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Climate Change > Week 2 > Flashcards

Week 2 Flashcards

1
Q

What is Paleoclimatology, why do we study it?

A

It the study of climate archives to help reconstrct information about earth’s climate history. We must study it because instrumental records only date back so far.

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2
Q

List five important climate archives. (and their sub catagories)

A
  1. Sediments (Marine & lacustrine)
  2. Ice (Sea & Terrestrial)
  3. Corals
  4. Trees
  5. Speleothems
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3
Q

Do climate archives give us direct information about the past climate?

A

No, they provide us with indirect information that we can then manipulate in order to approximate (proxies) past climate.

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4
Q
  • Calibration is ?

- Reconstruction is?

A
  • Calibration is aligning peaks and troughs in data sets.

- Reconstruction is allowing the data collected to span as far back as possible with relation to the calibration

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5
Q

List some indicators of climate change. (6)

A
  1. Global surface temperatures
  2. GHG conc.
  3. Sea level Change
  4. Ocean acidification
  5. Ice (Mass balance)
  6. Extreme events
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6
Q

Name two types of Terrestrial sediments and where they can be found

A

Loess and Eolian dust - found near glaciers

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7
Q

Affects of timescale on Sediments (deep ocean)

A

the longer the time scale, the closer to tectonic scale processes, less likely for old sediments to be preserved. (lower resolution the deeper one goes)

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8
Q

List 3 sources of Marine Sediments (give examples)

A

Physical (transport by water)
Chemical (erosions of parent rock)
Biological (crustations)

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9
Q

IODP is

A

Integrated Ocean Drilling Program

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10
Q

Paleoceanography is

A

The study of marine sediments for insights into past ocean and atmospheric climates

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11
Q

List the 6 types of lakes, Give brief description

A
  1. Tectonic lakes - result of tectonic movements
  2. Glacial lakes- result of melting
  3. Coastal Lagoons - near ocean, give sea level history
  4. Crater lakes -
    atmospheric records
  5. Landslide lakes - catchment sensitive
  6. Fluvial - highly dynamic
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12
Q

Varves are

A

The annual lamination observed in lake sediments

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13
Q

What are Ice cores useful for? (Use great detail)

A
  • Determining the past GHG concentrations (CO2, CH4) in the atmosphere due to fluid trapping. direct measurement. -O18 can also help us uncover temperature history.
  • Annual Resolution
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14
Q

Two locations for collecting good ice cores

A

Greenland, Antarctica

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15
Q

Tree Rings offer what to paleoclimatologists?

A

They offer yearly resolution as well as strong indications of drought or warm years (depending on location)

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16
Q

What is Dendrochronology

A

study of tree cores

17
Q

How far back can tree rings give us information on?

A

500 - 1000 years

18
Q

What is the most important paleoclimate archive?

A

Ice cores, O18, liquid inclusion, etc.

19
Q

Define speleothems, where can they be found?

A

mineral deposits formed underground, stalagmites, stalagctites, found globally

20
Q

Benefits of speleothems? list 4

A
  1. long time interval (1Myrs)
  2. Precisely dated (100 yrs precision)
  3. well conserved
  4. found all over the globe
21
Q

How do you test speleothems??

A

monitor preciptation on land,
collect drip water,
break and sample. fluid inclusion water.

22
Q

Issues with corals climate archives?

A

Often gaps, dating uncertainty

23
Q

List the 6 main Paleoclimate Archives

A
  1. Corals
  2. Speleothems
  3. Tree rings
  4. Ice cores
  5. Lake / marine Sediments
  6. Historical documents
24
Q

List the methods of paleoclimate dating (5)

A
  1. counting annual lamination
  2. Old Radiometric Dating
  3. correlative Dating (tephrochronology)
  4. Radiocarbon dating
  5. pb210 and cs137 dating
25
Q

How do you get the most accurate dating of climate records?

A

Combine several dating techniqueS

26
Q

List the three steps to performing a climate model.

A
  1. Input
  2. Model Simulation
  3. Analyze climate data output
27
Q

What are trade offs of have a more complex climate model vs having a simpler climate model?

A

Complex models: more expensive, usually shorter time intervals of time covered
Simpler model: less expensive, longer time scales, typically oversimplifications

28
Q

What is a O-GCM and what are its outputs?

A

Ocean - General circulation model.

Output: ocean temp, salinity, sea-ice extent.

29
Q

What are Geochemical models useful for?

A

Tracking earths chemical material circulation within the climate system.

Climate Change (13 decks)

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