Skip to main content

Search from vocabulary

Content language

Concept information

Preferred term

precession  

Definition

  • One of the three main orbital parameters of the milankovitch theory of glacial-interglacial cycles, the ‘precession of the equinoxes’ relates to the combined effect of ‘wobble’ of the Earth about its axis and ‘rotation’ of the orbit around the Sun. It results in the coincidence of perihelion (the position on the orbit when the Earth is closest to the Sun) with the summer equinox about every 21,000 years; a phenomenon that last occurred about 11,000 years ago. [Source: Encyclopedia of Environmental Change; precession]

Broader concept

Belongs to group

URI

https://concepts.sagepub.com/social-science/concept/precession

Download this concept: