Milankovitch Cycles

Earth's orbit around the Sun is not perfectly constant — it varies in shape, tilt, and orientation over tens of thousands of years. These Milankovitch cycles alter the distribution of solar energy reaching Earth's surface, pacing the advance and retreat of ice sheets.

The three orbital parameters — eccentricity, obliquity, and precession — combine to produce complex patterns of insolation change that correlate remarkably well with the glacial-interglacial rhythm recorded in ocean sediments.