9 Evidence for climate variation

OUTCOMES
In this chapter you will learn about:
•• the concept of climate proxies
•• types of evidence for climate change in Earth’s past CCT L
•• various types of evidence for recent climate variation. CCT ICT L N

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 To be confident that Earth’s climate has varied in the past, we must understand the evidence of Earth’s
historical climate record. Today, different aspects of the climate are measured, at least daily, in many
areas, and technology allows scientists to collate that information into a climate picture very rapidly.
To know what the climate in an area was a thousand or a million years ago takes longer. Scientists
need to interpret evidence preserved in Earth materials that have accumulated over long periods.
In this chapter, you will learn that it is rarely possible to measure ancient changes shorter than years
or even centuries.

The nature of
Science Photo Library/British Antarctic Survey

9.1
climate proxies
Evidence of climate change exists in many forms and
places on Earth – ocean sediments, caves, tree rings, ice
(Figure 9.1) and the sediments that glaciers create. Evidence
of climate change can be seen in underwater shells, sea level
displacements and oxygen isotope percentages in water.
All of these are forms of proxy data.
A climate proxy is anything that is preserved, can
be measured and from which some aspect of climate can
FIGURE 9.1 Ice cores can contain records of climate spanning be inferred. Changes in a proxy reflect changes in the
thousands of years. environment in which the proxy formed. An example of
a climate proxy is windblown dust deposited in marine
sediments or on ice. The presence of dust in sediment or
Alamy Stock Photo/redbrickstock.com

ice tells us about the climate where it originated. During

droughts and dry conditions, dust is blown from land into
the ocean and as far as Antarctica. When conditions are
cool and wet, less dust is transported long distances.
The span of time that a climate proxy covers and the
resolution of the data provided are important factors in
choosing a climate proxy. Resolution refers to how well
two closely associated events can be separated. Some
proxies, such as coral growth ridges, detail time intervals
of days; others, such as deep marine sediments, may have a
resolution with intervals of thousands of years.
Analysis of a climate proxy provides evidence of
FIGURE 9.2 A dust storm passing over Sydney in September 2009.
Most of the dust was deposited in the Tasman Ocean.
the climate during a specific span of time, when direct
measurements of the climate at the time are impossible.
Mineral particles in windblown dust contain evidence of
their origin and the climate conditions that deposited them (Figure 9.2). The size and surface features
of quartz grains, together with the distance of the sediment sample from land, allows scientists to infer
Fingerprinting wind speeds. The presence of rare earth elements and lead isotopes in the dust can help determine
aeolian dust in
marine sediment:
where the dust came from. The conditions needed to generate the dust are reasonably well understood
Australian and provide reliable evidence of extensive dry conditions on the continent.
examples
Read Patrick De
Another example of a climate proxy is changes in rock type. Some rock types reflect particular
Deckker’s summary climatic conditions. For example, windblown sands form sandstones with characteristic grain size
of how aeolian dust
provides evidence of distributions and structures. These rocks reflect climates that are dry and warm. Changes in rock type
climate history.
reflect a change in environment and climate.

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 Rock types often change as a result of sea level. Sea level rise can be due to tectonic factors but it also
reflects climate temperature change. In warm periods, as ice melts, sea levels rise. In cool periods, ice
­re-freezes and sea levels fall. During a transgression, sea levels rise and the ocean covers more land and
moves the sediment (Figure 9.3).

Initial conditions
Sand Silt Clay Sea
What the sequence will look
like as a rock sequence
Original land surface Grain size
Fine Coarse
Transgression

Rocks
become Regression
coarser

As sea level rises, the finer sediments are deposited closer to the land.
Rocks
Regression become Transgression
finer

As sea level falls, the coarser sediments are deposited further from the land.

FIGURE 9.3 Transgressions and regressions result in rock sequences with changing sediment sizes.

The distance that sediment is transported from land depends on grain size. Larger particles, Electron Proton
such as sand, are deposited close to shore; fine particles, such as clays, are deposited further
from shore. During a transgression, the boundary between sands and finer sediments moves
towards the shore. During a regression, the sea level lowers and the boundary between
sediment types moves away from the coast. When the layers of sediment are exposed later
in a cliff or drilled core, the sequence of sedimentary rocks allows geologists to reconstruct
the changing sea level. Although not all sea level changes are due to climate change, this
evidence helps to support other climate change evidence.

16O
Oxygen isotopes as a proxy for temperature Neutron
Oxygen is the most widely used climate proxy for studying how climate has changed. Oxygen
atoms exist in three forms, or isotopes – oxygen-16, oxygen-17 and oxygen-18. The isotopes
vary only in the number of neutrons the atoms contain (Figure 9.4). Oxygen-16 is the most
abundant form (99.76%). Oxygen-18 has an abundance of 0.20% and oxygen-17 has an
abundance of 0.040%.
Water molecules that contain oxygen-16 and oxygen-18 are affected differently by evaporation
and precipitation because of their different masses. At a warm ocean surface, more water molecules
containing lighter oxygen-16 evaporate than heavier water molecules containing oxygen-18. This 18O
means that in warmer weather, water vapour contains a higher ratio of oxygen-16 to oxygen-18
FIGURE 9.4 Oxygen-16
atoms. Due to its slightly higher mass, a water molecule containing oxygen-18 is more likely to and oxygen-18 have
precipitate from water vapour. As a result, water vapour is further enriched in oxygen-16. This different numbers of
neutrons. Oxygen-16 has
process is referred to as fractionation. There is a relationship between latitude and the amount of 8 neutrons and oxygen-18
oxygen-18 in rain. Rain falling closer to the poles contains less oxygen-18. has 10 neutrons.

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 a Glacial conditions b Interglacial conditions

Snowfall Advection Advection

Ice Ice enriched in 16O Rainfall

Water vapour enriched in 16O

Water vapour enriched in 16O Evaporation

Water enriched in 16O
Evaporation returned to ocean
Evaporation
Sea water enriched in 18O

Sea water 18O/16O lower

Sea water 18O/16O higher

FIGURE 9.5 How oxygen isotopes are fractionated

When water rich in oxygen-16 precipitates and falls as snow, oxygen-16 is locked up in the ice
Temperatures and the relative amount of oxygen-18 in the ocean slightly increases (Figure 9.5a). When conditions are
from fossil shells
Read the history of
warm, the oxygen-16-rich water precipitates and falls as rain and eventually runs back to the ocean,
how microfossils came maintaining a higher oxygen-16 to oxygen-18 ratio in the ocean (Figure 9.5b).
to be used as climate
proxies. Scientists describe the ratio of oxygen-18 to oxygen-16 as delta-O-18 (δ18O). Delta-O-18 is
calculated as a ratio of ratios. The ratio of oxygen-18 to oxygen-16 in a sample is divided by the ratio
of these isotopes in a standard sample and then multiplied by a thousand. The resulting number
is described in units of parts per thousand
(‰). An increase of about 0.2‰ in δ18O
Alamy Stock Photo/E.R. Degginger

corresponds to a temperature decrease of

approximately 1°C.
Scientists who study past climate,
18
palaeoclimatologists, can measure δ O
directly in ice cores. They can also
analyse δ18O values in fossils: both large
fossils, such as corals, and microfossils.
Microfossils are very small fossils, usually
less than 1 mm in diameter. Microfossils
called foraminefera, usually referred to
as forams (Figure 9.6), build their tests
(shells) from calcium carbonate. Oxygen
isotopes in the tests are analysed to
determine the temperature at which the
forams built their shells. The growth rings
FIGURE 9.6 Living foraminifera in water. Their diversity is used to determine past climate. of corals can be analysed in a similar
way. Using carbonate for temperature
measurements is slightly more complicated because other factors affect the growth of hard parts,
but other isotopes, such as strontium or magnesium, which replace calcium, can be measured to
verify the temperatures at which the shells or skeletons formed.

