Past Climate Change and

the Ice Ages

What we wish to learn Today:

1. What do we mean by "paleoclimate"?

2. What evidence exists for ice ages and

ancient climate change?

3. What causes the climate to change?

 “Recent” climate change and variability…
2
N.H. Temperature

1
(°C)

-1

1000 1200 1400 1600 1800 2000

Year
Mann et al. (1999) GRL 26:759-762
 6

…provides
5
perspective on where Global
Temperature
we are headed 4 (°C)

1 1
N.H. Temperature

0.5
0
0
(°C)

-0.5 IPCC Projections

to 2100
1000 1200 1400 1600 1800 2000
 We KNOW the climate has
changed recently

1856 1987 2000

The great Aletsch glacier, Switzerland

 1970 2000

Ice on Mt.
Kilimanjaro

15
Area (km2)

10

0
1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020
Year

L.Thompson, in prep.
Glacial Changes since last Ice Age

Ice and Trees

Percent of Spruce in Total Trees

Glacial Europe was treeless in the last ice age

Vegetation in present day Europe is

dominated by forest, with conifers in
the north and deciduous trees in the
south.

At the glacial maximum, 20 thousand

years ago, arctic tundra covered much
of Europe south of the ice sheet, and
only patches of forests remained near
the southern coasts.
 Ancient Climates

• Climate was warm during the Age

Mesozoic Cenozoic
of the Dinosaurs (the Mesozoic)
– Alligators lived in Siberia!
– Dinosaurs lived north of the
Arctic Circle in Alaska!
Paleozoic
PreCambrian
Methods to establish past climate

• Isotopic Geochemical Studies: the study of rock

isotopic ratios, ice core bubbles, etc.
• Dendochronology: the study of tree rings
• Pollen Distribution: the study of plant types and
prevalence (e.g., Europe’s vegetation in the last ice age)
• Lake Varves: (like dendochronology, but with lake
sediments)

• Coral Bed Rings: (like dendochronology, but with corals)

• Fossils: Studies of geological settings, etc.
• Historical documents: paintings of glaciers, etc.
 Oxygen isotopes and paleoclimate
• Oxygen has three stable isotopes: 16O, 17O, and 18O.
(We only care about O and
16 18 O)

• 18 O is heavier than 16O (it has 2 extra neutrons).

• The amount of 18O compared to 16O is expressed using “delta”

notation - the unit is “per mil” (parts per thousand):

18O ‰ = 18O/16O of sample - 18O/16O of standard  1000

18
O/16O of standard

Fractionation:
Natural processes tend to preferentially take up the lighter
isotope, and preferentially leave behind the heavier isotope. For
most chemistry, the isotopes behave the same.
 Isotope “fractionation”
• Oxygen isotopes are fractionated during evaporation and
precipitation of H2O
– H216O evaporates more readily than H218O
– H218O precipitates more readily than H216O

• Oxygen isotopes are also fractionated by marine organisms

that secrete CaCO3 shells. The organisms preferentially
take up more 16O as temperature increases.
Fractionation effects
(1) Sea water is heavier
than water vapor
Precipitation favors
H218O (2) cloud water
O 18O O
16 16
becomes more depleted
18
O 18
O O
16 18
O in H218O as it moves
inland or poleward…

Evaporation favors
H216O H218O H218O
O
Ice
16
16
O
O 18O O
16
16

Land
H216O, H218O Ocean
O
18 18
O (3) Snow and ice are
18
O
O depleted in H218O
16
18
O 18
O 16O
18
O 18
O relative to sea water.
Fractionation effects

δ18O =
-20 o/oo
δ18O =
-15 o/oo
rain
δ18O =
-10 o/oo -11 o/oo
rain
-6 o/oo Ice

Land
δ18O = 0 o/oo Ocean

CaCO3 Carbonate sediments also record the signal

of the ocean, and the signal of temperature
 We can also show Vostok Record
that the 18O of
precipitation is
well correlated
with temperature!

