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THE "LITTLE ICE AGE": LOCAL AND GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES P. D. JONES and K. R. BRIFFA Climatic Research Unit, University of East Anglia, Norwich, NR4 7TJ, UK. This volume of Climatic Change is devoted to the study of the climate of the last 1000 years, with a major emphasis on the last few centuries. The timespan encompasses what has been referred to as the "Little Ice Age" (Bradley, 1992). This term was originally coined by glaciologists, with reference to the most recent major glacial advance of the Holocene (Bradley and Jones, 1993). Although other such advances in different parts of the world may not have been synchronous, the term "Little Ice Age" has come to be associated with the period of a widespread foreward movement of European glaciers between about 14 50 to 1850, as well as with relatively cooler temperatures. The issue of whether or not this concept is appropriate, is a major theme of many of the papers included in this volume.
Peatlands are regarded as having exceptional archaeological value, due to the fact the waterlogged conditions of these wetlands can preserve organic remains that are almost entirely lost from the majority of dryland contexts. This is certainly true, although the remarkable preservation of sites and artifacts is just one aspect of their archaeological importance. This book provides an accessible introduction to the ecology and formation processes of peatlands, and to the different archaeological and palaeoenvironmental techniques that have been developed and adapted for the study of these environments. It provides an outline of the major themes and methods and as a guide to other more detailed and technical literature concerning peatland archaeology. The book is aimed at undergraduate and postgraduate students in archaeology, earth sciences and cognate disciplines, but will be useful to professional archaeologists who are looking to develop their expertise in this field. Whilst the assumption is that the reader has little knowledge of peatlands, a general archaeological background is necessary, including some knowledge of techniques and approaches.
This book brings together the results of recent research on the Neolithic long cairns lying in the shadow of the Black Mountains in south-east Wales, focusing upon Penywyrlod and Gwernvale, the two best known tombs within the group, previously excavated in the 1970s. Important results lie in both new site detail and reassessment of the wider context. Small-scale excavation, geophysical survey and geological assessment at Penywyrlod - the largest of the Welsh long cairns - gave further information about the distinctive external and internal architecture of the monument. In turn, this opened the opportunity to reassess the pre-monument sequence at Gwernvale, with re-examination of both Mesolit...
Iceland provides an unique stage on which to study the natural environment, both past and present, and it is understanding both aspects of reconstructing the past and observing and interpreting the present that form the focus of the contributions to this volume. The papers are all written by active researchers and incorporate both reviews and new data. Although concentrating largely on the recent Quaternary timescale a wide range of topics is explored including subglacial volcanism, onshore and offshore evidence for the Last Glacial Maximum and subsequent deglaciation, current glacial characteristics including jökulhlaups and glacial landsystems, soil development, Holocene ecosystem change,...
Mapping phylogenetics on geographical scales is one of the most important scientific aspects of bioscience research. Changes in the environment have evidently shaped the geographical distribution of organisms on land and in the oceans seen today. Overexploitation of key species has caused not only changes in the distribution and diversity of organisms and composition of the ecosystems, but is also leading to species extinction at accelerating rates. It is our duty as scientists to find ways of protecting the species endangered with extinction and preventing other species from entering the endangered stage. To manage this effectively, we need to map species distribution, understand life-histo...
Speleothems (mineral deposits that formed in caves) are currently giving us some of the most exciting insights into environments and climates during the Pleistocene ice ages and the subsequent Holocene rise of civilizations. The book applies system science to Quaternary environments in a new and rigorous way and gives holistic explanations the relations between the properties of speleothems and the climatic and cave setting in which they are found. It is designed as the ideal companion to someone embarking on speleothem research and, since the underlying science is very broad, it will also be invaluable to a wide variety of others. Students and professional scientists interested in carbonate rocks, karst hydrogeology, climatology, aqueous geochemistry, carbonate geochemistry and the calibration of climatic proxies will find up-to-date reviews of these topics here. The book will also be valuable to Quaternary scientists who, up to now, have lacked a thorough overview of these important archives. Additional resources for this book can be found at: www.wiley.com/go/fairchild/speleothem.
It can be argued that the differences in content and approach between physical and human geography, and also within its sub-disciplines, are often overemphasised. The result is that geography is often seen as a diverse and dynamic subject, but also as a disorganised and fragmenting one, without a focus. Unifying Geography focuses on the plural and competing versions of unity that characterise the discipline, which give it cohesion and differentiate it from related fields of knowledge. Each of the chapters is co-authored by both a leading physical and a human geographer. Themes identified include those of the traditional core as well as new and developing topics that are based on subject matter, concepts, methodology, theory, techniques and applications. Through its identification of unifying themes, the book will provide students with a meaningful framework through which to understand the nature of the geographical discipline. Unifying Geography will give the discipline renewed strength and direction, thus improving its status both within and outside geography.
In this new volume in the World Soil series, the various types of Icelandic soils, their different characteristics, their formation, degradation and erosion are reviewed. At the same time, the book also deals with the agriculture and land use in general to give a complete view of Icelandic soils. The first part details the natural parameters such as the climate and the geography of Iceland. It also explains Icelandic geology, which is the major parameter controlling the soil formation in this country. The author describes the formation of Iceland, the main volcanic systems, central volcanoes, tephra production and its influence on the soils. Explanations on rocks, glaciers, rivers and other ...
The introduction of the term periglacial by Lozinski in 1909 to describe the cold-climate conditions in the zone adjacent to, but beyond, the Pleistocene glaciers encouraged the separate development of geocryological and glaciological research. Geological and geomorphological processes at the interface between glaciers and permafrost have, as a result, been given less attention than they warrant, and the influence of one on the other has in many respects been neglected. This book includes a collection of papers that emphasize glacier-permafrost interactions. Papers consider permafrost and its influence on glacitectonic processes, glacial meltwater systems and ground-ice development in proglacial and ice-marginal environments. In addition, recent research findings are reported on paraglacial processes, permafrost evolution, rock glaciers, the formation of ice-wedge casts and periglacial slope evolution. It is hoped that this book will stimulate interest in the interface between glacial and periglacial systems, and encourage further collaborative research involving glaciologists and glacial geologists on the one hand, and geocryologists and permafrost scientists on the other.
This book is a comprehensive overview of the ever-captivating field of glaciation from the perspective of glacial landsystems. This approach models the many processes, forms and interactions that can be found in glaciated landscapes throughout the world. Landsystems models allow the glacial geologist and geomorphologist to evaluate these landscapes in relation to the dynamics of glaciation and to climate and geology. Glacial Landsystems brings together the expertise of an international range of specialists to provide an up-to-date summary of landsystems relevant to both modern and ancient glacier systems and also in the reconstruction and interpretation of former glacial environments. The models are applicable at all scales from ice sheets to small valley glaciers. This book is an essential reference for anyone embarking upon research or engineering surveys in glaciated basins and provides a wide-ranging handbook of glacial landsystem types for students of glaciation.