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 INVESTIGATION 9.1

Interpreting δ18O data

AIM Critical and
18 creative
To interpret δ O data to identify major changes in climate and possible reasons for those changes during the thinking
last 67 million years
Numeracy
ANALYSIS OF DATA
Consider Figure 9.7.
Literacy

NASA Earth Observatory

21
Warmer

1
Change in 18O

3
Onset of Antarctic glaciation
4
Cooler
5
60 50 40 30 20 10 0
Age (millions of years)
FIGURE 9.7 The change in δ18O values compiled from more than 40 deep ocean drill cores by US palaeoclimatologist James
Zachos and his colleagues demonstrates the decrease of ocean temperature over the last 50 million years.

General trends
1 What is the trend in δ18O values from 68 million to 50 million years ago?
2 Describe the general trend in δ18O values from 50 million years ago to the present.
3 If a change of 0.22‰ in the δ18O value represents a change of 1°C, calculate the decline in temperature
since the highest δ18O value 50 million years ago.
Rapid changes
4 Identify the two spikes in δ18O values at 55 million years ago and 40 million years ago. These are the
Palaeocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) and the Middle Eocene Climatic Optimum (MECO).
Estimate the change in δ18O levels for these events above the trends they rise from.
5 Are the rapid changes associated with the PETM and MECO events likely to be due to plate tectonic events
or rapid change in greenhouse gas levels? Why do you think so?
6 Table 9.1 shows the timing of some events during the last 50 million years. Copy and complete the table
using Figure 9.7.

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 TABLE 9.1 Events and their climate consequences during the last 50 million years

APPROXIMATE TIME EVENT TREND SHOWN ON THE EXPLANATION FOR THE

(mya) GRAPH TREND

50 Uplift of the Himalayas

34 Establishment of the Antarctic

Circumpolar Current

25 Uplift of the Andes

15 Columbia River Vulcanism

12 East Antarctic ice sheet forms

6 West Antarctic ice sheet forms

DISCUSSION
Climate change involves changes on several timescales. Slow, gradual trends of warming and cooling are due
to tectonic processes on timescales of tens of millions of years. Orbital behaviour of Earth and the Sun produce
changes on the scale of tens to hundreds of thousands of years. Very rapid climate changes can occur in
timescales of thousands to tens of thousands of years.
1 Which timescales are most obvious in Figure 9.7?
2 Why are the intermediate and rapid changes not clearly visible on the graph?
3 Can δ18O data from deep sea cores provide evidence of the intermediate and rapid changes?
4 Why is oxygen isotope data such a valuable tool for investigating past climate?
KEY CONCEPTS

●● Evidence of climate change exists in many forms.

●● A climate proxy is a preserved part of Earth that can be used to infer some aspect
of past climate.
●● An important climate proxy for temperature is variations in the proportion of oxygen-18 to
oxygen-16 isotopes in fossils and sediments.

CHECK YOUR
UNDERSTANDING 1 Identify three sources of evidence about climate in the past.
2 Compare sedimentary rock types and fossils as evidence of past climate.
9.1 3 Describe, using an example, a climate proxy.
4 How are δ18O values used as a proxy for global temperature?
5 Describe two sources of the oxygen isotopes used to determine past global temperatures.
6 The graph in Figure 9.8 shows changes in δ18O over a 22 000-year period derived from fossil foraminifera.
a Copy the graph and label it to show times of cooler and warmer climate.
b Estimate the rate of temperature change between points A and B.

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 4.5

4 A

3.5

3
d18O values

2.5
B
2

1.5

0.5
24 000 22 000 20 000 18 000 16 000 14 000 12 000 10 000 8000 6000 4000 2000 0
Age (years before present)
FIGURE 9.8 Changes in δ18O

7 Why can high δ18O values in oceans be used to infer cold global climates and higher ice volumes?
8 A cliff contains rock layers that become finer grained as the layers become younger: coarse sandstone,
fine sandstone, siltstone, mudstone. Explain how a change in climate could lead to this sequence of
rock layers.

9.2 Ancient evidence of climate change

Biological evidence – pollen, microfossils and macrofossils
Pollen is the microscopic grains containing the male

Alamy Stock Photo/Cultura Creative Ltd

reproductive cells of a plant. Pollen has existed on Earth
since the late Devonian. Flowering plants appeared much
later during the Cretaceous. Modern plants produce
vast amounts of pollen. Because pollen grains are small,
they are widely distributed by wind. Pollen grains are
highly resistant to decay and they persist in sediment
for long periods. Pollen from different plant species has
different structures, which make it easily distinguishable
(Figure 9.9). This makes pollen a valuable tool for dating
sediments and rocks.
On land, fossilised pollen and spores have been used
to establish changing climates over long periods. When
pollen is washed or blown into a lake, it becomes part of
FIGURE 9.9 Pollen grains (magnified) provide evidence of climate
the sediment and records the types of vegetation living change. The colours have been added by computer to this image.
around the lake. As the climate and environment around
the lake changes, so does the composition of the pollen
preserved in the lake sediments.

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 The study of pollen and other spores in archaeology and geology is called palynology. To analyse
pollen, scientists separate the pollen from other parts of the sediment and then examine the pollen
grains under a high-powered microscope. Sediment from a lake is acquired as a core. The core is
Spores and
pollen separated into samples and the depth of each sample from the top of the core is recorded. The sediment
Read about the is dried and some carbon material may be used to determine the age of the sample by radiocarbon
nature of pollen
and how samples dating. Next, the sample is treated with hydrochloric acid to remove any carbonate minerals and then
are prepared for with hydrofluoric acid to dissolve any silicate minerals. The residue is then washed and mounted on
examination.
microscope slides. The types and numbers of pollen grains are counted and recorded; then a summary,
or pollen diagram, is constructed.

