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Ice ages and Milankovitch cycles

Milutin MilankovićJames HaysJohn ImbrieNicholas Shackleton

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For everyone

The Serbian mathematician Milanković proposed that slow changes in the Earth's orbit and axial tilt, occurring in cycles of tens of thousands of years, trigger ice ages. In 1976 cycles of 100,000, 41,000 and 23,000 years were found in climate records from ocean sediments. Why the 100,000-year cycle dominates over the last 800,000 years is still not fully explained.

For specialists

Orbital eccentricity (~100 kyr and 400 kyr), obliquity (~41 kyr) and precession (~19–23 kyr) change high-latitude summer insolation. The radiative change from eccentricity is weak, so the 100-kyr cycle is thought to be amplified by ice-sheet dynamics and CO₂ feedbacks (the "100-kyr problem"). The Mid-Pleistocene Transition (~1.2–0.8 million years ago) marks the shift from 41-kyr to 100-kyr cycles.

Claims

Evidence

Supporting

Measurement

The periods predicted by orbital theory were found in isotope records from southern Indian Ocean sediment cores.[2]

Challenging

Theoretical argument

The effect of eccentricity changes on insolation is very small, so explaining the 100,000-year cycle of the last 800,000 years by orbit alone is difficult.[3]

Connections

Parent

Climate and climate change

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Sources

  1. BookMilanković, M. (1941). Kanon der Erdbestrahlung und seine Anwendung auf das Eiszeitenproblem. Royal Serbian Academy, Belgrade
  2. ArticleHays, J. D.; Imbrie, J.; Shackleton, N. J. (1976). Variations in the Earth's orbit: pacemaker of the ice ages. Science 194, 1121–1132DOI 10.1126/science.194.4270.1121archive
  3. ArticleImbrie, J. et al. (1993). On the structure and origin of major glaciation cycles 2. The 100,000-year cycle. Paleoceanography 8(6), 699–735DOI 10.1029/93PA02751archive

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Cite this page

APA

Athena contributors. (2026). Ice ages and Milankovitch cycles. Athena: The tree of human knowledge. Retrieved November 1, 2026, from https://latifkedi.github.io/athena/en/d/buzul-caglari/

BibTeX
@misc{athena_buzul_caglari,
  title        = {Ice ages and Milankovitch cycles},
  author       = {{Athena contributors}},
  year         = {2026},
  howpublished = {\url{https://latifkedi.github.io/athena/en/d/buzul-caglari/}},
  note         = {Athena: The tree of human knowledge. Accessed: 2026-11-01}
}

Added: September 27, 2026 · Last changed: September 27, 2026 · Page history

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