Reconstructing Earth's Climate History E-Book

Kristen St John

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Wissenschaft und neue Technologien
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 633

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2021

Beschreibung

Reconstructing Earth’s Climate History

There has never been a more critical time for students to understand the record of Earth’s climate history, as well as the relevance of that history to understanding Earth’s present and likely future climate. There also has never been a more critical time for students, as well as the public-at-large, to understand how we know, as much as what we know, in science. This book addresses these needs by placing you, the student, at the center of learning. In this book, you will actively use inquiry-based explorations of authentic scientific data to develop skills that are essential in all disciplines: making observations, developing and testing hypotheses, reaching conclusions based on the available data, recognizing and acknowledging uncertainty in scientific data and scientific conclusions, and communicating your results to others.

The context for understanding global climate change today lies in the records of Earth’s past, as preserved in archives such as sediments and sedimentary rocks on land and on the seafloor, as well as glacial ice, corals, speleothems, and tree rings. These archives have been studied for decades by geoscientists and paleoclimatologists. Much like detectives, these researchers work to reconstruct what happened in the past, as well as when and how it happened, based on the often-incomplete and indirect records of those events preserved in these archives. This book uses guided-inquiry to build your knowledge of foundational concepts needed to interpret such archives. Foundational concepts include: interpreting the environmental meaning of sediment composition, determining ages of geologic materials and events (supported by a new section on radiometric dating), and understanding the role of CO₂ in Earth’s climate system, among others. Next, this book provides the opportunity for you to apply your foundational knowledge to a collection of paleoclimate case studies. The case studies consider: long-term climate trends, climate cycles, major and/or abrupt episodes of global climate change, and polar paleoclimates. New sections on sea level change in the past and future, climate change and life, and climate change and civilization expand the book’s examination of the causes and effects of Earth’s climate history.

In using this book, we hope you gain new knowledge, new skills, and greater confidence in making sense of the causes and consequences of climate change. Our goal is that science becomes more accessible to you. Enjoy the challenge and the reward of working with scientific data and results!

Reconstructing Earth’s Climate History, Second Edition, is an essential purchase for geoscience students at a variety of levels studying paleoclimatology, paleoceanography, oceanography, historical geology, global change, Quaternary science and Earth-system science.

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

Cover

Title Page

Copyright Page

The Authors

Foreword from First Edition

Acknowledgments

Book Introduction to the Second Edition for Students and Instructors

Motivation and Purpose

Use of Real Data

Content Topics

Transportable Skills

Practical Use of Multipart Exercises

Audience

Classroom Tested

About the Companion Website

Chapter 1: Introduction to Paleoclimate Records

Part 1.1. Archives and Proxies

Part 1.2. Obtaining Cores from Terrestrial and Marine Paleoclimate Archives

Part 1.3. Owens Lake – An Introductory Case Study of Paleoclimate Reconstruction

References

Chapter 2: Seafloor Sediments

Part 2.1. Sediment Predictions

Part 2.2. Core Observation and Description

Part 2.3. Sediment Composition

Part 2.4. Seafloor Sediment Synthesis

References

Chapter 3: Geologic Time and Geochronology

Part 3.1. The Geologic Timescale

Part 3.2. Principles of Stratigraphy and Determining Relative Ages

Part 3.3. Radiometric Age Dating Fundamentals

Part 3.4. Using

40

K –

40

Ar Dating to Determine the Numerical Ages of Layered Volcanic Rocks

Part 3.5. Using Uranium Series Dating to Determine Changes in Growth Rate of Speleothems

References

Chapter 4: Paleomagnetism and Magnetostratigraphy

Part 4.1. Earth's Magnetic Field Today and the Paleomagnetic Record of Deep‐Sea Sediments

Part 4.2. History of Discovery: Paleomagnetism in Ocean Crust and Marine Sediments

Part 4.3. Using Paleomagnetism to Test the Seafloor Spreading Hypothesis

Part 4.4. The Geomagnetic Polarity Timescale

References

Chapter 5: Microfossils and Biostratigraphy

Part 5.1. What Are Microfossils? Why Are They Important in Climate Change Science?

Part 5.2. Microfossils in Deep‐Sea Sediments

Part 5.3. Application of Microfossil First and Last Occurrences

Part 5.4. Using Microfossil Datums to Calculate Sedimentation Rates

Part 5.5. How Reliable Are Microfossil Datums?

Part 5.6. Organic‐Walled Microfossils: Marine Dinoflagellates and Terrestrial Pollen and Spores

References

Chapter 6: CO

2

as a Climate Regulator During the Phanerozoic and Today

Part 6.1. The Short‐Term Global Carbon Cycle

Part 6.2. CO

2

and Temperature

Part 6.4. The Long‐Term Global Carbon Cycle, CO

2

, and Phanerozoic Climate History

Part 6.5. Carbon Isotopes as a Tool for Tracking Changes in the Carbon Cycle

References

Chapter 7: Oxygen Isotopes as Proxies of Climate Change

Part 7.1. Introduction to Oxygen Isotope Records from Ice and Ocean Sediments

Part 7.2. The Hydrologic Cycle and Isotopic Fractionation

Part 7.3. δ

18

O in Meteoric Water and Glacial Ice

Part 7.4. δ

18

O in Marine Sediments

References

Chapter 8: Climate Cycles

Part 8.1. Patterns and Periodicities

Part 8.2. Orbital Metronome

Part 8.3. Glacial–Interglacial Periods and Modern Climate Change

References

Chapter 9: The Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) Event

Part 9.1. An Important Discovery

Part 9.2. Global Consequences of the PETM

Part 9.3. Two Hypotheses for the Cause of the PETM

Part 9.4. Rates of Onset and Duration of Event

Part 9.5. Global Warming Today and Lessons from the PETM

References

Chapter 10: Glaciation of Antarctica

Part 10.1. Initial Evidence

Part 10.2. Evidence for Global Change

Part 10.3. Mountain Building, Weathering, CO

2

and Climate

Part 10.4. Legacy of the Oi1 Event: The Development of the Psychrosphere

References

Chapter 11: Antarctic Climate Variability in the Neogene

Part 11.1. What Do We Think We Know About the History of Antarctic Climate?

Part 11.2. What is Antarctica's Geographic and Geologic Context?

Part 11.3. Selecting Drillsites to Best Answer our Questions

Part 11.4. What Sediment Facies are Common on the Antarctic Margin?

