Encyclopedia of Quaternary Science, Third Edition, Six Volume Set brings together the multidisciplinary expertise needed to understand the history of humans, life, environmental, and climate change to understand what we may expect over the coming decades. Since publication of the previous edition, our understanding of many topics has been revolutionized by new discoveries and new techniques. The development of ancient DNA studies, for example, has revolutionized our thinking about the origins, dispersal, and population dynamics of our ancestors. Every new aDNA analysis from ancient human remains causes the story to become more complex. We are the sole survivors of the genus Homo, yet we harbor genetic fragments from other closely related but long-extinct lineages. The Quaternary is uniquely situated as a laboratory in which to study the shaping of the modern world, including biotic responses to large-scale environmental change. This new edition of this book is the most comprehensive account of state-of-the-art research in this field.
Historical Overview Quaternary Climate Change Dating Quaternary Events Trapped Electron Dating Methods Paleomagnetic dating Chemical Dating Methods Biological Dating Methods Sediment Dating Methods Glacial Landforms History of Quaternary Glaciations Paleosols and Wind-Blown Sediments Lake Level Studies Quaternary Paleobotany (Palynology) Plant Macrofossils Diatoms Quaternary Vertebrate Records Insect fossils Paleoceanography Ice Core Records Humans in the Quaternary Proglacial Lakes and Megafloods Use of Quaternary Proxies in Forensic Science Tree-ring Studies
Prof. Scott A. Elias is a retired Professor of Quaternary Science at Royal Holloway, University of London, from 2000 to 2017. Before this, he was a Fellow of the Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research, University of Colorado from 1983 to 2000, where he earned his PhD in Environmental Biology. Elias has authored 226 publications. Since 2006, he has been Editor-in-Chief of three Elsevier encyclopaedias and co-editor-in-chief of four encyclopaedias and one comprehensive reference work. He was the founding editor-in-chief of the Elsevier Reference Collection in Earth Systems and Environmental Sciences.
