Original paper
Devonian palaeogeography and environmental change: an incomplete chronicle
Torsvik, Trond H.; Cocks, L. Robin M.; Domeier, Mathew; Marcilly, Chloé M.; Dowding, Elizabeth M.
Zeitschrift der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Geowissenschaften Band 176 Heft 2 (2025), p. 193 - 214
89 references
published: Jun 3, 2025
published online: Mar 10, 2025
manuscript accepted: Feb 18, 2025
manuscript revision received: Feb 6, 2025
manuscript revision requested: Jan 2, 2025
manuscript received: May 14, 2024
ArtNo. ESP171017602001, Price: 29.00 €
Abstract
The 60-million-year-long Devonian Period witnessed a host of major environmental changes, encompassing the rise and global expansion of large land plants, the occurrence of several major biological turnovers (including the third largest mass-extinction), and significant fluctuations in atmospheric CO2 that may have, enigmatically, been decoupled from coeval trends in global temperature. Despite their importance, the origins and impacts of these environmental changes remain poorly understood. Palaeogeography undoubtedly played a key role in instigating and influencing these changes, but it too remains ill-resolved in Devonian time. Here we seek to both illuminate and promote the further consideration of the interplay between the evolving palaeogeography of the Devonian and its environmental transitions. We present a detailed dissection of the changing geography, palaeobiology and environment of the Devonian at the regional and global scale, together with a series of new palaeogeographic and palaeoenvironmental reconstructions. We also compare our new reconstructions with other widely used reconstructions from this time and discuss some key outstanding uncertainties whose resolution will be essential to further unravel the environmental dynamics of the Devonian, with implications that extend beyond the boundaries of this pivotal period.
Keywords
Devonian • palaeomagnetism • palaeogeography • environment