PALEOCLIMATOLOGY

Question 1

Study of ancient climates, prior to the widespread availability of instrumental records.

Answer 1

PALEOCLIMATOLOGY

Question 2

derived from natural sources such as tree rings, ice cores, corals, and ocean and lake sediments.

Answer 2

PALEOCLIMATOLOGY DATA

Question 3

These proxy climate data extend the archive of weather and climate information hundreds to millions of years.

Answer 3

PALEOCLIMATOLOGY

Question 4

represent wood that grew in the spring and early summer

Answer 4

light-colored

Question 5

One light ring plus one dark ring equals?

Answer 5

one year of the tree’s life.

Question 6

Tree rings usually______ in warm, wet years and they are thinner in years when it is cold and dry.

Answer 6

grow wider

Question 7

represent wood that grew in the late summer and fall.

Answer 7

dark rings

Question 8

are very sensitive to changes in climate.

Answer 8

corals

Question 9

Scientists analyze the chemical composition of each layer in the calcium carbonate to reconstruct monthly, annual, and longer records past temperature and salinity.

Answer 9

coral

Question 10

Allow us to generate continuous reconstructions of past climate, going back at least 800,000 years.

Answer 10

ice cores

Question 11

The _________ of each annual layer tells how much snow accumulated at that location during the year.

Answer 11

thickness

Question 12

It provides the only direct record of atmospheric composition (direct gases, total gas content, and isotopic ratios) available in the field of paleoclimatology.

Answer 12

ice cores

Question 13

are washed or blown into lakes can accumulate in sediments and provide a record of past vegetation.

Answer 13

Pollen grains

Question 14

reflect the vegetation that was present around the lake and, therefore, the climate conditions favorable for that vegetation.

Answer 14

Different types of pollen in lake sediments

Question 15

are mineral deposits formed from groundwater within underground caverns.

Answer 15

speleothem

Question 16

may be annually banded or contain compounds that can be radiometrically dated.

Answer 16

Stalagmites, stalactites, and other forms

Question 17

used to determine past climate conditions.

Answer 17

Thickness of depositional layers or isotopic records

Question 18

used as a foundation for climate scientists by providing crucial information such as rates of past climate change and how vegetation and animal populations responded to the change.

Answer 18

paleoclimate data