Developments in Paleoenvironmental Research – serie

Origins of fallout radionuclides Sediment records of fallout radionuclides Simple dating models Vertical mixing Numerical techniques Radiometric techniques Discussion Summary Acknowledgements References 10. chronostratigraphic techniques in paleolimnology. Svante Bjorck & Barbara Wohlfarth 205 Introduction Methods and problems Radiocarbon-dating different fractions of the sediment as a chronostratigraphic tool Dating of long (old) stratigraphies High resolution dating and wiggle matching dating versus absolute dating techniques of lacustrine sediments Concluding remarks Summary Useful www addresses Acknowledgements References 11. Varve chronology techniques. Scott Lamoureux 247 Introduction Methods Summary and future directions Acknowledgements References 12. Luminescence dating. Olav B. Lian & D. J. Huntley 261 Introduction The mechanism responsible for luminescence Dating and estimation of the paleodose Thermoluminescence dating Optical dating Evaluating the environmental dose rate xi Sample collection and preparation What types of depositional environments are suitable for luminescence dating? What can lead to an inaccurate optical age? Summary Acknowledgements References 13.Electron spin resonance (ESR) dating in lacustrine environments. Bonnie A. B. Blackwell 283 Introduction Principles of ESR analysis Sample collection ESR analysis ESR microscopy and other new techniques Applications and datable materials in limnological settings Summary Acknowledgements References 14. Use of paleomagnetism in studies of lake sediments. John King & John Peck 371 Introduction Recording fidelity of geomagnetic behavior by sediments Field and laboratory methods Holocene SV records Magnetostratigraphic studies of Neogene lake sediments Excursions, short events and relative paleointensity Conclusions Summary References 15. Amino acid racemization (AAR) dating and analysis in lacustrine environments.

This volume of the "Developments in Paleoenvironmental Research" series deals mainly with physical and geochemical analytical techniques used in palaeolimnology. Other volumes deal with the acquisition and archiving of cores, chronological techniques and large-scale basin analysis methods, biological techniques and statistical and data handling methods. These monographs should provide sufficient detail and breadth to be useful handbooks for both seasoned practitioners as well as newcomers to the area of palaeolimnology. Although the chapters in these volumes target mainly lacustrine settings, many of the techniques described can also be readily applied to fluvial, glacial, marine, estuarine and peatland environments.

This volume of the "Developments in Paleoenvironmental Research" series deals with the major zoological indicators used in palaeolimnology. Other volumes deal with the acquisition and archiving of lake sediment cores, chronological techniques, large-scale basin analysis methods, physical and geochemical parameters and methods, terrestrial, algal and siliceous indicators and statistical and data handling methods. These monographs should provide sufficient detail and breadth to be useful handbooks for both seasoned practitioners as well as newcomers to the area of palaeolimnology. Although the chapters in these volumes target mainly lacustrine settings, many of the techniques described can also be readily applied to fluvial, glacial, marine, estuarine and peatland environments.

Biology Distribution and ecology Taphonomy and preservation Field sampling and coring Laboratory procedures Data analysis and interpretation Summary Acknowledgements References 9. Chrysophyte scales and cysts. B. A. Zeeb & J. P. Smol 203 Introduction Taxonomy and nomenclature Methods Paleolimnological applications Future research directions Summary Acknowledgements References 10. Ebridians. A. Korhola & J. P. Smol 225 Introduction Morphology, taxonomy and preservation in the sediments Methodological aspects Brief history of use of ebridians in palaeoecological research Indicator value and future research priorities Summary Acknowledgements References 11. Phytoliths. D. R. Piperno 235 Introduction and history Phytolith production and taxonomy Laboratory methods Applications of phytolith analysis in lake sediments Summary of the major results Other potential applications of phytoliths in lake sediments Summary Acknowledgments References x 12. Freshwater sponges. 253 T. M.Frost Introduction Sponge species and their distribution Sponge life history Sponge spicules Paleolimnological studies using freshwater sponges Techniques for assessing sponge spicules in sediments Future applications of sponges in paleolimnology Summary Acknowledgements References 13. Siliceous protozoan plates and scales. M. S. V. Douglas & J. P. Smol 265 Introduction History and taxonomy Ecology Paleoecological potential Laboratory methods Data presentation Paleolimnological applications Other related siliceous indicators Summary Acknowledgements References 14. Biogenic silica. D.J. Conley & C.L Schelske 281 Introduction and history Methods Applications Future directions Summary Acknowledgements References 15. Sedimentary pigments.

