all questions

Question 1

what is palaeolimnology the study of?

Answer 1

lake sediments

Question 2

the stable isotope of 16O/18O is used as a proxy for what?

Answer 2

ppt

Question 3

how much higher were temps during the last interglacial compared to now?

Answer 3

2°C

Question 4

which oceanic sector are Heinrich events recorded from?

Answer 4

N Atlantic

Question 5

by how much has the conc of atm CO2 increased since the end of the LGM to now?

Answer 5

200 ppm

Question 6

approx how many cold cycles have been recorded over the past 2.6 mil years?

Answer 6

100

Question 7

what is a stadial?

Answer 7

a period of low temps characterised by high global ice vol

Question 8

approx when were Neanderthals thought to have become extinct?

Answer 8

24,000 y/a

Question 9

abrupt c.c. in the Late-glacial and early Holocene are thought to be a consequence of which natural factor?

Answer 9

freshwater injection into the N Atlantic

Question 10

annual temps in Britain during the LGM were though to have been?

Answer 10

-10°C

Question 11

the last mammoth pop in N Siberia are thought to have become extinct when?

Answer 11

4000 Cal yr BP

Question 12

what bought water to earth?

Answer 12

carbonaceous chondrite meteorites

Question 13

what is the earliest evidence for some form of photosynthesis on earth?

Answer 13

13C-depleted carbon in graphite

Question 14

where do Island arcs form?

Answer 14

above subduction zones where ocean plates converge

Question 15

what did Lovelock propose as a generic signature of life on a planet?

Answer 15

disequilibrium in the mixture of atmospheric gases

Question 16

what happens to the temp on Daisyworld when both daisies are coexisting and the solar luminosity increases?

Answer 16

it decreases

Question 17

how long in total will our sun spend on the main sequence?

Answer 17

10 billion years

Question 18

which process causes a long-term removal of O2 from the atm?

Answer 18

oxidative weathering of ancient organic carbon

Question 19

when did the first animal fossils form?

Answer 19

580 Ma

Question 20

what could plausibly have cooled the climate. and triggered the Neoproterozoic snowball earth events?

Answer 20

equatorial distribution of continents causing high weathering rates

Question 21

what describes the immediate aftermath of a snowball earth?

Answer 21

hot and wet caused by low albedo and high atm CO2 levels

Question 22

which glacial period did the first non-vascular plants colonise the land?

Answer 22

ordovician

Question 23

which was the biggest extinction in the Phanerozoic record?

Answer 23

end permian

Question 24

approx how much C was released to the atm at the PETM?

Answer 24

2000 GtC

Question 25

what is palynology the study of?

Answer 25

pollen

Question 26

when do acheulian stone tools date back to?

Answer 26

1.2 ma

Question 27

what did global atmospheric CO2 levels average in MIS5e?

Answer 27

270 ppm

Question 28

did deciduous forest dominate the ipswichian pollen record?

Answer 28

yes

Question 29

global sea level in the MIS 5e was estimated to have been how many metres higher than now?

Answer 29

6-9m

Question 30

DO events occur over what duration?

Answer 30

500-2500 years

Question 31

when did the onset of the Bolling/Allerod take place?

Answer 31

14.6 kyr

Question 32

what was the 8.2kyr event driven by?

Answer 32

meltwater pulse

Question 33

the neolithic decline in Ulmus has been attributed in part to which factor?

Answer 33

disease

Question 34

by how much as the vol of global atm CO2 increased since recorded low of 260 ppm at 8ka?

Answer 34

140 ppmv

Question 35

how old is the world’s oldest cave art?

Answer 35

35,000 years