Part 11.5. The BIG Picture of ANDRILL 1‐B

References

Chapter 12: Pliocene Warmth as an Analog for Our Future

Part 12.1. The Last 5 Million Years

Part 12.2. Pliocene Latitudinal Temperature Gradient

Part 12.3. Estimates of Pliocene CO

2

Part 12.4. Sea Level Past, Present, and Future

References

Chapter 13: Climate, Climate Change, and Life

Part 13.1. Initial Ideas

Part 13.2. The Long View: “Precambrian” and Phanerozoic Life and Climate

Part 13.3. Examples of Cenozoic Terrestrial Evolution and Climate Connections

Part 13.4. Examples of Cenozoic Marine Biotic Evolution and Climate Connections

Part 13.5. Humanity, Climate, and Life

Part 13.6. Humanity and Future Climate: At a Tipping Point

References

Chapter 14: Climate Change and Civilization

Part 14.1. Climate Change Here and Now

Part 14.2. Evidence of Climatic Stress on Ancient Maya Civilization

Part 14.3. The Precipitation Record of the North American Southwest: The Physical Record and Human Response

References

Index

End User License Agreement

List of Tables

Book Introduction to the Second Edition for Students and Instructors

TABLE 1. Chapter alignment to scientific content, skills, and USGCRP (2009) c...

Chapter 1

TABLE 1.1. Selected major paleoclimate archives and the proxy data they conta...

Chapter 2

TABLE 2.1. Seafloor cores.

TABLE 2.2. Smear slide composition and textural data, plus presence/absence o...

Chapter 3

TABLE 3.1. A simple example of the changes in the numbers of atoms of the par...

TABLE 3.2.

40

Ar/

40

K results for five samples of basalt from Jokuldalur, Iceland (...

TABLE 3.3.

230

Th/

234

U activity ratios as a function of depth in speleothem BTVC4 ...

TABLE 3.4. Corrected ages as a function of depth in speleothem BTVC4 from Cav...

Chapter 4

TABLE 4.1. Estimates for the age of ocean crust (basement) and the age of the...

Chapter 5

TABLE 5.1. The table displays

rows of samples

and the depth of those samples i...

TABLE 5.2. The table displays

rows of samples

and the depth of those samples i...

TABLE 5.3. Calcareous nannofossil datums, ages, and depths from Hole 1208A.

TABLE 5.4. Calcareous nannofossil datums, ages, and depths from Hole 1208A Sh...

TABLE 5.5. Calcareous nannofossil datums, ages, and depths from Hole 999 in t...

Chapter 6

TABLE 6.1. The four most abundant greenhouse gases.

TABLE 6.2. Earth system feedback factors.

Chapter 8

TABLE 8.1. Data summary.

Chapter 9

TABLE 9.1. Synthesis of observations for PETM.

TABLE 9.2. Published estimates for the time interval, carbon accumulation, and...

Chapter 10

TABLE 10.1. Paleoecologic preferences of the species or genera of

calcareous n

...

TABLE 10.2. Synthesis of observations.

Chapter 11

TABLE 11.1. General interpretation of Oligocene–Holocene Antarctic climate, as...

Chapter 12

TABLE 12.1. Estimated

potential maximum sea level rise

from the total melting ...

TABLE 12.2. Elevations of major coastal cities in the U.S. (based on major ai...

Chapter 14

TABLE 14.1. Vulnerability factors and their indicators (Chen et al. 2015).

TABLE 14.2. Readiness factors and their indicators (Chen et al. 2015).

List of Illustrations

Chapter 1

FIGURE 1.1. Cross sections (a view perpendicular to growth or accumulation) ...

FIGURE 1.2. Terrestrial and marine depositional environments, and example se...

FIGURE 1.3. Three paleoclimate archives. (a) A

sedimentary outcrop

from Bast...

FIGURE 1.4. (a) Global geographic distribution of lake and ocean core sites....

FIGURE 1.5. Example of (left) an ice core from Huascaran, Peru, and (right) ...

FIGURE 1.6. Piece of an Antarctic ice core showing trapped air bubbles.

FIGURE 1.7. Class 100 Clean Room at Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center. ...

FIGURE 1.8. Scientific research vessel,

JOIDES Resolution

.

FIGURE 1.9. Scientific ocean drilling site locations of the International Oc...

FIGURE 1.10. Example of coring and core terminology (from ODP Leg [i.e. Expe...

FIGURE 1.11. Photo of the archive‐half of Core 2 from Hole 1215A, located in...

Chapter 2

FIGURE 2.1. Kelsie Dadd (Sedimentologist, Macquarie University, Australia) a...

FIGURE 2.2. Physiographic map of the world's oceans, showing bathymetric fea...

FIGURE 2.3. Photos of minerals, volcanic glass, and microfossils as seen thr...

Chapter 3

FIGURE 3.1. The geologic timescale is the common time reference for Earth hi...

FIGURE 3.2. Hypothetical rock sequence displayed as a block diagram. Legend ...

FIGURE 3.3. Location of Jokuldalur, Iceland, from Google Earth.

FIGURE 3.4. A sketch of the strata at a rock outcrop in Jokuldalur, Iceland....

FIGURE 3.5. The original

stratigraphic column

(partially shown in Figure 3.4...

FIGURE 3.6. Earth's magnetic field during normal and reversed polarity state...

FIGURE 3.7. Decay chain for

238

U progressing through a series of intermediat...

FIGURE 3.8. Growth in activity of

230

Th, toward

secular equilibrium

with its...

FIGURE 3.9. Photographs of the interiors of two speleothems (stalactites, in...

FIGURE 3.10. Location of Botuvera´ Cave (27°13´S; 49°09´W) in southeastern B...

FIGURE 3.11. A simplified diagram of

230

Th/

234

U activity ratio (solid black ...

Chapter 4

FIGURE 4.1. The Earth's magnetic field (right) protects our planet from much...

FIGURE 4.2. Dipole bar magnet with iron filings showing magnetic lines of fo...

FIGURE 4.3. World map showing all Deep Sea Drilling Project sites (Legs 1–96...

FIGURE 4.4. Two paleomagnetic records from deep‐sea sediments cored in the P...

FIGURE 4.5. Earth's magnetic field simulated with a supercomputer model. The...

FIGURE 4.6. Cryogenic magnetometer aboard the

JOIDES Resolution

drillship. T...

FIGURE 4.7. Two transects (numbers 21 and 19) of

magnetometer data

collected...

FIGURE 4.8. Generalized depiction of magnetic anomalies and magnetic “stripe...

FIGURE 4.9. Magnetic profiles depicting

positive and negative magnetic anoma

...

FIGURE 4.10. Time scale for geomagnetic reversals.

Normal polarity intervals

FIGURE 4.11. Paleomagnetic record preserved in the upper 155 m of Hole 1208A...

FIGURE 4.12. Map of magnetic “stripes” on the seafloor south of Iceland. The...

FIGURE 4.13. Map of the South Atlantic showing the cruise path and sites dri...

FIGURE 4.14. Left: Marine magnetic anomalies of the South Atlantic.

Heavy li

...

FIGURE 4.15. Portion of the geomagnetic polarity timescale used during ODP L...

FIGURE 4.16. Paleomagnetic data from ODP Hole 1208A.

Chapter 5

FIGURE 5.1. Four species of

planktic foraminifers

from the tropical western ...

FIGURE 5.2.

Calcareous microfossils

(calcareous nannofossils and planktic fo...

