Paleoclimatology
Reconstructing Climates of the Quaternary
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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
Snowlines and Glaciation Thresholds
Mountain Glacier Fluctuations
Lake-Level Fluctuations
Lake Sediments
Speleothems
Non-Marine Biological Evidence
Introduction
Former Vegetation Distribution From Plant Macrofossils
Insects
Pollen analysis
Introduction
The Basis of Pollen Analysis
How Rapidly Does Vegetation Respond to Changes in Climate?
Pollen Analysis of a Site: The Pollen Diagram
Mapping Vegetation Change: Isopolls and Isochrones
Quantitative Paleoclimatic Reconstructions Based on Pollen analysis
Paleoclimatic Reconstruction From Long Quaternary Pollen Records
Dendroclimatology
Introduction
Fundamentals of Dendroclimatology
Dendroclimatic Reconstructions
Isotope Dendroclimatology
Documentary Data
Introduction
Historical Records and Their interpretation
Regional Studies Based on Historical Records
Records Climate Forcing Factors
Paleoclimate Models
Introduction
Types of Models
Sensitivity Experiments Using General Circulation Models
Model Simulations: 18ka B.P. to the Present
Coupled Ocean-Atmosphere Model Experiments of the Thermohaline Circulation
GCM Paleoclimate Simulations and the Paleo Record
Appendix A: Further Considerations on Radiocarbon Dating
Calculation of Radiocarbon Age and Standardization Procedure
Fractionation Effects
World Wide Web-Based Resources in Paleoclimatology
References
Index
Product details
- No. of pages: 632
- Language: English
- Copyright: © Academic Press 1999
- Published: February 15, 1999
- Imprint: Academic Press
- eBook ISBN: 9780080538341
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