Home About us Contact
|
Home About us Contact | ||
|
|
||
Important Record (important + record)
Selected AbstractsQuaternary paleoenvironments and potential for human exploitation of the Jordan plateau desert interiorGEOARCHAEOLOGY: AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL, Issue 4 2005Caroline P. Davies The physical, chemical, numerical, and radiometric analyses of a 31-m sediment core from the Qa'el-Jafr basin provide an important record of Quaternary paleoenvironments for the Jordan Plateau and evidence for several significant changes in climate regime. Cluster and PCA analyses of the geochemical data support the designation of major sedimentation regimes identified by stratigraphic and sediment analyses. Multiple cycles of alluvial deposition, lacustrine units, and erosional unconformities characterize the deepest sediments, followed by a period(s) of intense evaporation. Radiocarbon ages of charcoal in the uppermost 7 m place the aeolian/alluvial phase between 16,030 ± 140 yr B.P. and 24,470 ± 240 yr B.P. Deflation processes may explain the lack of a Holocene sequence. Despite lacking radiometric ages for the lower sediments, the thickness and degree of calcium-carbonate cementation suggest considerable age for the basal sediments, which suggests that a very long terrestrial record of Quaternary climate changes has been preserved in the Jafr basin. This new record of paleoenvironments provides important context to the archaeological record of the Jordan Plateau during the Quaternary. Several archaeological surveys demonstrate extensive human exploitation of lakes and springs of the major wadis along the western margin of the Rift Valley. However, little is known of human exploitation of the desert interiors. Qa'el-Jafr sediments demonstrate significant lacustrine and high moisture phases sufficient for human exploitation of the eastern desert during the Pleistocene. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source] A precisely-dated lake-level rise marked by diatomite formation in northeastern IrelandJOURNAL OF QUATERNARY SCIENCE, Issue 1 2004G. M. Plunkett Abstract The intercorrelation of palaeoclimate events from various studies is often hindered by a lack of precise chronological control. Tephra isochrons can overcome this problem by providing direct site linkages. This paper outlines a study of Holocene peat and diatomite deposits that accumulated within the floodplain of Lough Neagh, Northern Ireland. The Icelandic Hekla 4 tephra has been identified at the base of diatomite deposits at a number of sites and provides firm dating evidence for a widespread flooding event in the area at ca. 2300 BC. The evidence is consistent with other studies in Ireland and elsewhere for increased wetness at this time. The results demonstrate that the terrestrial deposits around Lough Neagh contain an important record of Holocene lake-level change. Dendrochronological evidence from the Lough Neagh area provides additional information about lake-level fluctuations over the past two millennia. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Frederic Eggleston on International Relations and Australia's Role in the WorldAUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF POLITICS AND HISTORY, Issue 3 2005Neville Meaney Frederic Eggleston was a prominent public intellectual whose reflections on international relations constitute one of the most important records by an Australian liberal thinker during the first half of twentieth century. Eggleston wrote extensively, and hopefully, about the capacity of international organisations to discipline the behaviour of nation-states; but his hopes were tempered in his writing also about the descent to wars, including the early Cold War period in which his support for American foreign policy grew stronger. His liberal outlook was also informed by his sense of Australia's Britishness, Australia's location in the Pacific, and Australia's future relations with Asian countries. [source] The development and application of luminescence dating to loess deposits: a perspective on the past, present and futureBOREAS, Issue 4 2008HELEN M. ROBERTSArticle first published online: 28 AUG 200 Loess deposits preserve important records of Quaternary climate change and atmospheric dust flux; however, their full significance can only be revealed once a reliable chronology is established. Our understanding of loess-palaeosol sequences and the development of luminescence dating techniques have progressed hand-in-hand over the past 25 years, with each subject informing the advancement of the other. This article considers the development and application of luminescence dating techniques to loess deposits from the early days of thermoluminescence (TL) to the optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) methods utilized today. Recent technological and methodological advances have led to a step-change in the accuracy and precision of quartz OSL ages; this has led to an expansion of high-resolution luminescence studies, which in turn are informing loess studies and challenging some of the basic ideas regarding the nature of loess records, their formation and their significance. Future luminescence research efforts are likely to focus on extending the age range of luminescence techniques, possibly by utilizing new luminescence signals; this, again, will allow investigation of the long-term variability of loess records in comparison with other long records of climate change to which they are frequently compared. [source] | |||||||||||||