Modeling the early Paleozoic long-term climatic trend

Abstract

The early Paleozoic climate has been described as warm and equable. However, recent data based on conodont oxygen isotopic composition reveal a large, long, cooling trend through the Ordovician, followed by an abrupt cooling during the Late Ordovician glaciation. This long-term climate change is associated with a major radiation in the Earth life history. Nonetheless, the driving mechanisms for this cooling trend remain unknown. Carbon dioxide consumption by the weathering of fresh rocks from volcanic arcs has recently been suggested as a possible driver for this climate change. However, the impact of the plate motion context has not been explored yet, although it might have a major impact on atmospheric CO2 levels. Simulations with a climate model coupled to a biogeochemical model (GEOCLIM) show that the atmospheric CO2 decreased from more than 20 PAL (~5600 ppmv) in the Furongian down to approximately 10 PAL (~2800 ppmv) in the Llandovery before rising again in the Early Devonian. We suggest that changes in geography and exposure of fresh volcanic rocks on continents are required to explain the large CO2 drawdown that led to the onset of cooler to glacial conditions from the Middle Ordovician to the Llandovery. The weathering of fresh volcanic rocks is itself responsible for 33% of the Late Ordovi-cian atmospheric CO2 decrease; the rest being related to the continent motion through the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ). Mean annual continental temperature falls by 3°C in the Early Ordovician, reaching 13.5°C during the glacial interval, and rises to 16°C in the Early Devonian.

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Geological Society of America Bulletin
doi: 10.1130/B30364.1
published online 26 January 2011;Geological Society of America Bulletin
Pucéat and Markus Aretz
Elise Nardin, Yves Goddéris, Yannick Donnadieu, Guillaume Le Hir, Ronald C. Blakey, Emmanuelle
Modeling the early Paleozoic long-term climatic trend
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as doi:10.1130/B30364.1Geological Society of America Bulletin, published online on 26 January 2011

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Modeling the early Paleozoic long-term climatic trend
Elise Nardin1,†, Yves Goddéris1, Yannick Donnadieu2, Guillaume Le Hir3, Ronald C. Blakey4,
Emmanuelle Pucéat5, and Markus Aretz1
1Laboratoire des Mécanismes et Transfert en Géologie, CNRS-UPS-IRD, Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées, Toulouse 31400, France
2Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l’Environnement, CNRS-CEA, Gif-Sur-Yvette 91191, France
3Université Paris Diderot, Institut Physique du Globe de Paris, Paris 75238, France
4Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona 86011,USA
5Biogéosciences, Université de Dijon, Dijon 21000, France
GSA Bulletin; Month/Month 2011; v. 1xx; no. X/X; p. 000–000; doi: 10.1130/B30364.1; 5 fi gures; 1 table.
†E-mail: elnardin@gmail.com
ABSTRACT
The early Paleozoic climate has been described as warm and equa-
ble. However, recent data based on conodont oxygen isotopic com-
position reveal a large, long, cooling trend through the Ordovician,
followed by an abrupt cooling during the Late Ordovician glaciation.
This long-term climate change is associated with a major radiation
in the Earth life history. Nonetheless, the driving mechanisms for
this cooling trend remain unknown. Carbon dioxide consumption by
the weathering of fresh rocks from volcanic arcs has recently been
suggested as a possible driver for this climate change. However,
the impact of the plate motion context has not been explored yet,
although it might have a major impact on atmospheric CO2 levels.
Simulations with a climate model coupled to a biogeochemical model
(GEOCLIM) show that the atmospheric CO2 decreased from more
than 20 PAL (~5600 ppmv) in the Furongian down to approximately
10 PAL (~2800 ppmv) in the Llandovery before rising again in the
Early Devonian. We suggest that changes in geography and exposure
of fresh volcanic rocks on continents are required to explain the large
CO2 drawdown that led to the onset of cooler to glacial conditions
from the Middle Ordovician to the Llandovery. The weathering of
fresh volcanic rocks is itself responsible for 33% of the Late Ordovi-
cian atmospheric CO2 decrease; the rest being related to the continent
motion through the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ). Mean
annual continental temperature falls by 3°°C in the Early Ordovician,
reaching 13.5°°C during the glacial interval, and rises to 16°°C in the
Early Devonian.
INTRODUCTION
The fi rst 100 million years of the Phanerozoic (540–440 Ma) recorded
a long-term global cooling trend. Following a warm Cambrian period
possibly characterized by high CO2 levels (Bao et al., 2008), the Earth
gradually cooled between the Early Ordovician and the Wenlock (middle
Silurian) (i.e., from 480 to 430 Ma; Gradstein et al., 2004). This long-
term trend is punctuated by short but wide glacial events in the uppermost
Late Ordovician (Hirnantian; Le Heron et al., 2007) and in the Llandovery
(Telychian; Díaz-Martínez and Grahn, 2007). The cooling trend has been
evidenced by several criteria: (1) a general rise in calcitic and aragonitic
shell δ18O (Veizer et al., 1999) and conodont biogenic apatite δ18O (Trotter
et al., 2008), (2) a general increase in the pole to equator climatic gradient
(Boucot et al., 2004), and (3) the sedimentologic records of cooler condi-
tions before the Hirnantian glacial spike itself (Fortey and Cocks, 2005).
Atmospheric CO2 (CO2atm) reconstruction is lacking for the time interval,
Cambrian to Silurian. Only two values have been reconstructed for the
Late Ordovician: (1) between 2240 and 2800 ppmv for the middle Katian,
based on the difference of δ13C values between marine carbonates and
organic carbon (Patzkowsky et al., 1997), and (2) ~5600 ppmv for the lat-
est Katian time, based on the δ13C value of a component of goethite (Yapp
and Poths, 1996). Given the high variability of the data points recon-
structed for more recent periods, the isolated Ordovician high CO2 values
should be considered with caution (Boucot and Gray, 2001; Royer, 2006).
The other reconstructions, being at best dated as Pridoli (latest Silurian
epoch), show values between 1400 and 4000 ppmv for the Pridoli–Middle
Devonian interval (see Royer, 2006).
The origin of this long-term climate change between the Furongian
and the Late Ordovician still remains unclear. Earlier investigations using
numerical modeling were mainly centered on the onset of the Hirnantian
glaciation in the uppermost Ordovician and focused on reconciling sug-
gested high CO2atm levels and the glacial climate (Crowley and Baum,
1995; Gibbs et al., 1997; Kump et al., 1999; Poussart et al., 1999; Ber-
ner and Kothavala, 2001; Herrmann et al., 2004a, 2004b). Indeed, car-
bon cycle reconstructions have proposed that CO2atm levels might have
been somewhere between 10 and 25 PAL (preindustrial atmospheric
level, 280 ppmv) during the Cambrian–Ordovician (Berner and Kothav-
ala, 2001; Berner, 2004, 2006a, 2006b). In an effort to understand the
Hirnantian glaciation, two recent modeling studies emphasized the key
role played by lithologic changes during the Middle and Late Ordovician,
and followed a method similar to Berner (2008). Indeed, fresh basaltic
rocks erupted on the continental surfaces by enhanced magmatism are
weathered up to eight times faster than shield rocks (Dessert et al., 2003).
