Improved dating methods have increased our ability to more precisely determine the timing and durations of glaciations. Utilizing glacial and loess deposits, we have compared glaciations that occurred in North and South America in order to determine if events are synchronous or not, to explore forcing mechanisms, and to compare glaciations with cold periods of the Marine Oxygen Isotope stages and the loess/paleosol records of China. Stratigraphic sections containing a variety of glacial deposits, some with interbedded volcanics, as well as loess deposits, were used in reconstructing the glacial history. The Late Pleistocene (Brunhes Chron) Last Glacial Maximum is recognized in mountain and continental areas of North America but only in the mountains of South America. Commonly our comparisons indicate roughly synchronous glaciations on the two continents, whereas other glaciations are more elusive and difficult to compare. Although our comparisons are at low resolutions, the results suggest that Milankovitch forcing is most likely the dominant trigger for hemispheric glaciation modified by local factors.
What role did Ice Age climate play in the demise of the Neanderthals, and why was it that modern humans alone survived? For the past seven years a team of international experts from a wide range of disciplines have worked together to provide a detailed study of the world occupied by the European Neanderthals between 60,000 and 25,000 years ago: the period known as Oxygen Isotope Stage 3. This collection of papers documents the extensive environmental research conducted by the Stage 3 Project. The new chronological and archaeological database constructed by the Project sets the Neanderthal and modern human sites in a continent-wide framework of space and time. A mammalian data base maps the ecology and fauna of the period, providing fresh insights into the availability of plant and animal foods in different parts of the European landscape as Ice Age climate changed and fluctuated. New high-resolution computer simulations give detailed estimates of temperature and rainfall, and above all of the wind-chill and snow cover that would have such an impact on both humans and on the resources they needed for survival. The results provide revolutionary insights into the glacial climate of Stage 3 and the landscapes and resources that influenced late Palaeolithic life-styles.
European Glacial Landscapes: The Role of Glaciers in Shaping the Landscape of Europe During the Last Deglaciation brings together relevant experts on the history of glaciers and their impact on the landscape of the main European regions. The European glaciers ended their maximum expansion of the Last Glacial Cycleapproximately 20,000 years ago, when ice-sheets covered all the Scandinavian countries, Finland, much of the British Isles, the shores of the Baltic Sea and Central-Europe until roughly the present Rhine River. The glaciers covered also large areas of the main European mountains, such as the Urals, the Carpathians, the Alps, the Balkans, the Pyrenees, etc. Glaciers were also present even in the southernmost mountains, sometimes forming remarkable ice caps with cirque glaciers on relatively low mountains bordering the Mediterranean Sea. Soon after the Last Glacial Maximum from around 20,000 years ago a rapid process of glacial retreat began throughout Europe, which was interrupted several times by abrupt cooling of the climate, which caused rapid, though limited, re-advance of the glaciers, until the beginning of the Holocene, 11,700 years ago when climate became relatively stable and warm. These successive glacial advances and retreats during the Last Deglaciation have shaped much of the European landscape, reflecting abrupt climatic fluctuations. The Last deglaciation is especially important for the landscape of Europe because the evidence is so well-preserved since it records the most recent evidence of the Pleistocene ice age. In recent decades, research on the origin and age of the resulting glacial landforms has greatly improved in many regions of Europe. In addition, the evolution of the climate is becoming better known through detailed analysis of lacustrine and marine sediments, and Greenland ice cores. As our knowledge on abrupt climate changes since the Last Glacial Maximum progresses, new uncertainties arise that are critical for understanding (i) the influence of atmospheric and oceanic currents on palaeoclimates and their spatial representation; (ii) the existence of asynchronies in the timing of occurrence of ice masses expansion and shrinkage; (iii) the time lags between oceanic and atmospheric changes, on one hand, and changes in precipitation and temperature patterns, on the other; (iv) the way in which climate changes disseminate through Europe and, consequently, the lag between climate changes and the expansion or contraction of glaciers; (v) the role of the large continental ice-sheets on the European climate, and particularly on the response of mountain glaciers, with special reference to the Mediterranean mountains. All these contributions are included in this book, in which the reader will find a complete review organized according to the main climatic periods of the so-called Termination 1 the important Late Pleistocene-Holocene transition. Provides a synthesis that highlights the main similarities or differences, through both space and time, during the Last Deglaciation of Europe Features research from experts in palaeo-climatology, palaeo-oceanography and palaeo-glaciology on the Last Deglaciation in Europe during Termination 1 and the important Late Pleistocene-Holocene transition Includes detailed color figures and maps, providing a comprehensive comparison of the glacial landscapes of European Pleistocene glaciers
This monograph presents the changes in diversity and distribution in time and space of the mammalian fauna in Denmark and adjacent areas throughout the Weichselian glaciation and the Holocene (115–0 kyr BP). In all, 77 terrestrial and marine mammal species have been identified and described in details as regards first and last appearance data, number of dated records and the inferred time range in the Danish/south Scandinavian area. The changes and their possible causes are analyzed and discussed in relation to climate-induced environmental changes as advances and retreats of the ice cap, vegetational succession and changes in land/sea configurations and for the Holocene also island formations and increasing human impact.
