Frosty times for dinosaurs
A major drop in temperature 137 million years ago briefly interrupted the warm, equable climate of the Cretaceous Period. The water temperature in the Arctic Ocean fell from around 13OC to between 4 and 7OC, possibly causing the poles to freeze over. Gregory Price from the University of Plymouth, UK and Elizabeth Nunn from Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Germany investigated rock samples with fossil belemnites and glendonites from Svalbard in order to determine the temperature of the Arctic Ocean between 140 and 136 million years ago. Such paleoclimate reconstructions help to improve predictions for future climate and environmental development and to gauge the impact of the human race on climate. The temperature of the oceans plays an important role in the history of the Earth's climate...