Ice Sheets and Climate: The Marine Geological Record

Glaciers and ice sheets are important components of the global climate system. Ice has a high albedo resulting in the reflection of about 85% of solar radiation reaching the surface. Glaciers and ice sheets hold water, have mass, and influence Earth's geodynamic processes. On long timescales, changes in the volume of glaciers and ice sheets are controlled by astronomical forcing of insolation. However, through time, different atmospheric, oceanographic, and solid Earth system feedbacks operate to modulate this relationship. Studies of past glacial environments in the marine geological record have been instrumental in the understanding of both short-term and long-term changes in the cryosphere. This chapter will highlight some of the recent advances on this front.