This is a guide to imaging techniques for sedimentologists, paleolimnologists, paleoceanographers and microscopists involved in paleoenvironmental reconstruction. Case studies illustrate the range of information obtainable from different sediments (marine, lacustrine, aeolian) and different types of samples (cores, embedded blocks, microscopic slides) using different regions of the electromagnetic spectrum (visible, UV, IR, X-ray). Includes comprehensive protocols, guidelines, and recommendations for the use of low cost image analysis techniques.

This book provides a major synthesis of evidence for past climate variability at the regional and continental scale across Europe and Africa. It focuses on two complementary time-scales, the Holocene (approximately the last 11,500 years) and the last glacial-interglacial cycle (approximately the last 130,000 years). An overview of the climate system of the past has never been attempted before on this scale, and, as such, the volume represents a benchmark for future research. It is written by an expert group of climate change scientists and presents an insight into past climate variability that challenges climatologists who seek to explain climate dynamics of the past and provides climate modellers with a work of reference for data-model comparison. The book is an advanced but very readable text essential for all students and scientists interested in global environmental change.

Concerns about the effects of global climate change have focused attention on the vulnerability of circumpolar regions. Long-term historical data are needed to better understand the magnitude and direction of environmental change related to both natural and anthropogenic causes, as well as to assess patterns of natural variability. The paucity of instrumental data requires that proxy methods be used. The abundance of lakes throughout the Arctic and Antarctic makes paleolimnological approaches especially powerful tools to assist interpretations of environmental change. This book provides a synthesis of the broad spectrum of techniques available for generating long-term environmental records from circumpolar lakes. It also provides overviews of the geographic extent of paleolimnological work completed thus far in these regions. It explores the diverse ways in which paleolimnology is used to address the pressing and emerging environmental issues of high-latitude regions. By providing both an introduction and in-depth reviews, this volume is of interest to students and advanced researchers alike who are studying earth, atmospheric and environmental sciences.

Glaciers provide an unparalleled tool for studying global environmental change. This book is the first of its kind concentrating on the paleoenvironmental record archived in mid- and low-latitude glaciers. By concentrating mainly on the last 500 years of these records, we can now see that laws enacted to protect our environment in Europe and North America are providing positive results. Documenting global mid- and low-latitude paleoenvironmental records in glaciers, this volume forms a timely and essential complement to the wealth of literature on polar and Greenland ice sheet records. This text is directed towards undergraduate and graduate university audiences and forms an ideal supplement in courses dealing with climate and global environmental change, glaciology, and natural resources management. It is also suitable in helping teach application of innovative analytical and interpretive methods and would be an excellent example of the rapidly emerging discipline of "Forensic Earth Science".

This volume is intended to show how stable isotopes can be applied to understanding the palaeoenvironment. There are chapters on the interpretation of isotopes in water, tree rings, bones and teeth, lake sediments, speleothems and marine sediments. Crucial to the understanding of the environmental signal contained within the isotope composition of different materials is to gain more information about how rainfall isotope compositions are determined by climate. Chapter 1 (Darling et al. ) describes O, H and C stable isotope compositions in the modern day water and aqueous carbon cycles to provide a framework for the interpretation of these isotopes in the past. The chapter on the water cycle divides naturally into a number of sections. The starting point, precipitation, is especially important because it is the precursor to which most O and H isotope proxy studies are attempting to relate. While much is understood about the isotope systematics of precipitation, largely owing to the existence of the IAEA– WMO Global Network for Isotopes in Precipitation (GNIP), important questions remain to be answered in relation to the isotope-temperature gradients of past climatic conditions. The chapter describes the three reservoirs of water sustaining all terrestrial proxies; soil and vadose zone moisture, groundwater, and surface waters. In each reservoir isotope effects intervene to modify to a greater or lesser extent the isotope signature of antecedent precipitation; groundwaters are least affected and surface waters the most.

