Motion: That Uplift CausED Climate Change (were against)

What is uplift?
Vector opposite the gravity vector Uplift can only be equal to the thickness of rocks removed from the earths surface Uplift relative to sea level = uplift of Earths surface + exhumation Orogenic uplift (tectonic plates themselves) Isostatic (land masses rebounding on the plates) Define uplift as either / or Ideally distance from the centre of the earth but this is impractical
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Introduction
Cenozoic from 65 million years ago to present Plate motions show no globally synchronised rate of change in the last 5-10 million years. Topography alone is not sufficient to have initiated the growth of large terrestrial ice sheets across the globe Therefore we propose other factors are responsible

Our argument
Late cenzoic period = period of global cooling characterised by repeated glaciation. Lower temperature = more glaciation = heavier land from glaciers = isostatic readjustment More glaciation = more erosion = land mass lighter = isostatic readjustment Glaciation = pressure instability = stormier climate increased erosion and weathering (physical freeze thaw) lighter mass
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Positive Feedback
Increased erosion = increased burial of organic carbon = fixes CO2 = lowers temperature Albedo effect: increased snow/ice cover reflects more sunlight = even colder (TRIGGER EFFECT FOR CHANGE OF CLIMATE NEEDED) Uplift = longer winter = colder = more glaciation etc. Water vapor positive feedback: colder = less evaporation = lower temp (greenhouse effect) Aridity: cooler = more arid = more frequent high magnitude flooding = more erosion = lighter etc.
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Trigger reasons for climate change 65ma

ARGUMENT: Not disputing fact that uplift CAUSES climate change as a process BUT climate change was not causED by uplift (in the first place) In other words; trigger factors 65Ma started the chicken and egg process by causing the original climate change (Mercurys change in orbit). This therefore in turn caused uplift which then in turn caused climate change etc. MILANKOVITCH ORBITAL MOTION About 65Ma mercurys orbit changed very slightly http://www.geo.umass.edu/faculty/deconto/hayetal.pdf 2002 Hay & DeConto, The Late Cenozoic uplift climate change paradox

Mercurys change of orbit

Triggered series of cool summer orbits = closure of the Atlantic-Pacific Passage =warm water to Northern Atlantic (Gulf Stream) = delivery of warm water to the northern North Atlantic where it could serve as a moisture source for northern hemisphere ice sheets (?) i.e. start of global decrease in temperature i.e. CLIMATE CHANGE = started off chicken and egg process

Climate change was original factor causing Cenozoic uplift

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Further arguments against the for debate

Geomorphology argument: high erosion in the Cenozoic throughout Rocky Mountains, Alps, and Pyrenees Mean elevation could be due to significant exhumation Sedimentation: rocks in Alps suppllied which leads to uplift. Nearly all sediment of Southern Alps is 5-2.5

Ma and relates to glaciers but not plate motion Paleobotany: Plant fossil data indicate a minor change in temperature from late Cenozoic to currentdata cannot determine uplift as causing a change in climate
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Conclusion
Overall not one process we can see, but a mix