Multi-isotope analysis of palaeofauna sequences as indicators of past environments and climates

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

Landscapes have changed dramatically over the past 100,000 years, largely due to changes in the Earth’s climate. We can see evidence for the changes in the species and types of plants and animals that live in these landscapes over this time from their remains that have been preserved and then recovered from palaeontological and archaeological sites. We also have evidence for how much the climate has changed globally from the measurements of isotope signatures in ice cores recovered from the north and south poles. However, we have few methods of determining how the climate and environment changed locally when we are looking at landscapes in specific areas and regions. The ice core record records global climates, but locally there can be micro-climates that may have different climate and environmental changes than is recorded in the ice cores. It is also possible to get a record of the climate from lake sediments, if there is a nearby body of water suitable for this analysis.