Quantifying the variability of paleotemperature fluctuations on heat flow measurements

Variability between reconstructed past temperature changes is lower at local rather than regional scales. Climatic factors influence the magnitude of variability between boreholes, with non-climatic factors including topography, lithology and land use representing secondary measurable influences. The magnitude of variability means that paleotemperature corrections for heat flow will generally increase the accuracy, but not the precision of heat flow measurements.