Paleoclimatic, paleoceanographic and paleoseismic history of the northern Pacific coast of British Columbia

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Earth's climate is highly variable on both long- and short-term time-scales. The Pacific ocean-atmosphere processes which contribute to this variability can be interpreted from a combination of: a) surveys of the modern ocean conditions along coastal British Columbia, and b) "laminated" ocean sediment records. These "paleo" or "past" sediment records extend our knowledge of variations in the natural climate system well beyond the reach of the existing century-long instrument record and help us to understand climate changes which occurred thousands of years ago. In turn, this enhanced knowledge of our climate system increases our understanding of the rapid climate changes we are now experiencing. Similarly, the nature and frequency of past great earthquakes along the Pacific coast of Canada can be interpreted from these same laminated ocean sediment records.