RE: Antarctica moved too (was RE: Warm southern winters)

["Williams, Tim" <TiJaWi@agron.iastate.edu>]

Tracy Ford wrote:

> I take it it was Antarctica that got colder? :0 (just kidding).

Well it sure wasn't Australia.  Crikey, it gets bloody hot there in Summer!
:-)

> >  But during the Cretaceous, Antarctica would be expected to
> > have climatic conditions not too different from most of Australia.
>
> Most of Australia? I don't know Australia's climatic (except for that
> huge desert), and the outer northern (?) crocodile infested area, but 
> there is a more temperate forest there right? Where is it?

In the present day, this would be eastern Australia.  But actually I was
referring to Cretaceous Australia.  The climates of Antartica and Australia
would have been comparable back then, considering their relative positions
to each other and to the pole. 

> So, let me understand what your saying. The southeastern corner of
> Australia and the adjacent portion of Antarctica were next to each 
> other. The Australian side had permafrost, while the adjacent 
> Antarctica, which was real close to each other, was more tropical? Ok...

Umm... no, that wasn't what I said.  Southeastern Australia had a similar
climate (i.e. cold in winter) to the adjacent PART of Antarctica.  Sure,
part (and perhaps most) of Antarctica was temperate/subtropical - ditto for
most of Australia.  

Australia and Antarctica are both darn big landmasses (even accounting for
the fact that a chunk of central Australia was underwater), and the climatic
conditions varied greatly from one end of the continent to the other - for
BOTH continents.  In the Early Cretaceous, PART of both continents were
within the current "Antarctic Circle".  It was these parts that were exposed
to cold dreary polar winters.


> you can put frost on the ground and feathers on what ever animal you 
> want. I just don't buy it.

I'm certainly not advocating feathered prosauropods - but I'm not
discounting the possibility either.



Tim


------------------------------------------------------------------- 




Timothy J. Williams, Ph.D. 

USDA-ARS Researcher 
Agronomy Hall 
Iowa State University 
Ames IA 50014 

Phone: 515 294 9233 
Fax:   515 294 9359