Definition: The CLIMAP project was a 1970s and early 1980s project that was developed by a consortium of universities and funded by the National Science Foundation as part of the International Decade of Ocean Exploration. CLIMAP produced sea floor sediment data (fossil abundances) to calculate sea surface temperatures and to create a climatological map for 18,000 years ago. Archaeologists think this is a pretty neat trick. Data files and results for CLIMAP are stored by the World Data Center--Paleoclimatology at the National Geophysical Data Center, which is a part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) of the US Government.
This glossary entry is part of the Dictionary of Archaeology. Sources for the term include the references listed on the front page of the Dictionary, and the websites listed in the sidebar. Thanks to Bill Curry, who worked on CLIMAP while at Brown, for providing information on the origins of the CLIMAP project.
This glossary entry is part of the Dictionary of Archaeology. Sources for the term include the references listed on the front page of the Dictionary, and the websites listed in the sidebar. Thanks to Bill Curry, who worked on CLIMAP while at Brown, for providing information on the origins of the CLIMAP project.
