilometer of full recovery core from the Lublin Basin (Figures 2 and 3). The remainder of our visit took place in the offices of the Silesian branch of the PGI, which is located in Sosnowiec, a city that is part of an industrial metropolis centered around Katowice in southern Poland (Figures 2 and 4). Here our workshop included individual presentations, discussions, stratigraphic and statistical exercises, as well as the examination of fossil collections.
(continued, page 4)
A Carboniferous Icehouse, (cont.) This was a very intensive, yet rewarding week. Our Polish, Czech and Ukranian colleagues have assembled a truly amazing set of paleobotanical and geologic data, both in terms of sheer volume, and exacting detail. However, virtually none of the data has been published in journals with international reach, so it is essentially unknown to the rest of the world. This is an unfortunate legacy of the previous regime that prevailed from the close of World War II, until the late 1980’s. However, Poland, the Czech Republic, and the Ukraine are all now independent countries, and this has allowed for collaborative projects such as this one to proceed.
Figure 3. Polish Geological Institute (PGI) core facility located near the town of Wlodawa. US participant Mitch Blake, paleobotanist and geologist with the West Virginia Geologic and Economic Survey, is seen examining a portion of a 1 km long core in the foreground.
Figure 4. Workshop photograph showing several of the participants in the offices of the Silesian branch of the Polish Geological Survey in Sosnowiec. From L to R: Vitaly Shulga (part), Aleksandra Trzepierczynska, Teresa Migier, Anna Kotasowa, Adam Kotas, Hermann Pfefferkorn, and Robert Gastaldo. Please refer to the text for corresponding affiliations.
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WHATS AHEAD: YEARS TWO AND THREE Data analysis will continue until this summer when the international participants will travel to the United States for a reciprocal workshop, as well as an introduction to Appalachian geology via a field trip. In the summer of 2005, the last year of the project, we will again assemble in Poland to present results and manuscripts for both local and international journals. Look for a follow up article in Energeia upon the completion of this project. Dr. Eble has been a geologist at the Kentucky Geological Survey since 1990. He is in the Energy and Minerals Section and may be reached at:
[email protected]. The KGS web site is: http://www.uky.edu/KGS/.
(continued, page 5)
COMMENTARY
Dale E. Heydlauff American Electric Power American Electric Power currently has no plans to build new pulverized coalfired power plants and has serious concerns about its risk exposure with respect to the climate change issue if it did so. The company is, after all, the largest consumer of coal in the western hemisphere and, as a consequence, emits more carbon dioxide than any other electricity producer in the United States. However, it is equally clear to us that a truly sustainable future must include low-carbon means of generating electricity from coal. As the scientific evidence mounts, it seems all but certain that a carbon-constrained future is more a matter of “when” than “if,” and we believe that the prudent response for the electricity sector is to begin now to prepare for this eventuality. Coal resources worldwide are abundant, affordable, and accessible, especially in the energy-hungry United States and the populous, developing, and coal-rich nations of China and India. Because these factors make it highly likely, if not nearly certain, that coal will continue to play an important role in the global energy mix, it is imperative that industry, government, and civil society overcome their differences to collaborate on the development and deployment of climate-friendly coal-based energy technologies. An effort on the order of a new industrial revolution will be necessary to decouple coal-based
energy from carbon dioxide emissions, but it can and must be done. Toward this end, AEP is a strong proponent of President Bush’s FutureGen project, which endeavors to build the world’s first coal-based electric generation and hydrogen production plant with 90%+ capture of carbon dioxide emissions and disposal in geologic formations. Such technologies will help to preserve the fuel diversity that is necessary to protect consumers from the price volatility that arises from over-reliance on energy sources such as natural gas, which we have witnessed in recent years as the vast preponderance of new power generation facilities have been natural gas-fired. Affordable, reliable electricity has always been, and will continue to be for the foreseeable future, at the foundation of economic growth by powering industry and commerce, social progress by enabling advances in areas such as healthcare and education, and environmental protection by displacing less efficient energy conversion technologies. These are benefits that the American people have come to expect and that the billions of people living in nations like China and India certainly deserve.
comprehensive, sustained and costeffective solutions. An equally compelling mission is the improvement of the human condition through economic growth, powered by a reliable supply of affordable energy. The only realistic path to satisfy both objectives is through the development and global deployment of far more efficient and less carbon intensive technologies than are currently in use to propel the economies of nations around the world. Such technologies must be able to use abundant indigenous energy resources, which for the U.S. and other nations is coal. The FutureGen coal-gasification technology with carbon dioxide capture and disposal is one such essential technological response. Guest editorials are the opinions of the author and not necessarily those of the CAER. Dale E. Heydlauff is Senior Vice President, Governmental & Environmental Affairs at American Electric Power. He may be contacted at:
[email protected].
Global climate change presents a serious challenge to the world. It is a long-term, global issue that demands
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(continued, page 6)
First Announcement
2004 International Workshop on Nanomaterials Sponsored by the University of Kentucky and University of Louisville
June 14-15, 2004 Marriotts Griffin Gate Resort, Lexington, Kentucky
www.kynanomat.org For more information, contact Dr. Uschi Graham at: Tel: (859) 257-0299, Fax: (859) 257-0220 or Email:
[email protected]
Energeia is published six times a year by the University of Kentucky's Center for Applied Energy Research (CAER). The publication features aspects of energy resource development and environmentally related topics. Subscriptions are free and may be requested as follows: Marybeth McAlister, Editor of Energeia, CAER, 2540 Research Park Drive, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40511-8410, (859) 257-0224, FAX: (859)-257-0220, e-mail:
[email protected]. Current and past issues of Energeia may be viewed on the CAER Web Page at www.caer.uky.edu. Copyright © 2004, University of Kentucky.
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