Christopher Scotese | University of Texas at Arlington (original) (raw)

Featured Publications by Christopher Scotese

Global Temperature Change in Deep Time Several recent studies have published estimates describing... more Global Temperature Change in Deep Time Several recent studies have published estimates describing how global temperature has changed during the last 540 million years (Figure 1; Scotese et al., 2021). These temperature curves identify times when the Earth's global average temperature was much warmer than the presentday (hothouse intervals) and time intervals when, like the present-day, the Earth has been locked in a frigid "icehouse" world. Figure 2 is a "heat map" which highlights these hothouse and icehouse intervals (Scotese et al., 2021). Figure 1. Estimates of Global Average Temperature during the Phanerozoic

Phanerozoic Paleotemperatures: The Earth Changing Climate during the last 540 million years, Earth-Science Reviews, 2021

This study provides a comprehensive and quantitative estimate of how global temperatures have cha... more This study provides a comprehensive and quantitative estimate of how global temperatures have changed during the last 540 million years. It combines paleotemperature measurements determined from oxygen isotopes with broader insights obtained from the changing distribution of lithologic indicators of climate, such as coals, evaporites, calcretes, reefs, and bauxite deposits. The waxing and waning of the Earth’s great polar icecaps have been mapped using the past distribution of tillites, dropstones, and glendonites. The global temperature model presented here includes estimates of global average temperate (GAT), changing tropical temperatures (∆T◦ tropical), deep ocean temperatures, and polar temperatures. Though similar, in many respects, to the temper- ature history deduced directly from the study of oxygen isotopes, our model does not predict the extreme high temperatures for the Early Paleozoic required by isotopic investigations. The history of global changes in tem- perature during the Phanerozoic has been summarized in a “paleotemperature timescale” that subdivides the many past climatic events into 8 major climate modes; each climate mode is made up of 3-4 pairs of warming and cooling episodes (chronotemps). A detailed narrative describes how these past temperature events have been affected by geological processes such as the eruption of Large Igneous Provinces (LIPS) (warming) and bolide impacts (cooling). The paleotemperature model presented here allows for a deeper understanding of the inter- connected geologic, tectonic, paleoclimatic, paleoceanographic, and evolutionary events that have shaped our planet, and we make explicit predictions about the Earth’s past temperature that can be tested and evaluated. By quantitatively describing the pattern of paleotemperature change through time, we may be able to gain important insights into the history of the Earth System and the fundamental causes of climate change on geological timescales. These insights can help us better understand the problems and challenges that we face as a result of Future Global Warming.

Scotese, C.R., 2017. Atlas of Ancient Oceans & Continents: Plate Tectonics 1.5 by - Today, PALEOMP Project, Evanston, IL, 75 p., 2017

Phylotectonics is the study of descendant/antecedent relationships between continents, paleoconti... more Phylotectonics is the study of descendant/antecedent relationships between continents, paleocontinents, and terranes based on their plate tectonic history. This "Tectonic Tree" diagram illustrates the phylotectonic relationships of the major continents, paleocontinents, and terranes during the last 1.5 billion years. For a description and discussion of how this diagram was created see Scotese (2017) , "Atlas of Oceans & Continents: Plate Tectonics 1.5 billion years - Today."

Scotese, C.R., 2016. Global Climate Change: Modern Times to 540 million years ago, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGf5pZMkjA0, PALEOMAP Project, Evanston, IL.

Scotese, C.R., 2016. Figure 15 in Some Thoughts on Global Climate Change: The transition from Icehouse to Hothouse, in the Earth History: The evolution of the Earth System (in preparation), PALEOMAP Project, Evanston, IL., 2016

This diagram show the rise and fall of global temperatures during the last 540 million years. Sc... more This diagram show the rise and fall of global temperatures during the last 540 million years. Scotese (2016) describes how this curve was made. It replaces the curve published in Scotese et al., (1999).

PETM= Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (55.8 Ma), EEOC = Early Eocene Climatic Optimum (54 Ma – 46 Ma), MECO = Mid-Eocene Climatic Optimum(42 Ma), EOT = Eocene-Oligocene Transition (40 Ma – 33 Ma), MMCO=Mid-Miocene Climatic Optimum (15Ma – 13Ma), LGM = Last Glacial Maximum (21,000 years ago), 2016 = Modern MAT, PAW = Post-Anthropogenic Warming . White stars indicate rapid cooling episodes (Stoll-Schrag Events26) at 160Ma, 127Ma, 97Ma, 91Ma, 71Ma, and 65 Ma). Black stars represent rapid warming episodes (Kidder-Worsley Events16) at (Present-day, 15Ma, 43Ma, 56Ma, 65Ma, 93Ma, 120Ma, 183Ma, 200Ma, 251Ma, 300Ma, 359Ma, 374Ma, 444Ma, 499Ma, 520Ma, and 542 Ma).

Please cite as: Scotese, C.R., 2015. Phanerozoic Temperature Curve, PALEOMAP Project, Evanston, IL.

To learn more about how this curve was produced see:
Scotese, C.R., 2016. Some thoughts Global Climate Change: The Transition from Icehouse to Hothouse, in Scotese, C.R., Earth History: The Evolution of the Earth System as Revealed through Plate Tectonics, Paleogeography, Paleoclimate, and the Evolution of Life, PALEOMAP Project, (in preparation), Evanston, IL.