FIGURE 5.3. Generalized

abundance and taxonomic diversity

(numbers of specie...

FIGURE 5.4. Comparison of

phytoplankton diversity

(numbers of species and ge...

FIGURE 5.5. Making a smear slide.

FIGURE 5.6. A geoscientist using a transmitted light microscope.

FIGURE 5.7. Smear slide of sample 807A‐8H‐5, 51 cm from Ontong Java Plateau ...

FIGURE 5.8. Smear slide of sample 807A‐8H‐2 cm from Ontong Java Plateau in t...

FIGURE 5.9. Select species of

calcareous nannofossils

identified and illustr...

FIGURE 5.10. Location of ODP Site 1208 on Shatsky Rise in the northwest Paci...

FIGURE 5.11. Two‐part diagram illustrating how biostratigraphy is applied to...

FIGURE 5.12.

Biozones

for planktic forams (N zones) and calcareous nannofossi...

FIGURE 5.13. Example of an age–depth plot from ODP Site 846 in the eastern e...

FIGURE 5.14. Sites drilled during ODP Leg 165 and location of ODP Site 999 i...

FIGURE 5.15. Upper row: Examples of terrestrially derived pollen and spores....

FIGURE 5.16. Drawings illustrating how terrestrial pollen and spores are tra...

FIGURE 5.17. Generalized bathymetric map of the U.S. continental margin betw...

FIGURE 5.18. Relationship between

two dinocyst biozonations

(onshore Denmark...

FIGURE 5.19. Summary of palynomorph results from one of the drillsites of th...

Chapter 6

FIGURE 6.1. .(a) Volcanic outgassing and lava.(b) Oil refinery, Alaska....

FIGURE 6.2. A simplified diagram of the short‐term carbon cycle showing the ...

FIGURE 6.3. Anthropogenic (human) and natural radiative forcing factors that...

FIGURE 6.4. Compilation of results from temperature sensitivity studies publ...

FIGURE 6.5. Atmospheric CO

2

concentrations measured at Mauna Loa Observatory...

FIGURE 6.6. Atmospheric CO

2

concentrations over the last 20 000 yr. Gray sha...

FIGURE 6.7. A simplified diagram of the

long‐term carbon cycle.

Not

...

FIGURE 6.8. (a) Paleo‐atmospheric CO

2

proxy and model data for the Phanerozo...

FIGURE 6.9. (a) Paleo‐atmospheric CO

2

from proxies (black line) and the GEOC...

FIGURE 6.10. IPCC climate model projections of atmospheric CO

2

concentration...

FIGURE 6.11. Atmospheric CO

2

for the past 800 000 yr measured from gases in ...

FIGURE 6.12. Average reservoir δ

13

C values compiled from Faure (1986), O'Lea...

FIGURE 6.13. Atmospheric CO

2

(ppm, in blue and red) and δ

13

C (per mil, ‰, in...

FIGURE 6.14. Benthic foraminiferal marine carbon isotopes (δ

13

C) over the pa...

Chapter 7

FIGURE 7.1. Hydrologic cycle reservoirs. (a) Iceland Vatnajökull ice cap mel...

FIGURE 7.2. 125 000 yr record of δ

18

O measured in ice cores from two sites o...

FIGURE 7.3. 65 Myr

composite record

of benthic foraminiferal stable oxygen i...

FIGURE 7.4. Two isotopes of oxygen. P indicates the number of protons; N ind...

FIGURE 7.5. Schematic diagram showing water movement through time (i.e. Time...

FIGURE 7.6. Empirical relationship between modern average annual air tempera...

FIGURE 7.7. Generalized map of the δ

18

O values of

modern

precipitation in No...

FIGURE 7.8. A sketch of North America during the late Pleistocene deglaciati...

FIGURE 7.9. Comparison of paleotemperature proxies in ice cores from Greenla...

FIGURE 7.10. An 800 000 yr record of CO

2

(parts per million by volume; ppmv)...

FIGURE 7.11. A representative mix of microfossil shells of

benthic

(bottom t...

FIGURE 7.12. Schematic diagram from subtropical to polar latitudes showing w...

FIGURE 7.13. Schematic diagrams illustrating the accumulation of benthic and...

FIGURE 7.14.

Bottom

: 65 Myr composite record of deep‐sea benthic foraminifera...

Chapter 8

FIGURE 8.1. The Earth and Sun.

FIGURE 8.2. Hypothetical data displaying cyclicity.

FIGURE 8.3. Inferred ancient Antarctic air temperature variations (blue), ca...

FIGURE 8.4.

Magnetic susceptibility of terrestrial sediment

at two locations...

FIGURE 8.5. Abundance of freshwater African diatom

Melosira

in sediment core...

FIGURE 8.6.

(a)

Locations of the 57 deep‐sea cores used in the Lisiecki and R...

FIGURE 8.7. A “stacked” benthic oxygen isotope record constructed by graphic...

FIGURE 8.8. Records of the relative abundances of various “palynomorph” micr...

FIGURE 8.9.

(a)

Photo of a Miocene age lacustrine (ancient lake) outcrop of t...

FIGURE 8.10. Composite digital core photograph, color reflectance, and bulk ...

FIGURE 8.11. Temporal variations of elements enriched in clay‐ and silt‐size...

FIGURE 8.12. Bathymetric map of Shatsky Rise and the location of Shatsky Ris...

FIGURE 8.13. Representative smear slide images of the light (

Left

: 400× magn...

FIGURE 8.14. (Left) Zero eccentricity and (right) 0.5 eccentricity, which gr...

FIGURE 8.15. Schematic diagram of different tilt angles.

FIGURE 8.16.

Top

: Schematic diagram showing the changing direction of Earth's...

FIGURE 8.17. This map shows a reconstruction of the maximum extent of Pleist...

FIGURE 8.18. Atmospheric CO

2

for the past 800 000 yr measured from gases in ...

Chapter 9

FIGURE 9.1. Paleocene–Eocene boundary clay marking the PETM in a core collec...

FIGURE 9.2. Changes in δ

18

O and δ

13

C values of

planktic foraminifera

Acarinin

...

FIGURE 9.3. Map of all the Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) sites (1985–2003). N...

FIGURE 9.4. Benthic foraminiferal oxygen (lower panel) and carbon (upper pan...

FIGURE 9.5. Location of sites drilled on Shatsky Rise during ODP Leg 198. No...

FIGURE 9.6. PETM sections on Shatsky Rise.

Sites are arranged by increasing

...

FIGURE 9.7. Hole 1209B was drilled in a water depth of 2387 m on the souther...

FIGURE 9.8. Stratigraphic

changes in environmental and biotic proxies

throug...

FIGURE 9.9. Map of the central tropical Pacific showing the ODP Leg 199 dril...

FIGURE 9.10. Digital images of the Paleocene–Eocene boundary sediments recov...

FIGURE 9.11. Comparison of magnetic susceptibility and gamma ray attenuation...