Young et al. (2009) and Lefebvre et al. (2010) have both suggested that
the weathering of freshly erupted volcanic material might have driven the
onset of the Hirnantian glaciation, supporting the idea that the early Late
Ordovician cooling is due to other processes than the sole increase in oro-
genic events (Kump et al., 1999; Boucot and Gray, 2001).
In the present contribution, we explore the long-term evolution of the
global climate from 500 Ma to 400 Ma (Furongian to Early Devonian)
as doi:10.1130/B30364.1Geological Society of America Bulletin, published online on 26 January 2011

Nardin et al.
2 Geological Society of America Bulletin, Month/Month 2009
using the numerical model, GEOCLIM, to evaluate the impact of paleoge-
ography and rock weathering on CO2atm level and climate (Figs. 1 and 2).
The advantage of the GEOCLIM model, compared to previous modeling,
is its ability to account explicitly for the role of plate motion on the long-
term geochemical (through the weathering of silicate rocks) and climatic
evolution of the Earth surface (Donnadieu et al., 2006b). These two factors
have been proved to infl uence signifi cantly the weatherability of the con-
tinents and to affect the carbon cycle for more recent time periods (Kump
et al., 1999; Dessert et al., 2001; Dupré et al., 2003; Donnadieu et al.,
2004; Donnadieu et al., 2006b; Royer 2006; Goddéris et al., 2008). Only
the multimillion-year background CO2atm level (and coeval climate) is cal-
culated, without considering short-term perturbations of the global carbon
cycle, such as, for instance, the Hirnantian glacial climax.
MODEL DESCRIPTION AND FORCING FACTORS
GEOCLIM Description
The GEOCLIM model couples a 3D atmospheric general circulation
model (the fast ocean-atmosphere model [FOAM] GCM; Jacob, 1997) to
a model of the biogeochemical cycles of carbon and alkalinity (the cou-
pled model of biogeochemical cycles and climate [COMBINE] model,
Goddéris and Joachimski, 2004; Donnadieu et al., 2006b; Goddéris et al.,
2008). A full description of the GEOCLIM model was published by Don-
nadieu et al. (2006b; see the references therein). The modeling procedure
is based on the concept of the long-term stability of the global climate,
which requires the balance between CO2 consumption by continental
silicate rock weathering and solid Earth CO2 degassing (Walker et al.,
1981). First of all, FOAM computes the climatic parameters, tempera-
ture, and runoff, which allow the calculation of the atmospheric CO2 sink
by continental weathering by COMBINE. Indeed, the CO2 consumption
by silicate rock weathering is assumed to depend on air temperature and
continental runoff (Dessert et al., 2003; Oliva et al., 2003). It is calcu-
lated using the climatic fi eld from the GCM with a spatial resolution of
7.5° longitude × 4.5° latitude. Then, fi xing the source of CO2 through
solid Earth degassing, a numerical feedback loop between FOAM and
COMBINE is run until the sink through weathering equilibrates the pre-
scribed degassing. At the same time, the model reaches a steady-state
pCO2atm for each continental confi guration. This coupled model allows
thus the coeval calculation of the CO2atm level and of the climate. Note
that to spare computation time, the coupling between the FOAM GCM
and the COMBINE model employs look-up tables from a catalog of cli-
mate simulations (Donnadieu et al., 2006b). Because there is no consen-
sus about the Earth degassing rate for the past 200 million years where
Avalonia
Baltica
Laurentia
Siberia
Gondwana
Avalonia
Gondwana
Laurussia
A
B
From late Furongian (490 Ma) to Late Ordovician (450 Ma)
From Late Ordovician (450 Ma) to Early Devonian (400 Ma)
Baltica
Laurentia
Siberia
Gondwana
Baltica
Laurentia
Siberia
Gondwana
Siberia
Figure 1. Main continental movements
between the late Furongian (dark gray) and
the Late Ordovician (light gray) (A), and the
Late Ordovician (dark gray) and the Early
Devonian (light gray) (B), based on the
paleogeographic reconstructions of Blakey
(2007) included in the model GEOCLIM (a
climate model coupled to a biogeochemical
model). Dashed arrows show approximately
the drift direction for each continental mass.
as doi:10.1130/B30364.1Geological Society of America Bulletin, published online on 26 January 2011

Modeling the early Paleozoic long-term climatic trend
Geological Society of America Bulletin, Month/Month 2009 3
data are available (see Kerrick, 2000 and Donnadieu et al., 2006b), we do
not feel that any constraint can be put on this source fl ux for the Paleozoic
where a single reconstruction is available (Gaffi n, 1987). Thus this rate
is kept constant at its present-day value, assuming that the present-day
CO2 consumption by weathering is equal to the CO
2 degassing (6.8 ×
1012 moles CO2·yr−1) (Gaillardet et al., 1999).
Five time slices have been simulated (stages dated according to Grad-
stein et al., 2004): Furongian (Stage 10; 490 Ma), Middle Ordovician
(early Dapingian; 470 Ma), Late Ordovician (middle Katian; 450 Ma),
Llandovery (late Telychian; 430 Ma), and Early Devonian (late Emsian;
400 Ma). For each continental confi guration, major topographical barri-
ers have been reconstructed and land surface type is set to rocky desert
(because the land plants were not well developed on continents until
the Early Devonian; Wellman et al., 2003). According to stellar evolu-
tion models, the solar luminosity is thought to increase, from 95.4% of
its present-day value (1368 W·m−2) in the Furongian (late Cambrian) to
96.7% in the Early Devonian (Gough, 1981; Crowley et al., 1991).
For each time slice, the model is run until steady-state is reached,
meaning that CO2atm and climate are constant. The atmospheric CO2 pro-
duction by Earth degassing F
outgas and the total consumption by silicate
weathering are then balanced (Walker et al., 1981; Goddéris et al., 2003):
Ajϕvolc
()
j
n
∑fvolc Tj,runoff j
()
+Ajϕsil −ϕvolc
()
j
n
∑fshield Tj,runoff j
()
=Foutgas.
(1)
The two terms on the left side are, respectively, the CO2 consumption by
volcanic rock weathering and by other silicate rocks. The sums extend over
all continental grid elements. The term Aj is the area of a continental grid
470 480460450 510
500
490440430
410 420
400
EarlyMiddleLate
Furongian
Series 3Llandovery
Wen.
Lud.
P.
Early
CAMBRIAN
ORDOVICIAN
SILURIANDEVONIAN
390
Middle
Geological time (Ma)
D
pCO2atm (PAL)
10
15
20
25
5
0.707
0.708
0.709
Seawater 87Sr/86Sr
0.710
10
20
30
40
50
Fvolc /Ftot and ϕvolc (%)
0
10
15
20
25
pCO2atm (PAL)
5
B
A
C
ϕvolc
Fvolc /Ftot
GEOCLIM NormSr runs
GEOCARBSULF results No volcanic effect
Volcanic effect
NormSr runs
HighSr runs
NormSr runs
HighSr runs
Ref runs
Stomatal index
δ13Cpaleosols
δ13Ccarb
Figure 2. (A) 87Sr/86Sr secular variations and
averaged curves with confi dence interval
(error bars) based on the database of Veizer
et al. (1999). (B) Calculated proportions of
outcropping basic volcanic rocks (ϕvolc, gray
bars) for the NormSr and HighSr simula-
tions; the Ref simulation values being at 11%
according Dürr et al. (2005); and calculated
CO2 consumption through the weathering of
the basic volcanic rocks (Fvolc) in proportion
to the total CO2 consumption by continental
silicate rock (Ftot) weathering (black bars)
for the NormSr and HighSr simulations (val-
ues obtained with the Ref simulations being
relatively constant around 28.5 ± 0.5%).
