Iodp Site 913 Glaciations

The global mean surface temperature is projected to increase by around 0.3 to 4.8 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial values by the end of the 21th century. Therefore, if we continue to not check the anthropogenic emissions, the increase may be around 8 to 10 degrees Celsius, which is incredibly damaging to various ecosystems internationally. It is difficult to determine the possible aftereffects of the ice sheets melting because the equilibrium-response timescales of them is longer than both the atmosphere and ocean. The ice-sheet/ice-shelf model shows that if the atmospheric warming increases 1.5 to 2 degrees Celsius above the present temperatures, the Antarctic ice shelves will collapse and trigger a centennial scale response –a never-ending

With our observation of the Shawangunk formation, we see a sedimentary rock formation containing a range of grain size. Such sizes range from pebbles (3cm-5cm), fine-grain sand, and medium-grain sand. There is some grading towards the bottom left of the outcrop known as a reverse grading with some small cross beds present (Figure 2). The grading occurs towards a slight part of the outcrop where we see the grading beginning as fine grain sediments and working up to coarser grain. With moderate sorting we see variations of degree of sorting per bed. As the degree of sorting varies as does the sphericity. The sediment bedding is well seen ranging in sizes of +/--20 cm to 40 cm. This outcrop has thick beds as one can see the basic units with cracks in between each (Figure 3). With mostly tabular beds consisting of sub-angular, and sub-rounded sediments, this outcrop also consists of some ventricular beds (Figure 4). When looking at figure 4, we have a small space of a ventricular bed present. This is because the bed comes in, pinches thicker bedding,

Earth has experienced many episodes of dramatic climate changes with different periods in earth history. There have been periods during which the entire planet has been covered in ice and at another time it has been scorchingly hot and dry. In this regards, earth has experienced at least three major periods of long- term frigid climate and ice ages interspersed with periods of warm climate. The last glacial period which current glaciers are the result of it, occurring during the last years of Pleistocene, from approximately 110,000 to 10,000 years age (Clayton, 1997). Indeed, glaciers present sensitive indicators of climate change and global warming and by estimating and monitoring the dynamic evolution of these ice masses, several

Ice ages are well documented in Earth’s history, and they are proven to be relatively frequent. But what if that ice age persisted over not just regions near the poles, but around the equator as well? The term “snowball Earth” refers to a condition where Earth is completely covered by ice. Evidence indicates that snowball Earth may have been around in the Neoproterozoic. In fact, evidence points to the conclusion that these conditions happened three separate times in the Neoproterozoic. A snowball Earth condition is hard to prove, but this theory may explain several different phenomena. However, it is not accepted by all, there is evidence against a snowball Earth as well. Some believe that a snowball Earth would not have been possible in past climate conditions while there are views that defend the idea of more of a ‘slushball’ Earth rather than a planet entirely frozen on the surface.

Firstly, the passage counts distortion in Gulf Steam as a main reason for Little Ice Age advent. However, lecture states all the alternations have merely effected north part of America and Europe and not all the parts of this terrestrial globe namely South Africa and New Zealand; were all have been unaffected

The glaciation is very confusing to those who don't know about glaciers so here is some background information. The last glacial advance started about 75,000 years ago and the last

First, sediment samples and animal remains from the Bering Sea prove that the Beringia was habitable at the height of the ice age or 21,000 years ago. According to Elias: “humans did not survive the last ice age’s peak in northeastern Siberia, and yet there is no evidence they had reached Alaska or the rest of the New World either” (Elias). At this point, Elias’s theorizes that people lived on the Beringia, a 600 mile wide area between Siberia, Russia, and Alaska. Furthermore, “sediment cores” (Elias), from the Bering sea indicate that the

This problem could mark either the end of human civilizations or mark the beginning of the next era of human development. It would decide on our species survival, whether there will be another mass extinction like the one 65 million years ago. The question is “How might the breaking up and melting of continental ice in Greenland and the Antarctic affect Canada’s coastline?”. In the following sections, we have gathered an abundance of information from a variety of sources from which we will discuss, and analyze. We will find out how this data can help us understand the effect of melting glaciers on Canada’s coastline, as well as how and what we could do to stop or slow it down.

The Siberian tundra is basically melting away overtime, even though it has been frozen for tens of thousands of years. At such a fast rate it is speculated that it is influencing global warming. The landscape is changing fast. In the last three to four years, the underlying

The Crato Formation lithologies were most likely deposited when there was a marine transgression; which is what the Cretaceous period is renowned for (Hu et al. 2012). The build-up of laminated limestones and different lithologies in the stratigraphic column could suggest that it was a lagoon depositional environment (Martill and Frey, 1998).

The Inoceramid clams found in the Niobrara formations leads to the assumption that the mudstone and limestone were deposited at the sea floor. Clams today are mostly found in the deep burrows of mud, and with the principle of uniformitarianism you can deduce that those clams were also most likely living on the sea floor. The clams living at the sea floor would be supported by the fact that the clam fossils were found in mudstone and limestone because mudstone is usually in lower energy environments like the sea

For many years now, scientists have believed that our climate is changing. This climate change has caused water currents up north, near Antarctica to shift leading to warm waters taking the place of the usual cold arctic waters. Warm water melts the glaciers and causes the top of the glaciers to float off into the sea, allowing the warm water to melt even more glaciers. The extra glacier melting into our sea has caused the sea levels to raise and the

The article reports that University College London geochemist Dominic Papineau and his student Matthew Dodd described fossils similar to those found in the Apex Chert in an outcrop known to be anywhere from 3.77 billion to 4.28 billion years in age. This outcrop, located in Quebec, is referred to as the Nuvvuagittuq Greenstone Belt and is a remnant of Earth’s original ocean floor. In the article, Dodd describes the hematite fossils contained by the Nuvvuagittuq Greenstone Belt as “tubelike” and suggests that they were formed by a community of microbes that lived up to 4.28 billion years

Glaciation that are widespread can be identified based on the subglacial tillite, which is a thick layer of sediments that settle down beneath glaciers or ice caps. On top of this subglacial tillite layer is deposited marine carbonate, also known as cap carbonate. Based on their paleolatitude designated by glacial sediments’ paleomagnetism, it can be determined that these deposits are from equator region. The interaction between two types of sediments, marine (like carbonate) and subgacially deposited sediments, indicate that the glaciers had approached marine coastlines.

Kolbert provides compelling evidence of Global Warming in the Arctic from her hands-on experience accompanying scientists in the field. From the storm surges that threaten the Alaskan village of Sarichef to the warming (and even melting!) permafrost, the evidence all point to the irrefutable fact that the planet is warming up extraordinarily fast. In fact, the Keeling Curve gives us a rather explicit visualization of how greenhouse gases levels (CO2, in particular) are rising at unprecedented rates.