Transcript Cool Cores Capture Climate Change

Cool Cores Capture Climate
Change
An EET Chapter
Antarctic Glacier Simulation
• http://andrill.org/system/files/web/images/e
du/iceshelfadvanceretreat.swf
• Glaciers melt a lot faster than they freeze
The Value of Drilling
• http://www.andrill.org/iceberg/videos/2007/
index.html
• See videos 2,4, 5, and 6
Sediment Types
• See Power Point of sediment cards
PSICAT Models
Possibilities
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Warm +2 degrees, Cool -2 degrees
During warming, mudstone with clasts 500 years, diatomite 500 years
During cooling, diatomite 2900 years, mudstone 3100 years, diamictite 3000
years
Core Story: Thousands of years ago, the earth underwent a warming phase
with diatoms thriving in the Antarctic waters. Then a cooling phase led to
the depositing of mudstone. The earth warmed again, creating diatomite.
Then the earth underwent a long ice age, cooling the earth and depositing
many rocks from glaciers as clasts. Finally the earth warmed again,
creating diatomite.
Diatomite is longest trend, because it occurs the slowest.
Drill Site #2 receives longer impact from the glacier movements and less
time exposed to open water.
Radio carbon dating, fossils, could be used for the cores, for dating
purposes. Somehow we would need to tie to core to known events with
dates. 200 meters = 1 million years?
Core Pictures
• Core
• Gallery
• What do the different colors represent?
PSICAT Model of Core
Summary
• Antarctica and the Earth as a whole have
experienced climate change for millions of
years
• Right now we are in a relatively cold time
or icehouse
• Antarctica was once very warm
• Scientists use cores from Antarctica to
understand climate change
References
• This project was created by the Earth
Exploration Toolbook, please see
http://serc.carleton.edu/eet/cores/index.ht
ml for further details.