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Introduction

The climate of the late Paleozoic, particularly the Pennsylvanian and Early Permian, was very similar to the present-day climate. During both intervals, the South Pole experienced significant glaciation and the North Pole experienced intermittent glaciation (Hambrey and Harland, 1981; Zachos et al., 2001). Because of this, the term “ice house” has been used to describe the climate of both intervals. Paradoxically, although the poles were frigid, warm, wet climates prevailed at the equator during both intervals. In both intervals, glaciation occurred in the context of a major continental collision: between Laurussia and Gondwana to form Pangaea in the late Paleozoic; and between India and Asia to form Eurasia in the Cenozoic. Finally, in both intervals, an extended period of “hot-house” climate, with warm poles and shallow pole-to-equator temperature gradients, preceded glaciation (Ziegler et al., 1981; Zachos et al., 2001; Raymond and Metz, 2004).

Late Devonian glaciation...

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Raymond, A., Scotese, C.R. (2009). Late Paleozoic Paleoclimates. In: Gornitz, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Paleoclimatology and Ancient Environments. Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-4411-3_124

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