Description Table of Contents Details Authors Reviews

Description

Raymond S. Bradley provides his readers with a comprehensive and up-to-date review of all of the important methods used in paleoclimatic reconstruction, dating and paleoclimate modeling. Two comprehensive chapters on dating methods provide the foundation for all paleoclimatic studies and are followed by up-to-date coverage of ice core research, continental geological and biological records, pollen analysis, radiocarbon dating, tree rings and historical records. New methods using alkenones in marine sediments and coral studies are also described. Paleoclimatology, Second Edition, is an essential textbook for advanced undergraduate and postgraduate students studying climatology, paleoclimatology and paleooceanography worldwide, as well as a valuable reference for lecturers and researchers, appealing to archaeologists and scientists interested in environmental change.

Key Features

@bul:* Contains two up-to-date chapters on dating methods * Consists of the latest coverage of ice core research, marine sediment and coral studies, continental geological and biological records, pollen analysis, tree rings, and historical records * Describes the newest methods using alkenones in marine sediments and long continental pollen records * Addresses all important methods used in paleoclimatic reconstruction * Includes an extensive chapter on the use of models in paleoclimatology * Extensive and up-to-date bibliography * Illustrated with numerous comprehensive figure captions

Readership

Undergraduates, researchers, lecturers, professionals and classes in archeology, palynology, geology, geosciences, geological research methods, paleoecology, paleooceanography, paleoclimatology, climatology, climate modeling, glaciology, geomorphology, geography, earth sciences, environmental sciences, oceanography, astronomy, meteorology and Quaternary sciences; archeologists, scientists, and government and agency officials who deal with issues of global environmental change.

Table of Contents

Preface Acknowledgments Paleoclimatic Reconstruction Introduction Sources of Paleoclimatic information Levels of Paleoclimatic analysis Modeling in Paleoclimatic Research Climate and Climatic Variation The Nature of Climate and Climatic Variation The Climate System Feedback Mechanisms Energy Balance of the Earth and Its Atmosphere Timescales of Climatic Variation Variations of the Earth's Orbital Parameters Dating Methods I Introduction and Overview Radioisotopic Methods Dating Methods II Paleomagnetism Dating Methods involving Chemical Changes Biological Dating Methods Ice Cores Introduction Stable Isotope analysis Dating Ice Cores Paleoclimatic Reconstruction From Ice Cores Marine Sediments and Corals Introduction Paleoclimatic Information From Biological Material in Ocean Cores Oxygen Isotope Studies of Calcareous Marine Fauna Relative Abundance Studies Paleotemperature Records From Alkenones Dissolution of Deep-Sea Carbonates Paleoclimatic Information From Inorganic Material in Ocean Cores Coral Records of Past Climate Thermohaline Circulation of the Oceans Ocean Circulation Changes and Climate Over the Last Glacial-Interglacial Cycle Changes in Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide: The Role of the Oceans Orbital Forcing: Evidence From the Marine Record Non-Marine Geological Evidence Introduction Loess Periglacial Features Sn

Details

No. of pages:
613
Language:
English
Copyright:
© 1999
Published:
Imprint:
Academic Press
eBook ISBN:
9780080538341
Print ISBN:
9780121240103

About the author

Raymond Bradley

Raymond S. Bradley has been involved in many national and international activities related to paleoclimatology, most notably as the current Chair of the Scientific Steering Committee for the International Geosphere-Biosphere Program on Past Global Changes (IGBP-PAGES). He has published dozens of articles in scientific journals, and has edited several important books in paleoclimatology. The first edition of Quaternary Paleoclimatology has been the definitive text in this field for over a decade. His research is in climatology, specifically in climatic change and the evidence for how the earth’s climate has varied in the past. He has carried out research on climate variation, both on the long (glacial and interglacial) time-scale and on the short (historical and instrumental) time-scale, involving the analysis of data from all over the world. In recent years he has been involved in studies of natural climate variability, to provide a background for understanding potential anthropogenic changes in climate resulting from rapid increases in "greenhouse gases" over the last century or so. R.S. Bradley has been a professor in the Department of Geosciences, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, USA, since 1984. He has been Head of the Department of Geosciences since 1993. Additionally, he is a member of Clare Hall at Cambridge.

Affiliations and Expertise

University of Massachusetts, Amherst, USA

Reviews

"This thorough, well referenced text will prove to be indispensable to anyone involved in the study of past and current climate change and modeling." -SOUTHEASTERN NATURALIST, 2005 @from:Praise for the first edition: @qu:"An indispensable work of reference for scientists and students alike." @source:--Quarternary Science Reviews @qu:"There can be little doubt that overall this book is a great success in the way the information is assimilated, explained and placed in a global context." @source:--Journal of Quarternary Science @qu:"A book which ought to be read as a primer by anyone with a critical interest in the field." @source:--Earth Surface Processes and :Landforms @qu:"Unrivaled in the sophistication with which it examines a wide range of methods." @source:--K.W. Butzer, Journal of Archeological Science @qu:"A resounding success... indispensable reading for anyone involved in paleoclimatic reconstruction or paleoclimatic modeling." @source:--L.D.D. Harvey, University of Toronto Published Review As reviewed in CHOICE, October 1999 "Bradley's new edition (1st ed., Quaternary Paleoclimatology, CH, Jul'85) is a thorough update; there is new material on ice cores, better dating, marine sediments, ocean circulations, corals, and paleoclimate models. About 2,000 references are listed, with more than half newer than 1985. This is an excellent compilation of figures and tables covering the entire subject. Many subtopics are of interest to casual readers: El Niños (Ninos) since 1525; extent and seasonal changes in snow-ice cover; paleomagnetism--dates of major reversals in polarity; dust veil index since 1500, corresponding to volcanic activity; information from tree rings; ocean temperatures a
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