GeoSystems: Probing Earth's Deep-Time Climate and Linked Systems

University Of Oklahoma Norman Campus, Norman OK

Investigators

Abstract

GEOSYSTEMS: PROBING EARTH'S DEEP-TIME CLIMATE & LINKED SYSTEMS Gerilyn Soreghan, University of Oklahoma Christopher Maples, Desert Research Institute EAR-0427093 ABSTRACT GeoSystems is a developing community-based initiative that focuses on the importance of the deep-time perspective for understanding the complexities of Earth's atmosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere and surficial lithosphere using climate as the focus. Earth's climate operates on a continuum of temporal, spatial and parametric scales, as a fundamental mediator of change. The deep-time geologic record preserves numerous proxies of past climate states and transitions, many of which are far more extreme than those archived in instrumental, historical, or Quaternary records. Understanding the ranges, rates, and processes responsible for these extremes in global systems is critical for predicting potential impacts of such changes. Processes such as extinction and evolution of species, orogenic and magmatic events, sea-level change, and the like operate over a variety of time scales and are complexly entwined with climatic trends, many of which also operate over a variety of time scales and must be viewed within the context of the deep-time perspective. The proposed GeoSystems initiative will be able to progress only through data enhancements and modeling collaborations among earth, ocean, and atmospheric-modeling researchers, focusing on the deep-time record to achieve a holistic understanding of Earth's climate and related systems. At this workshop, participants from various disciplines (e.g., sedimentology/stratigraphy, inorganic and organic geochemistry, paleontology, climate modeling, geomorphology, tectonics, marine geology, geochronology) will convene to discuss and formulate a vision and an initial science plan to enable a quantum leap in the pursuit of GeoSystems research and education. This workshop will contribute to informed decision-making on deep-time climate and related systems research and thus raise collective awareness and understanding of Earth System behavior as viewed from the deep-time climate perspective.