paleoclimate
Prehistoric atmospheric conditions
Paleoclimate refers to the climate of past geological periods, before modern instrumental records.
Scientists reconstruct paleoclimates from ice cores, tree rings, sediment layers, and fossils to understand long-term climate patterns: Paleoclimate data shows the Earth has experienced several ice ages.
The field helps contextualize current climate change against natural variability over millions of years.
Respiration byproduct, photosynthesis fuel
- methaneSimplest alkane fuel
- aerosolsSuspended particles in gas
- albedoSurface reflection coefficient
- monsoonsSeasonal wind-driven rains
precipitation · temperature · droughts · desertification · sea level · ocean circulation · thermohaline · El Niño
Floral reproductive grains
- diatomsSingle-celled silica algae
- tree ringsAnnual wood layers
- ice coresCylindrical glacier samples
- coral reefsCalcium carbonate marine structures
sediment layers · peat bogs · mollusks · microfossils · oxygen-18 · deuterium · loess
Slow-moving ice mass
- moraineGlacier-deposited debris pile
- glaciationIce sheet spreading process
- interglacialEpoch between major freezes
- PleistoceneAncient glacial geological period
Holocene · insolation · firn · ablation · accumulation · Greenland · Antarctica · drilling
Study of rock layers
- sedimentologyStudy of geological deposits
- geochronologyStudy of geological ages
- radiometric datingAge measurement via atomic decay
- geochemistryEarth's chemical makeup science
isotopes · geomorphology · erosion · tectonics · basins · volcanic ash · tephra · carbon-14
Dating via growth rings
- quaternaryFourth-order or four-bonded
- carbon cycleBiogeochemical element circulation process
- greenhouse gasesEmissions that trap heat
- AnthropoceneProposed human-impact epoch
Pliocene · Miocene · IPCC · feedback loops
carbon dioxide
Respiration byproduct, photosynthesis fuel
monsoons · precipitation · temperature · droughts · desertification · sea level · ocean circulation · thermohaline · El Niño · volcanic winter
pollen
Floral reproductive grains
- diatomsSingle-celled silica algae
- tree ringsAnnual wood layers
- ice coresCylindrical glacier samples
coral reefs · sediment layers · peat bogs · mollusks · microfossils · oxygen-18 · deuterium · loess
glacier
Slow-moving ice mass
- moraineGlacier-deposited debris pile
- glaciationIce sheet spreading process
- interglacialEpoch between major freezes
Pleistocene · Holocene · insolation · firn · ablation · accumulation · Greenland · Antarctica · drilling · Heinrich events
stratigraphy
Study of rock layers
- sedimentologyStudy of geological deposits
- geochronologyStudy of geological ages
- radiometric datingAge measurement via atomic decay
geochemistry · isotopes · geomorphology · erosion · tectonics · basins · volcanic ash · tephra · carbon-14 · potassium-argon
dendrochronology
Dating via growth rings
- quaternaryFourth-order or four-bonded
- carbon cycleBiogeochemical element circulation process
- greenhouse gasesEmissions that trap heat
Anthropocene · Pliocene · Miocene · IPCC · feedback loops
prehistoric
Before documented civilization
- MesozoicAge of Reptiles
- CenozoicPresent geological era
- CretaceousFinal Mesozoic period
Jurassic · megafauna · mammoth · mastodon · hothouse · icehouse · mass extinction · dinosaurs · deep time