re:Atmospheric O2 Levels and Dinosaur Growth

[Aaron Feuk <feukac@PLU.edu>]

On Fri, 8 Sep 1995, Cunningham, Betty wrote:

> 
>      >During the conversation, they mentioned that oxygen levels in the 
>      >Mesozoic atmosphere fluctuated significantly, sometimes getting up as 
>      >high as 35 percent.  This information, Kevin said, was gathered by 
>      >analyzing air pockets in amber from different time periods.  
>      >Although, he was quick to state, the information was far from 
>      >complete.
>      >The discussion caused me to wonder if the higher levels of oxygen in 
>      >the atmosphere could be a contributing factor to an increase in the 
>      >size of certain dinosaurs.  Although Adriana lent me her notebook of 
>      >reference materials, I found few references that indicated the 
>      >Mesozoic time periods when oxygen levels were higher and no 
>      >references to comparisons of increased oxygen levels and dinosaur 
>      >growth.
>      
>      Wouldn't a severe fluctuation of oxygen affect plant life?  Wouldn't 
>      we see more dead plants since, conversely, there would be less carbon 
>      for the plants to use?
>      
>      -Betty Cunningham
>      (bettyc@flyinggoat.com in the studio)
>      (bcunning@nssi.com at work)
> 

Betty, 
        Corect me if I'm wrong but don't volcanoes produce quite a bit of 
CO2, as well as the large amounts of water and sulfur oxides, could this 
have helped balance this fluctuation ? Just my 2 cents.

Aaron Feuk
Preparator, Dept. of Earth Sciences 
Pacific Lutheran University
Tacoma, Wa, 98447