Scotese, C.R., 2016. Some Thoughts on Global Climate Change: The transition from Icehouse to Hothouse, in the Earth History: The evolution of the Earth System (in preparation), PALEOMAP Project, Evanston, IL., 2016

The Earth’s climate is changing. When humankind emerged from the last major Ice Age, about 21,00... more The Earth’s climate is changing. When humankind emerged from the last major Ice Age, about 21,000 years ago, both poles and much of the northern continents were covered with expanding ice sheets (Figure 1). In the past 10,000 years the Earth has naturally warmed and the ice sheet have retreated towards the poles. However, make no mistake about it, we are still locked in the depths of an Icehouse world.
According to a natural cycle, controlled in part, by changes in the shape of the Earth’s orbit, this warm period should continue for another 40,000 years or so. Then, if Nature has its way, the Earth will slip back again into the grips of another major Ice Age and frigid landscapes will once again expand outward from the poles.
But Nature may not have its way. Things have changed. We have changed things. The addition of CO2 to the atmosphere during the last 200 years of human industry has amplified this natural warming trend and the average global temperature has risen rapidly. The average global temperature was 12 ˚ C during the Last Glacial Maximum (21,000 years ago). During the following Interglacial period, the average global temperature slowly rose to 13.8˚C. Since 1880, it has increased another .6˚ degrees to 14.4˚C ( as of 2015). This rate of warming is 30 times faster1 than what occurred during the previous 20,000 years.
How much more will global temperatures rise? Will the increase in global temperature be enough to push the Earth from a frigid Icehouse world with thick polar icecaps to a sweltering Hothouse world with palm trees and alligators living at the North Pole? This is the question that I would like to address in this essay.
But before we discuss how much the Earth will warm, there are a few other questions we must tackle, such as:
-What exactly is an Icehouse World, and what causes the Earth to cool off so dramatically? ,
-Conversely, what is a Hothouse World?, and what causes the Earth to heat up so dramatically?
-And, what do we mean by “the average global temperature”? How is it calculated?

Abstract This report describes the contents of the PALEOMAP PaleoAtlas for GPlates, describes how... more Abstract
This report describes the contents of the PALEOMAP PaleoAtlas for GPlates, describes how the maps in the PaleoAtlas were made, documents the sources of information used to make the paleogeographic maps, and provides instructions how to plot user-defined paleodata on the paleogeographic maps using the program “PaleoDataPlotter”. The PALEOMAP PaleloAtlas and the program (Mac OSX) can be downloaded at http://www.earthbyte.org/paleomap-paleoatlas-for-gplates/ .

Please cite this work as: Scotese, C.R., 2016. PALEOMAP PaleoAtlas for GPlates and the PaleoData Plotter Program, PALEOMAP Project, http://www.earthbyte.org/paleomap-paleoatlas-for-gplates/

Part I. Introduction
The PALEOMAP PaleoAtlas for GPlates consists of 91 paleogeographic maps spanning the Phanerozoic and late Neoproterozoic. Table 1 lists all the time intervals that comprise the six volumes of the PALEOMAP PaleoAtlas for GPlates. The PaleoAtlas contains one map for nearly every stage in the Phanerozoic, as well as 3 maps for the late Precambrian. The PaleoAtlas can be directly loaded into GPLates as a “Time Dependant Raster” file (see Part III, “Loading the PALEOMAP PaleoAtlas into GPlates”). A paleogeographic map is defined as a map that shows the ancient configuration of the ocean basins and continents, as well as important topographic and bathymetric features such as mountains, lowlands, shallow sea, continental shelves, and deep oceans (Figure 1, Early Cretaceous, 121.8 Ma). Ideally, a paleogeographic map would be the kind of reference map that any time traveler would like to have before embarking on a journey back through time.
Colorful paleogeographic maps may be nice to look at, but the maps become much more useful for research and teaching purposes if users can plot their own data on the maps. In this regard, user-defined paleodata can be plotted on the paleogeographic maps in two ways: 1) using GPLates tools and procedures to import symbols and labels in a GIS-format (see GPlates Tutorial 1.1: Loading and Saving Data), and 2) by loading user-defined, latitude/longitude point data “text files” using the program “PaleoDataPlotter”. The latter method is described in the Section IV, “Plotting User-Defined Data on the Paleogeographic Reconstructions”.
PaleoDataPlotter, which is provided with this report, creates a variety of geometric symbols (circles, squares, triangles, stars, plus signs, crosses, small dots, and arrows) as well as short numeric labels (up to 5 digits), that can be plotted on the paleogeographic map at user-defined latitude/longitude coordinates (Figure 2). The PaleoDataPlotter program is ideal for plotting fossil localities, geological outcrops, as well as the locations of drill sites, wells, stratigraphic sections, or any point data set whose geographic location can be specified by modern, latitude and longitude coordinates. The arrow symbol, which can be oriented according to a user-supplied azimuth, is particularly useful for plotting “vector” information such as: ocean current directions, river flow, wind directions, paleomagnetic declinations, stress fields, and instantaneous plate motions. In a future version, the PaleoDataPlotter will also be able to plot text-labels at specific latitude/longitude coordinates.