INVESTIGATION 9.2

Information and
communication
Interpreting pollen data
technology
capability This investigation involves a model of palynology data reflecting the trends shown in pollen counts from
sediment cores in central New South Wales. The pollen has been divided into five major groups. Four of the
Critical and groups are families of plants with particular ecological requirements and a fifth group contains other types of
creative thinking
pollen. The amount of charcoal found in the sediment at each level is also shown.
Details of the four major plant families are as follows.
Numeracy
•• Nothofagus (Antarctic beeches): This group of plants requires warm temperate conditions and does not cope
well with long dry periods. These plants are heavy pollen producers and their pollen is dispersed by wind.
•• Myrtaceae: This large family of flowering plants includes eucalypts and many familiar Australian shrubs and
trees. Plants of this family are found in tropical and warm temperate regions. Many are insect pollinated and
many today tolerate dry conditions.
•• Asteraceae: This large family consists of almost 33 000 species worldwide today. The plants of this family
are mostly annual or perennial herbs that have compound flowers, such as the daisy. They can survive in
a variety of environments, including arid conditions. Many of the flowers that suddenly appear in Central
Australia after rain belong to this group.
•• Poaceae (grasses): This diverse family today includes approximately 12 000 species. The grasses are found
in diverse habitats and are wind pollinated. Grasses colonise areas after rain and cope well with grazing
mammals that appeared at the beginning of the Cenozoic era.

AIM
To describe the changes in a plant community based on pollen data from lake sediments and then infer
changes in the climate over time

METHOD

1 Table 9.2 summarises data from a series of sediment cores. Real palynology data would include more
detail of individual pollen types and more samples. Not all the levels would be dated. These data are
simplified to help you concentrate on key aspects.
2 Create a series of graphs to show how the frequency of major pollen types changed over time. If you use
a spreadsheet program for this task, you might try creating a stacked area graph.
3 Draw another graph showing how the proportion of charcoal in the sediment changes over time.

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 TABLE 9.2 Major pollen groups collected from a number of lake sediment cores in central New South Wales

MAJOR POLLEN TYPES

DEPTH (m) AGE NOTHOFAGUS MYRTACEAE ASTERACEAE POACEAE OTHERS CHARCOAL

(mya) (%) (%) (%) (%) (%) OCCURRENCE
(%)

2 3 0 52 14 20 14 1.3

40 5 15 61 3 6 15 0.1

65 10 0 70 7 12 11 1.1

100 13 12 64 5 8 11 0.7

135 18 47 41 0 0 12 0.2

162 29 73 16 0 0 11 0.1

200 36 72 20 0 0 8 0.06

ANALYSIS OF THE DATA

1 Describe the trend shown by the Nothofagus data.

2 Describe how the Myrtaceae proportion of the pollen changes as the amount of Nothofagus
pollen decreases.
3 In what ways are the trends of the Asteraceae and the Poaceae similar?
4 If Nothofagus plants grow well in warm temperate conditions, what does their decline suggest about the
rainfall in the area?
5 Nothofagus and Myrtaceae are thought to have comprised the rainforests that covered much of Australia
before it separated from Antarctica. What does the increase in Asteraceae and Poaceae suggest about the
plant community in the area near the lakes?
6 Suggest a climate-related reason for the sudden changes in the data at 5 million years before the present.
7 Assuming that the fires that generated the charcoal were created by lightning strikes, what does the
changing amount of charcoal suggest about the amount of moisture present in the area?
8 It appears that no pollen was deposited after about 3 million years ago. What might have happened to the
lakes to prevent deposition of pollen and sediment?

CONCLUSION
Write a summary of the ways pollen records in lake sediments help us understand past climate.

A number of microfossils are used as climate proxies. The important role of foraminifera was
described earlier, but other microfossils such as dinoflagellates, diatoms, forams and coccoliths are Fossils as
indicators of
also used to study paleoclimate. Microfossils are found in rock cores and outcrops and can be extracted past climatic
by methods such as sieving, chemical reaction with other parts of rock or density separation. conditions
Read this article
Calcareous microfossils build their tests from calcium carbonate (CaCO3). They include about fossils
foraminifera, coccoliths and some dinoflagellates. All these microfossils can provide oxygen isotopes and summarise
the information
from which past temperatures can be inferred. Forams and coccoliths make good index fossils because acquired about
climates.
they occur over short geological periods and are widely, often globally, distributed. Research has
found that particular species exist in specific temperature ranges and the occurrence of these species
indicates probable temperatures when they were incorporated into sediment.

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 Siliceous microfossils built their tests from silica (SiO2). Diatoms are an important member of this
group (Figure 9.10). They are photosynthetic, have very diverse forms (Figure 9.11) and are sensitive to
Diatoms
changes in environmental conditions. Diatoms are planktonic and information such as oxygen isotope
Read about the data from their tests tells us about conditions in the surface of the ocean or lakes. Nutrients from the
diversity and uses land as run-off or as wind-blown dust can cause diatoms to rapidly reproduce, forming blooms. The
of diatoms at
University College diatoms then die and sink, leaving large numbers of their tests in ocean and lake sediments. We know
in London.
from studying the modern diatom that their growth and abundance is affected by wind strength,
upwelling and light availability. This knowledge is used to infer climate conditions from the remains
of diatoms in ocean and lake sediment cores.

Shutterstock.com/Dr Norbert Lange

Shutterstock.com/Elif Bayraktar

FIGURE 9.10 Living diatoms. Note the outer surface, which is the FIGURE 9.11 These diatom tests (shells) show the variety of
test made of glass (SiO2). ornamentation within the group.

Macrofossils are fossils that can be examined without the aid of a microscope. By understanding
the adaptations of a fossil, scientists can make inferences about the environment the living
organism inhabited. Palaeontologists, scientists who study past life, also see what is known of living
species to understand the features of fossil organisms. For example, the marsupial lion (Thylacoleo
carnifex) fossils from the Naracoorte Caves in South Australia was established as a carnivore by
comparing its shearing teeth, enlarged thumb claw and massive jaws with
AAP Photo/Flinders University

modern carnivores (Figure 9.12). The plant group Nothofagus has a long
fossil record in Australia and is found today in places that are cool and
with high rainfall (Figure 9.13). The appearance and disappearance of
Nothofagus fossils over time reflects changing temperature and rainfall
conditions through parts of Australia.
The number and distribution of any organism is controlled, in part, by
climate conditions. Some groups of organisms are particularly sensitive to
climate and their fossils are valuable indicators of past climate. Corals have
a long fossil record and we know that these organisms require particular
temperatures and depths to survive. Corals make their skeletons from
calcium carbonate, which means they can also be used as sources of oxygen
isotopes for temperature measurements. Some corals add growth to their
skeletons in annual rings, similar to annual rings in trees. These growth rings
provide evidence of climate on an annual basis when the oxygen isotopes
are extracted from each growth ring.
The fossils of plant communities have provided a great deal of
FIGURE 9.12 Note the head of the marsupial
lion (Thylacoleo carnifex). It has many similar evidence about climate during the Cenozoic in Australia. Rainforest plants
features to modern carnivores. in Australia have a common ancestry with similar rainforest plants in India.

