The connection between the geological record and dynamic topography driven by mantle convective flow has been established over widely varying temporal and spatial scales. As observations of the process have increased and numerical modeling of thermochemical convection has improved, a burgeoning direction of research targeting outstanding issues in ice age paleoclimate has emerged. This review focuses on studies of the Plio-Pleistocene ice age, including investigations of the stability of ice sheets during ice age warm periods and the inception of Northern Hemisphere glaciation. However, studies that have revealed nuanced connections of dynamic topography to biodiversity, ecology, ocean chemistry, and circulation since the start of the current ice-house world are also considered. In some cases, a recognition of the importance of dynamic topography resolves enigmatic events and in others it confounds already complex, unanswered questions. All such studies highlight the role of solid Earth geophysics in paleoclimate research and undermine a common assumption, beyond the field of glacial isostatic adjustment, that the solid Earth remains a rigid, passive substrate during the evolution of the ice age climate system.

地幔对流驱动的地质记录和动态地形之间的联系已经在广泛变化的时空尺度上建立。随着对过程观测的增加和热化学对流的数值模型的改进，针对冰期古气候中突出问题的研究出现了新兴的方向。这篇综述的重点是对上新世更新世冰期的研究，包括对冰期温暖时期和北半球冰期开始的冰盖稳定性的研究。但是，也考虑了从当前的冰屋世界开始以来，动态地形与生物多样性，生态学，海洋化学和环流之间细微联系的研究。在某些情况下，对动态地形的重要性的认识解决了神秘事件，而在其他情况下，它却混淆了本来就很复杂，尚未解决的问题。所有这些研究都突出了固体地球物理学在古气候研究中的作用，并且破坏了除冰川等静压调节领域以外的一个普遍假设，即在冰河时期气候系统的演化过程中，固体地球仍然是刚性的被动基底。