(C) Modeled pCO2atm values (preindustrial
atmospheric level [PAL]); thick dark boxes
based on the NormSr and HighSr simula-
tions; thin dashed lines based on the Ref
simulations; and reconstructed values based
on stomatal index, δ13Ccarb and δ13Cpaleosols;
Yapp and Poths, 1996; Patzkowsky et al.,
1997; Royer, 2006. (D) Modeled pCO2atm val-
ues (PAL) with GEOCLIM (black thick line)
and comparison with GEOCARBSULF
from Berner (2006) (gray lines) at with ( )
or without ( ) term for volcanic rock weath-
ering. Horizontal error bars in (B) and
(C) represent the age error of the paleogeo-
graphic maps (assumed to be ±5 m. y.).
as doi:10.1130/B30364.1Geological Society of America Bulletin, published online on 26 January 2011

Nardin et al.
4 Geological Society of America Bulletin, Month/Month 2009
element j, n being the total number of these elements. The term ϕsil is the
fraction of each grid element covered by old silicate rock outcrop (which
will be weathered after extrusion and not right after formation), and ϕvolc is
the fraction occupied by fresh volcanic rocks (which are directly exposed
to the weathering as soon as they are formed). Today, the fraction of the
outcropping silicate rocks is fi xed at 71% for each continental grid ele-
ment (Dürr et al., 2005). This value is held constant in our experiments.
There is no explicit distribution of the lithology in the GEOCLIM model,
because there is no suffi cient constraint in the distant past, except for the
well-studied zones (e.g., North America and Europe). We assume thus that
each continental grid element has the same proportion of outcropping vol-
canic and shield rocks (including plutonic and sedimentary siliciclastic
rocks) for a given time slice in the past. This proportion is then calculated
as a function of time, based on the recorded 87Sr/86Sr ratio as described
below (Veizer et al., 1999). The functions fshield and fvolc are the climatic
dependences of the chemical weathering of old silicate outcrops and fresh
volcanic rocks, respectively (Dessert et al., 2003; Oliva et al., 2003).
Volcanic Rock Weathering
The long-term fl uctuations of the 87Sr/86Sr isotopic record (107 yr) have
been interpreted for a long time as relative changes in the contribution
of continental weathering (providing high-radiogenic strontium with high
87Sr/86Sr values) versus seawater hydrothermal interactions (providing
low-radiogenic strontium with low 87Sr/86Sr values). However, this simple
interpretation was proved wrong because it implies too large fl uctuations
in the ocean-atmosphere carbon reservoir (Goddéris and François, 1995;
Kump and Arthur, 1997). It has been proposed that long-term 87Sr/86Sr
fl uctuations primarily refl ected changes in the isotopic composition of
the continental source rocks exposed to weathering as it has been demon-
strated for the Cenozoic history of the seawater 87Sr/86Sr and the Himala-
yan uplift (Goddéris and François, 1995; Galy et al., 1999).
During the early Paleozoic, the decrease of seawater 87Sr/86Sr isotopic
ratio by about 0.001 from the Furongian to the Late Ordovician evidenced
by Veizer et al. (1999; Fig. 2A) has been interpreted as refl ecting a ris-
ing contribution of the weathering of fresh volcanic rocks to the oceanic
strontium reservoir (Berner, 2006b; Young et al., 2009; Buggisch et al.,
2010). Similarly, it has been recently suggested that weathering of fresh
low-radiogenic volcanic rocks from the Taconic and Kazakhstan arcs
could have induced a rapid decrease in the seawater 87Sr/86Sr during the
Ordovician (Young et al., 2009). This process might have been responsible
for the cooling between the late Middle Ordovician and the Llandovery
(Kump et al., 2000; Young et al., 2009).
Therefore we estimate the relative proportion of fresh volcanic rocks
outcropping on the continents by solving the following equation for ϕvolc,
the fraction of each grid element covered with fresh volcanic rocks:
Aj⋅ϕ
sil −ϕvolc
()
⋅fshield Tj,runoff j
()
⋅rshield −roc
()
9.43 +rshield
j
n
∑
+Aj⋅ϕvolc ⋅fvolc Tj,runoff j
()
⋅rvolc −roc
()
9.43 +rvolc
j
n
∑
+FSr
carb ⋅rcarb −roc
()
9.43 +rcarb
+FSr
MOR ⋅rMOR −roc
()
9.43 +rMOR
=0.
(2)
The term ϕvolc is assumed to be the same for each grid element, but it
changes from one simulated time slice to another. Indeed, roc is the
87Sr/86Sr of seawater as recorded in carbonate sediments for each time slice
(Veizer et al., 1999; Fig. 2A). The term rshield is the 87Sr/86Sr ratio of shield
rocks. It is calculated at 0.716 for the early Paleozoic, assuming an initial
Rb/Sr ratio of 0.0981, and held constant in all simulations. This value is
assumed to be valid for siliciclastic rocks. The term rMOR is the isotopic
ratio of deep-sea fresh basalts (0.70302 for the Ordovician time, using the
87Sr/86SrBABI at 0.69897) (Papanastassiou and Wasserburg, 1969). The term
rvolc is the volcanic rock 87Sr/86Sr. Two values are tested. We fi rst assume
that this ratio is equal to the mantle value of 0.70302 (NormSr run). How-
ever, continental basalts may display much higher isotopic ratios due to
crustal contamination (e.g., 0.705–0.709 for Taconic tephra; Samson,
1996). Therefore, additional simulations are performed with rvolc fi xed at
0.707 (HighSr run), being intermediate between the Taconic extremes.
The strontium isotopic cycle is calibrated using the present-day Sr
fl uxes taken from the literature (Wallmann, 2001a). Solving equation (2)
for ϕvolc implies that the oceanic strontium isotopic budget is balanced for
each time slice, an assumption consistent with the exploration of the mul-
timillion-year mean state of the biogeochemical cycles performed here. In
comparison to the calculations of Young et al. (2009), our present method
uses the FOAM GCM to estimate the link between CO2atm, air tempera-
ture and runoff, and the strontium and CO2 consumption fl uxes through
continental silicate weathering fl uxes for each continental grid element
(Donnadieu et al., 2006b).
Finally, the GEOCLIM model is run, for each investigated time slice,
(1) with the proportions of shield and volcanic rocks held at their present-
day value (60% and 11%, respectively; Dürr et al., 2005) (Ref run) and
(2) with their estimated proportions based on equation (2) (NormSr and
HighSr run) as explained above. The impact of the volcanic rock weather-
ing and plate motion on the CO2 consumption and the climatic evolution
can thus be discriminated.
