“深时”（Deep Time）研究与沉积学

近百年来全球气候正在经历一次以变暖为主要特征的显著变化，人类文明的发展迫切要求我们对这种变化的发展趋势及其环境与资源效应有更加深入的了解。仅仅对现代和第四纪气候研究是有局限性的，全面了解地球表层及气候系统需要研究整个地质历史时期地球表层系统的发展演化。基于这样一种需求，从沉积记录研究前第四纪地质历史时期的地球古气候变化及重大地质事件，并为未来气候预测提供依据的“深时”（Deep Time）研究计划在国际地球科学界逐渐形成。“深时”研究将聚焦地球气候系统中的重大科学问题，通过地质历史时期极端气候事件探讨气候变化的极限和速率、大气成分和大洋成分变化、大气环流和大洋环流以及生物圈、固体地球与太阳的联系等，最终揭示地球气候系统与地球系统的联系。“深时”研究将通过解译、定年和模拟的基本方法，发展完善大陆科学钻探项目，获得保存良好、高分辨率的沉积记录是重中之重。可以预见，“深时”研究将与“深空”（Deep Space）、“深海”（Deep Sea）和“深部”（Deep Interior）研究计划一样，成为未来国际和国内地球科学重大研究领域。同时，在开展“深时”研究过程中，沉积学也将扮演核心学科的角色发挥重要的作用。

Deep Time and Sedimentology

Global climate change is represented by a significant warming in the past 100 years. Human civilization is faced with an increasing urgency to understand global climate change and its potential effects on ecosystems, resources and habitability. It is limited to focus on modern and Quaternary climate researches. The path to understanding earth's climate system demands a fully integrated exploration of the earth in the geological history. Deep Time will study climate changes and main geological events using sedimentary records in the pre Quaternarey, so as to provide information for predicting the future climate. Deep Time focuses key scientific questions in Earth's climate system, discusses thresholds and rates of climate changes, atmospheric and oceanic composition, atmospheric and oceanic circulation, linkages with the biosphere, solid earth and sun, and finally reveals the relationship between earth's climate system and earth's surface system. The goal of Deep Time is to read, date and model earth's past climate system. To achieve this, development of a continental drilling program to enable acquisition and preservation of continuous, high resolution datasets is the most important. It is predictable that Deep Time together with Deep Space, Deep Sea and Deep Interior will be new fields in Geosciences. Sedimentology will play a core role in Deep Time research. 