Milankovitch cycles


Milankovitch cycles

[mē·lən′kō·vich ‚sīk·əlz] (geophysics) Periodic variations in the earth's position relative to the sun as the earth orbits, affecting the distribution of the solar radiation reaching the earth and causing climatic changes that have profound impacts on the abundance and distribution of organisms, best seen in the fossil record of the Quaternary Period (the last 1.6 million years).