Sedimentary Geology and the Future of Paleoclimate Studies

Abstract

Recent community efforts have highlighted the importance of deep-time paleoclimatology to the understanding of Earth processes as a way of expanding our understanding of the vast range of states possible in the Earth System. Advances in our collective understanding of these "alternative-Earth" states shed light on forcings and feedbacks of the climate system, as well as responses of the biosphere, ultimately bringing more rigor and predictability to the study of current and future global change. Sedimentary geology and paleontology are squarely in the middle of these efforts. Geoscientists from both subdisciplines have posed the major questions that must be answered and have implemented an action plan to answer those questions. Furthermore, increasing resolution of time and parameters (climatic and biotic) enabled by technological advances are bringing new rigor to paleoclimate studies, extending our collective reach to strata dating to ever-deeper reaches of geologic time. New advances will require, increasingly, the actions and coordination of large multidisciplinary teams galvanized around critical science questions, and armed with the latest proxies and geochronologic tools.