Previous volumes in this ‘Developments in Paleoenvironmental Research’ (DPER) series have focussed on providing in-depth descriptions of palaeoenvironmental techniques or have described the applications of these approaches on various regional bases. The former of these now provide an invaluable series of standard text books for scientists and students, while the latter show how the application of palaeo-techniques can be used across broad geographical scales. In this current volume, we have attempted something a little different. Not only are a variety of palaeo-techniques applied to a single, small lake, but we have tried to show how these methods, and the data derived from them, can be integrated synergistically with contemporary monitoring and predictive modelling. The acidification and metals research provide two good examples of this. Along with other upland lakes across the UK, the early research work at Lochnagar was based on assessing the competing hypotheses for the causes of surface water acidification. As a result, palaeolimnological techniques were used to assess the timing and extent of pH changes over hundreds of years. The subsequent establishment of the UK Acid Waters Monitoring Network (UK AWMN) then allowed a range of biological and chemical parameters to be assessed routinely in order to determine the rate at which the lakes and streams, including Lochnagar, were recovering following emissions reductions.

A top priority in climate research is obtaining broad-extent and long-term data to support analyses of historical patterns and trends, and for model development and evaluation. Along with directly measured climate data from the present and recent past, it is important to obtain estimates of long past climate variations spanning multiple centuries and millennia. These longer time perspectives are needed for assessing the unusualness of recent climate changes, as well as for providing insight on the range, variation and overall dynamics of the climate system over time spans exceeding available records from instruments, such as rain gauges and thermometers. Tree rings have become increasingly valuable in providing this long-term information because extensive data networks have been developed in temperate and boreal zones of the Earth, and quantitative methods for analyzing these data have advanced. Tree rings are among the most useful paleoclimate information sources available because they provide a high degree of chronological accuracy, high replication, and extensive spatial coverage spanning recent centuries. With the expansion and extension of tree-ring data and analytical capacity new climatic insights from tree rings are being used in a variety of applications, including for interpretation of past changes in ecosystems and human societies.  This volume presents an overview of the current state of dendroclimatology, its contributions over the last 30 years, and its future potential. The material included is useful not only to those who generate tree-ring records of past climate-dendroclimatologists, but also to users of their results-climatologists, hydrologists, ecologists and archeologists. ‘With the pressing climatic questions of the 21st century demanding a deeper understanding of the climate system and our impact upon it, this thoughtful volume comes at critical moment. It will be of fundamental importance in notonly guiding researchers, but in educating scientists and the interested lay person on the both incredible power and potential pitfalls of reconstructing climate using tree-ring analysis.’, Glen M. MacDonald, UCLA Institute of the Environment, CA, USA ‘This is an up-to-date treatment of all branches of tree-ring science, by the world’s experts in the field, reminding us that tree rings are the most important source of proxy data on climate change.  Should be read by all budding dendrochronology scientists.’, Alan Robock, Rutgers University, NJ, USA

Pinxian Wang and Qianyu Li The South China Sea (SCS) (Fig. 1. 1) offers a special attraction for Earth scientists world-wide because of its location and its well-preserved hemipelagic sediments. As the largest one of the marginal seas separating Asia from the Paci?c, the largest continent from the largest ocean, the SCS functions as a focal point in land-sea int- actions of the Earth system. Climatically, the SCS is located between the Western Paci?c Warm Pool, the centre of global heating at the sea level, and the Tibetan Plateau, the centre of heating at an altitude of 5,000m. Geomorphologically, the SCS lies to the east of the highest peak on earth, Zhumulangma or Everest in the Himalayas (8,848m elevation) and to the west of the deepest trench in the ocean, Philippine Trench (10,497m water depth) (Wang P. 2004). Biogeographically, the SCS belongs to the so-called “East Indies Triangle” where modern marine and terrestrial biodiversity reaches a global maximum (Briggs 1999). Among the major marginal sea basins from the west Paci?c, the SCS presents some of the best conditions for accumulating complete paleoclimatic records in its hemipelagic deposits. These records are favorable for high-resolution pa- oceanographic studies because of high sedimentation rates and good carbonate preservation. It may not be merely a coincidence that two cores from the southern 14 SCS were among the ?rst several cores in the world ocean used by AMS C dating for high-resolution stratigraphy (Andree et al. 1986; Broecker et al. 1988).