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 This implies a common ancestry before

Shutterstock.com/Manuel Soler Mayor

Australia, Antarctica and India separated.
Antarctica has a very rich fossil plant record Animals and
extending back 100 million years, and together fossils of
Naracoorte
with fossil deposits in Australia, the plant Summarise some
fossils demonstrate plant communities being of the fossil
organisms found
affected by changing climate. The use of plant in the Naracoorte
caves and the types
macrofossils, together with pollen studies, has of environments in
allowed scientists to build up a picture of how which they lived.

Australia’s climate has changed since Australia

first began to rift from Antarctica during the late FIGURE 9.13 Leaves and flowers of a Nothofagus tree.
Its fossils can be used to establish past temperature and
Cretaceous (Table 9.3). rainfall conditions in particular locations.

TABLE 9.3 Climate and plant communities in Australia during the Cenozoic

PERIOD STARTING EPOCH PLANT COMMUNITIES INTERPRETED FROM FOSSILS IMPLIED CLIMATE
TIME (mya)

Quaternary 0

0.01 Holocene Vegetation was similar to now but affected by Slightly wetter until 5000 years
firestick farming and more recently by European ago; since then it has dried.
land clearing for farming. Temperatures similar to now.

  2 Pleistocene Patterns of forests, grasslands and deserts Climate was cycling rapidly
changed fairly rapidly. between cold, dry conditions
and warm, wet conditions.

Neogene   5 Pliocene Forests reappeared briefly in south-eastern Increasing fluctuations in

Australia at start followed by grasslands, climate.
shrublands and open forests becoming common.

24 Miocene End of Miocene characterised by decreases in Vey arid conditions.

forests and increases in dry-land vegetation.
Middle to Late Miocene saw changes from Middle to Late Miocene climate
closed forests to wet sclerophyll forests and was cooler and more seasonal.
in other areas dry forest gave way to open
woodlands. Many plant groups dominating
inland Australia became common.
Early Miocene characterised by temperate Early. Miocene was warm and
forests with a high proportion of Nothofagus. wet.

Paleogene 37 Oligocene Nothofagus became a more common part of the Climate more seasonal and
forests. cooler.
Temperate rainforests showed lower species
diversity.

58 Eocene Rich and diverse rainforests of different types Wet and warm.
covered most of Australia with Nothofagus being
a relatively small component in some areas. Rainfall fairly high.
Temperature about 18–19°C.

66 Palaeocene

You learnt about

Geological evidence how Aboriginal
peoples valued
The composition and structure of rocks provide a long record of climate change. In section 9.1, you silcrete as a tool-
making resource
learnt about rocks being used as an example of a climate proxy. Sedimentary rocks are sources of in Chapter 5
climate evidence because the weathering processes that generate sediment and the agents of erosion that of Earth and
Environmental
transport and deposit the sediment are a consequence of climate conditions. For example, silcrete is a Science in Focus
rock formed when silica dissolved in groundwater precipitates in soil to form a silica-rich layer of minerals Year 11.

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 surrounded and cemented together by the precipitated silica. Silcretes form under warm arid conditions
with occasional periods of waterlogging, possibly due to flooding. Silcrete is common in Australia.
Fossilised plants in silcretes are used to date the rocks’ formation in the Cenozoic throughout Australia.
Sedimentary rocks contain structures that reflect the climates in which they form. A common
structure in sedimentary rocks is cross-bedding. The structure forms in dunes produced by flowing
air or water. Sand dunes on land lead to large cross-beds with characteristic fine sand compositions.
They are often iron stained, reflecting the arid environments in which they form (Figure 9.14).
Cross-beds are common in river-deposited sandstones (Figure 9.15). The height of the ripples
and dunes containing the cross-beds are determined by the speed of the water moving the sediment.
Large sets of cross-beds reflect the movement of high volumes of water, and the resulting rocks,
as part of a sequence, can be used to interpret the environment and climate in which they formed.
Shutterstock.com/PhotoGeo111

Shutterstock.com/PhotoGeo111

FIGURE 9.14 Cross-beds formed by wind-blown dunes. This

structure formed in an arid environment and the cross-bedded FIGURE 9.15 Cross-bedding in a water-deposited sandstone. Each
units are measured in metres. cross-bed is approximately 30 cm high.

Rocks and rock formations can also be shaped by forces that are a product of climate. Figure 9.16
shows a rock surface covered in scratches or striations. It is also polished. The polishing and the striations
are caused by glacial ice moving over the rock surface, reflecting a time when the climate was cold and
glaciers were present.

Chemical evidence
Isotopes in rocks and sediments provide information about age, the origin of material and climate
processes. Radioactive isotopes of uranium, potassium and carbon can be used to date material in a
geological sequence or sediment core. Proportions of rare earth elements can be used to identify where
mineral material comes from. Biological and physical processes in environments also change the
proportions of isotopes of some elements in meaningful ways.
When sediment sinks in an ocean or a lake, it often carries climate proxy data that can later be used to
reconstruct past climate information. You have already learnt how δ18O ratios are used as a climate proxy
to investigate temperature. However, δ18O data can be used to infer many other aspects of past climates;
for example, ice volumes and the behaviour of processes such as evaporation and precipitation in the
water cycle. Magnesium to calcium ratios in forams provide evidence about sea surface temperatures.
Barium to calcium ratios have been used to infer the amount of freshwater added to the ocean as rain
or continental run-off. Dust deposited in water far from land reflects dry conditions.
Oxygen and hydrogen fractionation provides similar information about past climates. Hydrogen,
like oxygen, has a heavier form – hydrogen-2 (deuterium) – that can be separated, or fractionated,
from hydrogen-1 in a similar way to the fractionation of oxygen isotopes. The ratio of hydrogen-2 to
hydrogen-1 is used to calculate a value referred to as δD. The values of δD vary in a similar way to
values for δ18O and provide similar information.

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 Living systems also fractionate isotopes. Isotope ratios of carbon and nitrogen

Getty Images/Wolfgang Gaehler

have been used to understand the interaction between life and climate. The main
isotopes of carbon are carbon-12 and carbon-13. The major fractionation process
for carbon is photosynthesis. During photosynthesis, carbon-12 is preferentially
used to build carbonates and the proportion of the heavier carbon-13 atoms
decreases. This process is affected by ocean surface temperature and possibly
the type of photosynthesis used by marine plants called phytoplankton. The ratio
of carbon-13 to carbon-12 is used to calculate a value called delta-13-C (δ13C).
δ13C values are interpreted as a CO2 proxy and their measurement in sedimentary
rocks and deep-sea sediments provides valuable evidence about changing CO2
levels in ocean surface waters in the past.
The fractionation of nitrogen isotopes occurs in a similar way. The two isotopes
of nitrogen are nitrogen-14 and nitrogen-15. Phytoplankton preferentially take up
nitrate ions containing nitrogen-14 rather than nitrogen-15. Delta-15-N (δ15N)
values are used to understand how the nitrogen cycle operated in oceans in the
past. Nitrogen availability limits the growth and productivity of phytoplankton.
High levels of nitrogen can cause high levels of photosynthesis and CO2 uptake. It is
FIGURE 9.16 Glacial striations and
possible that nitrogen availability could influence transitions between interglacial polishing on a rock surface
and glacial climates. In cores from the Pacific Ocean, there is evidence that δ15N
values do vary between glacial and interglacial sediments, but this is not true for
sediment cores from other areas. There is ongoing research to understand the
relationship between nitrogen isotope ratios and climate.
KEY CONCEPTS

