Paleoceanography
MIT OpenCourseWare's Paleoceanography examines how marine sediments, ice cores, and continental records preserve evidence of past climate change, with emphasis on the last 500,000 years and extending back roughly 2 million years. The course introduces quantitative tools used to analyze paleoceanographic data, including statistics, factor analysis, time series analysis, and simple climatology models. Students work through readings, problem sets, and course materials that connect proxy data such as isotope ratios and sediment layers to reconstructions of ancient ocean and atmospheric conditions. Materials are published freely by MIT under its OpenCourseWare program, with no enrollment or certificate attached. The course suits students with a background in earth science or physical sciences who want to understand how researchers infer climate history from geological and glacial records rather than direct observation.