The age of sea lilies and rainforests - life in a Carboniferous world
Geologists’ Association
Webinar by
Dr Nick Riley MBE, YGS President.
1st April 2022, 6:00 pm
Laurussia was a major palaeocontinent straddling the Carboniferous equator. It extended westwards from the present-day Urals to the west coast of North America. THere was no Atlantic Ocean. The late Devonian marked the start of a long-term late Palaeozoic global cooling trend which culminated in the Permo-Carboniferous glaciation.
Extinction events possibly triggered by a combination of geological, biogeochemical and astronomical processes, are also associated with glacio-eustatic sea-level changes, known respectively as the Kellwasser (Frasnian-Famennian boundary) & Hangenberg events (Devonian-Carboniferous Boundary interval).
The early Carboniferous was a period of recovery from the Late Devonian extinctions and set the scene for new evolutionary radiations in the marine, terrestrial and freshwater environments, with many new clades appearing. Despite the end Permian extinction (known as “the great dying”), some of these clades survived to the present day and are still making a major impact on the biosphere. This talk will focus on the fundamental changes in the biosphere during the Carboniferous, with a particular focus on Laurussia.
The talk will be held via Zoom.
To find out more and register follow the link below