This book addresses the main enigmas of Easter Island’s (Rapa Nui, in the Polynesian language) prehistory from the time of initial settlement to European contact with a multidisciplinary perspective.

This book addresses the main enigmas of Easter Island’s (Rapa Nui, in the Polynesian language) prehistory from the time of initial settlement to European contact with a multidisciplinary perspective.

This book, entitled Tracking Environmental Change Using Lake Sediments: Volume 6 – Sedimentary DNA, provides an overview of the applications of sedimentary DNA-based approaches to paleolimnological studies.

This book, entitled Tracking Environmental Change Using Lake Sediments: Volume 6 – Sedimentary DNA, provides an overview of the applications of sedimentary DNA-based approaches to paleolimnological studies.

South America is a unique place where a number of past climate archives are ava- able from tropical to high latitude regions. It thus offers a unique opportunity to explore past climate variability along a latitudinal transect from the Equator to Polar regions and to study climate teleconnections. Most climate records from tropical and subtropical South America for the past 20,000 years have been interpreted as local responses to shift in the mean position and intensity of the InterTropical Conv- gence Zone due to tropical and extratropical forcings or to changes in the South American Summer Monsoon. Further South, the role of the Southern Hemisphere westerly winds on global climate has been highly investigated with both paleodata and coupled climate models. However the regional response over South America during the last 20,000 years is much more variable from place to place than pre- ously thought. The factors that govern the spatial patterns of variability on millennial scale resolution are still to be understood. The question of past natural rates and ranges of climate conditions over South America is therefore of special relevance in this context since today millions of people live under climates where any changes in monsoon rainfall can lead to catastrophic consequences.

Origins of fallout radionuclides Sediment records of fallout radionuclides Simple dating models Vertical mixing Numerical techniques Radiometric techniques Discussion Summary Acknowledgements References 10. chronostratigraphic techniques in paleolimnology. Svante Bjorck & Barbara Wohlfarth 205 Introduction Methods and problems Radiocarbon-dating different fractions of the sediment as a chronostratigraphic tool Dating of long (old) stratigraphies High resolution dating and wiggle matching dating versus absolute dating techniques of lacustrine sediments Concluding remarks Summary Useful www addresses Acknowledgements References 11. Varve chronology techniques. Scott Lamoureux 247 Introduction Methods Summary and future directions Acknowledgements References 12. Luminescence dating. Olav B. Lian & D. J. Huntley 261 Introduction The mechanism responsible for luminescence Dating and estimation of the paleodose Thermoluminescence dating Optical dating Evaluating the environmental dose rate xi Sample collection and preparation What types of depositional environments are suitable for luminescence dating? What can lead to an inaccurate optical age? Summary Acknowledgements References 13.Electron spin resonance (ESR) dating in lacustrine environments. Bonnie A. B. Blackwell 283 Introduction Principles of ESR analysis Sample collection ESR analysis ESR microscopy and other new techniques Applications and datable materials in limnological settings Summary Acknowledgements References 14. Use of paleomagnetism in studies of lake sediments. John King & John Peck 371 Introduction Recording fidelity of geomagnetic behavior by sediments Field and laboratory methods Holocene SV records Magnetostratigraphic studies of Neogene lake sediments Excursions, short events and relative paleointensity Conclusions Summary References 15. Amino acid racemization (AAR) dating and analysis in lacustrine environments.

This second volume in the Developments in Paleoenvironmental Research series deals mainly with physical and geochemical analytical techniques used in paleolimnology. Other volumes deal with the acquisition and archiving of cores, chronological techniques, and large-scale basin analysis methods (Volume 1), biological techniques (Volumes 3 & 4), and statistical and data handling methods (Volume 5). These monographs provide sufficient detail and breadth to be useful handbooks for both seasoned practitioners as well as newcomers to the area of paleolimnology. Although the chapters in these volumes target mainly lacustrine settings, many of the techniques described can also be readily applied to fluvial, glacial, marine, estuarine, and peatland environments.