Scotese, C.R., 2015. Plate Tectonics (flipbook), PALEOMAP Project, Evanston, IL, 41 pp., Aug 24, 2015

This "flipbook", which illustrates the plate tectonic development of the continents and ocean bas... more This "flipbook", which illustrates the plate tectonic development of the continents and ocean basins during the past 750 million years, was assembled to commemorate the scientific career of Professor Rob van der Voo. The flipbook consists of 34 plate tectonic reconstructions that map the past location of subduction zones (barbed lines), mid-ocean ridges, (dashed lines), and collision zones (marked x's). The tectonic reconstructions are based on the global plate tectonic model developed by the PALEOMAP Project.
The latitudinal orientation of the continents is derived largely from paleomagnetic data collected by Professor van der Voo (xref). Hot spots tracks and sea floor spreading isochrons (Seton et al., 2012) were used to constrain the longitudinal position of the continents back to ~200 million years. Plate tectonic reconstructions older than 200 million years are necessarily more speculative and have been derived by combining diverse lines of evidence from the tectonic histories of the continents (e.g., timing of continent-continent collisions or ages of rifting), the distribution of paleoclimatic indicators (i.e coals, tillites, salt deposits, and bauxites, see Boucot et al., 2013), and in some case, the biogeographic affinities of fossil faunas and floras.
Though a diverse data has been used to produce these reconstructions, this data, itself, is not enough. So much time has passed and so little direct evidence is preserved that guidance must also be sought from the "Rules of Plate Tectonics".
Plates do not move randomly but evolve in a manner that is consistent with the forces that drive them. The principal driving forces are: slab pull, ridge push and trench rollback. These forces shape the plates and provide important insights into how plate boundaries will evolve. Simply said, plates will only move if they are pulled by a subducting slab or pushed by the forces exerted by a mature ridge system. The evolving plate boundaries have been drawn to follow this maxim. It is also important to note that plate tectonics is a "catastrophic" system. Though "slow and steady" is the general rule, once every hundred million years or so, a major plate tectonic reorganization occurs. These "plate tectonic catastrophes" most often occur when mid-ocean ridges are subducted or when major continents collide. (For a more complete listing of the "Rules of Plate Tectonics", the reader is referred to XXXXXX.
The first "continental drift" flipbook was pushed as an undergraduate research project (Scotese, 1974; 1975abc). Subsequent editions have followed (1976ab; 1978; 1979; 1980; 1990, 1991, 1997, 2004). A more complete description of the data and information that is used to produce the flipbooks can be found in Scotese (2004). These maps could not have been produced without the GPlates plate modelling software and the tectonic data sets published by Dietmar Müller and his team at Earthbytes.
Special thanks to Maggie Geiger, and Robert and Jonathan Scotese for their help assembling this flipbook.

Time Scale
The age given next to each map represents age in millions of years. The corresponding geological ages (Ogg et al., 2008) are:
0 Modern World
20 Ma Early Miocene
40 Ma late Middle Eocene
60 Ma Paleocene
80 Ma Late Cretaceous - Campanian
100 Ma Early Cretaceous - late Albian
120 Ma Early Cretaceous - early Aptian
140 Ma Early Cretaceous - Berriasian
160 Ma Late Jurassic - Oxfordian
180 Ma Early Jurassic - Toarcian
200 Ma Triassic/Jurassic boundary
220 Ma Late Triassic - Carnian
240 Ma Middle Triassic - Anisian
260 Ma Middle Permian - Capitanian
280 Ma Early Permian - Artinskian
300 Ma Late Pennsylvanian
320 Ma Late Mississippian
340 Ma Middle Mississippian
360 Ma Devono-Carboniferous
380 Ma Late Devonian - Frasnian
400 Ma Early Devonian - Emsian
420 Ma Late Silurian - Ludlow
440 Ma Early Silurian - Llandovery
460 Ma Middle Ordovician
480 Ma Early Ordovician
500 Ma Late Cambrian
520 Ma Middle Cambrian
540 Ma Cambrian-Precambrian
560 Ma Neoproterozoic - lt. Ediacaran
600 Ma Neoporterozoic - m. Ediacaran
630 Ma Neoproterozoic - e. Ediacaran
660 Ma Neoproterozoic - e. Ediacaran
690 Ma Neoproterozoic - lt. Cryogenian
720 Ma m. Cryogenian
750 Ma m. Cryogenian

References Cited

Ogg, J., Ogg, G., and Gradstein, F.M., 2008. The Concise Geologic Time Scale, Cambridge University Press, 177 p.
Scotese, C.R. 1974. First Flip Book Images (from 35mm film from PLATO System), Unpublished.
Scotese, C.R., and Baker, D.W., 1975a. Continental drift reconstructions and animation, Journal of Geological Education, 23: 167-171.
Scotese, C.R., 1975b. Continental Drift Flip Book, 1stedition.Chicago, Illinois. (single page version

