Advances in sequence stratigraphy and the development of depositional models have helped explain the origin of genetically related sedimentary packages during sea level cycles. These concepts have provided the basis for the recognition of sea level events in subsurface data and in outcrops of marine sediments around the world. Knowledge of these events has led to a new generation of Mesozoic and Cenozoic global cycle charts that chronicle the history of sea level fluctuations during the past 250 million years in greater detail than was possible from seismic-stratigraphic data alone. An effort has been made to develop a realistic and accurate time scale and widely applicable chronostratigraphy and to integrate depositional sequences documented in public domain outcrop sections from various basins with this chronostratigraphic framework. A description of this approach and an account of the results, illustrated by sea level cycle charts of the Cenozoic, Cretaceous, Jurassic, and Triassic intervals, are presented.

https://science.sciencemag.org/content/sci/235/4793/1156.full.pdf

Chronology of fluctuating sea levels since the triassic.

Evidence from North Atlantic deep sea cores reveals that abrupt shifts punctuated what is conventionally thought to have been a relatively stable Holocene climate. During each of these episodes, cool, ice-bearing waters from north of Iceland were advected as far south as the latitude of Britain. At about the same times, the atmospheric circulation above Greenland changed abruptly. Pacings of the Holocene events and of abrupt climate shifts during the last glaciation are statistically the same; together, they make up a series of climate shifts with a cyclicity close to 1470 ± 500 years. The Holocene events, therefore, appear to be the most recent manifestation of a pervasive millennial-scale climate cycle operating independently of the glacial-interglacial climate state. Amplification of the cycle during the last glaciation may have been linked to the North Atlantic's thermohaline circulation.

http://science.sciencemag.org/content/sci/278/5341/1257.full.pdf

A Pervasive Millennial-Scale Cycle in North Atlantic Holocene and Glacial Climates

From the time that detailed oxygen isotope records derived from foraminifera living in the constant-temperature environment of the abyssal ocean became available, there has been a discrepancy between the ice volume record that these records imply, and that derived from the altitude of dated coral terraces around the world. Here, we re-examine the data and conclude that the temperature of the abyssal ocean has been an actively varying component of the climate system.

Oxygen isotopes and sea level

SEDIMENTS in the North Atlantic ocean contain a series of layers that are rich in ice-rafted debris and unusually poor in foraminifera1. Here we present evidence that the most recent six of these 'Heinrich layers', deposited between 14,000 and 70,000 years ago, record marked decreases in sea surface temperature and salinity, decreases in the flux of planktonic foraminifera to the sediments, and short-lived, massive discharges of icebergs originating in eastern Canada. The path of the icebergs, clearly marked by the presence of ice-rafted detrital carbonate, can be traced for more than 3,000 km—a remarkable distance, attesting to extreme cooling of surface waters and enormous amounts of drifting ice. The cause of these extreme events is puzzling. They may reflect repeated rapid advances of the Laurentide ice sheet, perhaps associated with reductions in air temperatures, yet temperature records from Greenland ice cores appear to exhibit only a weak corresponding signal. Moreover, the 5–10,000-yr intervals between the events are inconsistent with Milankovitch orbital periodicities, raising the question of what the ultimate cause of the postulated cooling may have been.

Evidence for massive discharges of icebergs into the North Atlantic ocean during the last glacial period

Principles and terminology for classification of the Quaternary are discussed, including lithostratigraphy, biostratigraphy. morphostratigraphy, climatostratigraphy and chronostratigraphy. The main conclusion is a proposal for a common chronostratigraphical classification of the Quaternary in Norden (and partly continental NW Europe). The Quaternary is subdivided into the Pleistocene and the Holocene Series. The Pleistocene is further subdivided into several provisional stages (Weichselian, Eemian, etc.), based on the sequence of glacials/interglacials. but with the boundaries preferably defined by stratotypes. The Late Weichselian and the Flandrian (Holocene) are subdivided into chronozoncs (Bolling, Older Dryas, Allerod, Younger Dryas, Preboreal, Boreal, Atlantic, Subboreal, Subatlantic) with the boundaries dcfined in conventional radiocarbon years.

