Patterns of Change in Earth Evolution: Report of the Dahlem Workshop Patterns of Change in Earth Evolution Berlin 1983, May 1–6

430 Pages·1984·7.67 MB·English

by  H. D. Holland, A. F. Trendall (auth.), A. F. Trendall (eds.)

Dahlem Workshop Reports
Physical, Chemical, and Earth Sciences Research Report 5
Patterns of Change in Earth Evolution
The goal of this Dahlem Workshop is:
to identify temporal variations in the nature
and intensity of important Earth processes,
and to assess the effects of these variations
on the evolution of the Earth and its biota
Physical, Chemical, and Earth Sciences Research Reports
Editor: Silke Bernhard
Held and published on behalf of the
Stifterverband fUr die Deutsche Wissenschaft
Sponsored by:
Senat der Stadt Benin
Stifterverband fUr die Deutsche Wissenschaft
Patterns of Change
in Earth Evolution
H. D. Holland and A. F. Trendall,
Editors
Report of the Dahlem Workshop on
Patterns of Change in Earth Evolution
Berlin 1983, May 1 - 6
Rapporteurs:
W. H. Berger· K S. Deffeyes . K Pad ian
F. M. Richter· A. B. Thompson
Program Advisory Committee:
H. D. Holland and A. F. Trendall, Chairpersons
K S. Deffeyes . H. FUchtbauer . D. P. McKenzie
D. M. Raup . E. R. Oxburgh . F. M. Richter
A. Seilacher . A. B. Thompson· G. J. Wasserburg
Springer-Verlag
Berlin Heidelberg New York Tokyo 1984
Copy Editors: M. A. Cervantes-Waldmann, K Geue
Photographs: E. P. Thonke
With 4 photographs, 48 figures, and 12 tables
ISBN-13: 978-3-642-69319-9 e-ISBN-13: 978-3-642-69317-5
DOl: 10.1007/978-3-642-69317-5
CIP-Kurztitelaufnahme der Deutschen Bibliothek
Patterns of change in earth evolution:
report of the Dahlem Workshop on Patterns of Change in Earth Evolution,
Berlin 1983, May 1-6/
H. D. Holland, ed. Rapporteurs: W. H. Berger
[Held and pub!. on behalf of the Stifterverb. fur d. Dt. Wiss.
Sponsored by: Senat d. Stadt Berlin; Stifterverb. fur d. Dt. Wiss.].
- Berl in ; Heidelberg; New York; Tokyo : Springer, 1984. -
(Physical, chemical, and earth sciences research reports; 5)
(Dahlem Workshop reports)
NE: Holland, Heinrich D. [Hrsg.]; Berger, Wolfgang H. [Mitverf.];
Workshop on Patterns of Change in Earth Evolution (1983, Berlin, West);
1.GT
This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved, whether the whole or part of
the material is conc,erned, specially those of translation, reprinting, re-use of illustra-
tions, broadcasting,-reproduction by photocopying machine or similar means, and
storage in data-banks. Under § 54 of the German Copyright Law, where copies are
made for other than private use, a fee is payable to "Verwertungsgesellschaft Wort",
MUnchen.
© Dr. S. Bernhard, Dahlem Konferenzen, Berlin 1984.
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1s t edition 1984
The use of registered names, trademarks, etc., in this publication does not imply, even
in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant
protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
2131/3020-543210
Table of Contents
The Dahlem Konferenzen
S. Bemhard ix
Introduction
H.D. Holland and A.F. Trendall 1
Evolutionary Radiations and Extinctions
D.M. Raup 5
Large Body Impacts Through Geologic Time
E.M. Shoemaker 15
Sudden Changes in Atmospheric Composition and Climate
O.B. Toon 41
Geochemical Markers of Impacts and of Their Effects on
Environments
K.J. Hsil. 63
The Possible Influences of Sudden Events on Biological
Radiations and Extinctions
Group Report
K. Padian, Rapporteur
W. Alvarez, T. BirkeZund, D.K. Fil.tterer, K.J. Hsil.,
J.H. Lipps, D.J. McLaren, D.M. Raup, E.M. Shoemaker,
J. Smit, O.B. Toon, A. Wetzel 77
Changes in Sea Level
M. Steckler 103
Gradual and Abrupt Shifts in Ocean Chemistry During
Phanerozoic Time
W.T. Holser 123
Biological Innovations and the Sedimentary Record
A.G. Fischer 145
vi Table of Contents
Late Precambrian and Early Cambrian Metazoa: Preservational
or Real Extinctions?
A. Seilacher 159
Short-term Changes Affecting Atmosphere, Oceans, and
Sediments During the Phanerozoic
Group Report
W.H. Berger, Rapporteur
H. FUchtbauer, H.D. Holland, W. T. Holser, W.J. Jenkins,
H.G. Kulke, A.C. Lasaga, M. Samthein, A. Seilacher,
I. Valeton, O.H. Walliser, G. Wefer 171
Patterns and Geological Significance of Age Determinations
in Continental Blocks
S. Moorbath 207
The Archean/Proterozoic Transition: A Sedimentary and
Paleobiological Perspective
A.H. Knoll 221
The Archean-Proterozoic Transition As a Geological Event -
A View from Australian Evidence
A.F. Trendall 243
Events on a Time Scale of 107 to 109 Years Controlled by
Tectonism or Volcanism
Group Report
K.S. Deffeyes, Rapporteur
G.P. Brey, A.H. Knoll, S. Moorbath, H.-U. Schmincke,
M. Steckler, A.F. Trendall, J.F. Wilson, G. Womer 261
Time and Space Scales of Mantle Convection
F.M. Richter 271
Isotopic Evolution of the Crust and Mantle
R.K. O'Nions 291
Degassing of the Earth
H.D. Holland 303
Supracrustal Rocks, Polymetamorphism, and Evolution of the
SW Greenland Archean Gneiss Complex
R.F. Dymek 313
Table of Contents vii
Geothermal Gradients Through Time
A.B. Thompson 345
Variation in Tectonic Style with Time: Alpine and Archean Systems
M.J. Bickle 357
Variation in Tectonic Style with Time
(Variscan and Proterozoic Systems)
K. Weber 371
The Long-term Evolution of the Crust and Mantle
Group Report
A.B. Thompson and F.M. Richter, Rapporteurs
H. Ahrendt, M.J. Bickle, K.C. Burke, R.F. Dymek,
