The climate 150 million years ago of a large swath of the western United States was more complex than previously known, according to new research from Southern Methodist University, Dallas.
It's been thought that the climate during the Jurassic was fairly dry in New Mexico, then gradually transitioned to a wetter climate northward to Montana.
But based on new evidence, the theory of a gradual transition from a dry climate to a wetter one during the Jurassic doesn't tell the whole story, says SMU paleontologist Timothy S. Myers, lead author on the study.
Geochemical analysis of ancient soils, called paleosols, revealed an unexpected and mysterious abrupt transition from dry to wet even though some of the samples came from two nearby locales, Myers said.
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