Quaternary environments
Professor Peter Kershaw and Associate Professor Jim Peterson
6 points * 3 hours per week on average (2 lectures and 1 lecture plus 3-hour practical in alternte weeks) * Second semester * Clayton * Prerequisites: 16 points of second-year geography or permission of head of department
Objectives On the completion of this subject, students should be able to demonstrate a familiarity with the techniques available for reconstructing environments of the recent past together with an ability to assess their relative merits and limitations; some expertise in palynology and complementary palaeoecological techniques and their application to palaeoenvironmental reconstruction; an awareness of patterns and uncertainties in environmental change that both facilitate and constrain future environmental prediction; an ability to produce a scientific paper based on a range of generated data and its analysis.
Synopsis This subject is concerned with the identification and analysis of evidence for environmental change during this most recent and significant period of geological time. Emphasis is placed on the study of glacial, fluvial and arid landforms, pollen and microfaunal analysis of lake, swamp and ocean sediments, megafaunal extinction, the impact of people, methods of dating and correlation, particularly in the Australian region. The subject concludes with an assessment of the importance of Quaternary knowledge to climatic prediction, conservation and land management. Field and practical work will incorporate an original project designed to enhance the Victorian Quaternary environmental data base.
Assessment Written (2000 words): 40% * Examinations (2 hours): 40% * Practical work/Fieldwork: 20%
Recommended texts
Williams M A J and others Quaternary environments Edward Arnold, 1993
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