Scotese, C.R., 1975c. Continental Drift Flip Book, 1st edition. Chicago, Illinois. (double page version)
Scotese, C.R., 1976a. Continental
Drift “Flip Book”, edition 1.5, Department of Geological Sciences, University of Illinois. ResearchGate Academia
Scotese, C.R., 1976b. A continental drift “flip book", Computers & Geosciences, 2:113-116.
Scotese, C.R., and Ziegler, A.M., 1978. Paleozoic continental drift reconstructions and animation, American Geophysical Union, 1978 Spring Annual Meeting, Eos, v. 59. Issue 4, p. 263.
Scotese, C.R., 1979. Continental Drift (flip book), 2nd edition.
Scotese, C.R., Snelson, S.S., and Ross, W.C., 1980. A computer animation of continental drift, J. Geomag. Geoelectr., 32: suppl. III, 61-70.
Scotese, C.R., 1990. Atlas of Phanerozoic Plate Tectonic Reconstructions, PALEOMAP Progress 01-1090a, Department of Geology, University of Texas at Arlington, Texas, 57 pp.
Scotese, C.R., 1991. Continental Drift Flip Book, 4th edition, PALEOMAP Project, Arlington, TX, 49 pp.
Scotese, C.R., 1997. Continental Drift Flip Book, 7th edition, PALEOMAP Project, Department of Geology, University of Texas at Arlington, Texas, 80 pp.

Scotese, 2004.
Seton et al., 2012.
Van der Voo, R., 1993. Paleomagnetism of the Atlantic, Tethys, and Iapetus Oceans, Cambridge University Press, 411 p.

This "4 up" version of the Plate Tectonics flip book by C.R. Scotese, PALEOMAP Project, can be co... more This "4 up" version of the Plate Tectonics flip book by C.R. Scotese, PALEOMAP Project, can be copied and cut-up into 4 identical flip books. For the best results follow this procedure. 1) use 8 1/2" by 11" card stock (80 - 100 weight), 2) cut into quarters using a mechanical paper cutter, and 3) staple across the top of the booklet using 3/4" staples (upper left and upper right corners).

For high resolution, full-page sized maps see the link to: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/281393670_PlateTectonic_FlipBook_v.2.

This map of plate tectonics 50 million years in the future was created by projecting present-day ... more This map of plate tectonics 50 million years in the future was created by projecting present-day plate motions into the future. The northward movement of Australia and Africa will result in the collision of Australia with China and the closure of the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, and Mediterranean. New subduction zones start in the Indian Ocean (Capricorn trench) and along the eastern coasts of North America and South America. The Atlantic subduction zone will consume the western half of the Atlantic Ocean and eventually will consume the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. The northern portions of the Central Indian Ridge will be subducted beneath the Capricorn Trench. When the Mid-Indian Ridge is eventually subducted, Antarctica will be pulled northward to join Australia and the new "Afroaustralasian" supercontinent.

There are three reasons why I do not show the East African rifts opening into a new ocean:

- Often, oceans open around a three-armed rift system called a “triple junction”. Only two arms of a triple junction open to form ocean basins. . In the case of East Africa, the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden are the two successful rifts. The East African rift system, starting at the Afar Triangle, in Ethiopia is an aulacogen or “failed arm” of a triple junction The East African rift system is a failed rift, much like the Benue Trough in the South Atlantic or the Labrador Sea in the North Atlantic.
- Let’s step back and ask the question, “What caused the rifting of the Red Sea , Gulf of Aden and East Africa in the first place? Though the Afar hotspot certainly helped to weaken the lithosphere, The driving force that caused the rifting was the subduction (beneath Eurasia , i.e., Iran) of oceanic crust attached to the northern margin of Arabia. (There was ocean an ocean between Arabian and Iran.) This subducting slab “pulled” Arabia northward tearing it away from Africa. This subduction zone has been completely destroyed by the collision of Arabia and Eurasia (Zagros Mountains). Consequently, there is no longer any “plate tectonic forces” acting on the African rifts and they will not continue to open.
- Also, if we look at the plate tectonic neighborhood of East Africa, we see that the dominant motion of plates in the western Indian Ocean is N-S, rather than E-W . In fact, a new subduction zone is just beginning in the central Indian Ocean (a zone of diffuse earthquakes ~ 5-10 S) that will continue to pull Australia and Antarctica northward towards Asia. In other words, there is no room for East Africa to expand towards the east. Rather the east coast of Madagascar will become a strike-slip margin accommodating the continued, northward movement of the Australian-Antarctic plate.
I hope this explanation is helpful. Of course all of this is scientific speculation, we will have to wait and see what happens, but this is my projection based on my understanding of the forces that drive plate motions and the history of past plate motions. Remember: “The past reveals patterns; Patterns inform process; Process permits prediction.”

