Philip 'Flip' Froelich

Courses Taught

Paleoclimatology and Paleoceanography

The geologic record of climate change. Continental and oceanic archives of past environmental change, including lake and ocean sediments, ice cores, paleosols, groundwaters, tree rings, and loess deposits. Processes and models of climate evolution over the Cenozoic. Description of changes in global distributions of temperature, winds and atmospheric dust, oxygen, carbon dioxide, methane, ocean circulation of nutrients and oxygen, sea level, and primary production. Readings from the current literature.

Instructor:

Professor Philip Froelich,
Department of Oceanography
Tel: (850) 644-4331
froelich@ocean.fsu.edu

Text:

Paleoclimatology (T. J. Crowley, G. R. North; Oxford Monographs on Geology and Geophysics No. 16, 1991) plus about a dozen assigned readings from the current literature.

Time and Place:

To be announced.

Lectures:	 
Week 1:	Introduction - Geologic History and Time Scales
Week 2:	Evolution of Climate over the Cenozoic and Pleistocene - the Classic View.
Week 3:	Models of Coupled Atmospheric, Hydrologic, Atmospheric and Ice Cap Dynamics - Changes in Water and Energy Balances
Week 4:	Oceanic Archives: Sediments, Carbonate Compensation and Continental Weathering - Ocean Chemistry
Week 5:	Oceanic Archives: Microfossils and Coral Reefs - Sea Surface Temperature, Sea Level and Ice Volume
Week 6:	Oceanic Archives: Microfossil Paleotracers and Paleoproxies - Oceanic Nutrients, Productivity, pH, and pCO2
Week 7:	Terrestrial Archives: Paleosols and Loess - Continental Hydrology and Atmospheric Winds.
	MID-TERM EXAM
Week 8:	Terrestrial Archives: Groundwaters and Lake Sediments - Continental Temperatures
Week 9:
Week 10:	Terrestrial Archives: Tree Rings - Hydrology and Temperature
Week 11:	Atmospheric Archives: Polar Ice Cores - Changes in High Latitude Hydrology and Temperature
Week 12:	Atmospheric Archives: Polar Ice Cores - Global Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide, Methane
Week 13:	Atmospheric Archives: Mid-latitude and Equatorial Ice Cores - Snow Lines vs. Equatorial Sea Surface Temperatures - the PaleoAtmospheric Water Content Problem and Greenhouse Effects
Week 14:	Processes: Tectonics, Productivity, Ocean Circulation
Week 15:	Future Climate Change - the Record (so far) of Global Warming
Week 16:	Review & Final Exam

Problem Sets:

Handed out every few weeks, each will be due about two weeks later. Each will be based on lectures and readings. You are expected to work independently on each problem set.

Exams:

Final Exam: as scheduled by the Institute

Term Paper:

Due in class at last class meeting prior to Final Exam. A 20-page paper reviewing an aspect of paleoclimate or paleoceanography that has recently emerged in the literature. Topics to be assigned by instructor after discussion with each student.

Grades:

50% Exam
25% Term Paper
25% Class Discussion