|
|
|
|
Motivation:
Paleoclimatology is ultimately the study of processes which control geological as well as historical, present-day, and future climate change. To give just a few examples: What are the circulation and moisture-mediated feedbacks which drive the transition between glacial and interglacial climates, and just how quickly can large-scale deglaciation occur in response? What drove the change in Pacific Basin state (sea surface temperature, winds, sea level pressure, thermocline depth) in the late 1970s, and have similar events occurred previously? The answers to these questions may illustrate processes which operate on human timescales, and they can have an important role in the debate over climate change mitigation (McCarthy et al., 2001; Alley et al., 2002).
Major advances in paleoclimatology in response to such "Grand
Challenges" have relied on a variety of complementary strategies
and
techniques. For example, Fairbanks et al. (1989,1990) used
pairs
of radiocarbon and Thorium/Uranium-derived dates for
surface-growing
corals to not only derive a deglacial eustatic sea level curve and
estimate the timing of glacial meltwater pulses, but also to
extend the
radiocarbon calibration to the Last Glacial Maximum. The
application of semi-redundant gas and water stable isotope, noble
gas,
trace greenhouse gas, particulate concentration, conductivity, and
borehole temperature inversion techniques were crucial to the
dating,
timing and interpretation of important events in the Greenland ice
core
records developed in the 1990s, in particular the abrupt nature of
Arctic climate change during the last deglaciation (Blunier et
al.,
1999; Severinghaus et al., 1999). Similarly, multiple
proxies for
surface and deep-sea temperature developed for application in
marine
sediment cores have contributed important insights into the debate
over
tropical sea surface temperature change since the Last Glacial
Maximum
(Mix et al., 1999). The product of that study was used to
force a
model of the general circulation of the atmosphere to predict the
response of inter-ocean moisture transport (Hostetler et al.,
1999). Use of a wide variety of seasonal-to-annual
resolution proxy observations from a global network, in
conjunction with
robust multivariate statistical techniques, has contributed
directly to
the controversy over whether human influence on the mean global
climate
has unambigously appeared in the historical surface temperature
record
(Mann et al., 1998).
Use of multiple, complementary tools in paleoclimatology will
only
increase as the complexity and sublety of the questions we ask
increases. But:
There are about three dozen faculty and research scientists in
ten
departments at the University of Arizona who work in
paleoenvironmental
research and in related fields. This diversity of talent,
interests, skills and tools presents a unique resource for
students
wishing to develop and/or apply multidisciplinary tools to the
resolution of important and challenging questions in paleo
research.
By surveying a broad range of tools used to solve paleo
questions, we will focus less on a particular or familiar tool or
two,
and more on the big questions. I am also hoping our UA
paleoclimate research community will use this seminar to find new
ideas
for potential collaborations, and find the students to turn those
ideas
into reality. This course is brand new, and is supported in
spirit
by an NSF Major Research Instrumentation grant to J.W. Beck, J.E.
Cole,
M.N. Evans, M.K. Hughes, and J.T. Overpeck, an NSF CAREER
grant to
M.N. Evans, and the UA Institute for the Study of Planet Earth
(ISPE).
Goals:
By the conclusion of this seminar series, students should be able to:
Instructor: Michael Evans , Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research, 214 W. Stadium. ph 626-2897; email: mevans@ltrr.arizona.edu. Office hours: Monday, 4-5pm, W. Stadium 214, or by appointment. Please email for more information. I will try to answer emails within 24 hours.
Location and Time:
Introductory meeting:
Wednesday, January 14th, 2004, Tree-Ring
Lab-West Seminar Room (Rm. 20), 1pm.
Regular Meeting Time:
Wednesdays, 1:30-3:30pm.
Registration info: There are multiple "modules" of GEOS 595E taught each semester; you may register for 2 units which comprises the module described here, and/or for other modules. See the 2004 Dendrochronology Colloquium Overview webpage for this semester's offerings, and more details.
Prerequisite: An interest in the application of paleoclimatological methods, broadly defined, to current problems in climate change research. You may wish to fill in your background as we go by having at hand a favorite text on paleoclimate research methods. A good recent one is by R.S. Bradley, Paleoclimatology: Reconstructing Climates of the Quaternary.
Additional reading and course materials: I will provide them electronically as password protected PDF files, served from this webpage.
Assignments:
Syllabus (subject to
revision)
|
|
|
|
January 14th | Introduction; Logistics | Mike Evans (LTRR) | Course
questionnaire |
January 21st |
Motivating questions in
Paleoclimatology |
Jonathan Overpeck
(ISPE/GEOS) summary by Leslie McCluskey |
|
January 28th |
Stable isotope geochemistry: Carbonates | Jay Quade (USGS/GEOS) summary by Kevin Anchukaitis |
|
February 4th (Note Mike's office hours are 1:30-2:30pm, Mon., Feb. 2nd) |
Paleoecology: Packrat Midden Analysis | Julio Betancourt (USGS/GEOS) summary by Heidi Barnett Julio's powerpoint lecture is here [29Mb] |
|
February 11th |
Minor element geochemistry: Carbonates | Julie Cole (GEOS) summary by Jim Morrison Julie's powerpoint lecture is here [11Mb] |
|
February 18th | Stable isotope geochemistry: Organics | Steve Leavitt (LTRR) summary by Peggy Barker |
|
February 25th |
Passive Tracers: Isotope hydrology | Brenda Ekwurzel (HWR/GEOS) summary by Scott St. George |
|
March 3rd | Radiocarbon geochronology | Tim Jull (PHYS/AMS) summary by Mike Evans |
|
March 10th |
Th/U geochronology |
Warren Beck (PHYS/AMS) summary by Jessica Rowland |
|
March 17th |
Spring Break - no class |
|
|
March 24th |
Dendrochronology | Jeff Dean (LTRR/ANTH) summary by Jessica Rowland |
|
March 31st |
Dendroclimatology |
Malcolm
Hughes (LTRR) summary by Leslie McCluskey html slides are here. powerpoint is here [33Mb] |
|
April 7th |
Paleolimnology | Andy Cohen (GEOS) summary by Peggy Barker html slides are here. powerpoint is here [38Mb] |
|
April 14th |
Statistical Reconstruction
of
Paleoclimates |
Mike Evans (LTRR) summary by Heidi Barnett html slides are here. powerpoint is here [29Mb] slides drawn in class are here. [309Kb] |
|
April 21st | Climate System/Paleoclimate Modeling | Andrea Hahmann (ATMO) summary by Kevin Anchukaitis powerpoint is here [3.9Mb] |
|
April 28th |
Student
Projects: peer evaluation of drafts; discussions and
meetings with
discussion leaders Office Hours Monday, April 26th, 3:30 -5pm, W. Stadium 214 |
Class participants |
Draft proposals due Wednesday, April 28th in class. Bring 3 copies: one for yourself, one for peer evaluation, and one for Mike. |
May 5th | Student Projects: Presentation | Class participants |
Final
proposals due Friday, May 7th, 4pm, to Mike |