Marine isotope stage (Q789)

Subject, term, tag: Marine isotope stage

Marine isotope stage (MIS)

Language	Label	Description	Also known as
English	Marine isotope stage	Subject, term, tag: Marine isotope stage	Marine isotope stage (MIS)

Statements

Instance of

Category

source version

IPCC Glossary v1.5

1 reference

Source

https://apps.ipcc.ch/glossary/

date accessed

27 May 2026

Part of

Working Group I: Climate Change 2021 – The Physical Science Basis

0 references

Definition

Geological periods of alternating glacial and interglacial conditions, each typically lasting tens of thousands of years as inferred from the oxygen isotope composition of microfossils from deep sea sediment cores. MIS numbers increase back in time from the present, which is MIS 1. Even-number MISs coincide with glacial periods, and odd-numbered MISs are interglacials. (English)