●● Evidence of ancient climate change can exist at the scale of annual change and change over
long periods.
●● Evidence from older periods generally has lower resolution than evidence from more recent
time periods.
●● Variations in a range of isotopes provide strong evidence of climate change.
●● Fossils provide evidence of climate change in terms of their chemical composition, the nature of
species present and changes in species over time.
●● Changes in sea level reflect global climate and evidence of such change exists in changing
sediment composition in rocks.
●● Deep ocean sediments are important sources of evidence of the ancient climate because of the
presence of a range of climate proxies and a long record of change.

CHECK YOUR
1 What is the difference between the span and resolution of palaeoclimate proxy data? UNDERSTANDING
2 Make a table to summarise the span and resolution of:
• coral rings 9.2
• ice cores
• deep sea sediments
• continental coastal sediments.
3 Describe an isotope system other than oxygen, and how it is used as a climate proxy.
4 Outline the role of foraminifera in determining past climates.
5 Outline how a cooling climate leads to falling sea levels and changes in coastal sediment deposition.
6 How can a study of diversity in fossil assemblages be used to infer climate change?
7 Describe the variations in ocean sediments and the climate variation those changes imply.
8 a Why do deep ocean sediments provide a long time span of data but a resolution measured in hundreds of years?
b Explain the high resolution but relatively limited time span of data from fossil corals.

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 WS
9.3 Recent evidence of climate variation
Homework
Climate
variation
evidence
Ice cores
Ice in glaciers retains a record of the climate when it forms. As snow falls in glacial areas or on ice
sheets, it is compacted by later snowfall to form ice. The ice traps bubbles of gas together with
windblown dust, isotopes created in the atmosphere by cosmic rays, windblown pollen, ash from
fires, salts from the atmosphere and ocean, and volcanic ash. Annual layers can be identified in the
ice, as they can for rings in a tree. Ice is particularly deep in Antarctica (Figure 9.17) and in Greenland.
Shutterstock.com/Rob Marxen

FIGURE 9.17 Ice at Antarctica has an average thickness of 2 km and reaches a maximum thickness of 4.7 km.
Heidi Roop, NSF

Ice is collected as an ice core (Figure 9.18). Ice cores are

obtained using a hollow drill that cuts a cylindrical core
5–13 cm in diameter. Individual sections of an ice core are
1–3 metres long. Ice cores have been obtained from drill
holes up to 3 km deep.
The age of the ice increases with depth. In 2017, an ice
core from Allan Hills in Antarctica contained ice 2.7 million
years old but the ice core was not continuous for that
length of time. The Dome C ice core from further inland is
a continuous record of the last 800 000 years. An ice core in
Greenland is a continuous record of 123 000 years.

FIGURE 9.18 An ice core from west Antarctica. The dark band is
a layer of volcanic ash that settled on the ice sheet approximately
21 000 years ago.

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 There are many ways to date ice cores. One method is to count the annual layers, but this is not
always possible. Scientists sometimes measure changes in electrical conductivity and assay radio
nucleotides. Scientists also use computer models that predict how ice depth changes with age.
Radiocarbon dating can also be used on carbonate minerals and CO2 trapped in the ice.
A range of useful climate proxies can be extracted from ice cores. Gas in the ice can be extracted
under a vacuum hood as a slice of the ice core is melted. Scientists can then directly measure CO2
levels at a time in Earth’s past. Instruments such as mass spectrometers can analyse oxygen isotopes
to identify past temperatures. Dating of volcanic ash allows scientists to correlate the age of layers
between ice cores drilled in different areas. Oxygen isotope ratios in the ice, like those in forams, indicate
the temperature of the air when the ice fell. The correlation between CO2 levels and temperature is
quite striking (Figure 9.19).

Administration (NOAA)
Figure, Temperature change (light blue) and carbon dioxide change (dark
blue) measured from the EPICA Dome C ice core in Antarctica. National
Centers for Environmental Information/National Oceanic and Atmospheric
6 320
CO2
Temperature change from present (°C)

3 Temperature

CO2 concentration (ppm)

280
0

23 240

26
200
29

212 160

800 000 600 000 400 000 200 000 0

Age (years before present)

FIGURE 9.19 These graphs show how temperature and CO2 levels in the atmosphere have corresponded during the past
glacial cycles.

Ice cores have provided important evidence about climate change over the last half a million
years. We know that for most of that time, CO2 levels did not exceed 300 parts per million (ppm)
(Figure 9.20). Today, the atmospheric level is approximately 415 ppm and it increases by 2 ppm
per year.

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 Information from ice cores also suggests that climate change is due to the complex interaction
WS of several factors. Figure 9.19 shows the close correlation of CO2 levels and temperature. However,
Homework
the graph does not prove causation. The glacial–interglacial changes are due to Earth’s orbit and
Interpreting
data from the reflect Milankovitch cycles. Small changes in the energy reaching Earth causes ice surface area to
Vostok ice core
increase which then increases albedo. This, in turn, causes changes in temperature that affect CO2
exchange with the oceans and rates of photosynthesis. These changes create feedback loops that
produce more temperature change. Indeed, if we could see the relationship between CO2 levels and
temperature at a larger scale, as in Figure 9.20, we would see that the CO2 lags slightly behind the
temperature change.

Temperature change
4
Temperature change from

2
present (8C)

0
22
24
26
28
210
400 000 350 000 300 000 250 000 200 000 150 000 100 000 50 000 0

Dust concentration
1.8
Dust concentration (ppm)

1.6
1.4
1.2
1
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
400 000 350 000 300 000 250 000 200 000 150 000 100 000 50 000 0

CO2 concentration
300
CO2 concentration (ppm)

280
260
240
220
200
180
400 000 350 000 300 000 250 000 200 000 150 000 100 000 50 000 0
Age (years before present)

FIGURE 9.20 Temperature variation, CO2 concentration and dust concentration from the Vostok ice core in Antarctica

Dendrochronology
In temperate areas where temperature and rainfall are seasonal, woody plants produce growth rings.
A growth ring is a set of cells forming a recognisable ring in the trunk of a woody plant. Large cells
with thin walls form at the start of a growing season as the plant grows quickly, and as the year
proceeds and water becomes scarce, the cells become smaller and thicker walled. Figure 9.21 shows a
cross-section of a woody plant with two growth rings. Note how the cell size changes in a ring as the

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 cells move outwards. The red colour of some of the cells is due to the staining

