Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Ice Age Definitions: December 2010
Ice Age Definitions: December 2010
Ice Age Definitions: December 2010
net/publication/278708133
CITATIONS READS
0 383
3 authors, including:
Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects:
The Transformation of Serbian territory: history, current problems and propose solutions View project
All content following this page was uploaded by Milivoj B. Gavrilov on 19 June 2015.
Milivoj B. Gavrilov1
Slobodan B. Marković1
Momčilo M. Gavrilov2
1Chair of Physical Geography, Faculty of Sciences, University of Novi Sad, Trg D. Obradovića 3, 21000 Novi Sad
2Faculty of Physics University of Belgrade, Studentski trg 14, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia
1. Phenomenological definition
• Present definition
• Problem
Strictly speaking phenomenological definition says that an Ice Age period when there are layers
of ice thousands of years.
For example, in the last 600,000 years was 4-5 Ice Ages and Inter Ice Ages. At the same time,
over this period there was always permanent ice according to the phenomenological definition.
The present
distribution of ice.
• This definition speaks to the variability of the ice, but does not speak about the causes of origin
of the ice. This definition is very rich in words, but it has poor content.
1. Phenomenological definition
• Questions
Phenomenological definition, as well as theory and practice based
on this definition, can not answers on the two/four questions:
(1) What amount of permanent ice will be there to be an Ice Age?
(2) How permanent ice should last that it would be an Ice Age?
(3/4) The same questions (1) and (2) apply to the Inter Ice Age.
• Answers
How to answer the above questions require some quantitative
criteria, it seems better to introduce a new definition, than to
modify the phenomenological definition.
This definition is universal. It is not related to the presence of ice. As such it can be
applied to other planets.
3. Insolation definition
• Insolation definition is based on the observations
Milanković and/or Berger mean insolation (I) in a whole
paleoclimatological period and mean insolation (Ip) in a
sub-periods (p). Can form a relation
Lp=Ip/I.
Then, there are three cases:
- warming period, when Ip is greater than I (Lp>1),
- cooling period, when Ip is less than I (Lp<1),
- equilibrium period, when Ip and I are same (Lp=1),
where there are two different sub-cases;
- hot equilibrium occurs after a period of warming and
- cold equilibrium occurs after a period of cooling.
3. Insolation definition
• Graphical presentation
This definition is universal. It is not related to the presence of ice. As such it can be
applied to other planets.
4. Conclusion
• In the end, all together would help to make good forecasts of Ice Ages.