The role of palaeogeography in the Phanerozoic history of atmospheric CO2 and climate

The role of the palaeogeography on the geological evolution of the global carbon cycle has been suspected since the development of the first global geochemical models in the early 80s. The palaeogeography has been rapidly recognized as a key factor controlling the long-term evolution of the atmospheric CO2 through its capability of modulating the efficiency of the silicate weathering. First the role of the latitudinal position of the continents has been emphasized: an averaged low latitudinal position promotes the CO2 consumption by silicate weathering, and is theoretically associated to low CO2 periods. With the increase of model complexity and the explicit consideration of the hydrological cycle, the importance of the continentality factor has been recognized: periods of supercontinent assembly coincide with high pCO(2) values due to the development of arid conditions which weaken the silicate weathering efficiency. These fundamental feedbacks between climate, carbon cycle and tectonic have been discovered by pioneer modelling studies and opened new views in the understanding of the history of Earth's climate. Today, some of the key features of the Phanerozoic climate can be explained by: (1) continental drift; (2) small continental blocks moving to tropical belts; and (3) modulation of the climate sensitivity to CO2 by palaeogeography changes. Those results emphasize the need for a careful process-based modelling of the water cycle and climate response to the continental drift. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.