Cretaceous Earth Dynamics and Climate in Asia
Since the industrial revolution, the increasing usage of fossil energy by humans has led to a continuous increase in atmospheric CO2 emissions, thereby disrupting and unbalancing the global carbon cycle [1] The direct result is a very rapid global warming. We are now experiencing its likely effects, such as the waning of pole ice caps, rising sea levels, regional changes in precipitation, acidification of the ocean, more frequently extreme weather events (such as heat waves) and expansion of deserts. The development of human civilization urgently requires us to acquire a deeper understanding of the development trend of this rapid climate change and its environmental effects, a topic that in recent years has become a hot issue of common concern from the general public to the scientific community [2] [3] The Asian continent offers unique opportunities for studying the Cretaceous greenhouse climate and ecosystems. A variety of environments resulted in diverse ecosystems on land and in the oceans. Cretaceous marine strata of the eastern Tethys (India and Tibet of China) and the western Pacific (Japan, South Korea, China and Russia) open an indispensable window for the study of the oceanic anoxic events, oceanic oxygen rich events and rapid climate changes [4] [5] [6] Cretaceous continental deposits in Asia [7] [8] [9] [10] contain abundant terrestrial organisms that witness the ecosystem evolution and significant rapid climate changes [11] [12] [13] Various Cretaceous terrestrial lithologic records and large igneous provinces in Asia bear witness to the environmental changes and ecosystem evolution [14] [15] Cretaceous pedogenic carbonates of paleosols and fossil leaf stomatal index quantitatively depicted the fluctuation and evolutionary trends of the atmospheric CO2 levels [16] Desert deposits in the interior regions of the continent (Mongolia, China, and Thailand) reveal the shift of subtropical high pressure belt and dramatic changes in climatic zonation pattern in Asia [17] How to cite this paper: Li, G. Xu, K.M. Ning, Z.G. Schnabl, P. Li, X. Zhang, Z.G. Qin, J. Huang, Y.B. and Guo, J. (2019) Preface: Cretaceous Earth Dynamics and Climate in Asia. Open Journal of Geology, 9, 539 542. https:/doi.org/10.4236/ojg.2019.910036