This fourth volume in the Developments in Paleoenvironmental Research series deals with the major zoological indicators used in paleolimnology. Other volumes deal with the acquisition and archiving of lake sediment cores, chronological techniques, and large-scale basin analysis methods (Volume 1), physical and geochemical parameters and methods (Volume 2), terrestrial, algal, and siliceous indicators (Volume 3), and statistical and data handling methods (Volume 5). These monographs provide sufficient detail and breadth to be useful handbooks for both seasoned practitioners as well as newcomers to the area of paleolimnology. Although the chapters in these volumes target mainly lacustrine settings, many of the techniques described can also be readily applied to fluvial, glacial, marine, estuarine, and peatland environments.

Biology Distribution and ecology Taphonomy and preservation Field sampling and coring Laboratory procedures Data analysis and interpretation Summary Acknowledgements References 9. Chrysophyte scales and cysts. B. A. Zeeb & J. P. Smol 203 Introduction Taxonomy and nomenclature Methods Paleolimnological applications Future research directions Summary Acknowledgements References 10. Ebridians. A. Korhola & J. P. Smol 225 Introduction Morphology, taxonomy and preservation in the sediments Methodological aspects Brief history of use of ebridians in palaeoecological research Indicator value and future research priorities Summary Acknowledgements References 11. Phytoliths. D. R. Piperno 235 Introduction and history Phytolith production and taxonomy Laboratory methods Applications of phytolith analysis in lake sediments Summary of the major results Other potential applications of phytoliths in lake sediments Summary Acknowledgments References x 12. Freshwater sponges. 253 T. M.Frost Introduction Sponge species and their distribution Sponge life history Sponge spicules Paleolimnological studies using freshwater sponges Techniques for assessing sponge spicules in sediments Future applications of sponges in paleolimnology Summary Acknowledgements References 13. Siliceous protozoan plates and scales. M. S. V. Douglas & J. P. Smol 265 Introduction History and taxonomy Ecology Paleoecological potential Laboratory methods Data presentation Paleolimnological applications Other related siliceous indicators Summary Acknowledgements References 14. Biogenic silica. D.J. Conley & C.L Schelske 281 Introduction and history Methods Applications Future directions Summary Acknowledgements References 15. Sedimentary pigments.

This book provides a major synthesis of evidence for past climate variability at the regional and continental scale across Europe and Africa. It focuses on two complementary time-scales, the Holocene (approximately the last 11,500 years) and the last glacial-interglacial cycle (approximately the last 130,000 years). An overview of the climate system of the past has never been attempted before on this scale, and, as such, the volume represents a benchmark for future research. It is written by an expert group of climate change scientists and presents an insight into past climate variability that challenges climatologists who seek to explain climate dynamics of the past and provides climate modellers with a work of reference for data-model comparison. The book is an advanced but very readable text essential for all students and scientists interested in global environmental change.

Concerns about the effects of global climate change have focused attention on the vulnerability of circumpolar regions. Long-term historical data are needed to better understand the magnitude and direction of environmental change related to both natural and anthropogenic causes, as well as to assess patterns of natural variability. The paucity of instrumental data requires that proxy methods be used. The abundance of lakes throughout the Arctic and Antarctic makes paleolimnological approaches especially powerful tools to assist interpretations of environmental change. This book provides a synthesis of the broad spectrum of techniques available for generating long-term environmental records from circumpolar lakes. It also provides overviews of the geographic extent of paleolimnological work completed thus far in these regions. It explores the diverse ways in which paleolimnology is used to address the pressing and emerging environmental issues of high-latitude regions. By providing both an introduction and in-depth reviews, this volume is of interest to students and advanced researchers alike who are studying earth, atmospheric and environmental sciences.

Glaciers provide an unparalleled tool for studying global environmental change. This book is the first of its kind concentrating on the paleoenvironmental record archived in mid- and low-latitude glaciers. By concentrating mainly on the last 500 years of these records, we can now see that laws enacted to protect our environment in Europe and North America are providing positive results. Documenting global mid- and low-latitude paleoenvironmental records in glaciers, this volume forms a timely and essential complement to the wealth of literature on polar and Greenland ice sheet records. This text is directed towards undergraduate and graduate university audiences and forms an ideal supplement in courses dealing with climate and global environmental change, glaciology, and natural resources management. It is also suitable in helping teach application of innovative analytical and interpretive methods and would be an excellent example of the rapidly emerging discipline of "Forensic Earth Science".

