Late Quaternary Climate Fluctuations and Their Causes: A Brief Review

Abstract

This paper attempted to summarize some discovered features of the late Quaternary climate fluctuations and their causes, especially for the LGM, glacial terminations, and the Holocene. Even though the causes of glacial/interglacial climate fluctuations are paced by the earth's orbital parameters, the climate for the LGM is largely modified by other factors such as the presence of ice sheets, expansion of sea ice, reduced CO2 concentration, and ocean thermohaline circulation, etc. The increase in solar insolation initiated the deglaciation and climate had warmed toward the Holocene climatic optimum. The interaction between atmosphere and ocean is particularly important during the glacial termination, especially in the northern hemisphere. Proxy records suggest that the early to mid-Holocene was warmer than the present. Even though tons of information is available, there are many features uncovered on the late Quaternary climate change. A tenuous effort to understand a climate change mechanism is needed to predict what would happen in foreseeable future.