Rockglaciers are the visible expression of the creep of mountain permafrost. They are indicative of special geo-ecologic and geomorphic conditions regarding thermal situation, talus production, hydrology, and hazards in high mountain environments of all major mountain systems on earth. As relict features, they are of great paleoclimatic value. This book presents a systematic treatment of this landform in its environmental context.
How did the Sierra Nevada and adjacent lands come to be the size and shape they are today? This book covers 400 million years of physical evolution in a language understandable to nonscientists, tracing the volcanic activity, the folding and building of mountains, the breaking of blocks along fault lines, and the work of erosion and glaciers that have created today's dramatic landscape. Cordell Durrell spent a lifetime reading this complex story of movement and change in the rocks of the Feather River country. He shares with readers the excitement of discovering by remote but careful inference what must have happened millions upon millions of years ago. The basic methods of geologic analysis that Durrell describes can be applied anywhere on the earth's surface, lending new fascination to our travels throughout the frozen arctic, dry deserts, tropical rainforests, low swamps, and high mountains like California's magnificent Sierra.
With one volume each year, this series keeps scientists and advanced students informed of the latest developments and results in all areas of the plant sciences. The present volume includes reviews on genetics, cell biology, physiology, comparative morphology, systematics, ecology, and vegetation science.
The Neanderthals populated western Europe from nearly 250,000 to 30,000 years ago when they disappeared from the archaeological record. In turn, populations of anatomically modern humans, Homo sapiens, came to dominate the area. Seeking to understand the nature of this replacement, which has become a hotly debated issue, Paul Mellars brings together an unprecedented amount of information on the behavior of Neanderthals. His comprehensive overview ranges from the evidence of tool manufacture and related patterns of lithic technology, through the issues of subsistence and settlement patterns, to the more controversial evidence for social organization, cognition, and intelligence. Mellars argues that previous attempts to characterize Neanderthal behavior as either "modern" or "ape-like" are both overstatements. We can better comprehend the replacement of Neanderthals, he maintains, by concentrating on the social and demographic structure of Neanderthal populations and on their specific adaptations to the harsh ecological conditions of the last glaciation. Mellars's approach to these issues is grounded firmly in his archaeological evidence. He illustrates the implications of these findings by drawing from the methods of comparative socioecology, primate studies, and Pleistocene paleoecology. The book provides a detailed review of the climatic and environmental background to Neanderthal occupation in Europe, and of the currently topical issues of the behavioral and biological transition from Neanderthal to fully "modern" populations.
This volume provides a fascinating account of the natural forces which shaped the Island's landscape from its formation some 500 million years ago to the present nature of the Manx environment and landscape. The story of the island's colonisation by plants and animals sets the scene for the later volumes which deal with the impact of man's arrival. A key element of the volume is an in depth examination of the contemporary landscape, with an appraisal of how the environment has affected man and how man has affected the environment.
The cryosphere encompasses all regions of the planet that experiences water in ice form for some portion of the year. In this book, authors Melody Sandells and Daniela Flocco deliver an introduction to the physics of the cryosphere. This includes the Arcti
