Includes bibliographical references (pages 559-665) and index.

Introduction -- Sources of Paleoclimatic Information -- Levels of Paleoclimatic Analysis -- Modeling in Paleoclimatic Research -- Nature of Climate and Climatic Variation -- Climate System -- Feedback Mechanisms -- Energy Balance of the Earth and Its Atmosphere -- Timescales of Climatic Variation -- Variations of the Earth's Orbital Parameters -- Solar Forcing -- Volcanic Forcing -- Introduction and Overview -- Radioisotopic Methods -- Radiocarbon Dating -- Potassium-Argon Dating (40K/40Ar) -- Uranium-Series Dating -- Luminescence Dating: Principles and Applications -- Surface Exposure Dating -- Fission-Track Dating -- Paleomagnetism -- Earth's Magnetic Field -- Magnetization of Rocks and Sediments -- Paleomagnetic Timescale -- Geomagnetic Excursions -- Relative Paleointensity Variations -- Secular Variations of the Earth's Magnetic Field -- Dating Methods Involving Chemical Changes -- Amino Acid Dating -- Obsidian Hydration Dating -- Tephrochronology -- Biological Dating Methods -- Lichenometry -- Dendrochronology -- Introduction -- Stable Isotope Analysis -- Stable Isotopes in Water: Measurement and Standardization -- Oxygen-18 Concentration in Atmospheric Precipitation -- Factors Affecting the Stable Isotope Record in Ice Cores -- Deuterium Excess -- Dating Ice Cores -- Radioisotopic Methods -- Seasonal Variations and Episodic Events -- Theoretical Models -- Chronostratigraphic Correlations -- Paleoclimatic Reconstruction from Ice Cores -- Ice-Core Records from Greenland -- Ice-Core Records from Antarctica -- Past Atmospheric Composition from Polar Ice Cores -- Greenhouse Gas Records in Ice Cores -- Ice-Core Records from Low Latitudes -- Introduction -- Paleoclimatic Information from Biological Material in Ocean Cores -- Oxygen Isotope Studies of Calcareous Marine Fauna -- Isotopic Composition of the Oceans -- Oxygen Isotope Stratigraphy -- Orbital Tuning -- Orbital Forcing: Evidence from the Marine Record -- Sea Level Changes and ?18O -- Paleotemperatures from Relative Abundance Studies -- Paleotemperature Reconstruction from Sediment Geochemistry -- Paleotemperatures from Alkenones -- Paleotemperatures from TEX86 and Long-Chain Diols -- IP25 and Related Sea Ice Proxies -- Paleotemperatures from Mg/Ca Ratios -- Oceanographic Conditions at the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) -- Paleoclimatic Information from Inorganic Material in Marine Sediments -- Thermohaline Circulation of the Oceans -- Tracers in the Ocean -- Changes in Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide: The Role of the Oceans -- Abrupt Climate Changes -- Heinrich Events -- Chronology of Loess-Paleosol Sequences -- Paleoclimatic Significance of Loess-Paleosol Sequences -- Isotopic Variations in Speleothems -- Tropical and Subtropical Paleoclimate Variability from Speleothems -- Speleothems and Glacial Terminations -- Millennial to Centennial Scale Changes -- Late Glacial and Holocene Records -- Stalagmite Records of the Last Two Millennia -- Paleoclimatic Information from Periods of Speleothem Growth -- Speleothems as Indicators of Sea-Level Variations --

Sedimentology and Inorganic Geochemistry -- Varves -- Pollen, Macrofossils, and Phytoliths -- Ostracods -- Diatoms -- Stable Isotopes -- Organic Biomarkers -- Introduction -- Periglacial Features -- Snowlines and Glaciation Thresholds -- Climatic and Paleoclimatic Interpretation of Snowlines and ELAs -- Age of Former Snowlines -- Mountain Glacier Fluctuations -- Evidence of Glacier Fluctuations -- Record of Glacier Front Positions -- Lake-level Fluctuations -- Hydrologic Balance Models -- Hydrologic-Energy Balance Models -- Regional Patterns of Lake-Level Fluctuations -- Introduction -- Insects -- Paleoclimatic Reconstructions Based on Fossil Coleoptera -- Paleoclimatic Reconstruction Based on Aquatic Insects -- Former Vegetation Distribution from Plant Macrofossils -- Arctic Tree Line Fluctuations -- Alpine Tree Line Fluctuations -- Lower Tree Line Fluctuations and Rodent Middens -- Peat -- Introduction -- Basis of Pollen Analysis -- Pollen Grain Characteristics -- Pollen Productivity and Dispersal: The Pollen Rain -- Sources of Fossil Pollen -- Preparation of the Samples -- Pollen Analysis of a Site: The Pollen Diagram -- Zonation of the Pollen Diagram -- Pollen Rain as a Representation of Vegetation Composition and Climate -- Maps of Modern Pollen Data -- Mapping Vegetation Change: Isopolls and Isochrones -- How Rapidly Does Vegetation Respond to Changes in Climate? -- Quantitative Paleoclimatic Reconstructions Based on Pollen Analysis -- Paleoclimatic Reconstruction from Long Quaternary Pollen Records -- Europe -- Sabana de Bogota, Colombia -- Central American Lowlands -- Amazonia -- Equatorial and Sub-Saharan Africa -- Northeastern Siberia -- Introduction -- Fundamentals of Dendroclimatology -- Sample Selection -- Cross Dating -- Standardization of Ring-Width Data -- Divergence -- Calibration of Tree-Ring Data -- Verification of Climatic Reconstructions -- Dendroclimatic Reconstructions -- Reconstructions of Temperatures over the Northern Hemisphere -- Drought Reconstruction -- Reconstruction of Atmospheric Circulation Modes -- Wildfires and Dendroclimatology -- Isotopic Dendroclimatology -- ?18O and ?2H -- ?13C -- Coral Records of Past Climate -- Paleoclimate from Coral Growth Rates -- Luminescence in Corals -- ?18O in Corals -- ?13C in Corals -- ?14C in Corals -- Trace Elements in Corals -- Fossil Coral Records -- Introduction -- Historical Records and Their Interpretation -- Historical Weather Observations -- Historical Records of Weather-Dependent Natural Phenomena -- Phenological and Biological Records -- Regional Studies Based on Historical Records -- East Asia -- Europe -- Records of Climate Forcing Factors -- Climate Paradigms for the Last Millennium.