Deep Time: A
Frontier for Paleoclimate Research
Lane, H. Richard1, Martin A.
Perlmutter2, John M. Armentrout3 (1) National Science
Foundation, Arlington, VA (2) Chevron, Houston, TX (3) Cascade Stratigraphics,
Inc,
Earth's climate has changed continually,
well beyond limits known from the modern and near-modern world. The
stratigraphic record is the only archive of the full magnitude and timescales
of these climate events, allowing evaluation of these changes from onset
through peak and recovery. Yet, Earth's deep time (pre-Quaternary) climate
history is not commonly considered in discussions of modern climate change, nor in predicting the occurrence of petroleum systems.
Neither is deep time climate research effectively supported and promoted in
government, industry, or the professional societies.
The past decade of paleoclimate research
has been one of discovery, energized by powerful new computer models and more
precise climate proxies, permitting better precision and resolution. However, much
of this work has focused on the last 10,000 yrs; a period not representative of
Earth's range of climatic possibilities, or perhaps our near-future climate
state. The full spectrum of climate possibilities must be considered in
evaluating the cause-and-effect relationships between climate and civilization,
and predicting future climates.
Paleoclimate is also a primary control on
the occurrence of petroleum reservoir, seal and source rocks. Paleoclimate
research continues to advance understanding and incorporate results in
evaluating risk in petroleum exploration, but more can be done. A recent
research summit at Statoil recognized inclusion of paleoclimate change as
critical for further advances in sequence stratigraphy.
Industry, academia and government must
work together to promote research in deep time paleoclimates to better define
both primary forcing factors and environmental consequences that may be vital
to societal and industry concerns.
AAPG Search and Discover Article #90063©2007 AAPG Annual Convention, Long Beach, California