Terrestrial Palaeoecology and Global Change

Chapter 7. Climate change
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Isostatic elevation of oceanic lithosphere results in shallower oceans, with deep-water
passages closed, shallow-water epeiric seaways (notably, over the West Siberian
plains and North American interiors) open, and the reverse under isostatic subsidence of
oceanic floor relative to continents (Fig. 92).
The superimposed sea-level fluctuations driven by the geoid waves (VI.1) are antithetic
in the Boreal and Tethyan realms. The boreal transgressions (presently covering
the Arctic shelves) inflict cool continental climates, whereas the Tethyan transgressions
typically lead to a global warming. Interference of isostatic fluctuations and geoid waves
Fig. 92. A causal scheme of rotation-driven sea-level fluctuations with effects on the temperature – CO 2
system.