The orbital eccentricity, the obliquity and the precession of the equinoxes all affect the earth climate in regular predictable cycles which can often be detected in the geological record stratigraphically or chemically utilising mathematical analysis.

Orkney provides the opportunity to examine the control of the earth’s orbit on the global energy budget in two contrasting periods

  • the Devonian, between 380 and 360 Myr when the climatic cycles relate to changing lake levels and
  • the Quaternary Ice Age, when ice sheets advanced and retreated according to changes in temperature and snowfall

The driver for these variations is the amount of solar radiation (insolation) reaching the surface of the Earth. Insolation changes with the positioning of the Earth and Sun, as well as changes in the orbital parameters of the Earth.

Milankovitch observed three fundamental cycles:

1. The orbital eccentricity
2. The obliquity
3. The precession of the equinoxes

The combined influences produces a complex pattern of insolation, resulting in increased seasonal contrast in one hemisphere of the Earth and reduced contrast in the other.

1.  The eccentricity of the orbit of the Earth around the Sun varies from circular to elliptical giving a change in seasonal incoming solar radiation of about 30%. This cycle takes 95,800 years.

2. Changes in the inclination (obliquity) of the Earth’s axis alternate between extreme values of 21.39 degrees and 24.36 degrees with a periodicity of 41,000 years. An increase in axial tilt results in lengthening the period of winter darkness in Polar Regions. These changes therefore cause significant variation in the insolation at high latitudes.

3.  The precession of the equinoxes has a 21,700 year period. The northern hemisphere tilts towards the Sun at successively different points on the Earth’s annual orbit. This affects the length of day and the summer and winter temperature.

The Eday Marl Cycles

Analysis of the calcite at 25cm (2,500yrs) intervals reveals the 41m section to have 4.3 eccentricity cycles.

The periods from the Fourier analysis of the data give:

102,500yrs – Eccentricity

41,000yrs – Obliquity

25,600yrs – Precession

These numbers are in good agreement with the expected Milankovitch numbers given the potential errors in the method. Ongoing sampling at 5cm intervals should give greater precision and

  • Orkney Stratigraphy

    The Orkney Islands consist almost entirely of sedimentary rocks and subordinate lavas and tuffs of Middle and Upper Old Red Sandstone age. A Basement Complex composed of metamorphic rocks of Moinian type and Caledonian granites forms a number of small inliers near Yesnaby and Stromness in West Mainland and on the island of Graemsay.

  • Devonian environments

    During the Devonian Period, North America and Northern Europe were joined together forming Euramerica, one of the three major continental masses on the Devonian globe, with Orkney placed south of the equator. Most of Britain formed part of this landmass with mountains in the northwest and the open marine Devonian Sea covering southwest England.

  • Permian dykes

    The age of the Orkney dykes is 252+/-10 million years, placing the time of intrusion in the late Permian, a period of renewed tectonic movement in the sedimentary basins to the west of Orkney.

  • Hydrocarbon Potential

    The Petroleum System consists of four main Geologic components, source, reservoir, seal and trap plus additional processes necessary to generate and store hydrocarbons in the subsurface. Their presence is required to generate a viable EXPLORATION TARGET.

  • Tertiary of the northern North Sea

    At the opening of the Tertiary chalk sedimentation continued on the northern North Sea. Starting around 63 Ma, the East Shetland Platform was uplifted and tilted towards the south-east. ...

  • Quaternary of the northern North Sea

    The Quaternary deposits found on the East Shetland Platform are thin (Johnson et al., 1993). The Quaternary thickens above the Viking Graben to as much as 300m and provides a long and relatively detailed record of glaciation.

  • Mesozoic of the northern North Sea

    Rifting in the Northern North Sea commenced during the early Triassic, peaked during the late Jurassic, and terminated by the late Cretaceous. The Viking Graben can be seen as a failed arm of proto-Atlantic rift. Almost throughout this period, the Shetland area formed an area of positive relief.