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Palaeoecology and Chronology


Lake Hawden, New Zealand, site of a study
on late glacial climate change in the Southern
Hemisphere using chironomids (non-biting midges)
and pollen from the sediments (PI: Dr Nicki Whitehouse)


Stable isotope results (delta 13C and delta 15N)
from a stratified hyraceum deposit
from South Africa (Collaboration with
Dr Brian Chase , co-I Prof Paula Reimer)

The Palaeoecology and Chronology focus group in the School of Geography. Archaeology and Palaeoecology is an interdisciplinary group of researchers who work both independently and collaboratively on a broad range of topics. Past environmental change is studied using biological proxies including pollen, molluscs, insects, testate amoeboe, diatoms, macrofossils, tree-rings and peat humification, as well as stable isotopes. Chronological projects include constructing radiocarbon calibration curves and models for age-depth analysis, investigating marine and freshwater radiocarbon reservoir effects, analysis of tephra in ice cores and sediments and dendrochronology.

Members of the focus group meet to read and discuss pre-circulated papers. The meetings are open to interested individuals, postgraduate and staff, from other areas of academic study.

 

 

 

 

Research Projects

Project 1 Hydrological variability of the Inter-tropical Convergence Zone in equatorial East Africa over the past 25,000 years
Project 2 Advances in Kamchatkan tephrochronology: age-modelling and micro-tephrochronology studies at QUB
Project 3 Refining a late Holocene tephrochronology for the Northern Hemisphere using Greenland ice-cores
Project 4 AMS 14C dating of the enamel organic fraction
Project 5 14C as a tool to trace terrestrial carbon in a complex lake: implications for food-web structure and carbon cycling.