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GEOL 5700-2 - Seminar in Paleoclimate

Cenozoic history of atmospheric CO2

Course description: Paleoclimatology is one of the cornerstones of understanding anthropogenic climate change. Are there past analogs for current levels of atmospheric CO2 and its rate of increase, and if so what was Earth’s climate like? Can we measure the Earth’s ‘climate sensitivity’ (equilibrium response to radiative forcing) using past climate states like the Last Glacial Maximum or the Eocene Climatic Optimum? What rates and magnitudes of global sea level rise is the Earth capable of? How unusual is current warmth compared to the pre-industrial era? These questions and more are addressed in the Paleoclimate chapter of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 5th Assessment Report (AR5). This course will entail a seminar-style critical reading of the Paleoclimate chapter of AR5, and of many of the primary references that are cited in that chapter.

Expectations and grading: Students will be required to make brief AGU-style presentations on assigned readings, and to lead discussions of those readings. There will be one or two discussion leaders per session, but everyone is responsible for reading the papers and participating in the discussions. Grades will be based on overall participation (50%) and on the effort put into the presentations (50%).

Readings: Weekly readings will be taken from . Additional readings from the primary research literature will be available below as pdfs.

Meets: Fridays 2-4:30, RL1 Mort Turner Room
Instructor:, tom.marchitto@colorado.edu
Office Hours: By appointment
Credits: 3

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Course schedule (updated weekly)

Note that many of the links below must be accessed from a campus computer or via VPN. Refresh your browser if links are missing or dead

Week 1: Past climate forcings
AR5 Reading: 5.1, 5.2, FAQ 5.1, Box 5.1

Literature Reading: none (below are some key references)
, with data

Week 2: Foram Workshop, No Class

Week 3: High-CO2 worlds and temperatures
AR5 Reading: 5.3.1
Literature Reading:
(discussion: Simon)
(presentation: Isaac)

Week 4: Glacial-interglacial dynamics
AR5 Reading: 5.3.2, Box 5.2
Literature Reading:
(discussion: Brigitta)
(presentation: Garrett)

Week 5: Last Glacial Maximum and equilibrium climate sensitivity
AR5 Reading: 5.3.3
Literature Reading:
(presentation: Abby)
(discussion: Sarah)
Additional Background:

Week 6: Past Interglacials
AR5 Reading: 5.3.4
Literature Reading:

Week 7: Temperatures over the past 2000 years
AR5 Reading: 5.3.5
Literature Reading:
(presentation: Vikki)
(discussion: Garrett)

Week 8: Modes of past climate variability
AR5 Reading: 5.4
Literature Reading:
(presentation: Brigitta)
(discussion: Isaac)

Week 9: Holocene regional temperatures
AR5 Reading: 5.5.1
Literature Reading:
(presentation: Simon)
(discussion: Abby)
Additional Background Opus:

Week 10: Holocene sea ice and glaciers
AR5 Reading: 5.5.2, 5.5.3
Literature Reading:
(presentation: Sarah)
(discussion: Vikki)

Week 11: Holocene preciptitation: monsoons, ITCZ, megadroughts, and floods
AR5 Reading: 5.5.4, 5.5.5
Literature Reading:
(presentation: Simon)
(discussion: Sarah)
Other interesting papers:

Week 12: Mid-Pliocene sea level
AR5 Reading: 5.6.1
Literature Reading:
(presentation: Garrett)
(discussion: Vikki)
Background on isostatic effects:

Week 13: Last Interglacial sea level
AR5 Reading: 5.6.2
Literature Reading:
(presentation: Abby)
(discussion: Brigitta)
Short paper covering the methods used by Rohling in the Red Sea:

Week 14: Fall Break, No Class

Week 15: Last deglaciation and Holocene sea level
AR5 Reading: 5.6.3, FAQ 5.2
Literature Reading:
(presentation: Vikki)
(discussion: Isaac & Simon)

Week 16: Abrupt climate change and irreversibility (and Wrap-up)
AR5 Reading: 5.7, 5.8, 5.9
Literature Reading: