GEOL 450 - Paleoclimatology

Earth’s climate has fluctuated widely in the past, between warm periods and ice ages, and times of great drought versus wetter intervals. The planet currently faces abrupt climate change resulting from human-induced environmental modification. Paleoclimatology, the study of past climates and environments of the Earth, provides a long-term perspective on the nature of global climate variability that is critical for evaluating the sensitivity of the Earth system to past, present, and future changes. This course provides students with an overview of paleoclimatology by examining the use of proxy records such as marine and lake sediment sequences, ice cores, tree rings, corals, and historical data to reconstruct past climatic conditions. Dating methods are introduced, and seminal publications in paleoclimatology are reviewed in tandem with current research papers addressing outstanding questions in paleoclimatology. Throughout, students critically analyze their current understanding of past climates and environments, and identify promising directions for future research. Topics include abrupt climate change, human evolution and climate, biosphere-climate interactions, and paleoclimate modeling.

Credits: 1.00
Corequisite: None
Prerequisites: GEOL 215 or GEOL 225
Major/Minor Restrictions: None
Class Restriction: None
Area of Inquiry: Natural Sciences & Mathematics
Liberal Arts CORE: None
Formerly: GEOL 350

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