The 10th summer school of the USSP consortium will focus on past climate dynamics with special emphasis on the analysis of the long-term carbon cycling and its implications in the understanding of present and future climates. USSP 2013 will integrate lectures, symposia, fieldtrips, and exercises on the many different areas of paleoclimatology including biogeochemical cycling, paleoceanography, continental systems, and all aspects of deep time climate modeling.