Alamy Stock Photo/Melba Photo Agency

of cells with additional thickening.
Towards the end of the 19th century, scientists began studying the pattern
Ring 1
of tree rings to describe changing climate and date artefacts made of wood. The
scientific study of growth rings is referred to as dendrochronology. Tree rings have
the great advantage of being produced annually, and by averaging the growth
rings in an area to create a master pattern for the trees, scientists can compile
long sequences of data by matching overlapping tree ring histories. In some
areas, climate records recorded in tree rings extend to more than hundreds or
even thousands of years. Ring 2

The width of a growth ring in a tree varies from year to year, depending
on temperature, rainfall, light availability, length of the growing season and
available water in the soil. An abrupt change in conditions disturbs the
gradual change in cell diameter in a growth ring, and more than one growth
ring can be created for a particular year. This results in errors in calculations.
The growth of a single plant is affected by several factors. For example, a tree
growing next to a creek has better access to water than a tree of the same
species growing on a ridge. You would not expect the tree ring pattern from
the two trees to be exactly the same. FIGURE 9.21 A cross-section of a woody
Tree ring data for long periods is compiled by matching patterns from trees of stem with two annual growth rings viewed
through a microscope. Tree rings can give
different ages. Some trees are incredibly long lived. information about past climate.
◗◗ Mountain plum-pines (Podocarpus lawrencei), which are native to the Snowy
Mountains, live for as long as 600 years.
◗◗ Bristlecone pines in California, USA, can live for more than 4500 years. Some trees reach great age by cloning
themselves.
◗◗ Aspen trees in Utah, USA, have growth records as long as 80 000 years, although individual trees live, on
average, 130 years.
◗◗ A Huon pine clonal colony in Tasmania records 10 500 years of growth.
By matching the growth ring patterns of living and preserved dead trees, histories for an area can be
extended over a very long time. In Europe, oak trees provide accurate records because they produce a growth
ring each year. Scientists have used preserved timber recovered from bogs and swamps to create a data series
from the present to a little more than 8000 BCE.
Dendrochronology data have been used to study a range of recent climate issues. Over the last
2 million years, before industrialisation, two key factors affected climate: variations in solar output and
volcanic activity. Tree-ring data from bristlecone pines and trees in Asia and Europe have shown reduced
ring growth in years where volcanic activity cooled the climate. More than 20 volcanic events have been
identified in the tree-ring data.
Dendrochronology was used to resolve the nature of a controversial climate phenomenon. The Medieval
Warm Period (Medieval Climate Optimum) was a period of warm conditions that occurred between 950
and 1250. Establishing whether this was a global event has been important for climate modellers, and
dendrochronology data have helped to show that it was a period of climate change but not uniform
warming. It is thought that the changes globally were due to an increase in solar output coupled with
a decline in volcanic activity. In Europe, the warming might have been caused by a change in the North
Atlantic Oscillation, a weather system that causes warm winds from the Atlantic to move over Europe.
In Australia, dendrochronology studies look at aspects of climate that have occurred in eastern Australia.
Preliminary research on a native conifer (Callitris intratropica) from northern Australia suggests that it may
be a suitable species for studying the Australian monsoonal system.

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 INVESTIGATION 9.3

Interpreting climate using dendrochronology

Critical and Using tree rings to identify periods of wet or dry climate is a valuable tool in determining climate over
creative thinking
thousands of years. In years when water is scarce, tree rings are narrower than in years when water is readily
available. In this investigation, you will correlate information from three tree cores to identify drought periods
Numeracy and critically analyse the quality of the data tree rings can provide.
The data you will use is shown in Figure 9.22. It shows skeleton plots from three trees distributed over a
4 km2 area in the southern part of central New South Wales. A skeleton plot is created by marking the narrow
rings in a tree ring sample. The length of the mark is inversely proportional to the width of the ring. This means
that long lines represent very narrow annual rings and short lines represent wider rings. The absence of a line
means there is no noticeable narrowing in an annual tree ring.

Record 1

Age unknown

Record 2

2017

Record 3

Ring count 1970

(from outside) 50 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0

FIGURE 9.22 Skeleton plots from three trees of the same species

AIM
To compile a history of dry or wet conditions by using dendrochronology data and to compare the picture
generated with other climate data to access its accuracy and utility

ME THOD

1 Examine the three skeleton plots. Determine how many years are represented by each graph using the ring
count scale at the bottom of the diagram.
2 Cut out the three skeleton plots from a copy of Worksheet 9.3. Line up the three plots so that similar
Interactive: 100 patterns of lines lie under each other. Record 2 is the youngest. It was sampled from a living tree in 2017.
years of drought
in Australia 3 Copy the skeleton plots you have assembled onto graph paper to make a master record of the information
Identify years of from all three plots.
drought in the 4 Working backwards from 2017, mark the decades on your master plot (2017, 1997, 1987 etc.). The years for
southern area of
central New South some plots may not match.
Wales.
5 On your master plot, identify periods of dryness. Assume that a drought is represented by three or more
consecutive lines on your master plot. Work out the years over which the droughts or dry periods occurred
and mark the drought periods on the master plot.
6 Use the weblink Interactive: 100 years of drought in Australia to identify years of drought in the southern area
of central New South Wales. Mark the periods of below average rainfall on your master plot so you can
compare the rainfall patterns.

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 ANALYSIS OF RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

1 What period of time do the overlapping skeleton plots cover?

2 Why does the use of data from plants of the same species in a similar area make the information more reliable?
3 Why do narrow annual rings reflect dry periods?
4 The rings of Record 1 show less narrowing on average than the other records. What are possible reasons for this?
5 How well do the periods of dryness you identified in the tree ring data match the rainfall patterns you
identified?
6 Would you expect similar data from trees of the same type in another area to produce exactly the same
pattern? What would it mean if data from different areas produces similar patterns?
7 Not all species of woody plants produce a growth ring each year. Sometimes stressed plants produce more
than one ring in a year. How does using data from a large number of trees help to overcome this problem?
8 Explain how similar data could be used to identify the years of El Niño and La Niña climate patterns in
Australia before European colonisation and official records were kept.
9 How could measuring δ18O values and carbon-14 dating of rings provide more reliability to the data
gathered from tree rings?

CONCLUSION
Summarise the accuracy and value of dendrochronology as a method of studying past climate in Australia.

Stalagmites, stalactites and corals

Cave structures and corals, like trees, produce annual growth rings that can be dated. Variations in growth
rates give rise to layers that reflect annual growth. In caves, water saturated with dissolved CO2 precipitates
calcium carbonate as it drips from a cave roof onto the floor, creating structures called speleothems
(Figure 9.23). Speleotherms include stalactites (columns that grow downwards from the cave roof),
stalagmites (columns that grow upwards from the cave floor) and a range of other structural forms. Dreamstime.com/Giovanni Gagliardi

FIGURE 9.23 Speleotherms, like these in the Jenolan Caves near Sydney, provide climate proxies.

