Skip to main content

Paleoclimatology (thesaurus)

Search from vocabulary

Concept information

natural phenomenon > climatic phenomenon > oxygen isotope stage

Preferred term

oxygen isotope stage  

Definition

  • Marine isotope stages (MIS), marine oxygen-isotope stages, or oxygen isotope stages (OIS), are alternating warm and cool periods in the Earth's paleoclimate, deduced from oxygen isotope data derived from deep sea core samples. Working backwards from the present, which is MIS 1 in the scale, stages with even numbers have high levels of oxygen-18 and represent cold glacial periods, while the odd-numbered stages are lows in the oxygen-18 figures, representing warm interglacial intervals. The data are derived from pollen and foraminifera (plankton) remains in drilled marine sediment cores, sapropels, and other data that reflect historic climate; these are called proxies. (Adapted from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marine_isotope_stages)

Broader concept

Entry terms

  • oxygen-isotope stage

In other languages

URI

http://data.loterre.fr/ark:/67375/QX8-N6SKLC6C-D

Download this concept: