ON THE ORIGIN OF THE LONG-PERIOD SAWTOOTH SHAPE OF THE LATE PLEISTOCENE PALEOCLIMATE RECORDS - THE FIRST DERIVATIVE OF THE EARTHS ORBITAL ECCENTRICITY

The first time derivative of the earth's orbital eccentricity function is sawtooth shaped, and closely mimics the similar to 100,000 yr cycles of the oxygen isotope delta(18)O time series( the proxy for global ice volume change) of the last similar to 800,000 yr. Conversely, numerical integration of the data's variance closely reproduces the orbital eccentricity function for the same interval. Such long-lived, strong correlation does not appear to be coincidental, is consistent with the physics of ice sheets and with the time history of their advance and retreat.