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Paleoclimate > L2 - Tools of the Trade > Flashcards

L2 - Tools of the Trade Flashcards

1
Q

What are the 5 Paleoclimate archives?

A
  1. Sediments
  2. Ice
  3. Tree Rings
  4. Skeletons
  5. Speleothems
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2
Q

In what 3 environments can sediment cores be taken?

A
  1. Terrestrial
  2. Nearshore
  3. Offshore
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3
Q

What is IODP as of 2013 and where has the most recent expedition been conducted?

A

International Ocean Discovery Programme

IODP Expedition 361 in South Africa doing Spring 2016 onboard The Jodies Resolution

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4
Q

What is the name of the archive where sediments are stored?

A

A Depsoitry

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5
Q

What 2 things can be identified from the sediment colours?

A
  1. Sediment Regime

2. Forams

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6
Q

What are calcified planktonic formas an indicator of?

A

Cold Climate

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7
Q

What is IRD and what is it used for?

A

Ice Rafted Debris

It is used to identify iceberg origins and melt

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8
Q

What are the 5 dominant sediment types?

A
  1. Deep Sea Clay
  2. SiO2 rich
  3. CaCo3 rich
  4. Land Margin
  5. IRD
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9
Q

What are the 3 biogenic components of sediments (with examples)?

A
  1. Surface and Deep Dwelling Plankton (Formas, Diatoms, Radiolarians)
  2. Animal Remains (Fish Teeth)
  3. Biomarkers (from algae and bacteria)
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10
Q

What 5 things can be reconstructed using biogenic components?

A
  1. SST
  2. Salinity
  3. Nutrient Levels
  4. Global Ice Volume
  5. Ocean Circulation Patterns
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11
Q

What is a good proxy for modern day SST and comparing to the LGM?

A

Neogloboquadrina Pachymderma (sinistral)

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12
Q

What are the 5 terrigenous components of sediments?

A
  1. Land Aridity-Humidity
  2. Past Wind Patterns
  3. Sea Ice Cover
  4. Iceberg Activity
  5. Ocean Circulation Patterns/Activity
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13
Q

What are the 4 sources of terrestrial sediments?

A
  1. Lake Sediments
  2. Loess (Wind Blown Dust Deposits)
  3. Glacial Ice
  4. Peat Bogs
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14
Q

What are the 2 places that ice cores can be taken from?

A
  1. Ice Sheets

2. Mountain Glaciers

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15
Q

Where do you drill for an ice core?

A

At the divide

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16
Q

Why does annual layering resolution decline with depth in an ice core?

A

Because of ice flows

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17
Q

What what temperature do ice cores need to be stored?

A

-50 Deg C

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18
Q

What climate information can ice cores give us in the form of proxies?

A
  1. Temperature
  2. Precipitation
  3. Atmospheric Storminess
  4. Volcanic Eruptions
  5. Solar Variability
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19
Q

What climate information can ice cores give us in the form of direct measurements?

A

The gas composition of the lower atmosphere

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20
Q

What is dendroclimatology?

A

The use of tree rings for looking at past climates

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21
Q

What is the longest tree ring record?

A

12,000 years

22
Q

Tree ring thickness and density varies with which 3 climatic factors?

A
  1. Temperature of Air & Soil
  2. Precipitation
  3. Sunshine Levels
23
Q

Clam shell width and Oxygen Content can be used to reconstruct which 3 things?

A
  1. Seawater Temperatures
  2. Productivity
  3. Ocean Dynamics
24
Q

Colonial Reef Building corals have bands in their carbonate skeletons and can be used to reconstruct which 3 things?

A
  1. SST
  2. Salinity
  3. Sea Level
25
Q

Data masses can be dated to explain ocean circulation using which type of corals and which radioisotopes?

A

Deep Sea Solitary Corals with Carbon 14 and Uranium Series

26
Q

Speleothems provide information on what?

A

Temperature and Precipitation

27
Q

What are Speleothems?

A

Mineral deposits formed from groundwater within underground caves

28
Q

What has correlations between a Chinese Speleothem and a Greenland Ice Core been able to show?

A

That East Asian monsoons are weaker during cold periods in the North

29
Q

What are the 5 useful isotope systems?

A
  1. Measuring isotope ratios (the delta notation)
  2. Stable isotopes of Carbon
  3. Stable isotopes of Oxygen
  4. Isotope fractionation
  5. Radiocarbon as a Dating Tool
30
Q

What are the 3 most common O isotopes?

A

16, 17 and 18

31
Q

What are the 3 most common C isotopes?

A

12, 13 and 14

32
Q

What is the delta notation?

A

The relative difference between an absolute isotope ration of a sample and the standard in PPM

33
Q

What is the standard used for Carbon-13?

34
Q

What is the standard used for Oxygen-18?

35
Q

Do heavier or lighter isotopes have higher binding energies? and what does this mean?

A

Heavier and it is therefore harder to evaporate

36
Q

Isotopic effects are more pronounced at high or low temperatures?

37
Q

What are the 2 types of fractionation and what is fractionation?

A

Fractionation is the partial separation of isotopes during physical or chemical processes. The 2 types are:

  1. Equilibrium
  2. Kinetic
38
Q

If the sample is equal to 0 ppm then it is identical to what?

A

The sample

39
Q

If the sample is +ve what does this mean?

A

It contains more of the isotope (e.g. O18 and is heavier) than the standard

40
Q

If the sample is -ve what does this mean?

A

It contains less of the isotope (e.g. O18 and is lighter) than the standard

41
Q

Is there a +ve or -ve relationship between temperature and O18 for calcite?

42
Q

Is there a +ve or -ve relationship between temperature and O18 for snow?

43
Q

Why do benthic forms have more 18O?

A

Because it is colder

44
Q

What is the paleotemperature equation?

A

T = 16.9 - 4 (Delta of Carb - Delta of SW)

45
Q

What do large ice sheets mean with respect to 18O?

A

More vapour is lost to ppt, increased depletion of snow, lower 18O on land and more in the oceans which is recorded by the forams

46
Q

What do benthic and planktonic forams measure?

A

Benthic - Ice Volume

Planktonic - Temperature, Salinity & Ice Volume

47
Q

How much cooler was the LGM?

48
Q

What are the 4 sources of Carbon?

A
  1. Atmospheric CO2
  2. Oceanic Carbonate
  3. Sediments
  4. Organic Matter in the Biosphere
49
Q

What are the 2 Carbon Fractionation Systems and which are depleted in 13C?

A
  1. Inorganic

2. Organic (these compounds are depleted in 13C)

50
Q

How can C13 help explain the biological pump?

A

By using the difference between planktonic and benthic foram shells that record the 13C of DIC

51
Q

A decline in SL of 120m equates to how much of an increase in oxygen-18?

Paleoclimate (10 decks)

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