Paleoclimates

The field of palaeoclimatology draws on extensive empirical observations obtained from physical, chemical, and biological proxies preserved in natural archives. These include glacial ice, tree rings, sediments, corals, and stalactites and stalagmites, which reconstruct patterns and interpret causes of past climate change. From ocean sediment coring expeditions to multi-year ice sheet coring programs, paleoclimatologists go to great lengths to test the numerous theories and hypotheses concerning the causes of Earth's climate.

This book reviews state-of-the-art palaeoclimate research covering all geological timescales, with an emphasis on the implications of past climate changes for modern trends in Earth's climate. The text is geared specifically towards advanced undergraduate and graduate students and researchers within and outside of the immediate field of palaeoclimatology. Thomas M. Cronin covers empirical palaeo-records in significant detail, including detailed discussions of discoveries made over the last decade and their relationship to pressing controversies about climate change.

More than 3,000 citations and 150 graphics make this text the most comprehensive, up-to-date synthesis of palaeoclimatology available, each chapter featuring short summaries of landmark papers that caused paradigm shifts in the field.

List of Tables
Preface
Acknowledgments
Abbreviations

1. Paleoclimatology and Modern Challenges
2. Methods in Paleoclimatology
3. Deep Time: Climate from 3.8 Billion to 65 Million Years Ago
4. Cenozoic Climate
5. Orbital Climate Change
6. Glacial Millennial Climate Change
7. Millennial Climate Events During Deglaciation
8. Holocene Climate Variability
9. Abrupt Climate Events
10. Internal Modes of Climate Variability
11. The Anthropocene I: Global and Hemispheric Temperature
12. The Anthropocene II: Climatic and Hydrological Change During the Last 2000 Years

Epilogue
Appendix: Paleoclimate Proxies
References
Index