| Module Identifier | EA30710 | ||
| Module Title | GEOCHEMICAL RECORDS OF QUATERNARY ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE | ||
| Academic Year | 2000/2001 | ||
| Co-ordinator | Dr Geoff Duller | ||
| Semester | Semester 2 | ||
| Other staff | Dr Aled Rowlands | ||
| Pre-Requisite | GG21110 | ||
| Course delivery | Lecture | 20 Hours 10 x 2 hour | |
| Seminars / Tutorials | 2 Hours 1 x 2 hour (for 'open literature' exam) | ||
| Assessment | Exam | 2 Hours Written examination. | 60% |
| Combined | In-course presentations of key papers and associated essay. Course work presentations occur throughout the semester, and essays are due in at the same time. A timetable is arranged in the first lecture. | 40% | |
| Resit assessment | Resit: 2 hour written examination (60%); In-course assessment marks to be carried forward. | ||
Module outline
Subject areas:
1. Polar and Non-Polar Ice Cores:
Dust records
Oxgen isotopes
Accumulation rates
Trapped gases
2. Deep ocean cores:
Oxygen isotopes (more detail than in GG21110)
Sea surface temperatures
Palaeoproductivity
3. Loess:
Magnetic susceptibility
Accumulation rates
Grain size
4. Terrestrial calcite:
Oxygen and carbon isotopes
Growth intervals
5. Lake records:
Sr/Ca ratios
Biogenic silica production rates
6. Corals:
Oxygen isotope records of temperature and salinity
Sr/Ca and Mg/Ca records of sea surface temperature
Module Aims
This module describes in detail various records of environmental change through the Quaternary, building upon the knowledge acquired in GG21110. The physical principles of each technique will be covered, along with the records of environmental change that they provide.
Module objectives / Learning outcomes
On completion of this module students will be able to describe the variety of geochemical records that are available for reconstructing Quaternary environmental change. They will be able to critically assess the importance of a particular piece of work in this field of research. They will be able to synthesise the results of these different techniques to form a coherent picture of Quaternary environments at various times over the last 130 kyr.
Reading Lists
Books
Lowe, J.J. and Walker, M.J.C.. (1997)
Reconstructing Quaternary Environments. 2nd ed.. Longman
Bradley R S. (1999)
Paleoclimatology. 2nd. Academic Press