FIGURE 9.12. PETM stable isotope data from

ODP Site 690

near the Weddell Sea...

FIGURE 9.13. ODP Leg 208 drill sites on Walvis Ridge. Left: Bathymetric map ...

FIGURE 9.14. Digital core photos and

weight %CaCO

3

across the Paleocene–Eoce...

FIGURE 9.15. Bulk sediment

carbon isotope records

across Walvis Ridge from s...

FIGURE 9.16. Composite diagram showing bulk sediment δ

13

C and weight %CaCO

3

...

FIGURE 9.17. Location of

two drill sites in New Jersey

(Wilson Lake and Bass...

FIGURE 9.18. High‐resolution records across the

Paleocene–Eocene boundary in

...

FIGURE 9.19. Paleogeographic reconstruction of the

Arctic Basin

and Northern...

FIGURE 9.20. Core recovery in IODP Hole 302‐4A, and geochemical and palynolo...

FIGURE 9.21. Map of the present‐day northern North Atlantic (Greenland–Norwe...

FIGURE 9.22. Correlation of

continental records

of well‐dated coal‐bearing t...

FIGURE 9.23. Open circles show the locations of Polecat Bench and Cabin Fork...

FIGURE 9.24. Carbon isotope records from Cabin Fork (left) and Polecat Bench...

FIGURE 9.25. Paleogeographic map showing the distribution of landmasses at t...

FIGURE 9.26. A terrestrial record spanning the PETM from the Williston Basin...

FIGURE 9.27. Location of ODP Site 690 near the Weddell Sea in the Southern O...

FIGURE 9.28. ODP Hole 690B‐Core 19H. The

onset of the PETM

(

CIE

= carbon iso...

FIGURE 9.29.

Geochemical data

for ODP Hole 690B‐Core 19H (167–174 mbsf). From...

FIGURE 9.30. X‐ray fluorescence (iron, Fe, and calcium, Ca, counts per secon...

FIGURE 9.31. Comparison and correlation of

PETM interval at ODP Site 690

, We...

FIGURE 9.32. Time series data from 1880 to 2020 of annual global average tem...

FIGURE 9.33. Global annual anthropogenic carbon emissions and carbon emissio...

Chapter 10

FIGURE 10.1. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NA...

FIGURE 10.2. 65 Myr

composite record

of benthic foraminiferal stable oxygen ...

FIGURE 10.3. Map of the southern Indian Ocean showing sites cored during ODP...

FIGURE 10.4. Upper Eocene–lower Oligocene

stable isotope data

and

ice‐rafted

...

FIGURE 10.5. Map of all the Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) sites (1985–2003). ...

FIGURE 10.6. High‐resolution paleoceanographic records from ODP Site 1218 (8...

FIGURE 10.7. Composite digital images of cores taken across the Eocene–Oligo...

FIGURE 10.8. Composite digital images of the Eocene–Oligocene transition (in...

FIGURE 10.9.

Paleogeographic map

of the Tasmanian region

at the time of the E

...

FIGURE 10.10. Summary of the

sediment lithogies

for ODP Leg 189 Sites 1168 t...

FIGURE 10.11. Map of the

sub‐Antarctic South Atlantic

showing the loca...

FIGURE 10.12. Changes in the

relative abundance of calcareous microfossils (

...

FIGURE 10.13. Location of Southern Ocean ODP Sites 689 (Leg 113), 738 (Leg 1...

FIGURE 10.14. Relative abundance (%) of nannofossil paleoecological groups (...

FIGURE 10.15. Relative abundance (%) of nannofossil paleoecological groups (...

FIGURE 10.16. Relative abundance (%) of nannofossil paleoecological groups (...

FIGURE 10.17.

Global sea level reconstruction

(

light blue

+

black

) for the in...

FIGURE 10.18. Changes in the relative abundances of select

planktic foramini

...

FIGURE 10.19.

Strontium isotopic composition of seawater

for the past 70 Myr....

FIGURE 10.20. This composite figure depicts a

simulated initiation of East A

...

FIGURE 10.21. Antarctica and surrounding continents showing the development ...

FIGURE 10.22. Histogram of the number of K‐Ar and 40Ar/39Ar ages from four c...

FIGURE 10.23. Cenozoic deep‐sea oxygen isotope data for DSDP sites in the

No

...

FIGURE 10.24. North–South (meridional) profile of the Atlantic Ocean showing...

FIGURE 10.25. Conceptual diagram of the global conveyor of ocean circulation...

Chapter 11

FIGURE 11.1. The ANDRILL drill site on the McMurdo Ice Shelf during the 2006...

FIGURE 11.2. View of the Transantarctic Mountains looking north across Caven...

FIGURE 11.3. 65 Myr composite record of benthic foraminiferal stable oxygen ...

FIGURE 11.4. Map showing distribution of DSDP, ODP, and IODP core locations....

FIGURE 11.5. Maps of Antarctica and the Southern Ocean. Extent of sea ice sh...

FIGURE 11.6. Map of Antarctica showing location of East Antarctic Ice Sheet ...

FIGURE 11.7. Simplified geologic map of McMurdo Sound region showing Ross Is...

FIGURE 11.8. Simplified cross section showing transition from a land‐based g...

FIGURE 11.9. Portion of geologic map and legend from Geologic Map of Antarct...

FIGURE 11.10. Simplified geologic cross‐section of the western Ross Sea regi...

FIGURE 11.11. Simplified diagram illustrating some of the systems used to ob...

FIGURE 11.12. Geography of McMurdo Sound Region, showing geographic and tect...

FIGURE 11.13. Age and characteristics of sediments retrieved from drilling p...

FIGURE 11.14. Cross section of the Victoria Land Basin of western Ross Sea r...

FIGURE 11.15.

General paleoenvironmental setting

for sedimentation along the ...

FIGURE 11.16.

Cross section showing a conceptual model

for growth and decay o...

FIGURE 11.17. Four core intervals from ANDRILL 1‐B.

FIGURE 11.18. Cross section showing part of conceptual model for growth and ...

FIGURE 11.19. Example of a

sequence motif

from ANDRILL Core 1‐B, 1053.3 thro...

FIGURE 11.20. Core log for ANDRILL 1‐B (ANDRILL “MIS”), from Naish et al. (2...

Chapter 12

FIGURE 12.1. Pliocene paleogeography of North America (left), and modern geo...

FIGURE 12.2. Composite deep‐sea benthic foraminiferal oxygen isotope curve (...

FIGURE 12.3. (A) Location map of Lake El'gygytgyn (red star) and other Plioc...

FIGURE 12.4. Composite figure showing data for the interval from 2.2–3.6 Ma ...

FIGURE 12.5. Geomagnetic polarity time scale and deep‐sea benthic foraminife...

FIGURE 12.6.

Modern

mean annual sea surface temperature

(SST).

The Western P...

FIGURE 12.7.

Pliocene

reconstruction map (PRISM3) of mean annual sea surface...

