Principles Of Paleoclimatology

Greenhouse gases, global warming, thinning ozone layers—understanding the Earth's climatic changes is one of today's most pressing international concerns. How fast has the climate changed? Where and why is it changing? What is the impact of climate change on our ecosystems, coastal regions, glaciers, forests, and lakes, and even on the evolution of our own species? This introduction to the rapidly emerging field of paleoclimatology explains the patterns and processes in the history of the Earth's climate to answer such essential questions. Using the geologic records of ocean and lake sediment, ice cores, corals, and other natural archives, Principles of Paleoclimatology describes the history of the Earth's climate—the ice age cycles, sea level changes, volcanic activity, changes in atmosphere and solar radiation—and the resulting, sometimes catastrophic, biotic responses. These paleoclimate records provide a baseline against which we can compare modern climate trends. Designed to give a fundamental background—including both history and methodology—to the discipline of paleoclimatology, this book is the first to advance our understanding of how climate change develops, how those changes are detected, and how the climate of the past can shape the climate of the future.

The study of the weather and weather patterns enable researchers to record and analyze climate change as it unfolds in a particular region over a period of time. This research helps in adding great detail to the evolutionary history of the earth when extreme climatic changes occurred. Paleoclimatology relies on fossils that are trapped in the earth's surface, such as sediments, ice sheets, corals and tree rings which reveal the climatic identity of the region through its inner structure. This book provides significant information of this discipline to help develop a good understanding of paleoclimatology and related fields. It includes some of the vital pieces of work being conducted across the world on various topics related to this field. This book is a resource guide for experts as well as students. Those in search of information to further their knowledge will be greatly assisted by this book.

Raymond S. Bradley provides his readers with a comprehensive and up-to-date review of all of the important methods used in paleoclimatic reconstruction, dating and paleoclimate modeling. Two comprehensive chapters on dating methods provide the foundation for all paleoclimatic studies and are followed by up-to-date coverage of ice core research, continental geological and biological records, pollen analysis, radiocarbon dating, tree rings and historical records. New methods using alkenones in marine sediments and coral studies are also described. Paleoclimatology, Second Edition, is an essential textbook for advanced undergraduate and postgraduate students studying climatology, paleoclimatology and paleooceanography worldwide, as well as a valuable reference for lecturers and researchers, appealing to archaeologists and scientists interested in environmental change. * Contains two up-to-date chapters on dating methods * Consists of the latest coverage of ice core research, marine sediment and coral studies, continental geological and biological records, pollen analysis, tree rings, and historical records * Describes the newest methods using alkenones in marine sediments and long continental pollen records * Addresses all important methods used in paleoclimatic reconstruction * Includes an extensive chapter on the use of models in paleoclimatology * Extensive and up-to-date bibliography * Illustrated with numerous comprehensive figure captions

This two-volume book provides a comprehensive, detailed understanding of paleoclimatology beginning by describing the “proxy data” from which quantitative climate parameters are reconstructed and finally by developing a comprehensive Earth system model able to simulate past climates of the Earth. It compiles contributions from specialists in each field who each have an in-depth knowledge of their particular area of expertise. The first volume is devoted to “Finding, dating and interpreting the evidence”. It describes the different geo-chronological technical methods used in paleoclimatology. Different fields of geosciences such as: stratigraphy, magnetism, dendrochronology, sedimentology, are drawn from and proxy reconstructions from ice sheets, terrestrial (speleothems, lakes, and vegetation) and oceanic data, are used to reconstruct the ancient climates of the Earth. The second volume, entitled “Investigation into ancient climates,” focuses on building comprehensive models of past climate evolution. The chapters are based on understanding the processes driving the evolution of each component of the Earth system (atmosphere, ocean, ice). This volume provides both an analytical understanding of each component using a hierarchy of models (from conceptual to very sophisticated 3D general circulation models) and a synthetic approach incorporating all of these components to explore the evolution of the Earth as a global system. As a whole this book provides the reader with a complete view of data reconstruction and modeling of the climate of the Earth from deep time to present day with even an excursion to include impacts on future climate.

This book introduces the reader to all the basic physical building blocks of climate needed to understand the present and past climate of Earth, the climates of Solar System planets, and the climates of extrasolar planets. These building blocks include thermodynamics, infrared radiative transfer, scattering, surface heat transfer and various processes governing the evolution of atmospheric composition. Nearly four hundred problems are supplied to help consolidate the reader's understanding, and to lead the reader towards original research on planetary climate. This textbook is invaluable for advanced undergraduate or beginning graduate students in atmospheric science, Earth and planetary science, astrobiology, and physics. It also provides a superb reference text for researchers in these subjects, and is very suitable for academic researchers trained in physics or chemistry who wish to rapidly gain enough background to participate in the excitement of the new research opportunities opening in planetary climate.

Raymond S. Bradley provides his readers with a comprehensive and up-to-date review of all of the important methods used in paleoclimatic reconstruction, dating and paleoclimate modeling. Two comprehensive chapters on dating methods provide the foundation for all paleoclimatic studies and are followed by up-to-date coverage of ice core research, continental geological and biological records, pollen analysis, radiocarbon dating, tree rings and historical records. New methods using alkenones in marine sediments and coral studies are also described. Paleoclimatology, Second Edition, is an essential textbook for advanced undergraduate and postgraduate students studying climatology, paleoclimatology and paleooceanography worldwide, as well as a valuable reference for lecturers and researchers, appealing to archaeologists and scientists interested in environmental change. * Contains two up-to-date chapters on dating methods * Consists of the latest coverage of ice core research, marine sediment and coral studies, continental geological and biological records, pollen analysis, tree rings, and historical records * Describes the newest methods using alkenones in marine sediments and long continental pollen records * Addresses all important methods used in paleoclimatic reconstruction * Includes an extensive chapter on the use of models in paleoclimatology * Extensive and up-to-date bibliography * Illustrated with numerous comprehensive figure captions

Unified treatment of physical principles of planetary climates for advanced students and researchers in atmospheric science, Earth and planetary science.

The book discusses the ideas and creates a framework for building toward a theory of paleoclimate. Using the rich and mounting array of observational evidence of climatic changes from geology, geochemistry, and paleontology, Saltzman offers a dynamical approach to the theory of paleoclimate evolution and an expanded theory of climate. Saltzman was a distinquished authority on dynamical meteorology. This book provides a comprehensive framework based on dynamical system ideas for a theory of climate and paleoclimatic evolution which is intended for graduate students and research workers in paleoclimatology, earth system studies, and global change research. The book includes an extensive bibliography of geological and physical/dynamical references. Written by the late Barry Saltzman who was a distinquished authority on dynamical meteorology This book provides a comprehensive framework based on dynamical system ideas for a theory of climate and paleoclimatic evolution The book includes extensive bibliography of geological and physical/dynamical references