Palaeoenvironmental Analysis
Key staff: Dr Andrew Haggart, Dr Ian Slipper and Dr David Wray
Palaeoenvironmental analysis focuses on the recreation of past Earth environments, often as a route to understanding past environmental change caused by climate, sea level and continent movement, for example. This branch of science integrates field studies with laboratory analysis and palaeontological/palynological data to elucidate subtle changes from the historical record.
Recent projects
- The Late Cretaceous greenhouse – understanding the climatic controls influencing the last great period of global warming and its impact upon organisms.
- Evolution of the North Atlantic from the study of volcanic ash layers.
- Mid-Cretaceous cyclostratigraphy – the influence of orbital oscillations on climate and the development of an accurate, orbitally calibrated timescale for this period.
- Late Cretaceous sea-level changes determined from diversity patterns within the Ostracoda (Crustacea).
- Ostracod taxonomy and biostratigraphy of the British Cretaceous.
- Investigation of a 7,500-year-old tsunami deposit in eastern Scotland.
- Environmental reconstruction in the vicinity of the Pict’s Knowe, a Neolithic henge monument in Dumfriesshire.
- Environmental context of Bronze Age axe marks on in situ pine trees at Farlary, Sutherland.
- Recent land and sea-level changes in the Thames estuary.
Publications
Barber, J., Clark, C., Cressey, M., Crone, A., Hale, A., Henderson, J., Housley, R., Sands, R. and Sheridan, A. (eds) (2005). Archaeology from the Wetlands: recent perspectives. Proceedings of the 11th ARP Conference, Edinburgh. Edinburgh: Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. pp.157–164.
Boomer, I., Horne, D. J., and Slipper, I. J. (2003) The use of ostracods in palaeoenvironmental studies, or what can you do with an ostracod shell? In: Park, L. E., and Smith, A. J. (eds) Bridging the gap: trends in Ostracode biological and geological sciences. The Paleontological Society, Papers, 9, pp.153–179. ISSN 1089–3326.
Slipper, I. J. (2004) Micropalaeontological techniques. In: Selley, R. C., Cocks, L. R. M., and Plimer, I R. Encyclopedia of Geology, 3, pp. 470–474. ISBN 0-12-636380-3.
Slipper, I. J. (2005) Ostracod diversity and sea-level changes in the Late Cretaceous of southern England. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 225, 1–4, pp. 266–282.
Tipping, R., Ashmore, P., Davies, A. L., Haggart, B. A., Moir, A., Newton, A., Sands, R., Skinner T. and Tisdall, E. (2008). Pinus woodland dynamics in an upland landscape in northern Scotland: The roles of climate change and human impact. Vegetation History and Archaeobotany, 17, 251–267.
Tipping, R., Haggart. B. A. and Milburn. P. (2007). The interaction of site and landscape around Pict’s Knowe. In: Thomas, J. (ed.) Place and Memory: Excavations at the Pict’s Knowe, Hollywood and Holm Farm, Dumfries & Galloway, 1994. Oxford: Oxbow Books, pp.6–36.
Whiteman, C. A. and Haggart. B. A. The Quaternary of Southern England. Geological Conservation Review Series. Joint Nature Conservation Committee, Peterborough. (In prep.)
Wiese, F., Wood, C. J., and Wray, D. S. (2004) New advances in the stratigraphy and geochemistry of the German Turonian (late Cretaceous) tephrostratigraphic framework. Acta Geologica Polonica, 54, pp. 657–671.
Wray, D. S., and Gale, A. S. (2006) The palaeoenvironment and stratigraphy of Late Cretaceous chalks. Proceedings of the Geologists’ Association. 117, pp. 145–162.