Module Identifier | GG21110 | ||
Module Title | READING THE ICE AGE RECORD | ||
Academic Year | 2001/2002 | ||
Co-ordinator | Dr Henry Lamb | ||
Semester | Semester 1 | ||
Other staff | Dr Geoff Duller | ||
Course delivery | Lecture | 22 Hours 11 x 2 hour lectures | |
Seminars / Tutorials | |||
Assessment | In-course assessment | 1 x 1 hour mid-term short-answer test. | 25% |
Exam | 2 Hours Two essay questions to be answered from four set. | 75% | |
Resit assessment | 2 Hours Examination only. |
The chronological framework:
Terminology and timescales.
Palaeomagnetism. Potassium-argon dating.
Radiocarbon dating; calibrating the radiocarbon timescale.
Evidence from the oceans:
Oxygen isotopes, microfossil assemblages and terrigenous input
Quaternary sea-level records.
Evidence from the continents:
Lakes and lake sediments
Diatom records of surface water acidification.
Peat stratigraphy.
Ice core records of climatic change:
Stable isotopes; dissolved and particulate matter; gas bubble contents.
European and Chinese loess sequences.
Biological evidence:
Tree rings: dendroclimatology
Pollen analysis: principles, methods, and data presentation.
Interpreting past vegetation and climate from pollen data
2. To equip students to interpret a range of palaeoclimatic and palaeoenvironmental data.
3. To enable students to realise the importance of past records in relation to contemporary issues such as global warming.
4. To introduce students to current literature in the field of Quaternary research.
On completion of this module students should be able to demonstrate knowledge of :-