Quaternary Environmental Change

Wedi cwblhau'r modiwl dylai'r myfyrwyr fedru:

1. Outline and explain the nature of climate changes that the Earth has undergone in the Quaternary, and especially during the last 200,000 years.
2. Describe the principal methods used to obtain palaeoenvironmental data and evaluate their strengths and weaknesses.
3. Present, analyse and interpret a range of palaeoclimatic and palaeoenvironmental data.
4. Interpret geomorphological evidence to estimate past ice extent.
5. Discuss evidence from the Quaternary palaeoenvironmental record in the context of contemporary climate issues.

This module aims to give students an understanding of the nature of climatic and environmental change during the Quaternary Period – the last 2.6 million years of Earth History, characterised by glaciation and changes in global ice cover. We will examine global records of Quaternary climatic variability obtained from ice cores and ocean sediments that provide the framework for understanding mechanisms of climate change. We will investigate the changing extent of ice cover across the globe at a range of scales. With a focus on the North Atlantic region, we will discuss the evidence obtained from lakes and bogs for rapid climate change during deglaciation and what that means for understanding contemporary climate variability. This module provides a background for understanding long-term processes in many subject areas, including climatology, oceanography, hydrology, geomorphology, glaciology, and biogeography.

1. to outline the main changes in climate that have affected the Earth during the last 2.6 million years and their causes, with a particular emphasis on the last c. 200,000 years;
2. to provide students with a critical view of the methods by which past environments and glaciation can be reconstructed;
3. to discuss the role of palaeoclimatology in understanding contemporary climate change.

The course is lecture based, supplemented by workshops focusing on data interpretation and contemporary debates.
Lectures will cover topics such as:
• Long term, global records of palaeoenvironmental change
• The nature and timing of climate variability over the last glacial cycle
• Causes of long and short-term climate variability
• The polar ice caps
• Continental ice sheets during the Quaternary
• Mountain glaciation
• Terrestrial records of environmental change
• Rapid climate change in the North Atlantic

Module activities will provide students with the opportunity to explore lecture topics in more detail. Mapping and data analysis workshops will focus on interpretation and analysis and interpretation of glacial geomorphology and long term climate records, whilst seminar discussion will focus on latest research linking past and present climate change.

Mae'r modiwl hwn yn cydymffurfio a FfCChC Lefel 5