The climate of the Baikal region is characterized by a high degree of continentality, due to its high-latitude-, mid-continent position. In addition, Lake Baikal has never been glaciated in its 20-25 million year history.

The sedimentary record of Baikal is also extremely long and continuous, with sedimentation rates varying from 1 cm/ky to 1 m/ky. The Baikal record therefore offers exciting opportunities to study paleoclimate change on a variety of temporal scales and resolutions.

Keywords: Asia, Russia, Siberia, Lake Baikal, Cenozoic, Climate Change, Global Environment, Lake Drilling, Tectonic Evolution