Chris Scotese
Director, PALEOMAP Project

Atlases by Christopher Scotese

Scotese, C.R., 2017. Atlas of Ancient Oceans & Continents: Plate Tectonics during the Last 1.5 billion years, PALEOMAP Project, Evanston, IL, 21 pp., 2017

The maps in this atlas are the first draft of a new set of plate tectonic reconstructions that wi... more The maps in this atlas are the first draft of a new set of plate tectonic reconstructions that will provide the framework for the revised paleogeographic and paleoclimatic maps that I am preparing for my book, “Earth History: Evolution of the Earth Systems”. As the title of this work implies, the goal of this atlas is to identify the major continents and oceans back through time. Tables 1 and 2 list the names of the continents and oceans shown in this atlas. Names shown in bold are newly coined ocean and continent names. Figure X is a “tectonic phylogeny” that shows how these continents and oceans have deeloped through time.
Continents
Continents are defined to be regions of the Earth that are underlain by continental crust (~lithosphere). Continents may be “emergent” or “flooded” depending on sea level, which has varied from ~200 meters above modern sea level to ~200 meters below modern sea level. The continental regions on these maps are shown in two colors: gray and white. The gray areas represent extant regions of continental crust. The white regions represent areas of continental crust that have been removed by subduction (tectonic erosion), underthrusting beneath continents (like Greater India), or are simply squeezed and compressed into much narrower zones (e.g. the Rocky Mountains or the Central Asian collision zone).
Continents come in a variety of sizes and shapes. We reserve the name “continent” for regions of continental crust greater than 10 Mkm2 . The present-day continents are: Africa, Antarctica, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America, and South America. In the Early Ordovician the continents were: Baltica, Cathaysia, Gondwana, Laurentia, and Siberia. Regions with areas less than 10 Mkm2 are either “subcontinents”, like the Indian subcontinent (4.6 Mkm2), or “island continents” like Greenland or Madagascar. Subcontinents are continental regions that are contiguous with a larger continent, but are considered to be a distinct region. India is subcontinent because it is separated from Asia by the Himalaya mountains and Tibetan plateau. Island continents, on-the-other-hand, are simply very large islands. Zealandia is an example of a mostly submerged an island continent. Finally, Regions of continental crust less than 1 Mkm2 may be considered to be “microcontinents” (e.g., S. Orkney Islands, Seychelles, Rockall plateau, or Tasman Rise).
The naming conventions for continents . . .
Oceans
Ocean basins are defined to be regions of the Earth that are underlain by oceanic lithosphere. Ocean basins, together with the flooded portions of the continents, comprise the Earth’s oceans, seas, and seaways. It is interesting to note that following the definition of continent and ocean proposed here, there are regions of the Earth that can be considered to be both “continents” and “oceans”. These regions are the portions of the continents flooded by the sea. For example, the Grand Banks of eastern Canada is part of the continent of North America, but the water above the Grand Banks is part of the Atlantic Ocean. This duality is due to the fact that the landward boundary of the ocean is the shoreline, whereas the seaward boundary of the continent lies near the junction of the continental rise and continental slope. In the past, this duality has lead to a fair degree of confusion when it came to naming oceans and continents. Also, it should be noted that no attempt has been made to show past coastlines on the maps in this atlas.
The derivation of the names of the modern oceans generally falls into one of three categories: mythological names, location names, and descriptive names. For example, the Atlantic Ocean is named after the Greek god, Atlas; the Indian Ocean is named after the subcontinent of India; the Pacific Ocean was named by Francisco Pissarro, who thought that the Pacific Ocean looked “peaceful”. Some of Paleozoic and Mesozoic Oceans are named after Greek gods related to Atlas. Tethys was the XXX of Atlas. Iapetus was the XXX of XXX, a Rhea (Rheic Ocean) was the XXX of XXX. Because it is difficult to meaningfully continue these lineages, none of the new oceans are named after Greek gods. Instead we have adopted a dual naming convention. The names of the new oceans either reflect the local geography (e.g., the Mozambique Ocean once ran through most of East Africa, including Mozambique) or a related geologic/tectonic feature ( e.g., the Grenville Ocean is the ocean basin that closed during the Grenville Orogeny (~1050 Ma) in eastern North America.
Coining new names for every new ocean, however, can be confusing. To avoid confusion and promote clarity we have tried to make slight modification to existing names, especially if there is a relation of inheritance. For example, originally there was just one ocean called the “Tethys Ocean”. However, we now know that three distinct oceans: ProtoTethys, PaleoTethys, and NeoTethys once existed in the Tethyan realm. Using this format, we have coined the new terms “PaleoPanthalassa” and “ProtoPanthalassa” to described earlier versions of the Panthalassic Ocean.
The names of these bodies of water may change slightly depending on the maturity of an ocean basin. A newly formed ocean basin, one that is still relatively narrow, may be called a “sea”, like the Red Sea, or if it connects two larger bodies of water, it may be called a “seaway”. The term “sea” is also used for bodies of water surrounded or partially enclosed by continents, like the Mediterranean Sea or Weddell Sea. Oceans as they age, gradually narrow as the continents on either side of the ocean approach each other (through subduction of oceanic lithosphere). Thus, it is possible for a once mighty “ocean” to become a narrow “sea” or “seaway” prior to its demise.

Scotese, C.R., 2016. Plate Tectonic Evolution of the Arctic, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPZEScNqU7U, PALEOMAP Project, Evanston, IL.

This is a pdf version of an animation that illustrates the plate tectonic evolution of the Arctic... more This is a pdf version of an animation that illustrates the plate tectonic evolution of the Arctic region during the last 200 million years. The animation can be viewed at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPZEScNqU7U.

