Among all the lithological indicators, ice-rafted debris (IRD) is the most useful tool to reconstruct paleoclimate. High concentrations of IRD evidence the glacial intervals during which icebergs likely traveled far from Polar Regions。In the South Pacific, IRD has been used as proxy for glaciation in the Cenozoic and a glaciation history has been established for the Subantarctic region. The history is also supported by the foraminifera species diversity data.
In the western Arctic Ocean, investigation of ice-rafted debris has identified at least six glacial intervals in the last 1 million years.
 Deep-sea cores with high rates of sedimentation allow high resolution analyses of IRD. In the North Pacific, records of IRD have delineated interstadials (short time thermal event during glacial interval), which could be correlated with the similar events in the North Atlantic.