Paleogeographic Forcing of the Carbon Cycle in
the Early Paleozoic
Numerous ocean-ridge systems were developed during the breakup
of the supercontinent Rodinia reducing the oceanic basin volume since
the late Proterozoic. Hence, continents were progressively fl ooded and
sea level reached its maximum in the Late Ordovician (Haq and Schut-
ter, 2008). Continents were largely dispersed in a 60° belt south of the
paleoequator in the Furongian. Gondwana shifted to a position in which
North Africa was centered over the South Pole (Fig. 1), while Laurentia,
Ava lo ni a, S ib er ia , a nd Ba lt ic a s low ly mo ved to wa rds lo w l at itu de s d ur -
ing the Late Ordovician (Cocks and Torsvik, 2002; Blakey, 2007). Then
Gondwana rotated clockwise and moved toward the tropical latitude; the
South Pole migrated successively from north Argentina-Paraguay during
Silurian to Namibia during the Early Devonian. Laurussia, resulting from
the Silurian amalgamation of Baltica-Avalonia with Laurentia rapidly
drifted southward whilst undergoing counterclockwise rotation (Fig. 1).
The continental location in the warm and humid tropical zone could
have enhanced runoff rates and CO2 consumption through rock weather-
ing (Boucot and Gray, 2001). The two supercontinents (Gondwana and
Laurussia) were mainly located in the Southern Hemisphere; only a few
microcontinents, parts of Laurussia, and Siberia were located in the North-
ern Hemisphere (Cocks and Torsvik, 2002).
The GEOCLIM model explicitly uses the geographic reconstructions
proposed by one of the authors (R.B.). These paleogeographic reconstruc-
tions are in relative agreement on the global plate-motion directions and
timing through the early Paleozoic with reconstructions proposed by oth-
ers (see McKerrow and Scotese, 1990; Cocks and Torsvik, 2002; Stampfl i
and Borel, 2002; Scotese, 2004; Blakey, 2007). Therefore our study takes
as doi:10.1130/B30364.1Geological Society of America Bulletin, published online on 26 January 2011

Modeling the early Paleozoic long-term climatic trend
Geological Society of America Bulletin, Month/Month 2009 5
into account the general consensus in paleogeographic changes even if
only one reconstruction is tested here (Fig. 1).
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Volcanic Rock Weathering
Calculated proportion of low-radiogenic volcanic rocks (NormSr run)
increases from 5.4% of the total continental surface in the Furongian to
13.5% in the Late Ordovician. This proportion then slightly decreases in
the Silurian (10.5%) and increases again in the Early Devonian (13.5%)
(Table 1; Fig. 2B, lower bond values). The opposite trend is observed for
the high-radiogenic shield rocks, but their calculated values maintain an
average of eight times those of volcanic rocks on continents during the
study interval. The contribution of volcanic rocks weathering to the total
CO2 consumption by silicate rock dissolution increases from the Furon-
gian (less than 15%) to the Late Ordovician (33%) (NormSr run). The last
value is close to the present-day contribution of 30% (Dessert et al., 2003;
Dupré et al., 2003, and references therein). These trends are confi rmed by
the HighSr simulations, with an increasing impact of the volcanic rocks
weathering (Table 1; Fig. 2B, upper bond values). Indeed, the larger isoto-
pic ratio of rocks used in HighSr simulations (when compared to NormSr
runs) requires a larger input of low-radiogenic rocks to keep the budget in
equilibrium. Moreover, the consumption of CO2atm through the weathering
of volcanic rocks is maximal during the Late Ordovician (Fig. 2B).
Variations in calculated proportions of outcropping shield and volcanic
rocks through time are in agreement with the geological record. Our cal-
culation of a high fraction of shield rocks during the Furongian–Middle
Ordovician interval is supported by recorded occurrence of several oro-
genic events between the Cambrian Series 3 (middle Cambrian) and the
Early Ordovician, (1) on Baltica (e.g., Finnmarkian orogeny; Sturt et al.,
1978), (2) on Laurentia (Penobscot orogeny; Hibbard et al., 2002), and
(3) on Gondwana (Grampian, Ocloyic, Rio Doce, and Ross orogenies;
Campos Neto and Figueiredo, 1995; Veveers, 2004; Thomas and Astini,
2007). Calculated rise of outcropping volcanic rocks is consistent with
the increase of the record of K-bentonites and of the probable volcanic
complexes (e.g., Famatinian, Sayan, and Taconic arcs) during the Ordo-
vician (Min et al., 2001; Cocks and Torsvik, 2002; Huff, 2008; Young
et al., 2009). The proportion of volcanic rocks decreases in favor of the
shield rocks in the Llandovery (Fig. 2B). This trend is sustained by the net
decline of volcanic records and the increasing number of orogenic events
during the Late Ordovician–Silurian (e.g., Acatean, Altai, Benambran,
Shelvian, and Taconic orogenies; Cocks and Torsvik, 2002; Dewey, 2005;
Thomas and Astini, 2007; Ganis and Wise, 2008). However, a reversed
trend during the Early Devonian shows a second increase in the propor-
tions of outcropping volcanic rocks (Fig. 2B) consistent with the geologi-
cal volcanic record (Francis, 1988; Demoux et al., 2009).
Atmospheric CO2
Levels of pCO2atm calculated with the NormSr simulation fall from
around 21 PAL in the Furongian down to about 12 and 14 PAL in the
Middle and Late Ordovician, respectively (Fig. 2C). Levels continue to
decrease until the Llandovery (9 PAL). Then calculated atmospheric CO2
rises dramatically to 22 PAL in the Early Devonian. HighSr simulation
CO2atm levels show a shift about 1.5 PAL lower than NormSr simulation
levels, except in the Late Ordovician (about 2.5 PAL). Ref simulation
CO2atm levels (performed with constant fresh volcanic rock outcrop) are
lower than those calculated with the NormSr and HighSr simulations in
the late Furongian–Middle Ordovician, and mainly higher for the rest of
TABLE 1. MAIN PARAMETERS OF THE GEOCLIM MODEL FOR THE SELECTED TIME SLICES
Age
(Ma)
87Sr/86Sr
ratio
Solar
constant
(W·m−2)
Continental
surface
(106 km2)
ϕvolc (%) pCO2 (PAL) fshield
(1012 moles CO2·yr−1)
fvolc
(1012 moles CO2·yr−1)
Runoff
(cm·yr−1)
Continental
temperature (°C)
NormSr HighSr NormSr HighSr Ref NormSr HighSr Ref NormSr HighSr Ref NormSr HighSr Ref NormSr HighSr Ref
400 0.707904 1323 121.9 13.5 21.4 22 19 23 4.52 3.52 4.83 2.28 3.28 1.97 33.9 32.4 34.4 15.8 14.6 16.2
430 0.708273 1319 113.9 10.6 16.5 9894.92 4.10 4.84 1.88 2.70 1.96 37.8 36.5 37.7 13.5 12.4 13.4
450 0.707900 1316 108.6 13.5 21.4 14 11 14 4.53 3.54 4.86 2.27 3.26 1.94 37.2 35.5 37.7 13.9 12.6 14.3
470 0.708839 1313 136.0 6.8 15.4 12 11 11 5.53 4.97 4.83 1.27 1.83 1.97 32.2 31.4 31.2 13.3 12.7 12.6
490 0.709075 1305 128.6 5.4 8.1 21 20 19 5.78 5.33 4.86 1.02 1.47 1.94 31.8 31.2 30.5 16.2 15.8 15.3
Note: The functions fshield and fvolc represent the calculated CO2 consumption via shield and volcanic rock weathering. The 87Sr/86Sr ratio was calculated from a mobile average over 8 m.y., based on the dataset
published by Veizer et al. (1999). The solar constant value refers to the trend published in Gough (1981), compared to the modern solar constant value (1368 W·m-2). The continental surface is calculated based on
the paleogeographic maps of Blakey (2007). The other geochemical model inputs are equivalent to those published by Donnadieu et al. (2006b). PAL—preindustrial atmospheric level.
as doi:10.1130/B30364.1Geological Society of America Bulletin, published online on 26 January 2011

Nardin et al.
