Variance Spectrum of Holocene Climatic Fluctuations in the North Atlantic Sector

Abstract

The general character of the variance spectrum of temperature fluctuations on time scales from 1 to 10,000 years is estimated from a combination of botanical, chemical, historical and instrumental records from locations in the North Atlantic sector. Variance spectral density increases with decreasing frequency (increasing period) over the entire frequency domain, reflecting the ?thermal inertia? of the ocean and cryosphere portion of the climatic system. This is most pronounced for periods longer than about 30 years.