Glacial/interglacial cycles Flashcards
1
Q
What caused the Tertiary global cooling?
A
(1) Strong Monsoon encourages plankton to grow in
the sea, which use up vast amounts of CO2
(2) Increased chemical weathering, which uses CO2
(3) Mountain building
(4) Formation of Antarctic ice sheet
2
Q
Significance of ice core records
A
- REVOLUTIONISED the understanding of Quaternary palaeoclimatology
- Produced high resolution records of many different parameters recorded simultaneously at each location
- Led to theories about changes in climate forcing
3
Q
What drives glacial cycles?
A
- Glacial-interglacial cycles appear to occur at a fairly regular pacing of 100,000 years
- There are shorter climatic fluctuations too
4
Q
Earth’s climate has been cooling since…
A
the end of the Cretaceous
5
Q
Quaternary period =
A
last 2.6 million years
6
Q
Quaternary is distinctive because of…
A
climatic instability – repeated Ice Ages
7
Q
Ice Ages have a regular pacing of…
A
100,000 yrs