6 Geological Society of America Bulletin, Month/Month 2009
the period (Table 1 and Fig. 2C). Ref simulation values especially differ
from the NormSr simulations for the Furongian and the Middle Ordovician
(being at 19 and 11 PAL, respectively). The most obvious result is the onset
of a low CO2 time window between the Middle Ordovician an d the L lando -
very. The timing of this lower CO2 window is roughly consistent with the
maximum extension of the glacial period. However, the model is unable to
clearly distinguish the short-term perturbation of the Hirnantian event from
the Late Ordovician cooling trend, due to its low time-scale resolution.
Our modeled atmospheric pCO2 values are in between the two recon-
structed values for the Late Ordovician (14–20 PAL; estimations based
on δ13Ccarb and δ13Cpaleosols; Yapp and Poths, 1996; Patzkowsky et al., 1997;
Fig. 2C). Our pCO2 values also fall roughly in the range of the previously
modeled values for the Middle Ordovician–Llandovery (Berner, 2006a,
2006b [Fig. 2D]; Crowley and Baum, 1995; Berner and Kothavala, 2001;
and see for the single Late Ordovician: Gibbs et al., 1997; Poussart et al.,
1999; Herrmann et al., 2004a, 2004b; Young et al., 2009). The modeled
value of 22 PAL for the Early Devonian is largely higher than the earlier
published values modeled (10–14 PAL) (Berner, 1998, 2006b; Berner and
Kothavala, 2001) and inferred from pCO2 proxies (7–15 PAL; paleosols
and stomatal index; see Royer, 2006) (Fig. 2C). The absence of land plants
impact on the weathering of the continents in our model could be partly
responsible for this difference.
Our results can be compared in more details to the results of another
model of the global biogeochemical cycles for the Middle Ordovician–
Llandovery (GEOCARBSULF; Berner, 2006a, 2006b, 2008). Our mod-
eled pCO2 values are similar to those computed by GEOCARBSULF
with no volcanic rock weathering effect for the Furongian–Late Ordovi-
cian period and closer to those computed by GEOCARBSULF with an
imposed volcanic rock weathering factor during the Llandovery (Fig. 2D).
However, both models simulated two different trends for the same period.
GEOCLIM predicts a time window of low pCO2atm, while GEOCARB-
SULF predicts an overall decreasing trend. GEOCARBSULF also pre-
dicts a slight increase in CO2atm levels from the Late Ordovician to the
Silurian, while GEOCLIM calculates a further decrease (Fig. 2D).
It may be fruitful to explore why models are producing different results
because model output cannot be readily compared without consideration
of the model structures. GEOCARBSULF calculates the long-term evo-
lution of the cycles of carbon and sulfur (and their exchanges between
rocks and the superfi cial system) (see Berner, 2006a, 2006b for complete
description). It uses several fi xed nondimensional parameters to simulate
the impact of physical erosion, runoff, and plant evolution on silicate
weathering (Berner and Kothavala, 2001; Berner, 2006a). GEOCARB-
SULF computes the pCO2atm based on the calculation of the global mean
silicate weathering (which is not spatially resolved) using global runoff
and temperature (Berner, 2006a), although off-line GCM simulations are
also used to roughly evaluate the impact of paleogeography on those global
climatic parameters. It also accounts for the effect of the organic carbon
burial on the CO2atm pressure (see Berner, 2004, for complete description).
GEOCLIM only accounts for a few forcing functions (e.g., 87Sr/86Sr,
paleogeography), but computes a process-based method with a physical
description of the online coupling between CO2, climate, and continental
confi gurations for each time slice, whereas GEOCARBSULF accounts
for more processes controlling the silicate weathering, but the method is
global and mainly phenomenological. Considering these differences in the
model structures and even if in both cases, the account of the volcanic rock
weathering draws down the calculated pCO2, differences in the modeled
trends could be explained by (1) the explicit and physically based consid-
eration in GEOCLIM of the consequences of paleogeographic changes
through time and (2) the computation of the weathering fl uxes with a spa-
tial resolution. Indeed, weathering rates are dependent on climate through
nonlinear mathematical relationships (Dessert et al., 2003; Oliva et al.,
2003). As a consequence, the use of mean global temperature and mean
global runoff in GEOCARBSULF may induce non-negligible biases in
the estimation of the impact of the paleogeographic setting on the Earth
system evolution.
Our modeled U-shaped CO2 trend is due to the response of the geo-
chemical cycles and climate to the slow drift of the continental plates and
to the fl uctuating area of fresh volcanic rocks, which are being weathered
on the continents. The Ref simulation, performed with a constant area of
volcanic rocks for all time slices, can be used to discriminate both factors
(Fig. 2C). The difference between the Ref and NormSr (or HighSr) simula-
tions increases from the Furongian to the Late Ordovician (Fig. 2C). The
model thus predicts an increasing impact of the volcanic rock weathering
during this time interval, with a peak of 33% of the total CO2 consump-
tion through silicate weathering in the Late Ordovician. This effect is even
more important with the HighSr confi guration, which could suggest that
further investigations about the 87Sr/86Sr value of the volcanic rocks are
required. Nevertheless, despite small differences in the CO2atm level, the
U-shaped curve suggesting the existence of a lower CO2 time window
from the Middle Ordovician to the Llandovery is also predicted in the
Ref simulation. Varying outcrop of fresh volcanic rocks is thus a non-
negligible contributor to the long-term CO2atm changes, but it is clearly not
the main driver in our simulations. The main driver is the plate motion.
This factor has been previously proved crucial in its impact on the fl uctua-
tions of the CO2atm level through the Mesozoic (Donnadieu et al., 2006b;
Goddéris et al., 2008).
The following scenario can thus be drawn from the numerical simula-
tions of the early Paleozoic. The northward drift of Laurentia, Avalonia,
Baltica, and Siberia is responsible for the CO2atm drawdown between 500
and 470 Ma (Fig. 1A). Indeed, in response to the motion of these four
continental blocks, the continental runoff to the ocean increases substan-
tially in the ITCZ (Fig 3A). This increase promotes CO2 consumption
through continental weathering; consequently, pCO2atm decreases from 21
to 13 PAL. By contrast, the continental water discharge declines during
the Late Ordovician around 10°N and displays a pattern similar to that of
the Furongian (Fig. 3A and Table 1), although pCO2atm levels remain as
low as those of the Middle Ordovician (11–14 PAL; Fig. 2C). Reduction
of continental areas (Table 1) due to a major transgressive trend (Haq and
Schutter, 2008), particularly pronounced in the ITCZ (Fig. 3C), should
have induced lower continental weathering rates at 450 Ma than at 470 Ma
(Table 1), thereby increasing CO2atm levels. But this effect is partly coun-
terbalanced by the increasing outcrop area of fresh volcanic rocks (evi-
denced by the decrease in the seawater 87Sr/86Sr record), and consequently
by a more effi cient CO2atm consumption through their faster weathering.
