Introduction to the Quaternary Flashcards
When did ice sheet formation in Antarctica take place?
38 million years ago
When did the Northern Hemisphere ice sheets form?
Between 3 and 2.55 million years ago
What are 3 important reasons for studying quaternary events?
To obtain insights about ans to predict/mitigate the effects of future climate change by finding analogues with the past
Testing of predictive models through retrodiction
For sustainable management/ land use of the environment and its resources
What are 5 unique quaternary characteristics?
Migrations of hominins and emergence of modern humans
Similar configuration of continents-oceans-mountains chains
High frequency glacial-interglacial climate changes
Development of present day flora and fauna
Relatively good records of environmental change
Who found evidence of ancient glaciation?
Bernard Friederich Kuhn
When did Bernard Friederich Kuhn find evidence of glaciation?
1787
What evidence of glaciation did Bernard Friederich Kuhn interpret?
Erratic boulders
When was the birth of the glacial theory?
1837
Who’s paper started the birth of the glacial theory?
Agassiz
What did Agassiz do in 1840?
He visited England and read a paper in Glasgow
He was attacked by Lyell and then went around Scotland with Buckland and Murchison
What did Joseph Adhemar suggest in 1842?
Ice ages may be due to variations in the way the Earth moves around the sun
What did Joseph Adhemar base his suggestion on?
17C Keplers interpretation
What happened in 1852?
The extent of the Greenland ice sheet was established which provided evidence that large ice sheets could exist
What happened in 1863?
Archibald Geikie argues that plant remains found between layers of Scottish tills were clear evidence of a warm climate which suggests multiple glacial stages
What did James Croll publish in 1867?
Calculations of orbital eccentricities
What did James Croll publish in 1875?
A book called Climate and Time which was widely discarded
What did Milutin Milankovitch publish in 1914?
“On the problem of the astronomical theory of the ice ages” but it was written in Serbian and so wasn’t read by many
What did Milankovitch publish in 1930?
“Mathematical Climatology and the Astronomical Theory of Climatic Change”
What is eccentricity?
The shape of the Earth’s orbit around the Sun
What is perihelion?
The closest approach to the sun in the Earth’s orbit
What is aphelion?
The furthest point from the Sun in the Earth’s orbit
How much solar energy is received at the aphelion?
1311 kW/m2
How much solar energy is received at the perihelion?
1400 kW/m2
How long is the eccentricity cycle?
96ka
