Rapid Warming, Ocean Acidification, & Anoxia: Lessons from the Past (Spring 2019)
GEOL 5700-4 - Seminar in Paleoclimate
Deep sea mud across the PETM (credit: Jim Zachos)
Marchitto's seminar courses (archived)
Most are Geological Sciences courses with titles like "Seminars in Paleoclimate". ÌýAsterisks* denote courses titled "Super-Problems in Quaternary Climate"
- CO2 and Milankovitch Mysteries (Spring 2024)
- Greenhouse Forcings and Feedbacks (Spring 2023)
- Past Climate Extremes (Spring 2022)
- Presenter's Choice (Spring 2021)
- Rapid Warming, Ocean Acidification, and Anoxia: Lessons from the Past (Spring 2019)
- Paleoclimate Landmarks and Heroes (Spring 2017)
- Paleoclimate Contributions to the 5th IPCC Report (Fall 2015)
- Glacial-Interglacial CO2* (Spring 2014)
- Glacial Ocean Circulation* (Spring 2010)
- Glacial-Interglacial CO2* (Fall 2008)
- Warm Periods of the Earth's Past (Spring 2007)
- Rapid Climate Change: Holocene to Anthropocene (Spring 2005)
- Recent Developments in Rapid Climate Change Research (Spring 2003)
Course description: This course will entail a weekly seminar-style critical reading of journal articles in paleoclimate. The Earth and its oceans are currently undergoing rapid changes. In less than half a century, the base of the atmosphere has warmed by 0.9C and the top of the ocean has warmed by 0.7C. Sea level is rising at a rate of 30 cm per century. The ocean’s surface pH has dropped by 0.1 (a 25% increase in [H+]), and the whole ocean has lost >2% of its dissolved oxygen. The geologic record is replete with partial analogs for these shifts, and studying them may help us to anticipate what future changes are in store.
Expectations and grading: During the semester, each student will be required to make one formal AGU-style presentation on an assigned reading, and to lead the discussion of that reading. Each student will also be responsible for leading informal discussions of additional papers during the semester. Each week, 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 and discussion-leading (50%).
Meets: Thursdays 2:20-4, SEEC S124
Instructor:, tom.marchitto@colorado.edu
Office Hours: By appointment, SEEC S153C or Benson 435
Credits: 2
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Course schedule (updated weekly)
We will only be discussing the papers with names assigned after them; the others are for background. Note that most of the links below must be accessed from a campus computer or via a CU VPN. Refresh your browser if links are missing or dead
January 28: pCO2 over the Phanerozoic
(Tom)
(Tom)
Radiative forcing from change in CO2 (Foster's equation 6):
Landmark use of epsilon-p to infer ancient pCO2:
February 4: Mechanisms and feedbacks for high pCO2
(Garrett)
(Tanya)
Seminal weathering paper #1:
Seminal weathering paper #2:
February 11: What's wrong with a little heat?
(Jonn)
(Riley)
On thermal tolerance in cold-blooded organisms:
It's not the heat, it's the humidity:
February 18: From mildly warm to hellish
(Alyssa)
(Peter)
February 25: Icehouse sea level
(Jody)
(Wyatt)
Questioning the ice-cliff instability:
March 4: Greenhouse sea level
Exxon Vail curve:
Exxon Haq curve:
March 11: Acidification controls and history
(Garrett)
(Riley)
Paper that coined the term 'ocean acidification':
PETM, best known analog:
March 18: Calcium carbonate levers and impacts
(Tanya)
On the Precambrian role of silica and authigenic clay formation:
March 25: Spring Break
April 1: The coming dissolution horizon
(Alyssa)
(Jonn)
April 8: Anoxia and big mass extinctions
(Wyatt)
April 15: Mesozoic Ocean Anoxic Events
(Jonn)
April 22: Anthropocene hypoxia
(Alyssa)
(Tanya)
April 29: Final thoughts
(Garrett)
(Wyatt)
On the recent past and future of drought (bumped):