The Late Ordovician interval is the only time window when the CO2
consumption by fresh volcanic rock weathering plays a signifi cant role
(Table 1). After the Late Ordovician, the continental confi guration again
controls the calculated CO2 evolution with the progressive amalgamation
of Baltica and Avalonia fi rst and later with Laurentia (Laurussia) in the
south tropical latitude (Fig. 1B). The Llandovery is characterized by a
high runoff (Fig. 3A) and hence weathering, and CO2 is still maintained
at low levels (8 to 9 PAL). But the drastic decrease of the discharge of the
continental water induces low weathering rates and thus very high pCO2atm
levels (22 PAL) in the Early Devonian. The main culprit for this CO2
rise is the strong decrease in global runoff triggered by the tectonic drift
(Table 1). First there are no more continental landmasses around 10°N
(Fig. 3C), where the model should predict a peak in runoff (Fig. 3B). Sec-
ond, the assemblage of Baltica and Laurentia south of the paleoequator
enhanced the continentality effect, inducing a reduction of the runoff in
the 10°S zone.
as doi:10.1130/B30364.1Geological Society of America Bulletin, published online on 26 January 2011

Modeling the early Paleozoic long-term climatic trend
Geological Society of America Bulletin, Month/Month 2009 7
Continental Temperatures
Figure 4 displays the evolution of the mean annual continental surface
temperatures through the early Paleozoic, as simulated by GEOCLIM.
The most obvious result is the onset of a cold climate window between
the Middle Ordovician and the Llandovery. Starting with high values in
the Furongian (~16 °C; Table 1), the continental temperatures remain low
from the Middle Ordovician to the Llandovery (~13.5 °C). Then simu-
lated continental temperatures rise again in the Early Devonian to values
around 16 °C. The Ref simulations results show a similar trend with lower
temperatures in the Cambrian–Early Ordovician and higher ones for the
rest of the studied interval (Fig. 4A). This suggests a major impact of the
paleogeographic changes and a strong infl uence of the continental rock
weathering especially during the Late Ordovician–Llandovery interval.
The coupled climate-carbon model thus predicts the onset of a cool time
window linked to the weathering of fresh volcanic rocks and to the move-
ment of the continents through the climatic zones. It is worth mentioning
that, despite the motion of large continental blocks across the ITCZ from
the Early Ordovician to the Llandovery, enhanced continental weathering
forces the continents to cool through enhanced CO2 consumption. Simi-
larly a warming of about 3.8 °C due to the paleogeographic changes has
been suggested for the Cretaceous period (Donnadieu et al., 2006a).
Another way to validate our CO2 estimates is to compare individual
climate changes simulated with GEOCLIM to independent estimates of
changes through the time interval. Our modeled continental temperature
drawdown trend during the Ordovician–Silurian is relatively congruent
FurongianMiddle OrdovicianLate OrdovicianLlandoveryEarly Devonian
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
−60 0−80 −30 −10 60 803010
Mean annual discharge (103 km3·yr-1)
Latitude (°)
A150
100
50
10
0
−60 0−80 −30 −10 60 803010
Mean annual runoff (cm
·
yr
-1
)
Latitude (°)
B
0
−60 0−80 −30 −10 60 803010
Continental area (10
6
km)
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
Latitude (°)
C
Figure 3. (A) Mean annual continental fl uvial discharge to the ocean (NormSr run). (B) Mean annual runoff (NormSr run). (C) Continental
surface. Atmospheric pCO2 fi xed at 15 (preindustrial atmospheric level [PAL], 4200 ppmv) in all simulations.
470 480460450 510
500
490440
430
410 420400
EarlyMiddleLate
Furongian
Series 3Llandovery
CAMBRIANORDOVICIANSILURIANDEVONIAN
Wen.Lud.
P.
Early
390
Middle
13
14
15
16
12
Mean annual continental temperature (°C)
17
18
Geological time (Ma)
A
B1
2
34
5
Figure 4. (A) Calculated mean continental
temperatures in the early Paleozoic. The
gray curve stands for the results of both the
NormSr and HighSr simulations, in which
siliciclastic rock outcrops percentage per
grid cells change through time. The dashed
line stands for the results of the Ref simu-
lation, in which volcanic rock outcrops per-
centage per cell is fi xed at their present-day
value (11%, Dürr et al., 2005). (B) Climatic
trend reconstructed from the interpretation
of geological record or reconstructed prox-
ies: 1 initiation of the cooling trend (early
Middle Ordovician; Trotter et al., 2008); 2
Guttenberg δ13C excursion (GICE) peak
often interpreted as the fi rst glacial event (caudatus conodont zone, early Katian; Armstrong et al., 2009; Ainsaar et al., 2010; Buggisch et
al., 2010); 3 occurrence of the short, warmer Boda Event (rugatus conodont zone, late Katian; Armstrong et al., 2009; Fortey and Cocks,
2005); 4 Hirnantian glacial maximum (Ghienne et al., 2003; Le Heron et al., 2007); 5 possible end of the glacial interval (late Telychian),
shown by the latest geological glacial records in South America (Díaz-Martínez et al., 1997; Schönian et al., 1999; Cramer and Saltzman,
2007; Lehnert et al., 2010). Between 2 and 5, the sedimentologic record clearly indicates the presence of continental ice sheet on Gond-
wana (North Africa, South America, and South Europe; Díaz-Martínez and Grahn, 1997; Ghienne et al., 2010; Gutiérrez-Marco et al.,
2010; Lehnert et al., 2010; Videt et al., 2010). Dark gray corresponds to colder periods; light gray to white correspond to cooler periods.
P.—Pridoli; Lud—Ludlow; Wen—Wenlock.
as doi:10.1130/B30364.1Geological Society of America Bulletin, published online on 26 January 2011

Nardin et al.
8 Geological Society of America Bulletin, Month/Month 2009
with the climatic trend interpreted from the sedimentologic record and
the isotopic proxies (Fig. 4B). The cooling interval may have started in
the Early Ordovician (Fig. 4B 1; Trotter et al., 2008), followed by a
glacial period ranging from middle Upper Ordovician to the late Llando-
very (Fig. 4B 2–5) and including the Hirnantian glacial maximum
(Fig. 4B 4; Ghienne et al., 2003, 2010; Le Heron et al., 2007; Le Heron
and Dowdeswell, 2009). This glacial period is characterized by several
worldwide, recorded, positive δ13C excursions and by Gondwanan sedi-
mentologic features showing the presence of a continental ice sheet and
the effects of glacio-eustatic processes (e.g., diamictites, tillites, and
paleovalleys) (Díaz-Martínez et al., 1997; Ghienne et al., 2010; Gutiérrez-
Marco et al., 2010; Lehnert et al., 2010; Videt et al., 2010). This glacial
interval probably began with the worldwide positive Guttenberg δ13C
excursion (GICE event) in the middle Katian (Fig. 4B 2), interpreted as
an enhanced burial of organic matter in poorly oxygenated water masses
during a shift in the style of platform sedimentation from tropical-type
to temperate-type carbonates (Ainsaar et al., 1999, 2010; Pancost et al.,
1999; Pope and Steffen, 2003; Saltzman and Young, 2005; Armstrong et
al., 2009; Buggisch et al., 2010).
