GEOG 1300 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Radiative Forcing, Ocean Heat Content, Speleothem
21 Apr 2016
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Document Summary
Current: weather station data, remote sensing, numerical modeling using general circulation. Past (paleoclimatology): proxy indicators: ice core, sediment, coral reef, ancient pollen, tree-rings. Paleoclimatic tech yield long-term records that span hundreds of 100"s of thousands to millions of years: came from cores in ocean-bottom sediments, or thickest ice sheets. Ice cores: air bubbles in glacial ice indicate the composition of past atmospheres. Track co2, methane, and temp in atmosphere over time. Radiocarbon dating, analysis of; growth rings of trees, speleothems, and corals. Tree rings: dendrochronology (study of tree growth, dendroclimatology (study of past climate using tree growth, size and character of annual rings indicate growing condition of the time. Speleothems: limestone is sedimentary, easily dissolved by water, natural processes carve it into caves and underground rivers, producing karst. Topography: within caves, calcium carbonate mineral deposits form = speleothems, rate of growth depends on; amount of rainwater (percolating), acidity, temp, and humidity, also have growth bands.