Quaternary stratigraphy of Norden, a proposal for terminology and classification

So far, the role of present-day Earth degassing in global C budget and climate effects has been focused to volcanic emissions. The non-volcanic escape of CO 2 –CH 4 from the upper mantle, from carbonate bearing rocks in the crust, from hydrocarbon accumulations and from surface deposits and processes is here discussed in detail. An inventory of recent available data is presented. For the first time, a so large quantity of data is considered altogether showing clearly that the geological flux of carbon was previously significantly underestimated. Several lines of evidence show that non-volcanic C fluxes in «colder» environments are much greater than generally assumed. Local and regional data suggest that metamorphic decarbonation, hydrocarbon leakage and mud volcanoes could be significant CO 2 –CH 4 sources at global scale. Moreover, extensive surface gas-geochemical observations, including soil–atmosphere flux investigations, open the possibility that ecosystems controlled by biogenic activity (soil, permafrost, seawater) can host important components of endogenous C gas (geogas), even in the absence of surface gas manifestations. This would imply the existence of a geological diffuse, background emission over large areas of our planet. New theories concerning the occurrence of pervasive geogas and lithospheric processes of C-gas production («lithospheric loss in rigidity») can be taken as novel reference and rationale for re-evaluating geological sources of CO 2 and CH 4 , and an important endeavour and work prospect for the years to come. Our survey shows that it is still very hard to arrive at a meaningful estimate of the lithospheric non-volcanic degassing into the atmosphere. Orders of 10 2 –10 3 Mt CO 2 /year can be provisionally considered. Assuming as lower limit for a global subaerial volcanic degassing 300 Mt/year, the lithosphere may emit directly into the atmosphere at least 600 Mt CO 2 /year (about 10% of the C source due to deforestation and land-use exchange), an estimate we still consider conservative. It is likely that temporal variations of lithosphere degassing, at Quaternary and secular scale, may influence the atmospheric C budget. The present-day lithosphere degassing would seem higher than the value considered to balance at Ma time-scale the CO 2 uptake due to silicate weathering.

Carbon degassing from the lithosphere

The real ocean surface-the equipotential surface of the geoid or the geodetic sea level-is rough and uneven and characterized by humps and depressions of several meters. The present geoid configuration cannot have remained stationary back in time. The main question is over what time units geoid changes may have played a significant role. The instability of the geoid configuration has not been considered previously. The geoid may change both horizontally (geographical dislocation of the geoid relief) and vertically (magnitudinal changes in relief). There are numerous variables (during different geological time units) that must have affected the geoid. Geoid changes must certainly have occurred during the Phanerozoic and the Late Quaternary. Holocene "eustatic" data also yield indication of geoid changes. Tide gauge data and Holocene eustatic short-period fluctuations seem to indicate geoid changes even during short-period time units. Geoid changes are related to fundamental geophysical-astronomical problem...