So, if we know the 18O

of water or ice, we
know what the air
temperature was at
that time.
(Note that hydrogen
isotopes work the same way)
 The Antarctic Ice Coring
operation at Vostok station

The Greenland Ice Coring

operation at Summit station
Ice Core Analyses

The ice can be analyzed

for its 18O content to
estimate temperature

The air bubbles trapped

in the ice can be analyzed
for their carbon dioxide
and methane content
 Ocean Sediment analysis
Isotopes of organisms
deep-sea
Growing glaciers foraminifera

Interglacial
Ice
δ18O = - 30

δ18O = 0.0 The “Ice Volume” effect

• Light isotope removed
from ocean, locked into
Glacial large ice sheets
Ice • Remaining ocean water was
δ O = - 35
+1.5‰ heavier in 18O, as
18

recorded in marine organism

δ18O = 1.5
shells (CaCO3)
• Ocean level was ~120 m
lower than today
 Possible Causes of Climate Change
Long-Term Medium-Term
1. Solar Luminosity 1. Orbital parameters
2. Shifting Continents 2. Greenhouse gases
3. Greenhouse gases
Short-Term
1. Greenhouse gases
2. Sunspots
3. Ocean currents

Power: 4 x 1026 W 2 x 1017 W

.

Evolution of our Sun‘s Luminosity

1.6
Today
1.4
Luminosity

1.2

1 Snowball
Earth ?
0.8

0.6
0 2 4 6 8 10
Time (billions of years)
 Today’s configuration
Shifting land masses
(by plate tectonics)
may have changed
greenhouse gas
concentrations, thus
affecting climate

Past configurations
 As the continents shift there is increased subduction and
volcanic activity which increases CO2 into the atmosphere

That atmospheric CO2 is then consumed in weathering

reactions on continents, and eventually returned to the ocean.
This is the long-term “weathering” control of climate.
 Silicate weathering
From C. Poulsen’s
lecture, 24 Sep

① CO2 + H2O  H2CO3 (carbonic acid)

② CaSiO3 + 2H2CO3  Ca2+ + 2HCO3- + SiO2 + H2O (silicate weathering)
③ Ca2+ + 2HCO3-  CaCO3 + H2CO3 (carbonate precipitation & burial)

et: CaSiO3 + CO2  CaCO3 + SiO2 Conversion of CO2 gas to limestone!

CO2
CO2

H2CO3 Ca2 H2CO3 Ca2

Ca3SiO3
Ca3SiO3
 Orbital forcing (Milankovitch)
1. Shape (eccentricity, ~100K and 400K yrs)
1879-1958
2. Tilt (obliquity, ~41,000 yrs = 41K yrs)
3. Wobble (precession, ~23K yrs)

J.Beer-1996
Interaction of orbital
periods give different
patterns of change.

The magnitude of
shifts in solar
insolation are large
enough to explain
changes in climate
 Milankovitch Forcing Explains Ice Core Data

~ 23ky

-10

-20 Tilt 41ky

1000s of years Before Present ( kyr B.P. )

18O in Chinese caves and insolation

Orbital forcing

GISP2 Ice Core

1000s of years Before Present ( kyr B.P. ) D. Yuan et al., Science 304, 575
 What causes rapid and
unpredictable changes in climate?
Antarctica

-5 order

chaos

-10 chaos order

-5

-10

-15

-20
1000s of years Before Present ( kyr B.P. ) Greenland
 Causes of Climate change

A. Tectonic B. Orbital C. ?? D. ??
 Summary
1. Past changes in climate have been dramatic on
Earth
2. The longest-term changes (100s Million years,
Ma) are driven by shifting continents and
interactions with greenhouse gases.
3. At medium time scales (1-10s Ma), changes are
triggered by variations in orbital
characteristics.
Take-home point:

“If you don’t like the climate,

hang around awhile…”