|  | Fairchild, Ian J. / Baker, Andy
Speleothem Science
From Process to Past Environments
Blackwell Quaternary Geoscience Series
 1. Edition April 2012
61.90 Euro
2012. 450 Pages, Hardcover
ISBN 978-1-4051-9620-8 - John Wiley & Sons
|
Sample Chapter
| Buy now   
E-Books are also available on all known E-Book shops.
|
| Detailed description
Speleothems (mineral deposits that formed in caves) are currently giving us some of the most exciting insights into environments and climates during the Pleistocene ice ages and the subsequent Holocene rise of civilizations. The book applies system science to Quaternary environments in a new and rigorous way and gives holistic explanations the relations between the properties of speleothems and the climatic and cave setting in which they are found. It is designed as the ideal companion to someone embarking on speleothem research and, since the underlying science is very broad, it will also be invaluable to a wide variety of others. Students and professional scientists interested in carbonate rocks, karst hydrogeology, climatology, aqueous geochemistry, carbonate geochemistry and the calibration of climatic proxies will find up-to-date reviews of these topics here. The book will also be valuable to Quaternary scientists who, up to now, have lacked a thorough overview of these important archives.
Additional resources for this book can be found at: www.wiley.com/go/fairchild/speleothem.
From the contents
Preface
I: Scientific and Geological Context
1. Introduction to Speleothems and Systems
1.1 What is all the fuss about?
1.2 How is this book organized?
1.3 Concepts and approaches of system science
1.4 The speleothem factory within the karst system
2. Carbonate and Karst Geology
2.1 Carbonates in the Earth system over geological time
2.2 Lithologies of carbonate aquifers
2.3 Carbonate diagenesis and eogenetic karst
2.4 Speleogenesis in mesogenetic and telogenetic karst (with contributions from David J. Lowe and John Gunn)
2.5 Cave infilling
2.6 Conclusion
3. Surface Environments: Climate, Soil and Vegetation
3.1 The modern climate system
3.2 Water isotopes in the atmosphere
3.3 Soils of karst regions
3.4 Vegetation of karst regions
3.5 Synthesis: inputs to the incubator
II: Transfer Processes in Karst
4. The Speleothem Incubator
4.1 Introduction to speleophysiology
4.2 Physical parameters and fluid behaviour
4.3 Water movement
4.4 Air circulation
4.5 Heat flux (authored by David Domínguez-Villar)
4.6 Synthesis: cave climatologies
5. Inorganic Water Chemistry
5.1 Sampling protocols for water chemistry
5.2 The carbonate system
5.3 Weathering, trace elements and isotopes
5.4 Carbon isotopes
5.5 Evolution of water chemistry: modelling sources and environmental signals
6. Biogeochemistry of Karstic Environments
6.1 Introduction
6.2 Organic macromolecules
6.3 Pollen and Spores
6.4 Cave faunal remains
6.5 Synthesis and research gaps
III: Speleothem Properties
7. The Architecture of Speleothems
7.1 Introduction
7.2 Theoretical models of stalagmite growth and of stalagmite and stalactite shapes
7.3 Geometrical classification of speleothems
7.4 Mineralogy and petrography
7.5 Synthesis
8. Geochemistry of Speleothems
8.1 Analysis and the sources of uncertainty
8.2 The growth interface
8.3 Trace element partitioning
8.4 Oxygen and carbon isotope fractionation
8.5 Evolution of dripwater and speleothem chemistry along water flowlines
8.6 Process models of variability over time
9. Dating of Speleothems
9.1 Introduction
9.2 Dating techniques
9.3 Age-distance models
9.4 Conclusions
IV: Palaeoenvironments
10. The Instrumental Era: Calibration and Validation of Proxy-Environment Relationships
10.1 Available instrumental and derived series
10.2 Methodologies
10.3 Case studies of calibrated speleothem proxies
10.4 Questions raised and future directions
11. The Holocene Epoch: Testing the Climate and Environment Proxies
11.1 A brief overview of the Holocene
11.2 The last millennium
11.3 Holocene environmental changes- speleothem responses
11.4 Questions raised and future directions
12. The Pleistocene and Beyond
12.1 Pleistocene proxy records ( ice-age climate fluctuations defined and drawn)
12.2 Insights into pre-Quaternary environments
12.3 Questions raised and forward look
Appendix 1. Archiving Speleothems and Speleothem Data
Index
|
|
|
|
