Russian Journal of Earth Sciences
Vol. 5, No. 2, April 2003
Modern climatic data for the Pleistocene: Implications for a new
concept of the orbital theory of paleoclimate
V. A. Bol'shakov
Abstract
Based on analysis of paleoclimate data for the
Pleistocene (and the Phanerozoic as a whole), this paper advances
a new concept of the orbital (astronomical) theory of
paleoclimate. The need for a new concept is shown to be
necessitated by two circumstances. The first is the grave
disagreement between the M. Milankovitch theory and empirical
data. The second is the considerable drawbacks of this theory,
which is currently viewed as being analogous to the astronomical
theory of paleoclimate. In particular, the paper shows that the
insolation curves calculated by Milankovitch for individual
latitudes and caloric half-years (not to mention months or even
days, as in the works of Milankovitch's followers) have no global
paleoclimatic significance and cannot be used in paleoclimate
reconstructions or modeling. Notions developed in the framework of
the new concept provide a systematic basis on which to explain the
singularities of climate changes coupled to orbital periodicities
during the different geologic eras of the Phanerozoic. For
example, proposed is a systematic approach to solving the issues
of the 100-ka climatic periodicity of the Pleistocene, the
mid-Pleistocene transition, and the lack of the 400-ka climatic
periodicity within the last two million years.