This volume is intended to show how stable isotopes can be applied to understanding the palaeoenvironment. There are chapters on the interpretation of isotopes in water, tree rings, bones and teeth, lake sediments, speleothems and marine sediments. Crucial to the understanding of the environmental signal contained within the isotope composition of different materials is to gain more information about how rainfall isotope compositions are determined by climate. Chapter 1 (Darling et al. ) describes O, H and C stable isotope compositions in the modern day water and aqueous carbon cycles to provide a framework for the interpretation of these isotopes in the past. The chapter on the water cycle divides naturally into a number of sections. The starting point, precipitation, is especially important because it is the precursor to which most O and H isotope proxy studies are attempting to relate. While much is understood about the isotope systematics of precipitation, largely owing to the existence of the IAEA– WMO Global Network for Isotopes in Precipitation (GNIP), important questions remain to be answered in relation to the isotope-temperature gradients of past climatic conditions. The chapter describes the three reservoirs of water sustaining all terrestrial proxies; soil and vadose zone moisture, groundwater, and surface waters. In each reservoir isotope effects intervene to modify to a greater or lesser extent the isotope signature of antecedent precipitation; groundwaters are least affected and surface waters the most.

Numerical and statistical methods have rapidly become part of a palaeolimnologist’s tool-kit. They are used to explore and summarise complex data, reconstruct past environmental variables from fossil assemblages, and test competing hypotheses about the causes of observed changes in lake biota through history.

South America is a unique place where a number of past climate archives are ava- able from tropical to high latitude regions. It thus offers a unique opportunity to explore past climate variability along a latitudinal transect from the Equator to Polar regions and to study climate teleconnections. Most climate records from tropical and subtropical South America for the past 20,000 years have been interpreted as local responses to shift in the mean position and intensity of the InterTropical Conv- gence Zone due to tropical and extratropical forcings or to changes in the South American Summer Monsoon. Further South, the role of the Southern Hemisphere westerly winds on global climate has been highly investigated with both paleodata and coupled climate models. However the regional response over South America during the last 20,000 years is much more variable from place to place than pre- ously thought. The factors that govern the spatial patterns of variability on millennial scale resolution are still to be understood. The question of past natural rates and ranges of climate conditions over South America is therefore of special relevance in this context since today millions of people live under climates where any changes in monsoon rainfall can lead to catastrophic consequences.

A top priority in climate research is obtaining broad-extent and long-term data to support analyses of historical patterns and trends, and for model development and evaluation. Along with directly measured climate data from the present and recent past, it is important to obtain estimates of long past climate variations spanning multiple centuries and millennia. These longer time perspectives are needed for assessing the unusualness of recent climate changes, as well as for providing insight on the range, variation and overall dynamics of the climate system over time spans exceeding available records from instruments, such as rain gauges and thermometers. Tree rings have become increasingly valuable in providing this long-term information because extensive data networks have been developed in temperate and boreal zones of the Earth, and quantitative methods for analyzing these data have advanced. Tree rings are among the most useful paleoclimate information sources available because they provide a high degree of chronological accuracy, high replication, and extensive spatial coverage spanning recent centuries. With the expansion and extension of tree-ring data and analytical capacity new climatic insights from tree rings are being used in a variety of applications, including for interpretation of past changes in ecosystems and human societies.  This volume presents an overview of the current state of dendroclimatology, its contributions over the last 30 years, and its future potential. The material included is useful not only to those who generate tree-ring records of past climate-dendroclimatologists, but also to users of their results-climatologists, hydrologists, ecologists and archeologists. ‘With the pressing climatic questions of the 21st century demanding a deeper understanding of the climate system and our impact upon it, this thoughtful volume comes at critical moment. It will be of fundamental importance in notonly guiding researchers, but in educating scientists and the interested lay person on the both incredible power and potential pitfalls of reconstructing climate using tree-ring analysis.’, Glen M. MacDonald, UCLA Institute of the Environment, CA, USA ‘This is an up-to-date treatment of all branches of tree-ring science, by the world’s experts in the field, reminding us that tree rings are the most important source of proxy data on climate change.  Should be read by all budding dendrochronology scientists.’, Alan Robock, Rutgers University, NJ, USA