Paleoclimatology

Andrea Bock

Seminar: Wissenschaftliches Präsentieren

andrea.bock@rwth-aachen.de
Contents

1. the challenge of climatic reconstruction, tools

2. the record of climatic change in Earth history

• climate history in general

• climate history of the Cretaceous

3. the causes of global climate change

4. summery and outlook

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Climatic reconstruction
• Paleoclimatology = the study of ancient climates

• the goal:
- description of past climate states

- causes of climatic change in Earth history

• the problem: limited set of observations

• the solution: use of chemical, physical and

biological signatures

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Climatic reconstruction

stable isotopic measurement

planktonic
foraminifera

Oxygen isotopic composition of planktonic foraminifera

(Brown et al., Understanding the Earth (UTE))

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The Earth Climate

four (five)
episodes of
glaciation

generalized temperature history of the Earth

(Brown et al., UTE)

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The Cretaceous Warmth

The late Cretaceous World (scotese.com)

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The Cretaceous Warmth

polar:
0 – 17 °C

tropical:
27 – 32 °C

global average:
6 – 12 °C warmer

temperature limits with respect to latitude for the mid-Cretaceous

(Brown et al., UTE)

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Causes of global climate change

• changes in
geography

• changes in
atmospheric
carbon dioxide

temperature limits with respect to latitude for the mid-Cretaceous;

influences of geography and CO2-concentration
(Brown et al., UTE)

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Summary and Outlook

1. Any form of climatic reconstruction is to a certain extent

a result of conjecture

2. The evolution of the global climate in Earth history, especially

in respect to glaciation cycles, is highly periodic

3. The application of three-dimensional models of the climate

system, such as General Circulation Models (GCM), is rather
successful nowadays, but still there is a lot of work to do

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Literature

- Brown, G. C. et al., 1992. Understanding the Earth,

Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

- Coe, A. L., 2003. The Sedimentary Record of Sea-Level

Change, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

- Kemper, E., 1987. Geologisches Jahrbuch, Reihe A, Heft

96, Das Klima der Kreide-Zeit, Bundesanstalt für
Geowissenschaften und Rohstoffe und den Geologischen
Landesämtern in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland.

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Causes of global climate change

Milankovitch cycles

eccentricity, tilt and precession plus resulting climatic

changes (Bahlburg/Breitkreuz, Grundlagen der Geologie)

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