Prehistoric stone models help predict future climate

Stone samples dating back to dinosaurs millions of years ago have been studied to gain a deeper understanding of the history of Earth's climate and may help predict future climate change.

For nearly ten years, Associate Professor, Dr. Wan Yang has studied the architecture and geological sciences of Missouri University of Science and Technology, USA, spending their summers in the Bogda Mountains in the northwest. China, collecting stone samples dating back to the dinosaurs millions of years ago to learn more about the history of the Earth's climate and can provide evidence to predict future climate change.

Wan Yang said: 'The formation of rocks is related to climate. Different types of climates have different sediments, soils, and plants. The interesting thing about these geological models is that we can see changes in the past, which will help us predict future changes. "

Yang undertook research in northwestern China because it was one of the few locations that had land samples from the supercontinent Pangea, which existed between 200 million years and 350 million years ago.

This type of soil is difficult to preserve because of its components that are easily degraded by environmental impacts. Therefore, most studies use underwater specimens because seawater preserves better than rocks below, he said.

The students of Missouri S&T School got their first practical experience in June in a practical course guided by Yang and two other professors from Trinity and Guizhou universities in southern China.

After the end of the practical course, Yan, along with two graduates of Missouri S&T College and collaborators from Chinese research institutes, spent six weeks camping and walking on the high desert areas where there were The average temperature is between 100 and 120 degrees F (about 38 to 49 degrees C).

The team was surprised to find a complete fossil skeleton of a vertebrate animal while collecting specimens. The 2-foot skeleton (about 0.6m) was then protected from environmental degradation.

'Most people don't know that 250 million years ago the most serious and largest extinction occurred in the history of the Earth ,' Yang said. 'That's when the Earth's climate changes from The ice is warm, there are many theories about the causes of extinction on a large scale, but we don't know what the real causes are. "

Yang returned to Rolla in early August with more than 136kg of volcanic ash. According to Yang, zircon a special mineral in volcanic ash can be used to accurately predict the age of rock samples and will help to better understand the speed of mass extinction on the ground and replace climate change.

Yang said that everyone knows that after global warming is sustained for 230 million years, the Earth has turned into an ice age about 30 million years ago.

Since then, Earth's climate has experienced periods between ice and ice. For example, about 18,000 years ago, there was an ice age only in Kansas City, Missouri.

He said: 'We are in an ice time of 6,000 years. The climate has warmed up but with a lot of natural diversity. In theory, the Earth will continue to enter the ice age. "

Yang plans to return to northwest China every year throughout his career to undertake more detailed research in a wider area.

Reference: Sciencedaily