Unit information: Quaternary Environmental Change in 2011/12

Unit name	Quaternary Environmental Change
Unit code	GEOG35210
Credit points	20
Level of study	H/6
Teaching block(s)	Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24)
Unit director	Professor. Richards
Open unit status	Not open
Pre-requisites	Cryosphere 2 GEOG25040 Environmental Change 2 GEOG25060
Co-requisites	None
School/department	School of Geographical Sciences
Faculty	Faculty of Science

Description including Unit Aims

This unit introduces fundamental concepts and debates in the study of past Earth system dynamics at timescales relevant to the past few million years (The Quaternary period). Modelling and data comparison strategies and data are discussed. The main focus is explanation of longitudinal records of environmental parameters, such as temperature, sea-level, greenhouse gases, precipitation and vegetation, using archives of data from ice cores, ocean-cores, speleothems and corals. The nature of past environmental change is explored in terms of rates, leads and lags, thresholds, cycles. Critical, in many cases, are chronological issues, dating techniques and methods of correlation. Lectures are supplemented with practical exercises that use manipulation and statistical evaluation of past climate data in the temporal domain.

Aims:

• Illustrate both external and internal forcing mechanisms of the Earth system and the debates regarding their relative importance.
• Present material from a subset of the wide range of archives of past climate changes (such as ocean cores, ice cores etc.).
• Introduce components of the 'paleoclimate toolbox' to determine proxy climate evidence.
• Illustrate a range of modelling strategies used to understand the dynamics of the Earth system.
• Introduce standard terminology of the Quaternary timescale and 'chronological' details of paleoclimate research
• Synthesize information from various archives and appreciate their relative merits, and problems associated with correlation etc.
• Consider the advantages and disadvantages of 'time-slice' vs 'time-series' data-model comparison approaches.
• Present state-of-the-art and likely future directions in paleoclimate research.

Intended Learning Outcomes

After completion of the course, it is expected that students will

• Appreciate the amplitudinal range and rate of climate change of the past.
• Be able to discuss the fundamentals associated with different forcing mechanisms and appreciate the relative importance of these forcings for different components and regions of the Earth system.
• Be aware of the significance of modelling strategies in attempting to understand the forcing mechanisms and linkages in the climate system.
• Know suitable examples to illustrate climate change in both the spatial and temporal domain for the last few glacial cycles.
• Be able to assess the relative merits of different geochronological techniques for Quaternary records.
• Be comfortable with the use of simple statistical methods to explore the potential causes of Quaternary climate change
• Be familiar with current debates in this realm.

Teaching Information

16 x 1 hr lectures, 4 x 2 hr workshop/practicals

Assessment Information

• Unseen examination; 2 hours, answering 2 out of 6, 67 Questions
• 2 x practical reports (1 of which will be summative)33
• Total for unit 100%

Percentage of the unit that is coursework: 33%

Percentage of overall unit mark involving group work: 0%

Reading and References

1. Bradley, R.S. (1999) Paleoclimatology: Reconstructing climates of the Quaternary (2nd Edition). Academic Press.

2. Ruddiman, W.F. (2001) Earth’s Climate: Past and Future. Freeman, New York

3. Jansen, E., et al, (2007) Palaeoclimate. In: Solomon, S., D. et al (eds.), Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge University Press.

4. Alverson, K.D., Bradley, R.S., and Pedersen, T.F. (eds) (2003) Paleoclimate, global change and the future Springer Verlag, Berlin, 105-141.

RECOMMENDED purchases:

• Bradley, R.S. (1999) Paleoclimatology: Reconstructing climates of the Quaternary (2nd Edition). Academic Press.

• Ruddiman, W.F. (2001) Earth’s Climate: Past and Future. Freeman, New York