Reconstructing the Past Flashcards
Proxy
A substitute for a direct measurement or observation: can infer climatic change
Archive
Where proxies are stored
4 archives
Ocean Sediments
Ice Core Records
Loess deposits
Lake Basins / wetlands
Biological
Beetles, pollen, diatoms (algae), Bones and teeth
Geomorphological
Moraines, fluvial landforms, river terraces
Sediment
Sedimentary proxies build up of sediment in tills
Brohan et al (2006)
GrAPH SHOWING INCREASING TEMP RELATIVE TO PAST
Kuala (1989)
Over 40 interglacial/glacial cycles between late pleistocene and the holocene
Lowe and Walker (2015)
correspondence of proxies allow for greater detail
length of quaternary is debated
Atkinson (1987)
UK at the end of the glacial extent, battleground for changing glacial presence
beetle remains have provided some extraordinary detail for the last 22’000 years
Birks (1989)
Pollen analysis can be observed and interpreted differently depending on the aim of the study
Provide insight into changing UK climate
suggests transition periods
Noller et al (2000)
Proxies and archives incredible detail
if it can be compared globally = better
uniform changes/correspondence