9780170438896 CHAPTER 9 » EVIDENCE FOR CLIMATE VARIATION 229

 Speleothems provide climate proxies detailing changes in precipitation and temperature from
quite recently back to almost half a million years ago. Oxygen and carbon isotopes from caves provide
information about temperature in similar ways to forams and ice cores. Carbon isotopes can be
analysed to infer growth in plants above the caves. Scientists use uranium–thorium dating techniques
to accurately determine the age of layers in a speleotherm. Together with the annual growth rings, this
produces very detailed information about temperature and precipitation.
Corals provide information about the climate of the shallow oceans in which they live. Some coral
ridges on the surface reflect daily additions of new skeletal material. The layers are very thin with about
200 ridges per centimetre. Coral growth ridges are a key piece of evidence for the slowing rotation of
Earth. Today, corals generate about 360 rings per year, but in the Devonian, corals grew 400 ridges per
year. By collecting coral skeletons of different ages and matching the ridge patterns, a long history of
climate variation can be determined. Oxygen isotopes are also analysed from the layers of the coral to
determine temperature.
Coral climate proxy data has provided useful information about climate change over tens of thousands
of years. The corals you can see today in the Great Barrier Reef (Figure 9.24) grow on top of the remains of
older reef platforms. The living corals and the buried remains represent 8000 years of uninterrupted coral
growth and recorded climate information. The Great Barrier Reef began to form about 18 million years ago
but glacial and interglacial cycles caused sea levels to rise and fall. This interrupted the growth of corals
at different times in the reef ’s history. In 2014, scientists working as part of the Integrated Ocean Drilling
Program ran Expedition 325,
which recovered corals in drill
Shutterstock.com/blue-sea.cz

cores from the reef. The corals

spanned a range of 12 000–
20 000 years. Information from
the older corals showed that
the ocean had been more than
4°C cooler than at present.
This information supported
conclusions obtained from
Lynch’s Crater peat sediment
in the Atherton Tablelands
in northern Queensland
about dry cold conditions
on the Australian continent.
As the glacial period ended,
the temperature of the
ocean increased, reaching
current temperatures about
FIGURE 9.24 Corals of the Great Barrier Reef can provide information about past climates.
12 000 years ago.

Aboriginal art sites

NASA Climate
Close-up; Coral Indigenous people have lived in Australia for a very long time and they have recorded changes in
Reefs Australia’s climate. Evidence in a rock shelter on the western edge of Arnhem Land places people
Read more about how
corals record climate in Australia 65 000 years ago. Many Indigenous rock art sites depict ordinary life, including humans
and identify other and animals, and abstract symbols (Figure 9.25). The art is sometimes engraved into stone but many
proxies from corals to
describe past climates. images are painted in ochre or charcoal. The age of the art is not always easy to determine. Modern
techniques measure the age of thin films of dirt that form over the artwork. By determining the age
Aboriginal and
Torres Strait of the material, scientists set an upper date on the age of the painting. Dating of artwork has shown
Islander histories some artwork in Queensland to be between 13 000 and 15 000 years old. In the Northern Territory,
and cultures

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 some sites have been dated as being up to

Alamy Stock Photo/Suzanne Long

28 000 years old. Is this the
world’s oldest
The animals depicted in Aboriginal art rock art?
provide evidence about the climate when Watch the video
from the ABC and
the paintings were made. For example, summarise how the
artwork is being
in the Wollemi National Park, New South dated.
Wales, a wide range of animals are shown
in charcoal rock art. Dingos, possums,
gliders, wallabies, kangaroos, quolls and
wombats are all represented. By dating the
images, it is possible to build up a picture
of the ecology of the area at different times,
FIGURE 9.25 Aboriginal rock art from the Northern Territory
before and after European settlement. The
art helps to understand the climate that

Shutterstock.com/Envirosense
existed when the art was made. Changing fauna over time may
help to identify changing climate conditions.
In the Northern Territory, there are rock drawings of
megafauna and other animals that are no longer found in
the area. Megafauna are large animals of 40 kg or more.
Genyornis, a giant bird, the marsupial tapir Palorchestes
and the marsupial lion Thylacoleo are examples of extinct
megafauna depicted at sites in the Northern Territory. It is
believed that a changing climate and possibly human activity
led to the disappearance of these animals.

Instrumental and historical records

Instrumental records made with scientific instruments
such as thermometers, barometers and rain gauges provide
important data about climate but they only provide
information over large areas for the last few hundred years.
Although thermometers were invented in the mid-1600s, it
was not until the early 18th century that reliable instruments
and appropriate temperature scales were developed.
In Australia, weather stations and telegraph networks to
transmit the weather data existed across the continent by the
end of the 19th century. The national Bureau of Meteorology was FIGURE 9.26 This derelict Stevenson screen is near Scott’s
Hut in Antarctica. A Stevenson screen is a protective shelter
established in 1908. Nationwide standardised measurements for meteorological instruments, while allowing air to freely
began in 1900 for rainfall and 1910 for temperature. Protective circulate around them.
structures such as the Stevenson screen increased the reliability of
the data collected (Figure 9.26). Weather balloons have been used
to gather temperatures in the high atmosphere since 1963 and satellite measurements date from the 1980s.
The first non-Aboriginal weather recorder was Lieutenant William Dawes, after whom the point South Eastern
Australia Recent
near the southern pylon of the Sydney Harbour Bridge is named. Dawes brought with him on the Climate History
First Fleet a barometer and thermometer and he used them to record pressures and temperatures for (SEARCH) site
Explore this project
4 years. Dawes’ data showed the seasonal extremes we take for granted in Australia and that many early that gathered
European colonists noted. There are many historical written comments about weather events since palaeoclimate,
historical and early
European colonisation, but as a scientific database, these descriptions may show a bias by focusing instrumental climate
records to describe
on extreme events such as hot days, storms and floods. However, this information adds another set of the last 200 years of
data to the many other sources of climate information you have explored in this chapter. Australian climate.

