WGCG Spring 2021 Newsletter - Flipbook - Page 16
WGCG
Spring 2021 Newsletter
The other was Milutin Milankovitch. He worked on past climates and on the cyclical nature of
changes in the earth’s rotation and orbit around the sun (and now best associated with how that
affects the rhythm of cold periods and warm periods within Ice Ages).
Two ideas came together: geological evidence of past plant growth could give evidence of past
climates, which in turn would give evidence of location – especially latitude (Tropical, Temperate
and Polar). Geologists already had evidence of similar patterns of plant (and animal) fossil
distributions in South America, South Africa and India, and also similar rock formations.
A cartoon of the
recognised similarities
across continents.
Geological connections:
most of the terms in the key
are phonetic: but –
Faltung = folding;
Grenze = boundary;
Hebungen = uplift;
Becken = basin;
Kreide = Cretaceous
spat (late) and
fruh(early).
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