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Past Climates

The oceans cover around 70% of our globe with the sediments below, which have been accumulating for millions of years, providing a unique archive to historical climates.

With accelerated warming compounded by human-made actions, it is important that we understand how the planet's climate has changed across different timescales over the geological past.

Past Climates research at the Lyell Centre involves the reconstruction of marine environments in the past. Through the exploration of natural phenomena, such as ancient plankton (foraforminifera), ocean oxygenation and concentration in seawater, we can revolutionise our understanding of how climate has evolved over the last 65 million years.

Led by: Professor Babette Hoogakker, Paleoceanography and Biogeochemistry

Team: Tommaso Paolini, Sebastian Garrido, Vyacheslav Khon, Dharma Andrea Reyes Macaya

Related themes and projects

Past Climates 1920

FARGO - Fate of ocean oxygenation in a warming world

The FARGO study at the Lyell Centre uses sediments from the bottom of the Pacific Ocean to explore ocean oxygenation over millions of years