The glacial interval ended during the latest Llandovery (Fig. 4B 5)
with the last diamictites recorded in western Gondwana (e.g., Bolivia and
Peru; Schönian et al., 1999; Cramer and Saltzman, 2007; Díaz-Martínez
and Grahn, 2007). The existence of such a cool time window is also sus-
tained by independent studies of the pelagic fauna distribution during the
Late Ordovician (see Vandenbroucke et al., 2010).
We c an no t pr ed ic t t he p ot en ti al ic e-s he et ge og ra ph ic al e xt en si on c or -
responding to our simulated climate because the FOAM GCM is not
coupled to an ice-sheet model in this study. Nevertheless, previous mod-
eling studies using GCM asynchronously coupled to an ice-sheet model
have shown that the pCO2am must have fallen below 15 PAL (with a low
sea level and reduced poleward, ocean-heat transport) for the lower Late
Ordovician and below 10 PAL (using constant orbital parameters) or even
8 PAL (using time-varying orbital parameters) for the upper Late Ordo-
vician in order to initiate the growth of permanent ice sheets during the
Late Ordovician (Herrmann et al., 2004a, 2004b). Those studies also cal-
culated continental temperatures between 13 and 15.5 °C. Our modeled
pCO2atm and continental temperature values, especially with the HighSr
simulations, for the Middle Ordovician and the Llandovery (Table 1) are
very close to the thresholds as determined by Herrmann et al. (2004a,
2004b) and may potentially allow the presence of perennial snow cover
or ice sheet on continents, which could be consistent with the sedimen-
tologic record.
Surface-Seawater Temperatures
The most recent estimations of the seawater temperatures during the
early Paleozoic are based on apatite δ18O measurements (Wenzel et al.,
2000; Bassett et al., 2007; Trotter et al., 2008; Buggisch et al., 2010).
Because the climate module of GEOCLIM is a GCM, calculated tem-
peratures at the sites sampled by these published studies can be compared
to the reconstructed temperatures. Given the low spatial resolution of the
FOAM GCM (7.5° longitude × 4.5° latitude), the information available in
the publications for the sampling sites, and the uncertainty inherent to the
accuracy and the age of the paleogeographic reconstruction used in the
study, 25 sites were located on the model grid map (Fig. 5A). The surface-
seawater temperatures calculated with GEOCLIM at these locations are
then compared to the reconstructed temperatures (Fig. 5B).
From the Middle Ordovician to the early Wenlock, calculated tem-
peratures fi t quite well the range of the reconstructed geological proxies.
By contrast, the temperatures modeled for the Early Ordovician and the
fi rst part of the Middle Ordovician are markedly lower than the tempera-
tures inferred from biogenic apatite δ18O. As a result, the model misses
the large temperature decrease highlighted by conodont apatite δ18O from
the Furongian to the Middle Ordovician. Importantly, the model is unable
to produce a surface-seawater temperature of ~42 °C as reconstructed by
Bassett et al. (2007) from the Lange Ranch section (central Texas, USA;
point Ba1, Fig. 5A) and by Trotter et al. (2008) from the Georgina Basin
(Queensland, Australia) (samples GB90-003/02/03-04 in Trotter et al.,
2008; point T1, Fig. 5A). Because these very high temperatures and the
increasing δ18O trend are observed in both Australian and American sam-
ples (Bassett et al., 2007; Trotter et al., 2008), it seems unlikely that they
result from diagenetic processes. It could be noted that GEOCLIM has
been run as a slab ocean model, which tends to induce a narrow ITCZ,
and therefore the temperatures simulated near the border of the ITCZ may
not be as reliable as the temperatures from other parts of the oceans. How-
ever, because the temperatures simulated for the locations near the ITCZ
during the Late Ordovician and the Llandovery are in good agreement
with apatite δ18O, we do not think that the discrepancies observed in the
Early Ordovician between the isotopic and modeled temperatures are due
to the model confi guration only (see discussion below). In addition, the
simulated temperature of the air at the surface of the ocean, which may
be closer to the temperature of a thin and localized water mass, is ~34 °C,
4 °C above the calculated seawater temperature at the point T1, but still
below the temperature ~42 °C inferred from apatite δ18O measurements.
A temperature of ~42 °C is at the upper limit of the modern surface-
seawater temperature range in small and closed seas (e.g., Red Sea and
Sunda Sea), and is not easily reached in open seas. In addition, an extrapo-
lation of the results of our GCM simulations suggests that a temperature
about 42 °C with GEOCLIM requires a pCO2atm as high as 125 PAL. Such
high CO2atm contents would result in temperatures as high as 50 °C at some
locations in the tropical ocean (on the northwest coast of Laurentia, east
coast of Antarctica, and west coast of Australia). Such high temperatures
might be lethal for many organisms (Ross, 1995). Nevertheless, these tem-
peratures higher than 40 °C were calculated assuming seawater δ18O of
−1‰ for an ice-free ocean. If the required CO2 (125 PAL) is too high,
then we are once again left with the question of the actual value of the sea-
water δ18O at the beginning of the Phanerozoic. Models of the geological
water cycle have been able to reproduce large variations in seawater δ18O,
down to values of −4‰ or −6‰ in the Cambrian or lowermost Ordovician
depending on the value of low-temperature alteration (Veizer et al., 1997;
Wallmann et al., 2001b; Jaffrés et al., 2007). Calculated temperatures from
conodont apatite δ18O would drop down to 29 °C or even 20 °C in the
lowermost Ordovician, if a value of −4‰ or −6‰ was assumed for sea-
water δ18O, respectively. This implies that our simulations could be recon-
ciled with available isotopic data, if an increase in seawater δ18O occurred
from the lowermost to the Middle Ordovician, partly contributing to the
recorded increase in apatite δ18O values during this period.
UNCERTAINTIES AND LIMITATIONS
Modeling climate and global geochemical cycles during the early
Paleozoic involves numerous processes, which are sometimes diffi cult
to constrain.
(1) The solid Earth CO2 degassing was kept constant at its present-day
level because there is no consensus about the Earth degassing in the distant
past. Assessing the Earth degassing at a large scale during the Paleozoic
is probably uncertain and inaccurate regarding the high variability of the
present-day volcanic CO2 emissions and the impossibility to constrain the
Paleozoic submarine volcanoes activity, the deep-sea carbonate deposition
and recycling at subduction zones, and the seafl oor spreading rates (see
as doi:10.1130/B30364.1Geological Society of America Bulletin, published online on 26 January 2011

Modeling the early Paleozoic long-term climatic trend
Geological Society of America Bulletin, Month/Month 2009 9
Wenzel et al. (2000)
Trotter et al. (2008)
Buggisch et al. (2010)
Bassett et al. (2007)
Published reconstructed
temperatures from
470 480460450 510
500
490440430
EarlyMiddleLate
Furongian
Series 3Llandovery
CAMBRIAN
ORDOVICIAN
SILURIAN
Wen.
