Ice Age Earth

The reconstruction of past climate change is dependent upon the application of reliable dating techniques and an understanding of the context of these methods. The study of quaternary environments must draw from a range of disciplines. This study focuses on changes in the Earth's geology and climate between the last interglacial period and the final melting of the last great ice sheets, some 130,000 to 7000 years ago. The author describes the study of ocean sediments and ice cores and the value of these findings to the development of advance circulation models. Emphasis is placed on regional variability in glacial history, the rapidity of past climate change and the complexity of environmental responses to widespread deglaciation. Periglacial environments - as well as rivers, mires, volcanic and aeolian activity, crustal and sea-level movement - are also considered. The author closes with a contextual discussion of Milankovitch insolation theory.