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Geo 538: Pleoclimatology (Spring, 2003)

Organization

We will have class twice weekly for 50 minutes (lecture classes) or 75 minutes with a break (discussion classes). There will be five introductory lectures at the beginning of the semester; remaining classes will be in seminar/discussion format. In each of these seminar classes, we will discuss about 3 papers. Some will be assigned to an individual for presentation; some will be read by all of us with one chosen at random to present the material.

The first section of the class will involve a series of lectures discussing the physical processes which govern Earth's climate; numerical models, in which these processes are encoded, to simulate climate change; and key properties of sediments from which the nature of past climates can be deduced by reading the geological record.

The second section of the class investigates the major events of Earth's climate history, from the "faint early sun paradox" (Earth's climate was similar to today's, although the sun shown less brightly) to global change. The latter is seen in the context of geological climate change.

The third part of the course discusses three emerging issues in paleoclimate studies.

Syllabus

1. Principles (lectures)
   • 1, 2. Causes of climate change
   • 3. Climate models
   • 4. The record of climate change
   • 5. Geochemistry of the biogenic greenhouse gases: CO₂, CH₄, N₂O
2. Events (readings and class discussion)
   • 6. The faint early sun paradox
   • 7, 8. Snowball Earth (readings)
   • 9. Paleozoic glaciations (readings)
   • 10, 11. Warm Cretaceous and Eocene climates (readings)
   • 12. The Eocene-Oligocene boundary (readings)
   • 13. Beginnings of Pleistocene glaciations
   • 14, 15. Pleistocene climate cycles (readings)
   • 16. Millenial duration climate change (readings)
   • 17. The Holocene
   • 18. The Anthropocene
3. Themes (readings and class discussion)
   • 19, 20. Role of the biosphere in glacial - interglacial climate change (lecture, readings)
   • 21. Role of the tropics in long term climate change
   • 22. Solar variability and climate change
   • 23, 24. Open

Readings for the first four classes will be from textbooks and papers from the literature. Readings for the seminar/discussion classes will include some review papers, and will mostly be papers from the original literature.

Students will be required to write a term paper of about 10 pages length. Where possible it should include analysis and/or synthesis of data from the literature.

Grades will be based on the term paper and class presentations.

Prerequisites: Permission of the instructor