FIGURE 12.8. Mid‐Pliocene PRISM3 SST anomaly map: these sea surface temperat...

FIGURE 12.9. (A) (upper plot):

Latitudinal mean annual temperature (MAT) gra

...

FIGURE 12.10. Map showing how different

mean annual temperatures (MATs)

were...

FIGURE 12.11. Estimates of

Plio–Pleistocene atmospheric carbon dioxide conce

...

FIGURE 12.12.

(same as

Figure 12.2.

).

Composite deep‐sea benthic foraminiferal...

FIGURE 12.13. Map of the U.S. East Coast, Gulf Coast, Gulf of Mexico and nor...

FIGURE 12.14. Summary diagram showing peak global mean temperature relative ...

FIGURE 12.15. Spatial extent of a projected 1‐m (pink) and 6‐m (red) future ...

FIGURE 12.16. Population density across the lower 48 states, northern Mexico...

FIGURE 12.17. Observed average global sea level since the start of the satel...

FIGURE 12.18. This graph shows the average number of days per year on which ...

FIGURE 12.19. Map showing the average number of days per year on which coast...

FIGURE 12.20. Observed sea level from tide gauges (dark gray) and satellites...

FIGURE 12.21. Cumulative coastal populations at risk for a

projected 0.9 m s

...

Chapter 13

FIGURE 13.1. The geologic timescale is the common time reference for Earth h...

FIGURE 13.2. A

simplified depiction of Earth history

highlighting fundamenta...

FIGURE 13.3. Summary diagram of marine animal diversity, sea level change, p...

FIGURE 13.4.

Global compilation of deep‐sea oxygen and carbon isotope records

...

FIGURE 13.5. Stratigraphic context of Paleocene–Eocene vertebrate faunal cha...

FIGURE 13.6. Stratigraphic ranges of mammalian genera from

294 localities

ar...

FIGURE 13.7. Evidence of dwarfing during the PETM (Zone Wa‐0) in several mam...

FIGURE 13.8.

Teilhardina

. (From DiBgd, Creative Commons Attribution‐Share Al...

FIGURE 13.9. Correlation of the carbon isotope records of the Paleocene–Eoce...

FIGURE 13.10. Paleogeographic map showing a very different distribution of c...

FIGURE 13.11.

Six successive evolutionary associations of the large Cenozoic

...

FIGURE 13.12. Modern horse

(Equus)

meets earliest horse.

Sifrhippus sandae

, ...

FIGURE 13.13.

Summary of horse evolution

(family Equidae), including

phylogen

...

FIGURE 13.14. Note the

dark green shading for mollisol in sod grasslands

(wi...

FIGURE 13.15.

Coevolution of horses and grasses

. Note the

mollic epipedon

in ...

FIGURE 13.16. Distribution of the primary sediment types on the seafloor. No...

FIGURE 13.17. Global oceanic and terrestrial

photoautotroph abundance

as mea...

FIGURE 13.18. Annual mean

sea surface temperature.

FIGURE 13.19. (a) Mean annual

sea surface temperature

. (b) Mean annual sea s...

FIGURE 13.20. Compilation of deep‐sea benthic foraminiferal

oxygen isotope d

...

FIGURE 13.21. (Top)

Reconstructions of paleo‐atmospheric CO

2

proxy reco

...

FIGURE 13.22. Skeletal reconstruction of the

basilosaurid

Dorudon atrox

(Ging...

FIGURE 13.23. Generic diversity of Cetacea from the Eocene to the Holocene. ...

FIGURE 13.24. Key steps in human evolution.

Hominin

is a general term descri...

FIGURE 13.25. A composite picture of global paleoclimatic change and hominin...

FIGURE 13.26. Vegetation habitats based on temperature and precipitation....

FIGURE 13.27. Comparison of: (a) eccentricity variations (Berger and Loutre ...

FIGURE 13.28. Estimate of global human population for the last 10 000 yr bas...

FIGURE 13.29. Earth at night.

FIGURE 13.30. Contrasting climatic and biotic conditions for five different ...

FIGURE 13.31. Colored lines: cumulative percent (%) of vertebrate species re...

FIGURE 13.32. Representations of climate stability and change. Climate state...

FIGURE 13.33. What path will we take? Stabilized Earth or pushed past a tipp...

Chapter 14

FIGURE 14.1 When soil and fine‐grained sediment dry out at the surface, they...

FIGURE 14.2. Time series data from 1880 to 2020 of annual global average tem...

FIGURE 14.3. Distribution of Northern Hemisphere summertime temperatures for...

FIGURE 14.4.

Vulnerability index map for 2017

. Vulnerability measures a count...

FIGURE 14.5.

Readiness index map for 2017

. Readiness measures a country's abi...

FIGURE 14.6. Map of cities and sites of ancient Maya Civilization.

FIGURE 14.7. Laser measurements using LiDAR reveal details of ancient settle...

FIGURE 14.8. Average monthly temperature (

red line

) and precipitation (

blue

...

FIGURE 14.9. Seasonal variations in the mean position of the intertropical c...

FIGURE 14.10. Bathymetry of Cariaco Basin showing location of Site 1002, whe...

FIGURE 14.11. Photograph of laminated sediment in the Cariaco Basin, ODP Hol...

FIGURE 14.12 Ti content of a 90 millimeter (mm) slab of core from Site 1002 ...

FIGURE 14.13. Sediment core taken from the deepest part of Lake Chichancanab...

FIGURE 14.14. Comparison of the sediment density records from the Lake Chich...

FIGURE 14.15. Cross section of a Douglas fir tree trunk showing the seasonal...

FIGURE 14.16. Grid points (red dots) in the North American Drought Atlas (NA...

FIGURE 14.17. Tree ring reconstructed drought data from NADA Grid Point 104....

FIGURE 14.18. Compiled data from the western 103 of the 286 grid points in t...

FIGURE 14.19 Summary of research results on reconstructed water levels in Mo...

FIGURE 14.20. Cliff Palace, at Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado, USA....

FIGURE 14.21. Records of precipitation reconstructed from tree ring data at ...

FIGURE 14.22. Maps present information from the North American Drought Atlas...

FIGURE 14.23. The percent area of drought conditions for Arizona during 2000...

FIGURE 14.24. Screenshot from the US Geologic Survey’s (USGS) interactive on...

FIGURE 14.25. History of population growth in Maricopa County, Arizona, sinc...

Guide

Cover Page

Title Page

Copyright Page

The Authors

Foreword from First Edition

Acknowledgments

Book Introduction to the Second Edition for Students and Instructors

About the Companion Website

Table of Contents

Begin Reading

Index

Wiley End User License Agreement

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Reconstructing Earth's Climate History

Inquiry‐Based Exercises for Lab and Class

Second edition

Kristen St. John, R. Mark Leckie, Kate Pound, Megan Jones and Lawrence Krissek

This edition first published 2021© 2021 John Wiley & Sons Ltd

Edition HistoryFirst edition © 2012 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, except as permitted by law. Advice on how to obtain permission to reuse material from this title is available at http://www.wiley.com/go/permissions.