Tropical seawater temperature (°C)
25
30
35
40
45
20
15
T16
T4 T1
T3,5
T6,7
T2
T8,9
T10T11
T12
T13
T14
T15
Ba1
Bu4
W1
Bu7
Bu5,6
Bu2
Bu3
Bu1
-10
-20
10
12
24
20
0
14
18
22
16
35
26
28
30
32
34
10
15
25
30
15
30
25
20
15
5
10
15
20
25
30
30
25
20
10
15
25
30
30
5
10
20
15
30
30
25
20
15
15
20
25
30
30
20
15
20
25
30
30
25
20
15
10
15
20
25
30
30
25
20
Middle Ordovician
Late OrdovicianLlandovery
60°N
30°N
0°
60°S
30°S
60°N
30°N
0°
60°S
30°S
60°N
30°N
0°
60°S
30°S
60°N
30°N
0°
60°S
30°S
30°N
30°S
60°N
30°N
0°
30°S
60°N
30°N
0°
60°S
30°S
60°N
30°N
0°
60°S
30°S
0°
Furongian
T1
T2
Ba1
T4
T8
T6-7
T3,T5
T9
T10-11
T13
T12 Bu7
T14
Bu5
Bu4
Bu2
Bu1,3
Bu6
We1
T15
T16
A
B
Figure 5. (A) Modeled latitudinal distribution of the mean annual temperatures, with the location of the 25 sampling sites
yielding published estimated temperatures based on apatite δ18O measurements (Ba—Bassett et al., 2007; Bu—Buggisch et al.,
2010; T—Trotter et al., 2008; W—Wenzel et al., 2000) for the fi rst four simulated time slices. (B) Modeled temperatures (black
points) calculated with the NormSr confi guration at the 25 sampling points, used for comparison with the published recon-
structed temperatures (cf. references above). We assigned the age of each formation to the model output. Temperatures from
conodont δ18O have been calculated as in Trotter et al. (2008), using the equation of Kolodny et al. (1983) and assuming a δ18O
of seawater of −1‰ Vienna standard mean ocean water (VSMOW) with no adjustment for ice-volume effects. Temperatures of
Basset et al. (2007) and of Buggisch et al. (2010) are based on δ18O values normalized to NBS (National Institute of Standards
and Technology) 120c = 21.7‰ VSMOW. Wen—Wenlock.
as doi:10.1130/B30364.1Geological Society of America Bulletin, published online on 26 January 2011

Nardin et al.
10 Geological Society of America Bulletin, Month/Month 2009
Kerrick, 2000, for a detailed discussion). Recent estimations of the sea-
fl oor spreading rate for the past 200 million years contradict the generally
accepted long-term decrease in spreading rates since the Cretaceous (as
predicted by Gaffi n, 1987). Conversely, they suggest a relatively constant
spreading rate over the past 200 million years (Rowley, 2002) or even
an increase (Cogné and Humler, 2004). Given these uncertainties even
for recent periods, adopting a constant degassing rate in the Paleozoic
might be a rather conservative hypothesis. It cannot be ruled out that it
was not the case given the absence of accurate reconstructions. Neverthe-
less, even if we account for the sole reconstruction of the degassing rate
for the Paleozoic (Gaffi n, 1987), it suggests a roughly constant fl ux in the
500–400 Ma time interval. As a result, the calculated absolute pCO2atm
values would shift, but the trend through time would be similar.
(2) The exact surface of the continental shelves and the exact localization
of the topographic barriers and arcs could also be doubtful for the lesser
known regions. However, many sedimentologic and tectonic studies now
allow realistic reconstruction of the general shorelines and of the location
of the terranes, with a suffi cient precision for the grid of GEOCLIM (see
Blakey, 2007; Cocks and Torsvik, 2002, and the references therein).
(3) As most of the early Paleozoic rocks are partially to totally eroded,
the extent and geographic location of the volcanic and shield rocks has not
been spatially constrained in this study. The fi xed fraction of outcropping
silicate rocks for all continental grid elements could result in an underes-
timation of the impact of the volcanic rock weathering on the CO2 con-
sumption, if those rocks would be preferentially located in the ITCZ.
Moreover, the FOAM GCM has been used in a slab mixed-layer mode.
A slab ocean model lacks the dynamic feedback of the ocean on climate
(Poulsen et al., 2001). The use of the slab ocean model commonly induces
a slight extension of the subsiding regions; therefore the equator belt
tends to be narrower than with a full dynamic ocean model. To explore
the impact of accounting for the ocean dynamics on our results, a sen-
sitivity test for the Furongian geography has been run with FOAM in its
fully dynamic version. Results are similar compared to the slab simula-
tion output, with differences less than 0.5 °C for the modeled continental
temperatures, and less than 4 cm·yr−1 for the continental runoff. This could
suggest that our results computed with the slab-ocean FOAM remain cor-
rect at the fi rst order.
CONCLUSIONS
In the present contribution, we use the coupled climate-carbon model
GEOCLIM to explore the long-term climatic trend of the early Paleozoic.
Two forcing factors were tested: the paleogeographic changes and the
weathering of siliciclastic rocks, especially of the fresh volcanic rocks.
The proportions of outcropping volcanic rocks doubled between the
Furongian and the Late Ordovician, and then slightly decreased during the
Llandovery with both NormSr and HighSr simulations. The importance of
volcanic rock weathering in the CO2atm budget fl uctuates through the early
Paleozoic but reaches its maximum level in the Late Ordovician.
Our simulations show a U-shaped CO2atm curve with a low CO2atm time
window from the Middle Ordovician to the Llandovery. The Furongian
dropdown of the CO2atm forces the mean continental temperatures to
decrease by about 3 °C. These calculated cooler climatic conditions per-
sist until the Llandovery, and thus possibly facilitate the onset of glacial
pulses during the Late Ordovician–Llandovery time. Modeled mean con-
tinental temperature for the Early Devonian is 16 °C.
The low CO2atm window is due to the combined effect of the northward
drift of the paleocontinents across the ITCZ and the increase in the weath-
ering of fresh volcanic rocks. The enhanced weathering of volcanic rocks
is responsible for about 33% of the CO2 decrease in the Late Ordovician,
the rest being related to the plate motion through the ITCZ and induced
continental climate changes, which promote CO2 consumption by weath-
ering. Further investigations should focus on the reconstruction of the
87Sr/86Sr ratio of the Middle Ordovician–Llandovery volcanic rocks and
on the role of second-order changes in paleogeography to determine more
precisely their impact on the CO2atm and climate of the early Paleozoic.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This work was fi nanced by the National Agency for Research (CNRS). It is a
contribution to the ANR ACCRO-Earth (no. ANR-06-BLAN-0347) and the ANR
COLORS (no. ANR-09-JCJC-0105). We acknowledge the Associate Editor and
the two anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments that have helped
to improve this manuscript. We thank the participants of the project SYSTER “Le
climat de l’Ordovicien: Modèles et données” for their benefi cial discussions.
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MANUSCRIPT RECEIVED 5 JULY 2010
REVISED MANUSCRIPT RECEIVED 23 SEPTEMBER 2010
MANUSCRIPT ACCEPTED 23 SEPTEMBER 2010
Printed in the USA
as doi:10.1130/B30364.1Geological Society of America Bulletin, published online on 26 January 2011