Cicloestratigrafía, Cambio Climático y la Escala de Tiempo Astronómico

Abstract

Cyclostratigraphy is the study of periodic processes recorded in stratigraphic successions. In the last 20 years, this discipline has experienced a rapid development concerning the recognition, characterization, and interpretation of astronomically forced climate cycles (related to Earth’s orbital parameters of obliquity, precession, and eccentricity) which have periods in the range of 104 to 105 years. The three main goals of cyclostratigraphy are: 1) to construct an astronomical time scale (ATS) which allows to calibrate the geologic time scale with an unprecedented resolution; 2) to improve the knowledge about climates changes operating at those time scales, their causes and consequences, and in particular about the behavior of the climate system in the light of the subtle changes in seasonal insolation patterns caused by orbital parameters; and 3) to increase understanding on depositional mechanisms of sediments and the dynamics of sedimentary systems. In this paper, the history and achievements of cyclostratigraphy are reviewed from a nonexhaustive didactical perspective.