Publication Date:
2017-01-23
Description:
Quantifying the role and contribution of the world's oceans in past, present, and future global change is an
essential goal in climate, paleoclimate and environmental studies. Although the global oceans interact and
influence climate greatly, the marine environment is substantially under-represented in key climate
assessment reports, especially during the last millennium (IPCC, 2007; see Palaeoclimate chapter: 6.6—The
last 2000 years). The under-representation of marine records in key climate documents likely results from the
often imprecise chronologies associated with many marine-based archives, which greatly hinders singular
climate comparisons (lag/lead phasing relationships) with well-dated, and/or annually-resolved archives.
However, several marine archive records have excellent chronological constraint. In particular, many marine
bivalve taxa and coralline algae have annual increments that form within their carbonate framework, that can
be used to establish an absolutely-dated chronology, via cross-dating techniques, from the marine
environment. Additionally, in some cases, where sedimentation rates are high, and alternative chronological
dating methods exist (e.g., tephrochronology) other than radiocarbon measurements (often greater than
±40 years uncertainty), sediment archives can provide continuous, sub-decadal records of environmental
change for centuries to millennia. This brief introductory article and accompanying special issue will focus on
the utilization of bivalves, coralline algae, and high-resolution marine sediment cores in paleoclimate and
environmental studies within the most recent millennium with a focus on the Northern Hemisphere.
Type:
Article
,
PeerReviewed
Format:
text
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