Covers the proxies used to reconstruct past ocean conditions: stable isotopes, trace element ratios, microfossil assemblages, organic biomarkers and sediment physical properties. Addresses the calibration of each proxy, the assumptions it rests on, and the conditions under which it fails.
Age model construction is treated as a first-order problem rather than a preliminary. A record is only as good as its chronology, and much of the disagreement in the literature is chronological rather than substantive.
The last interglacial is used as an extended case. A core recovered in 2024 from a basin off the shelf edge preserves that interval better than material previously available to the group and disagrees with the regional picture assembled from shallower sites. Students work with the core data and evaluate whether the disagreement is real.