IIIb Milankovitch Cycles and The Ice Ages

The great flood:
A consequence of global climate change?
Ancient
A i t sea level
l l changes
h
Greenhouse warming and El Niño
Global climate change

g through
g time
www.dan-dare.org/FreeFun/Images/CartoonsMoviesTV/IceAge2Wallpaper800.jpg
MILANKOVITCH CYCLES AND ICE AGES
describes the collective effects

of changes in the Earth's
movements upon its climate
www.southwestclimatechange.org/files/cc/figures/milankovitch.jpg
N. Ramos | Geology 1 Our Dynamic Earth The great flood: A consequence of global climate change?
MILANKOVITCH CYCLES AND ICE AGES
Orbital Theory of Ice Ages
• Regular changes in shape of Earth’s orbit and Earth-

sun geometry as the “timekeeper”
timekeeper of ice ages
• First suggested in mid 19th Century by Adhemar and
(later) James Croll
• Quantified by Serbian mathematician Milutin
Milankovitch in early 20th Century
• Hard to support with paleoclimate evidence of the day,
fell out of favor until mid-1960’s
• Modern paleoclimatic data in 1970’s strongly
supported Milankovitch
MILANKOVITCH CYCLE
Orbital shape (eccentricity)

Earth’s eccentricity: 0.017 | 100,000-yr cycle
a measure of the departure of the Earth’s elliptical orbit from circularity
Circular orbit, no eccentricity Orbit with 0.5 eccentricity
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milankovitch_cycles
MILANKOVITCH CYCLE
Axial tilt (obliquity)

Earth’s tilt: 23.44° | 41,000-yr cycle
the angle between an object's rotational axis, and a line perpendicular to

its orbital plane
MILANKOVITCH CYCLE
Axial precession
26,000-yr cycle (Great or Platonic Year)
gradual shift in the orientation of Earth's axis of rotation
Circular orbit, no eccentricity
MILANKOVITCH CYCLE
Apsidal precession
21,000-yr cycle (perihelion)
rotation of the orbit of a celestial body
Circular orbit, no eccentricity
MILANKOVITCH CYCLE AND ICE AGES
MILANKOVITCH CYCLE AND ICE AGES
Research has shown that the 100,000-yr eccentricity cycle is

the dominant factor in the 100,000-year ice age cycles of the
Quaternary glaciation over the last few million years.
Lisiecki and Raymo (2005)
64.19.142.10/upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f7/Five_Myr_Climate_Change.svg/800px-
Five_Myr_Climate_Change.svg.png
ICE AGE
An ice age or, more precisely, glacial age, is a generic

geological period of long-term reduction in the temperature
of the Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the
presence or expansion of continental ice sheets, polar ice
sheets and alpine glaciers.
glaciers
ICE AGE
Glacials
colder periods during ice ages → sea levels drop due to the removal of large
volumes of water above sea level in the icecaps
Interglacials
warmer periods
i d
64.19.142.13/upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f8/Ice_Age_Temperature.png
ICE AGE
An ice age or, more precisely, glacial age, is a generic

geological period of long-term reduction in the temperature
of the Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the
presence or expansion of continental ice sheets, polar ice
sheets and alpine glaciers.
glaciers
Extent of glacial ice during the
last glacial maximum (LGM) at
18 ky Modern day extent of glacial ice
ICE AGES
Major ice ages
Period
Name Period Era
(Ma)
2.58 -
Quaternary Neogene Cenozoic
present
360 - Carboniferous current ice age
g
Karoo Paleozoic
260 and Permian
Andean- 450 - Ordovician and
Paleozoic
Saharan 420 Silurian
Cryogenian Karoo Ice Age
800 -
(or Sturtian- Cryogenian Neoproterozoic
635
Varangian) Andean-Saharan
2400 - Siderian and
Huronian Paleoproterozoic
2100 Rhyacian Cryogenian
C yoge a
Huronian
upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/b/b6/GlaciationsinEarthExistancelicenced.jpg/800px-
GlaciationsinEarthExistancelicenced.jpg
ICE AGES
Evidence for ice ages

Geological
rock scouring and scratching, glacial moraines, drumlins, valley
cutting,
tti and
d th
the d
deposition
iti off till or tillites
tillit and
d glacial
l i l erratics,
ti
sediment and ice cores
→ glacials are long, interglacials short
Chemical
variations in the ratios of isotopes in fossils present in sediments
and sedimentaryy rocks and ocean sediment cores
Paleontological
changes in the geographical distribution of fossils
PLEISTOCENE ICE AGE
Diagrammatic conception of the

Asia-North America Pleistocene filter-bridge
PLEISTOCENE ICE AGE

Fossils of Stegodon are found in
the Philippines
Stegodon
A primitive elephant that has its
origins in the late Miocene of Asia. It
is the ancestor of mammoths and
modern elephants.
Land bridges connected the Philippines

to Asia 65,000 years ago
ICE AGES
Other causes for ice ages?

Position of the continents
Fluctuations in ocean currents
Volcanism
Variations in the Sun's energy output
U lift off the

Uplift th Tibetan
Tib t plateau
l t and
d surrounding
di mountain
t i areas
above the snowline
Changes in Earth's atmosphere

IIIb Milankovitch Cycles and The Ice Ages

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The great flood:

A consequence of global climate change?

Greenhouse warming and El Niño

Global climate change

MILANKOVITCH CYCLES AND ICE AGES

describes the collective effects

Orbital Theory of Ice Ages

• Regular changes in shape of Earth’s orbit and Earth-

Orbital shape (eccentricity)

a measure of the departure of the Earth’s elliptical orbit from circularity

Circular orbit, no eccentricity Orbit with 0.5 eccentricity

Axial tilt (obliquity)

the angle between an object's rotational axis, and a line perpendicular to

gradual shift in the orientation of Earth's axis of rotation

Circular orbit, no eccentricity

rotation of the orbit of a celestial body

Circular orbit, no eccentricity

MILANKOVITCH CYCLE AND ICE AGES

Research has shown that the 100,000-yr eccentricity cycle is

Lisiecki and Raymo (2005)

An ice age or, more precisely, glacial age, is a generic

An ice age or, more precisely, glacial age, is a generic

Evidence for ice ages

Diagrammatic conception of the

PLEISTOCENE ICE AGE

Land bridges connected the Philippines

Other causes for ice ages?

Fluctuations in ocean currents

Variations in the Sun's energy output

U lift off the

Changes in Earth's atmosphere

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