Eustasy and Geoid Changes

Climatic changes on a yearly to millennial basis: An introduction.- Late Weichselian deglaciation and chronostratigraphy of Southern Scandinavia: Problems and present \"state of the art\".- Biotic response to climatic changes during the time span 13,000-10,000 BP - A case study from SW Sweden.- Climatic changes at Pleistocene/Holocene boundary in the Middle Swedish Endmoraine zone, mainly inferred from stratigraphic indications.- Cyclic lamination in proximal varves reflecting the length of summers during Late Weichsel in southernmost Sweden.- Late Weichselian sea-levels and fauna communities in northern Vendsyssel, Jutland, Denmark.- Flora, fauna and stable isotopes in Late-Wurm deposits at Lobsigensee (Swiss Plateau).- Late Weichselian fluctuations in the French Alps and Massif Central from pollen analyses.- Climatic and glacial fluctuations during the Late-Glacial and the Holocene in Oisans (Isere, France).- The classical Late Weichselian climatic fluctuations in Mexico.- Climatic variations in the low continental latitudes during the last 30,000 years.- Late-Glacial - Holocene High-frequency climatic changes in deep-sea cores from the Denmark Strait.- The reflection of abrupt climatic changes in the relief and sequence of continental deposits.- Water-level changes, climate and human impact: A palaeohydrological study of Krageholm Lake (Scania), southern Sweden.- Trees and shrubs in the Shetland Islands. Evidence for a Postglacial climatic optimum?.- Holocene palaeo-winds and climatic changes in West Greenland as indicated by long-distance transported and local pollen in lake sediments.- Peat inception and climatic change in northern Quebec.- The Nile floods as a global climatic/solar proxy.- Rainfall patterns and lake level variations at Lake Chad.- Tropical peats: Hydrogeologic and climatic control.- Causes of a Late-Atlantic swamp-forest submergence in the central Rhine/Meuse delta.- Late Postglacial beach ridges on the island of Gotland, Sweden, as indicators of a probable periodicity in the climate.- Size variations in Atlantic, Subboreal and modern moose teeth.- Climate and history in northern Europe and elsewhere.- Settlement expansion - settlement contraction: A question of war, plague, ecology or climate?.- Climatic reflection in varved lake sediments.- Sunspot cycles and global oscillations.- Dendrochronology in Sweden.- Dendrochronology, mass balance and glacier front fluctuations in northern Sweden.- Dendroclimatological studies at the northern timberline.- Limitations of 14C dates from buried soils in reconstructing glacier variations and Holocene climate.- Climate and glaciation in Kong Karls Land, eastern Svalbard.- Questions arising when using lichen for 14C measurements in climatic studies.- Some studies of the Little Ice Age of recent centuries and its great storms.- The potential of documentary data for the reconstruction of past climates. Early 16th to 19th century. Switzer land as a case study.- A contribution to the reconstruction of weather in central Europe at the end of the 16th century (with regard to me teorological observations of Tycho de Brahe on Hven).- The impact of climate on grass growth and hay yield in Iceland: A.D. 1601 to 1780.- Climatic changes during recent centuries as indicated by dendrochronological studies, Mount Baker, Washington, U.S.A..- The cold winter 1808-1809: A russian force crosses the ice-bound Gulf of Bothnia and takes (the first?) air-temperature measurements in history for purposes of a military operation.- On the availability and homogeneity of instrumentally observed climatological records.- Climate variation in northern Europe during the past century -Climatic changes on a yearly to millennial basis: An introduction.- Late Weichselian deglaciation and chronostratigraphy of Southern Scandinavia: Problems and present \"state of the art\".- Biotic response to climatic changes during the time span 13,000-10,000 BP - A case study from SW Sweden.- Climatic changes at Pleistocene/Holocene boundary in the Middle Swedish Endmoraine zone, mainly inferred from stratigraphic indications.- Cyclic lamination in proximal varves reflecting the length of summers during Late Weichsel in southernmost Sweden.- Late Weichselian sea-levels and fauna communities in northern Vendsyssel, Jutland, Denmark.- Flora, fauna and stable isotopes in Late-Wurm deposits at Lobsigensee (Swiss Plateau).- Late Weichselian fluctuations in the French Alps and Massif Central from pollen analyses.- Climatic and glacial fluctuations during the Late-Glacial and the Holocene in Oisans (Isere, France).