The right of Kristen St. John, R. Mark Leckie, Kate Pound, Megan Jones and Lawrence Krissek to be identified as the authors of this work has been asserted in accordance with law.

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Library of Congress Cataloging‐in‐Publication Data

Name: St. John, Kristen, author.Title: Reconstructing earth’s climate history : inquiry‐based exercises for lab and class / Kristen St. John, R. Mark Leckie, Kate Pound, Megan Jones, Lawrence Krissek.Description: Second edition. | Hoboken, NJ : Wiley‐Blackwell, 2021. | Includes bibliographical references and index.Identifiers: LCCN 2020035031 (print) | LCCN 2020035032 (ebook) | ISBN 9781119544111 (paperback) | ISBN 9781119544104 (adobe pdf) | ISBN 9781119544128 (epub)Subjects: LCSH: Paleoclimatology. | Climatic changes–Observations. | Climatic changes–History.Classification: LCC QC884 .R428 2021 (print) | LCC QC884 (ebook) | DDC 551.609/01–dc23LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020035031LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020035032

Cover Design: Jess Lambert and Kate PoundCover Image: core image: NASADry area: NASA images by Jesse Allen and Robert SimmonIce shelf: NASA Earth Observatory images by Lauren Dauphin

The Authors

Dr. Kristen St. John, Department of Geology & Environmental Science, James Madison University, 801 Carrier Drive, Harrisonburg, VA 22807, USA, [email protected]

Dr. Kristen St. John is a professor of geology at James Madison University. She earned her BS in geology at Furman University, and her MS and a PhD in geological sciences from The Ohio State University. Her scholarship focuses on marine sedimentology/paleoceanography and geoscience education research. She is an active researcher in the scientific ocean drilling community, participating in several at‐sea expeditions, and works on samples from the Arctic, North Atlantic, and North Pacific to piece together Cenozoic glacial and sea ice histories. Her primary teaching responsibilities include undergraduate courses on Earth systems and climate change, geowriting and communication, paleoclimatology and paleoceanography. St. John's geoscience education research aims to strengthen undergraduate geoscience teaching and learning through curriculum design and faculty professional development. This includes the scientific ocean drilling School of Rock expedition in 2005 with Leckie and later workshops and short courses with the co‐author team. She has received several teaching and career awards at JMU, is a Geological Society of America Fellow, and a former Editor‐in‐Chief of the Journal of Geoscience Education.

Dr. R. Mark Leckie, Department of Geosciences, University of Massachusetts, 627 North Pleasant Street, Amherst, MA 01003, USA, [email protected]

Dr. R Mark Leckie is a professor of geology at the University of Massachusetts‐Amherst. He co‐led the scientific instruction of the scientific ocean drilling School of Rock expedition in 2005 and co‐taught the related shore‐based short courses and workshops with St. John. Leckie is a marine micropaleontologist and specializes in paleoceanography, including Cretaceous oceanic anoxic events and Antarctic glacial history. He has participated in seven scientific ocean drilling expeditions. Leckie has served on the Education Subcommittee of the US Advisory Committee for Scientific Ocean Drilling, as well as other service panels of the Ocean Drilling Program. He has served as an associate editor of Geology, Paleoceanography, and the Journal of Foraminiferal Research. Leckie is a co‐author of a classroom activity book: Investigating the Oceans, an Interactive Guide to the Science of Oceanography. He was an instructor at the Urbino Summer School on Paleoclimatology (2008–2012). His primary teaching responsibilities include: introductory oceanography; history of the Earth; geologic field methods; paleoceanography; and marine micropaleontology.

Dr. Kate Pound, Department of Atmospheric and Hydrologic Sciences, St Cloud State University, 720 4th Avenue South, St Cloud, MN 56301, USA, [email protected]

Dr. Kate Pound is a professor of geology and a member of the Science Education Group at St. Cloud State University. Pound was the lead instructor for a field‐based course for teachers (TIMES – Teaching Inquiry‐based Minnesota Earth Science Project) for eight years. She has organized and co‐convened National Association of Geoscience Teachers (NAGT) sponsored teacher workshops Hands‐on, Inquiry‐based Classroom and Lab Assignments – Bringing Geoscience Research to K‐12 and Undergraduate Students, and has co‐convened/co‐chaired associated conference sessions and Hands‐on Galleries. She has worked to develop materials and implement strategies to help visually impaired students in their study of Earth sciences. Pound’s teaching responsibilities include: glacial geology, field geology, rocks and minerals, structure, sedimentology, and the geological environment. She also teaches courses for pre‐service teachers – science for elementary teachers II and secondary teaching Earth & space science. She maintains a sedimentology lab for use in teaching and student‐faculty research and is on the board of the Minnesota Groundwater Association. She participated on‐ice in ANDRILL ARISE (ANtarctic geological DRILLing, Andrill Research Immersion for Science Educators) during fall 2007.

Dr. Megan Jones, Department of Geology, North Hennepin Community College, 7411 85th Avenue North, Brooklyn Park, MN 55445, USA, [email protected]

Dr. Megan Jones is a professor in the Earth and Environmental Sciences department at North Hennepin Community College, a diverse (49% students of color, 55% first generation college students), open‐access institution. She has been teaching physical and historical geology, oceanography, Minnesota field geology for the past 20 years. Her broad background and experience in marine micropaleontology/paleoceanography, sedimentology/stratigraphy, and field geology offers her students options to pursue field experiences and undergraduate research. She was a co‐leader of GARNET, the Geoscience Affective Research Network, an NSF‐sponsored group of investigators examining the relationship between student affect, in this case, motivation, and their success in introductory geology courses. Jones worked with Pound on the successful Metro Area TIMES Project Teaching Inquiry‐based Minnesota Earth Science, a 10 day, field‐based, summer institute for middle and high school, pre‐ and in‐service teachers.

Dr. Lawrence Krissek, School of Earth Sciences, Ohio State University, 125 South Oval Mall, Columbus, OH 43210, USA, [email protected]

Dr. Lawrence Krissek is a professor emeritus in the School of Earth Sciences, Ohio State University. His primary scientific research focus is on understanding the evolution of climates and ocean environments on the earth during the past 65 million years. He has participated in nine field seasons of research in the Antarctic, including the 2006 and 2007 ANDRILL field seasons, and has participated in nine scientific ocean drilling expeditions through the Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP), the Ocean Drilling Program (ODP), and the International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP; formerly the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program). He has served on both US and international committees related to scientific ocean drilling, and has co‐taught the IODP School of Rock twice. He has published both on scientific research and on science education topics. His teaching responsibilities have included oceanography, oceanography for educators, field geology for educators, natural hazards, physical and historical geology, and stratigraphy and sedimentation.