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 INVESTIGATION 9.4

Information and
communication
A comparison of weather records
technology
capability AIM

Literacy To use data from the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) to compare weather data from where you live and a place
some distance from you
METHOD

Part A
Climate Data
Online
1 Copy the table in the Results section.
2 Access the BOM data from the weblink Climate Data Online.
3 Use the ‘Select using Text’ tab and select ‘Temperature’, ‘Daily observations’ and ‘Maximum temperature’.
4 Type in the name of the town where you live and select ‘Find’.
5 A
 set of nearby stations will appear. Click on one and a graph of available data will appear. Record the
station code, name and earliest recording date in Part A of your data table.
6 Leave the year and click on ‘Get Data’.
7 A new page of data will open. Look at the table of data for the year. What do the blanks mean?
8 U
 se the ‘Summary statistics for all years’ table to record the highest monthly mean temperature, the lowest
monthly mean temperature, the highest daily temperature and lowest daily temperature for January and
July into your table.
If you wish to see
all years’ data, click 9 Use a map to identify a town that is at least 400 km away from you. Repeat steps 3–8 for this new location.
on ‘View all monthly
Part B
data’ at the bottom
of the Daily rainfall 10 Go back to the starting page and change the type of data to rainfall. Generate the data for the two towns
table.
and fill in Part B of the data table.
RESULTS
Copy and complete this table.
PART A: TEMPERATURE DATA
TOWN STATION STATION MONTH EARLIEST HIGHEST LOWEST HIGHEST LOWEST DAILY
NUMBER NAME DATE MONTHLY MONTHLY DAILY
MEAN MEAN
1 January
July
2 January
July
PART B: RAINFALL DATA
TOWN STATION STATION MONTH EARLIEST WETTEST DRIEST WETTEST DRIEST
NUMBER NAME DATE MONTHLY MONTHLY MONTHLY MONTHLY MEDIAN
MEAN MEAN MEDIAN
1 January
July
2 January
July

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 ANALYSIS

1 For each location, identify the hottest and coldest times of the year.
2 Are daily extremes (hottest or coldest) similar to the averages?
3 Compare when data collection began and the consistency of data collection for the two locations.
4 For each location, identify the times of year when it is driest and wettest.
5 How do the two locations compare in terms of climate?
6 Can you suggest reasons for differences in temperature and rainfall based on where the two stations
are situated?

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS

1 Were there differences in the completeness of data for the locations you examined? Why do you think this
was the case?
2 Were there clear differences between rainfall and temperature for the two locations you examined?
3 Suggest reasons for the differences you identified.
4 Do you think the amount of data available for where you live would allow accurate short-term
weather prediction?
5 Describe how you might compare your current climate with the climate 50 years ago to identify any
long-term changes.
6 How does the length of data collected for your location affect the confidence of long-term trend analysis?
7 Why is the use of climate proxies an important complement to instrumental records?
KEY CONCEPTS

●● Ice cores provide evidence of both temperature change and CO2 levels over the past thousands
of years.
●● Dendrochronology is the study of growth rings in trees and provides evidence of seasonal
changes and water availability.
●● Layers of sediment from lakes and growth rings in cave structures such as stalactites and
stalagmites provide year to year evidence of changing climate.
●● Aboriginal art records changing environments over a time range of tens of thousands of years.
●● Instrumental records provide reliable records of recent climate change globally since the 1840s
and in Australia since 1900.
●● Historical documents are an additional source of evidence for climate change since European
settlement in 1788.
●● Direct measurements of ocean temperatures and shrinking ice sheets provide recent evidence
of climate change.

CHECK YOUR
1 What is the temperature proxy extracted from an ice core? UNDERSTANDING
2 Why is temperature and CO2 data from ice cores valuable evidence for climate change?
3 Three types of climate evidence obtained from ice cores are thickness, past air temperatures and melt layers. 9.3
How are these types of evidence measured, and what do they tell us about climate?
4 Describe the variations in tree rings that reflect changes in climate.
5 Compare the origins of layers of sediment in lakes and cave precipitation growth rings. How do these
structures act as climate proxies?
6 Describe the evidence of past climates contained in Aboriginal rock art.
7 How can the diaries of early European settlers in Australia be used to estimate changing climate conditions?

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 9 CHAPTER SUMMARY
◗◗ Evidence of climate change exists in many forms. ◗◗ Deep ocean sediments are important sources of evidence
for ancient climate because of the presence of a range of
◗◗ A climate proxy is a preserved part of Earth that can be used
climate proxies and a long record of change.
to infer some aspect of past climate.
◗◗ Ice cores provide evidence of both temperature change and
◗◗ An important climate proxy for temperature is variations in
CO2 levels over the past thousands of years.
the proportion of oxygen-18 to oxygen-16 isotopes in fossils
and sediments. ◗◗ Dendrochronology is the study of growth rings in trees and
provides evidence of seasonal changes and water availability.
◗◗ Evidence of ancient climate change can exist at the scale of
annual change and change over long periods of time. ◗◗ Layers of sediment from lakes and growth rings in cave
structures such as stalactites and stalagmites provide year to
◗◗ Evidence of older periods generally has lower resolution
year evidence of changing climate.
than evidence from more recent periods.
◗◗ Aboriginal art records changing environments over a time
◗◗ Variations in a range of isotopes provide strong evidence of
range of tens of thousands of years.
climate change.
◗◗ Instrumental records provide reliable records of recent climate
◗◗ Fossils provide evidence of climate change in terms of their
change globally since the 1840s and in Australia since 1900.
chemical composition, the nature of species present and
changes in species over time. ◗◗ Historical documents are an additional source of evidence
for climate change since European settlement in 1788.
◗◗ Changes in sea level reflect global climate and evidence
of such change exists in changing sediment composition ◗◗ Direct measurements of ocean temperatures and shrinking
in rocks. ice sheets provide recent evidence of climate change.

9 CHAPTER REVIEW QUESTIONS Qz

Review quiz

1 Define ‘climate proxy’. 12 Explain the concepts of span and resolution using
examples of climate proxy evidence.
2 Explain why tree rings are a climate proxy.
13 Compare the evidence of climate change that is provided
3 Compare the information obtained from ice cores and
by Aboriginal art and early European settler documents.
deep-sea sediments.
14 Table 9.4 shows some δ18O data from a cave speleotherm.
4 Explain the relationship between an increasing δ18O and
temperature change.
TABLE 9.4 δ18O data from a cave speleotherm
5 Assess the importance of δ18O data in our understanding
of past global climate. AGE (THOUSANDS OF YEARS AGO) δ18O VALUE
4.0 −5.4
6 Assess the role of corals and foraminifera in estimating
past global climates. 4.5 −5.6
5.0 −5.5
7 Explain how thicknesses of ice cores can be used to infer
changes in climate. 5.5 −5.0
6.0 −5.6
8 Summarise the types of evidence that can be derived
from deep ocean sediment cores. 6.5 −6.0
7.0 −6.5
9 In Tasmania, some Huon pine trees may be at least
3000 years old. Assess their potential for providing
evidence of past Tasmanian and global climate. a Graph the data in an appropriate form.
b Describe the trend shown in the data.
10 Outline how a drying environment influences the
precipitation of carbonates in a cave system. c Assess the evidence as reflecting increased
temperature.
11 Assess the use of cave deposits in measuring past global d What additional information would support the
temperatures. hypothesis of increasing temperature?

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 15 Outline the types of evidence you might use to study 17 Recent changes in global climate attributed to human
past climate change in the area where you live during action span less than 500 years.
the: a Why is evidence from ocean sediment cores unlikely
a last 200 years to provide climate data with the resolution needed to
b last 2000 years compare past climates with current changes?
c Cenozoic (last 65 million years). b Why are ice cores a better proxy for studying climate
changes on the scale of thousands of years?
16 Discuss the role of climate proxies in understanding
climate change over the last 400 000 years. 18 Evaluate the use of multiple sources of past climate data
in understanding past global climate change.

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