- The classical Late Weichselian climatic fluctuations in Mexico.- Climatic variations in the low continental latitudes during the last 30,000 years.- Late-Glacial - Holocene High-frequency climatic changes in deep-sea cores from the Denmark Strait.- The reflection of abrupt climatic changes in the relief and sequence of continental deposits.- Water-level changes, climate and human impact: A palaeohydrological study of Krageholm Lake (Scania), southern Sweden.- Trees and shrubs in the Shetland Islands. Evidence for a Postglacial climatic optimum?.- Holocene palaeo-winds and climatic changes in West Greenland as indicated by long-distance transported and local pollen in lake sediments.- Peat inception and climatic change in northern Quebec.- The Nile floods as a global climatic/solar proxy.- Rainfall patterns and lake level variations at Lake Chad.- Tropical peats: Hydrogeologic and climatic control.- Causes of a Late-Atlantic swamp-forest submergence in the central Rhine/Meuse delta.- Late Postglacial beach ridges on the island of Gotland, Sweden, as indicators of a probable periodicity in the climate.- Size variations in Atlantic, Subboreal and modern moose teeth.- Climate and history in northern Europe and elsewhere.- Settlement expansion - settlement contraction: A question of war, plague, ecology or climate?.- Climatic reflection in varved lake sediments.- Sunspot cycles and global oscillations.- Dendrochronology in Sweden.- Dendrochronology, mass balance and glacier front fluctuations in northern Sweden.- Dendroclimatological studies at the northern timberline.- Limitations of 14C dates from buried soils in reconstructing glacier variations and Holocene climate.- Climate and glaciation in Kong Karls Land, eastern Svalbard.- Questions arising when using lichen for 14C measurements in climatic studies.- Some studies of the Little Ice Age of recent centuries and its great storms.- The potential of documentary data for the reconstruction of past climates. Early 16th to 19th century. Switzer land as a case study.- A contribution to the reconstruction of weather in central Europe at the end of the 16th century (with regard to me teorological observations of Tycho de Brahe on Hven).- The impact of climate on grass growth and hay yield in Iceland: A.D. 1601 to 1780.- Climatic changes during recent centuries as indicated by dendrochronological studies, Mount Baker, Washington, U.S.A..- The cold winter 1808-1809: A russian force crosses the ice-bound Gulf of Bothnia and takes (the first?) air-temperature measurements in history for purposes of a military operation.- On the availability and homogeneity of instrumentally observed climatological records.- Climate variation in northern Europe during the past century - evidence from a Danish record.- Certain relationships between lake level variations and some climatic factors in Finland.- Long-term variations in some physical parameters of the Baltic Sea.- Strategies for assessing impacts of climatic change in marginal areas.- Mechanism for linking solar activity to weather-scale effects, climatic changes and glaciations in the Northern Hemisphere.- Solar ultraviolet irradiance variations and the Earth's atmosphere.- Cycles of solar flares and weather.- Planetary, solar, atmospheric, hydrospheric, and endogene processes as origin of climatic changes on the Earth.- Planetary periodicities and terrestrial climate stress.- A possible mechanism of abrupt climatic changes.- Sea surface temperature, atmospheric CO2 and the global energy budget: some comparisons between the past and present.- The effect of atmospheric and oceanic energy transports in climatic balance.- Possible CO2-induced warming effects on the cryosphere.- The nature and significance of cloud-cryosphere interactions in the marginal snow and ice zones.- Climatic belts in the case of a unipolar glaciation.- Energy-flow budgets in aquatic ecosystems and the conflict between biology and geophysics about Earth-axis tilt.- Climatic changes on a yearly to millennial basis. Concluding remarks.

Climatic Changes on a Yearly to Millennial Basis

Earth rheology, isostasy, and eustasy

Eustatic changes during the last 8,000 years in view of radiocarbon calibration and new information from the Kattegatt region and other northwestern European coastal areas

Nils-Axel Mörner

Papers

Carbon degassing from the lithosphere

Eustasy and Geoid Changes

Climatic Changes on a Yearly to Millennial Basis

Earth rheology, isostasy, and eustasy

Eustatic changes during the last 8,000 years in view of radiocarbon calibration and new information from the Kattegatt region and other northwestern European coastal areas