Foreword from First Edition

Climate change has many manifestations, rising greenhouse gas concentrations, sea‐level rise, abrupt climate change, ocean acidification, reduced Arctic sea ice, droughts, floods, hurricanes, melting glaciers and ice sheets, to mention a few. Few would doubt that climate is the environmental issue of our generation, but what scientific evidence causes so much concern about human influence on climate? Some might argue from the point of view of planetary physics; atmospheric greenhouse gases naturally affect the Earth’s temperature and human carbon emissions have elevated carbon dioxide and methane concentrations and, as a consequence, global temperature. Others might claim that predictive climate models project future temperatures, rainfall patterns and sea levels that threaten society. The striking rise in global temperature observed from instruments over the past century also raises concern about future trends and impacts.

As important as these topics are, one field – paleoclimatology – is unique in providing the requisite baseline of natural climate variability against which human‐induced climate change must be assessed. A rapidly growing discipline that draws on ocean, atmosphere, and Earth sciences, paleoclimatology is today an essential foundation of climate science because it addresses climate history beyond the limited instrumental record and during climate states that the Earth may very well experience in the future. Consider these facts: Ice core records provide the primary evidence that modern greenhouse gas concentrations lie far outside the bounds of natural variability of the last 800,000 years. Thanks to tree rings, speleothems, and other records we now know that rising atmospheric and ocean temperatures during the last century cannot be explained by volcanic or solar activity but required forcing by elevated greenhouse gas concentrations. Lake and marine sediment records confirm what is suspected from satellite records – that polar climates are changing at unprecedented rates. Marine sediment records show us that ocean acidification – a major concern owing to human‐induced perturbations of the global carbon cycle – typically accompanied massive increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide in the geological past.

Reconstructing Earth’s Climate History – a novel classroom and laboratory educational guide by Kristen St John, R Mark Leckie, Kate Pound, Megan Jones and Lawrence Krissek – represents a major, long overdue effort to educate future generations about methods used to reconstruct climate history. From an academic perspective, the book exemplifies the authors’ lifelong dedication to teaching. It includes practical discussions and exercises that teach students how climate history is reconstructed from “proxies” extracted from sediments, ice cores, speleothems, tree rings, coral skeletons, and other archives. It prepares students to engage in field and laboratory research to distinguish natural from anthropogenic climate change, evaluate computer model simulations of climate under elevated greenhouse gas concentrations, and clarify the causes and impact of abrupt climate changes. Equally important, Kristen St. John and her co‐authors also strive to explain why climate history is, and will continue to be, so relevant to policy debates about climate change. It is hoped that students of both natural and social sciences will use it for the benefit of the Earth’s environments and future societies.

Thomas M. Cronin, Senior Research Geologist, US Geological Survey Reston Virginia

Acknowledgments

The first edition of this book evolved out of collaborative efforts on a National Science Foundation (NSF) Course Curriculum and Laboratory Improvement (CCLI) grant (#0737335). The goal of our NSF project was to make the science of scientific ocean drilling research accessible to educators. We set out to write seven data‐rich exercises for the undergraduate classroom. However, we accomplished much more than we set out to do – we essentially developed an entire undergraduate course curriculum that explores the record of Earth's climate history. We had written a book. The first edition of this book would not have happened without the initial funding from NSF, as well as the support of the Consortium of Ocean Leadership, the International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP; formerly the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program), and Antarctic Geological Drilling Program (ANDRILL). We are especially grateful to Leslie Peart, former education director of Ocean Leadership's Deep Earth Academy, who was instrumental in facilitating education and outreach for IODP for many years. It was her vision of the School of Rock Program (which still exists today) that seeded the collaboration of the author team. We are thankful to Cathy Manduca, director of the Science Education Resource Center (SERC) at Carleton College; her insight into the undergraduate curriculum, workshop development, and dissemination were valuable to us, as they have been to the broader geoscience education community. We are grateful to Eric Pyle, professor of geology at James Madison University (JMU) and evaluator of our NSF grant; his input gave us much to consider about teaching and learning. The first edition of the book could not have come together so smoothly without the skilled help of students Serena Dameron and Sarah Rangel, and graphic design consultant Jason Mallett. We thank students Allison (Ali) Dim, Kate Kaldor, and Casey Maslock for helping with some new content for the second edition. We greatly appreciate the constructive comments from colleagues who reviewed draft chapters from the first or second editions. Their scientific and/or pedagogical expertise helped improve the quality of the book, as did the feedback from our students who used draft versions of these chapters in classes and labs. We specifically thank: Stephen Schellenburg, Tom Cronin, Robert DeConto, Steve Petsch, Debbie Thomas, Jackie Hams, David Voorhees, Leilani Arthurs, Paul Holm, Bill Lukens, Kaustubh Thirumalai, Terry Quinn, David Elliot, Berry Lyons, Francine McCarthy, John Olesik, Jim Brey, Tom Gill, Steve Hovan, several anonymous reviewers, and the many faculty whom we have interacted with in professional development workshops that used this book. Very special thanks to graphic designer, Jess Lambert, for working with Kate Pound and the rest of the authors to develop the cover design for the second edition. We would also like to thank the editors, and the development and production teams at Wiley, especially Ian Francis, Delia Sandford, Anna Bassett, Kevin Fung, Marilyn Grant, and Vivien Ward for their guidance on the first edition, and Rosie Hayden, Andrew Harrison, and Karthika Sridharan for their guidance on the second edition. What fantastic, professional teams to work with!

This content of the book is based in large part upon practices and results of scientific ocean drilling, especially scientific work of IODP, and its predecessor programs (i.e. ODP and DSDP), as well as the scientific work of the ANDRILL program. While program names have changed through different funding cycles (and will again in the future), the international commitment to support scientific ocean drilling has advanced the research community's understanding of how Earth's climate system works. These insights are an important backdrop for understanding modern climate change, for testing models of future climate, and for evidence‐based science communication with educators, students, the public‐at‐large, and policy makers.

Book Introduction to the Second Edition for Students and Instructors

Dear Students and Instructors,

We are excited to provide you with the opportunity to learn about Earth's climate of the past, and its relevance to climate of the present and future, through an inquiry‐based curricula design. This is the second edition of Reconstructing Earth's Climate History – Inquiry‐Based Exercises for Lab and Class, and we have worked hard to maintain the best content of the first edition, while also expanding topics, updating exercises, and reorganizing content to scaffold data‐rich material and support your learning. As the title of the book implies, this is a book that has you, the student, playing an important active role; you are to make observations, ask questions, wrestle with uncertainly, interact with your classmates and instructor, and work to synthesize information, pose evidence‐based hypotheses, and infer broad implications from case study examples. All of this is part of the process of scientific inquiry, which aims to build your content knowledge and observational and analytical skills.

In order to get the most out of your work with this book, we want you to know why and how we designed it, as well as what is new to the second edition. We think understanding the design will give you a roadmap of what to expect as you use this book to reconstruct Earth's climate history.