Scotese, C.R., 2001. Atlas of Earth History, Volume 1, Paleogeography, PALEOMAP Project, Arlington, Texas, 52 pp, 2001

2001.06 This is an Atlas that is made up of maps from my website (www.scotese.com).

Scotese, C.R., 2014. Atlas of Neogene Paleogeographic Maps (Mollweide Projection), Maps 1-7, Volume 1, The Cenozoic, PALEOMAP Atlas for ArcGIS, PALEOMAP Project, Evanston, IL., 2014

2014.07 This Atlas of Neogene Paleogeographic Maps shows the changing paleogeography from the Ear... more 2014.07 This Atlas of Neogene Paleogeographic Maps shows the changing paleogeography from the Early Miocene (Auquitanian & Burdigalian, 19.5 Ma) to the Present-day. The maps are from volume 1 of the PALEOMAP PaleoAtlas for ArcGIS (Scotese, 2014). Absolute age assignments are from Ogg, Ogg & Gradstein (2008).

For Maps 3, 5 and 7, there are two versions of the paleogeography. One map shows the maximum highstand sea level (maximum flooding surface). The other map shows the minimum lowstand sea level (supersequence boundary). For each paleogeography there is an estimate of sea level change, in meters, relative to present-day sea level.

The following maps are included in the Atlas of Neogene Paleogeographic Maps:

Map 01 Modern World (Holocene, 0.0 Ma) Transgressive Systems Tract
Map 02 Last Glacial Maximum (Pleistocene, 21,000 years ago) Anthropocene Supersequence Boundary
Map 03 Plio-Pleistocene, (Gelasian & Piacenzian, 2.588 Ma Ma) Lowstand Systems Tract
Map 04 Latest Miocene (Messinian Event, 6.3 Ma) Maximum Flooding Surface
Map 05 Middle/Late Miocene, (Serravallian and Tortonian, 10.5 Ma) Messinian Supersequence Boundary & Tortonian Maximum Flooding Surface
Map 06 Middle Miocene (Langhian, 14.9 Ma) Maximum Flooding Surface
Map 07 Early Miocene (Aquitanian & Burdigalian, 19.5 Ma) Serravallian Supersequence Boundary, Aquitanian Maximum Flooding Surface

This Atlas should be cited as:
Scotese, C.R., 2014. Atlas of Neogene Paleogeographic Maps (Mollweide Projection), Maps 1-7, Volume 1, The Cenozoic, PALEOMAP Atlas for ArcGIS, PALEOMAP Project, Evanston, IL.

References Cited

Ogg, J.G., Ogg, G., Gradstein, F.M., 2008. The Concise Geologic Time Scale, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, 177 pp.

Scotese, C.R., 2014, The PALEOMAP Project PaleoAtlas for ArcGIS, version 2, Volume 1, Cenozoic Plate Tectonic, Paleogeographic, and Paleoclimatic Reconstructions, Maps 1-15, PALEOMAP Project, Evanston, IL.

Scotese, C.R., 2014. Atlas of Paleogene Paleogeographic Maps (Mollweide Projection), Maps 8-15, Volume 1, The Cenozoic, PALEOMAP Atlas for ArcGIS, PALEOMAP Project, Evanston, IL., 2014

For Maps 8, 10, 12, and 15, there are two versions of the paleogeography. One map shows the maximum highstand sea level (maximum flooding surface). The other map shows the minimum lowstand sea level (supersequence boundary). For each paleogeography there is an estimate of sea level change (m) relative to present-day sea level.

The following maps are included in the Atlas of Paleogene Paleogeographic Maps:

Map 08 Late Oligocene (Chattian, 25.7 Ma Ma) Aquitanian Superseqeunce Boundary & Late Oligocene Transgressive Systems Tract
Map 09 Early Oligocene (Rupelian, 31.1 Ma) Maximum Flooding Surface
Map 10 Late Eocene, (Priabonian, 35.6 Ma) Rupelian Supersequence Boundary & Priabonian Transgressive Systems Tract
Map 11 late Middle Eocene (Bartonian, 38.8 Ma) Bartonian Transgressive Systems Tract
Map 12 early Middle Eocene, (middle Lutetian, 44.6 Ma) Lutetian Maximum Flooding Surface & Lutetian Supersequence Boundary
Map 13 Early Eocene (Ypresian, 52.2 Ma) Ypresian Maximum Flooding Surface
Map 14 Paleocene/Eocene Boundary (PETM, Thanetian/Ypresian Boundary, 55.8 Ma) PETM Transgressive Systems Tract
Map 15 Paleocene (Danian & Thanetian, 60.6 Ma) Paleocene Maximum Flooding Surface & Danian Supersequence Boundary

This Atlas should be cited as:
Scotese, C.R., 2014. Atlas of Paleogene Paleogeographic Maps (Mollweide Projection), Maps 8-15, Volume 1, The Cenozoic, PALEOMAP Atlas for ArcGIS, PALEOMAP Project, Evanston, IL.

References Cited

Ogg, J.G., Ogg, G., Gradstein, F.M., 2008. The Concise Geologic Time Scale, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, 177 pp.

