Leon Vlieger at The Inquisitive Biologist:
An important goal for Prothero is to explain how we know what we know so that readers understand how the climate works and why it changes. As such, much attention is given to the numerous lines of evidence on which palaeoclimatology draws. The fossils that show Greenland was once carpeted by lush forests while Antarctica was the stomping ground of dinosaurs. The stratigraphical evidence that tells stories of past ice ages by way of dropstones, erratics, and glacial till deposits. The fossil riverbeds in today’s deserts. The cyclical climate patterns revealed by repeating strata with obscure names such as cyclothems and varves. The palaeoclimatological archives contained in deep-sea sediment cores and Arctic ice cores. The numerous lines of evidence for plate tectonics. The geochemical evidence showing past changes in the composition of the atmosphere. The importance of microfossils, etc., etc. Prothero provides plenty of background material for the reader not schooled in geology and palaeontology. The only notable omission here is tree rings that are only mentioned in passing; unfortunate, as the story of dendrochronology is fascinating.
A secondary aim of this book is to show how life and climate have interacted with each other.
More here.
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