Re: Oxygen levels long ago

[Rich Travsky <RTRAVSKY@UWYO.EDU>]

On Fri, 8 Sep 1995 skshow@Rt66.com wrote:
> [...]
> The September 95 issue of Discover magazine has an article on the 
> fluctuations 
> in the oxygen levels during the Carboniferous (p. 32).  I don't recall any 
> literature being cited, but the 35% number was used as a reason for the huge 
> insects of that period.  The theory goes that as the concentration of oxygen 
> increases so does the size of the animal that can be supported by diffusional 
> oxygen transfer (also known as the squared/cubed law).
Hmmm. Well, if that's the theory behind the large insects, perhaps trying
to raise a few generations of some selected insects under increased 
oxygen levels to see if there was an increase in average size in later 
generations.

Have to use something shortlived I suppose.

+----------+    Rich Travsky   RTRAVSKY @ UWYO . EDU
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