Scotese, C.R., 2014. Atlas of Late Cretaceous Paleogeographic Maps, PALEOMAP Atlas for ArcGIS, volume 2, The Cretaceous, Maps 16 - 22, Mollweide Projection, PALEOMAP Project, Evanston, IL. , 2014

2014.09 This Atlas of Late Cretaceous Maps shows the changing paleogeography from the Cenomanian ... more 2014.09 This Atlas of Late Cretaceous Maps shows the changing paleogeography from the Cenomanian (96.6 Ma) to the K/T Boundary(65.5 Ma). The maps are from volume 2 of the PALEOMAP PaleoAtlas for ArcGIS (Scotese, 2014). For several time intervals there are versions of the map that show maximum sea level (maximum flooding surface) or minimum sea level (sequence boundary) during that stage.
The following maps are included in the Atlas of Late Cretaceous Paleogeographic Maps:
Map 16 K/T Boundary (latest Maastrichtian, 65.5 Ma)
Map 17 Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian, 68 Ma)
Map 18 Late Cretaceous (Late Campanian, 73.8 Ma)
Map 19 Late Cretaceous (Early Campanian, 80.3 Ma)
Map 20 Late Cretaceous (Santonian & Coniacian, 86 Ma)
Map 21 Mid Cretaceous (Turonian, 91.1 Ma)
Map 22 Mid Cretaceous (Cenomanian, 96.6 Ma)

This work should be cited as
Scotese, C.R., 2014. Atlas of Late Cretaceous Paleogeographic Maps, PALEOMAP Atlas for ArcGIS, volume 2, The Cretaceous, Maps 16 ╨ 22, Mollweide Projection, PALEOMAP Project, Evanston, IL.

Scotese, C.R., 2014. Atlas of Early Cretaceous Paleogeographic Maps, PALEOMAP Atlas for ArcGIS, volume 2, The Cretaceous, Maps 23-31, Mollweide Projection, PALEOMAP Project, Evanston, IL. , 2014

2014.10 This Atlas of Early Cretaceous Paleogeographic Maps shows the changing paleogeography fro... more 2014.10 This Atlas of Early Cretaceous Paleogeographic Maps shows the changing paleogeography from the Berriasian (143 Ma) to the late Albian (101.8 Ma). The maps are from volume 2 of the PALEOMAP PaleoAtlas for ArcGIS (Scotese, 2014).
Also numeric time values are from Gradstein, Ogg & Smith (2008). For several stages there are versions of the map that show maximum sea level (maximum flooding surface) or minimum sea level (supersequence boundary) during that time interval.

The following maps are included in the Atlas of Early Cretaceous Paleogeographic Maps:

Map 23 Early Cretaceous (late Albian, 101.8 Ma)
Map 24 Early Cretaceous (middle Albian, 106 Ma)
Map 25 Early Cretaceous (early Albian, 110 Ma) Albian Supersequence Boundary and Transgressive System Tract
Map 26 Early Cretaceous (late Aptian, 115.2 Ma)
Map 27 Early Cretaceous (early Aptian, 121.8 Ma)
Map 28 Early Cretaceous (Barremian, 127.5 Ma)
Map 29 Early Cretaceous (Hauterivian, 132 Ma)
Map 30 Early Cretaceous (Valanginian, 137 Ma) Barremian-Hauterivian Supersequence boundary and Transgressive Systems Tract
Map 31 Early Cretaceous (Berriasian, 143 Ma) Berriasian Supersequence boundary and Maximum Flooding Surface

This work should be cited as
Scotese, C.R., 2014. Atlas of Early Cretaceous Paleogeographic Maps, PALEOMAP Atlas for ArcGIS, volume 2, The Cretaceous, Maps 23-31, Mollweide Projection, PALEOMAP Project, Evanston, IL.

Scotese, C.R., 2014. Atlas of Jurassic Paleogeographic Maps, PALEOMAP Atlas for ArcGIS, volume 3, The Jurassic and Triassic, Maps 32-42, Mollweide Projection, PALEOMAP Project, Evanston, IL. , 2014

The following maps are included in the Atlas of Jurassic Paleogeographic Maps:

Map 32 Jurassic/Cretaceous Boundary (145.5 Ma) Berriasian Supersequence Boundary
Map 33 Late Jurassic (Tithonian, 148.2 Ma) Highstand Systems Track
Map 34 Late Jurassic (Kimmeridgian, 153.2) Maximum Flooding Surface
Map 35 Late Jurassic (Oxfordian, 158.4) Transgressive Systems Track
Map 36 Middle Jurassic (Callovian, 164.5 Ma) Transgressive Systems Tract
Map 37 Middle Jurassic (Bajocian & Bathonian, 169.7 Ma) Kimmeridgian-Oxfordian Supersequence Boundary & Maximum Flooding Surface
Map 38 Middle Jurassic (Aalenian, 173.2 Ma) Bathonian-Bajocian Supersequence Boundary
Map 39 Early Jurassic (Toarcian, 179.3 Ma) Toarcian Supersequence Boundary and Maximum Flooding Surface
Map 40 Early Jurassic (Pliensbachian, 186.3 Ma) Maximum Flooding Surface
Map 41 Early Jurassic (Sinemurian, 193 Ma) Transgressive Systems Track
Map 42 Early Jurassic (Hettangian, 198 Ma) Pliensbachian Supersequence Boundary

This work should be cited as
Scotese, C.R., 2014. Atlas of Jurassic Paleogeographic Maps, PALEOMAP Atlas for ArcGIS, volume 3, The Jurassic and Triassic, Maps 32-42, Mollweide Projection, PALEOMAP Project, Evanston, IL.