W. Frisch, R.D. Gee, A. Kroner, R.K. O'Nions,
E.R. Oxburgh, K. Weber 389
List of Participants 407
Subject Index 413
Author Index 432
The Dahlem Konferenzen
Founders
Recognizing the need for more effective communicatioh between
scientists, especially in the natural sciences, the Stifterverband fUr die
Deutsche Wissenschaft*, in cooperation with the Deutsche Forschungs-
gemeinschaft**, founded Dahlem Konferenzen in 1974. The project
is financed by the founders and the Senate of the City of Berlin.
Name
Dahlem Konferenzen was named after the district of Berlin called
"Dahlem", which has a long-standing tradition and reputation in the arts
and sciences.
Aim
The task of Dahlem Konferenzen is to promote international,
interdisciplinary exchange of scientific information and ideas, to stimulate
international cooperation in research, and to develop and test new models
conducive to more effective communication between scientists.
Dahlen Workshop Model
Dahlem Konferenzen organizes four workshops per year, each with a
limited number of participants. Since no type of scientific meeting proved
effective enough, Dahlem Konferenzen had to create its own concept.
This concept has been tested and varied over the years, and has evolveq
into its present form which is known as the Dahlem Workshop Model.
This model provides the framework for the utmost possible interdisciplinary
communication and cooperation between scientists in a given time period.
*The Donors Association for the Promotion of Sciences and Humanities
**German Science Foundation
x The Dahlem Konferenzen
The main work of the Dahlem Workshops is done in four interdisciplinary
discussion groups. Lectures are not given. Instead, selected participants
write background papers providing a review of the field rather than a
report on individual work. These are circulated to all participants before
the meeting to provide a basis for discussion. During the workshop, the
members of the four groups prepare reports reflecting their discussions
and providing suggestions for future research needs.
Topics
The topics are chosen from the fields of the Life Sciences and the Physical,
Chemical, and Earth Sciences. They are of contemporary international
interest, interdisciplinary in nature, and problem-oriented. Once a year,
topic suggestions are submitted to a scientific board for approval.
Participants
For each workshop participants are selected exclusively by special Program
Advisory Committees. Selection is based on international scientific
reputation alone, although a balance between European and American
scientists is attempted. Exception is made for younger German scientists.
Publication
The results of the workshops are the Dahlem Workshop Reports, reviewed
by selected participants and carefully edited by the editor of each volume.
The reports are multidisciplinary surveys by the most internationally
distinguished scientists and are based on discussions of new data,
experiments, advanced new concepts, techniques, and models. Each
report also reviews areas of priority interest and indicates directions
for future research on a given topic.
The Dahlem Workshop Reports are published in two series:
1) Life Sciences Research Reports (LS), and
2) Physical, Chemical, and Earth Sciences Research Reports (PC).
Director
Silke Bernhard, M.D.
Address
Dahlem Konferenzen
Wallotstrasse 19
1000 Berlin 33
F .R. Germany
Patterns of Change in Earth Evolution, eds. H.D. Holland and A.F. Trendall, pp. 1-4. Dahlem
Konferenzen 1984. Berlin, Heidelberg, New York, Tokyo: Springer-Verlag.
Introduction
H.D. Holland* and A.F. Trendall**
*Dept. of Geological Sciences, Harvard University
Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
**Geological Survey of Western Australia
Perth, W.A. 6000, Australia
Recent discoveries have forced a reassessment of the essential nature
of Earth history. The development of plate tectonics has led geologists
to rethink the entire structural and .chemical evolution of the Earth;
the discovery of iridium anomalies in sediments at the Cretaceous-Tertiary
boundary has had a profound impact on theories of extinction and on
our views of the role of sudden events in Earth history. Major catastrophes
have now come to be considered normal events in Earth history. These
developments led one of us {A.F.T.} to propose that specialists from
a wide range of subdisciplines in the Earth Sciences be brought together
at a Dahlem Workshop to address the question whether Earth history
has been essentially smooth or importantly spasmodic. The topic won
approval, and a Dahlem Workshop entitled "Earth History: How Smooth,
How Spasmodic?" was held in Berlin in May of 1983. At the conclusion
of the workshop a number of alternative titles were suggested for the
workshop volume. "Patterns of Change in Earth Evolution" was proposed
by Oxburgh; this entry narrowly outpolled "Trends, Cycles, and Sudden
Events in Earth History" and a number of other suggested titles that
contained the words catastrophe, spasmodic, episodic, and uniformitarian.
The Program Advisory Committee spent what seemed an interminable
day in 1982 choosing the best way to constitute the four working groups
of the workshop. A division of the workshop topic based largely on a
variety of time scales was finally agreed upon. Group I was asked to