Papers based on training course lectures at different annual meetings of the International Geological Correlation Program (IGCP), held during the five-year period 1993-1997, examine desert margins and their temporal changes in the last 135,000 years. Topics include geomorphic processes and climatic change in drylands, remote sensing for paleoenvironmental studies in drylands, soil micromorphology as a technique for reconstructing paleoenvironmental change, and arid zone paleoenvironmental records from caves. The editors are affiliated with the Physical Research Laboratory, India, and the University of London, UK. The volume lacks a subject index. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
The 11 chapters provide a wide ranging perspective on some of the problems under investigation and several of the systematic approaches currently in use by those concerned with refining the knowledge of the changing environments in the world's drylands during the latter part of the Quaternary. Dealing with a part of the globe that is highly sensitive to small changes of climate, or other stresses such as human impact, this book brings together a set of excellent reviews that will be of great value to students beginning to understand the subject and to paleoenvironmental scientists actively concerned with finding solutions to problems of the region. Additionally, it will be an invaluable archive of important references covering the subject of arid lands palaeoenvironmental research. This volume achieves the aspirations of the International Geological Correlation Programme.
Foreword
1. Landforms, Geomorphic Processes and Climatic Change in
Drylands
2. Remote Sensing for Palaeoenvironmental Studies in Drylands
3.
Soil Micromorphology as a Technique for Reconstructing Paleoenvironmental
Change
4. Soil and Soil Forming Processes under Increasing Aridity
5.
Semi-Arid/ Arid Zone Calcretes: A Review
6. Dunes as Indicators of Climatic
Change
7. Arid-Zone Rivers as Indicators of Climate Change
8. Arid Zone
Palaeoenvironmental Records from Cave Spelelothems
9. Present Flora as an
Indicator of Palaeoclimate: Examples from the Arabian Peninsula
10.
Anthracology (Charcoal Analysis) in Investigation of Desert Margin Shifts: A
Case study of Southern Sahara
11. Radiocarbon Dating of Arid Zone Deposits.
Ashok Kumar Singhvi is a Professor in the Earth Science Division at the Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad, India. A physicist turned geoscientist, he specializes now in geochronology and paleoclimatology in arid environments. He has authored and edited a book on the Thar Desert, edited five international conference proceedings and has contributed over 90 research publications. Edward Derbyshire is Research Professor in Quaternary Science in the Department of Geography at Royal Holloway, University of London, England, and Honorary Professor of the Academy of Sciences of Gansu Province, China. He is a holder of the Antarctic Service Medal of the United States, and the back Award of the Royal Geographical Society. He has authored or edited more than 200 scientific articles, including 6 books and several conference volumes.
