Module Outline (Lecture Themes)

• Full-glacial environments
• Rapid climatic changes during the last glacial
• Ice-age atmospheres
• Pluvial lakes and palaeoecology of the American southwest
• The mammoth steppe biome

• The last glacial-interglacial transition
• Mammalian extinctions
• Geomorphic and stratigraphic evidence for the Younger Dryas
• Swiss lake-sediment records - varve chronologies and tephra markers
• Causes of abrupt late-glacial climatic change

• Tropical palaeoenvironments
• Palaeomonsoons and the origins of the Sahara
• Abrupt Holocene climatic changes

• Changing forest composition in Europe and North America
• Post-glacial spread of trees in North America and Europe
• Boreal forest and tree-line history
• Climati change, plant pathogens and human impact

• human palaeoenvironments
• Origin and spread of agriculture
• Environmental change and cultural history
• Anthropogenic environmental impacts

Module Aims
The module examines the evidence for natural and anthropogenic environmental change during the last 18,000 years, with an emphasis on evidence from the continents. It aims to show how continental palaeorecords contribute to our understanding of earth system processes, emphasising the interactions between the biosphere, the atmosphere, and the oceans.

Module objectives / Learning outcomes
1. To familiarize students with recent research into long-term change on the continents.
2. To enable students to critically assess current knowledge of the causes and effects of continental environmental change during the last 18,000 years.
3. To provide students with an understanding of the importance of long-term processes in relation to contemporary global environmental issues.