Motivation and Purpose

There has never been a more critical time for students to understand how the Earth works. Understanding the causes and potential consequences of Earth's changing climate are of particular importance because modern climate change is an issue that impacts economies, societies, environments, and lifestyles; furthermore these impacts are distributed differently across countries and populations. The context for understanding global warming today lies in the records of Earth's past. This is demonstrated by decades of paleoclimate research by scientists in organizations such as the International Ocean Discovery Program, the Antarctic Geological Drilling Program, the Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center's Ice Core Laboratory, and many others. The purpose of this book is to put key data and published case studies of past climate change at your fingertips, so that you can experience the nature of paleoclimate research and discovery. You will evaluate data, practice developing and testing hypotheses, and infer the broader implications of scientific results. It is our philosophy that addressing how we know is as important as addressing what we know about past climate.

Use of Real Data

The chapters in the book can be considered multipart exercises that build upon authentic data from peer‐reviewed scientific publications. One of the most effective means of conveying science data is through figures – graphs, photos, diagrams. Therefore, unlike many books where the figures supplement the text, in this book the figures are the central elements of every exercise. Questions and tasks within each exercise are constructed around the data or concepts presented in figures. This means that it is essential to carefully examine the figures and diligently read their captions. This may not be easy at first, but with practice (and this book will give you lots of it!) it will become second nature.

Content Topics

The content topics chosen for this book support the Essential Principles of Climate Science (USGCRP, 2009; Table 1)1. The relevance of investigating past climates for understanding modern climate change and for predicting future climate change is evident throughout the book. Reconstructing past climate change relies on investigations of multiple archives, including tree rings, corals, speleothems, ice, sediment, and sedimentary rock. In this book we focus primarily on climate change during the Cenozoic Era (the last 66.0 million years of Earth’s history; see timescale inside front cover of book). We therefore draw largely from ocean sediment core and ice core records, which are valuable archives of the past 200 million years and past 500 thousand years, respectively. The second edition expands on this to include more terrestrial records as well. As you will see, obtaining detailed natural records of Earth's climate history is a challenging undertaking, often involving expeditions to remote locations, complex coring technology, careful planning and execution, and hard work. Once obtained, paleoclimate records must be systematically described, ages must be determined, and indirect evidence (i.e. proxies) of past climate must be analyzed. Much like the work of a detective, geoscientists and paleoclimatologists reconstruct what happened in the past, and when and how it happened based on the clues left behind by the events that took place.

TABLE 1. Chapter alignment to scientific content, skills, and USGCRP (2009) climate literacy principles.

The chapters in this book are organized to first explore fundamental aspects of paleoclimate research and the “tools” used to conduct this research. Chapter 1 introduces how marine and terrestrial records are obtained, with increased representation of terrestrial records compared to the first edition. Chapter 2 focuses on describing marine sediments, a major archive of past climate. Chapters 3–5 focus on how ages of geologic and paleoclimate records are determined using multiple methods. New to the second edition, Chapter 3 introduces relative and radiometric age dating techniques. We also reversed the order of two chapters from the first edition: paleomagnetism (now Chapter 4) and biostratigraphy (now Chapter 5) because magnetostratigraphy is a bridge between the numerical ages that radiometric dating provides and the relative ages that fossils provide. Chapter 5 was expanded to include a new unit on organic‐walled microfossils.

Chapters 6 and 7 transition the content of the book from paleoclimate tools (specifically, proxies) to chronological case studies. Chapter 6 provides an overview of the Phanerozoic CO2 record and introduces stable carbon isotopes, whereas Chapter 7 provides an overview of Cenozoic climate history based on oxygen isotope data in fossils and ice. The next five chapters of the book continue chronological case studies that open windows to examine the causes and consequences of climate change patterns and events within the Cenozoic: including climate cycles (Chapter 8, which now also includes access to a downloadable spreadsheet of a climate cycle case study), the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum (Chapter 9), the onset of Antarctic glaciation (Chapter 10), Antarctica and Neogene climate change (Chapter 11, which is a condensed version of two chapters in the first edition), and Pliocene warmth (Chapter 12, with expanded sections on sea level change and the transition to Pleistocene Northern Hemisphere glaciation). The final two chapters are new to the second edition. Chapter 13 explores connections between climate change and life with examples from the Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic Eras. Chapter 14 examines connections between climate change and human civilizations with examples from water‐stressed regions in modern and historical times. A more detailed description of each chapter is provided in the Table of Contents.

Transportable Skills

In addition to introducing and working with paleoclimate content, the exercises in this book are also designed to provide opportunities to develop and practice scientific and other life skills (Table 1). These include making observations, formulating hypotheses, practicing quantitative and problem‐solving skills, making data‐based interpretations, recognizing and dealing with uncertainty, working in groups, communicating (written and oral) with others, synthesizing data, and articulating evidence‐based arguments. Many of these scientific skills are also valued by other disciplines – from business to the social sciences. Therefore, whether your aspirations are to pursue a career in science or in another field, working with the data in this book in this inquiry‐based way will help you develop valuable, transportable skill sets.

Practical Use of Multipart Exercises

Each chapter in this book is a multipart exercise. The first part of each chapter is typically designed to introduce a topic and/or gauge prior knowledge, and therefore to identify possible misconceptions. In‐depth exploration of the topic follows in subsequent exercise parts, as does the synthesis of the important implications of the data. How you use these exercises will depend on the focus of your course, time, prior knowledge (both instructor and student), and class size. Therefore you may explore a chapter from beginning to end, or you may be extracting specific parts of exercises that support your curriculum and instructional goals, and course management decisions. Some exercises may be assigned as homework, and others may serve as in‐class activities that can be jumping‐off points for lectures, or an entire chapter may serve as a weekly lab activity. In all cases, the value of group discussion at different junctures within, and/or at the end of, an exercise cannot be underestimated. As undergraduate instructors, the authors of this book all practice a “do‐talk‐do” approach to teaching and learning, whereby we integrate both inquiry‐based student learning and lecture in our classes. We encourage instructors using this book to do the same. For instructors to successfully adapt inquiry‐based approaches (as used in this book), it almost certainly is necessary to cover less material than would be covered in a semester (or quarter) of lecture‐only classes. This is because inquiry takes more time than does lecture. However, the benefits of having students take active roles in the construction of their knowledge and the development of transportable skills are well worth this trade‐off. We recognize that instructors using this book are not necessarily experts themselves in paleoclimatology. Therefore, we developed comprehensive instructor guides for each chapter to provide essential background information, detailed answer keys, and alternative implementation strategies, as well as to provide links to other supplementary materials and examples for assessment.

Audience

Because of the flexible design of these multipart exercises, they can be (and have been) used at multiple levels and with multiple audiences. Collectively the use of all of the exercises in this book would support an undergraduate course in paleoclimatology, global climate change, or paleoceanography. The select use of specific chapters or parts of chapters can also support topics in many Earth science courses (e.g. historical geology, oceanography, stratigraphy, Quaternary science).

Classroom Tested