Scotese, C.R., 2014. Atlas of Middle & Late Permian and Triassic Paleogeographic Maps, Maps 43 – 52, Volumes 3 & 4, PALEOMAP PaleoAtlas for ArcGIS, PALEOMAP Project, Evanston, IL. , 2014

2014.12 This Atlas of Middle & Late Permian and Triassic Paleogeographic Maps shows the changing ... more 2014.12 This Atlas of Middle & Late Permian and Triassic Paleogeographic Maps shows the changing paleogeography from the Middle Permian (Roadian & Wordian, 268.2 Ma) to the end of the Triassic (Rhaetian, 201.6 Ma). The maps are from volumes 3 and 4 of the PALEOMAP PaleoAtlas for ArcGIS (Scotese, 2014). Absolute age assignments are from Gradstein, Ogg & Smith (2008).

The following maps are included in the Atlas of Jurassic Paleogeographic Maps:

Map 43 Late Triassic (Rhaetian, 201.6 Ma) Lowstand Systems Tract
Map 44 Late Triassic (Norian, 210 Ma) Maximum Flooding Surface
Map 45 Late Triassic (Carnian, 222.6 Ma) Transgressive Systems Tract
Map 46 Middle Triassic (Ladinian, 232.9 Ma) Transgressive Systems Tract
Map 47 Middle Triassic (Anisian, 241.5 Ma) Lowstand Systems Tract
Map 48 Early Triassic (Induan & Olenekian, 248.5 Ma) Lowstand Systems Track
Map 49 Permo-Triassic Boundary (251 Ma) Norian Supersequence Boundary
Map 50 Late Permian (Lopingian, 255.7 Ma) Transgressive Systems Tract
Map 51 late Middle Permian (Capitanian, 263.1 Ma) Lowstand Systems Tract
Map 52 Middle Permian (Roadian & Wordian, 268.2 Ma) Maximum Flooding Surface

This work should be cited as
Scotese, C.R., 2014. Atlas of Middle & Late Permian and Triassic Paleogeographic Maps, maps 43 - 48 from Volume 3 of the PALEOMAP Atlas for ArcGIS (Jurassic and Triassic) and maps 49 – 52 from Volume 4 of the PALEOMAP PaleoAtlas for ArcGIS (Late Paleozoic), Mollweide Projection, PALEOMAP Project, Evanston, IL.

Scotese, C.R., 2014. Atlas of Permo-Carboniferous Paleogeographic Maps (Mollweide Projection), Maps 53 – 64, Volumes 4, The Late Paleozoic, PALEOMAP Atlas for ArcGIS, PALEOMAP Project, Evanston, IL.

This Atlas of Permo-Carboniferous Paleogeographic Maps shows the changing paleogeography from the... more This Atlas of Permo-Carboniferous Paleogeographic Maps shows the changing paleogeography from the Early Mississippian (Tournasian, 352.3 Ma) to the Early Permian (Kungurian, 273.1 Ma). The maps are from volume 4 of the PALEOMAP PaleoAtlas for ArcGIS (Scotese, 2014). Absolute age assignments are from Gradstein, Ogg & Smith (2008).

The following maps are included in the Atlas of Permo-Carboniferous Paleogeographic Maps:

Map 53 Early Permian (Kungurian, 273.1 Ma) Highstand Systems Tract
Map 54 Early Permian (Artinskian, 280 Ma) Maximum Flooding Surface
Map 55 Early Permian (Sakmarian, 289.5 Ma) Maximum Flooding Surface
Map 56 Early Permian (Asselian, 296.8 Ma) Sakmarian Supersequence Boundary & Maximum Flooding Surface
Map 57 Late Pennsylvanian (Gzhelian, 301.2 Ma) Asselian Supersequence Boundary & Maximum Flooding Surface
Map 58 Late Pennsylvanian (Kasimovian, 305.3 Ma) Maximum Flooding Surface
Map 59 Middle Pennsylvanian (Moscovian, 309.5) Transgressive Systems Tract
Map 60 Early Pennsylvanian (Bashkirian, 314.9 Ma) Bashkirian Supersequence Boundary & Maximum Flooding Surface
Map 61 Late Mississippian (Serpukhovian, 323.2 Ma) Maximum Flooding Surface
Map 62 Middle Mississippian (late Visean, 332.5 Ma) Highstand Systems Tract
Map 63 Middle Mississippian (early Visean, 341.1 Ma) Maximum Flooding Surface
Map 64 Early Mississippian (Tournasian, 352.3 Ma) Maximum Flooding Surface

This work should be cited as
Scotese, C.R., 2014. Atlas of Permo-Carboniferous Paleogeographic Maps (Mollweide Projection), Maps 53 – 64, Volumes 4, The Late Paleozoic, PALEOMAP Atlas for ArcGIS, PALEOMAP Project, Evanston, IL.