Abstract
The stable isotope analysis of pollen as an indicator of terrestrial palaeoenvironmental change: a review of progress and recent developments
Quaternary Science Reviews, Vol.23(8-Jul), pp.893-900
Meeting on Isotopes in Quaternary Palaeoenvironmental Reconstruction (Nottingham, ENGLAND, 01/Apr/2002 - 01/Apr/2002)
Apr/2004
Abstract
Few terrestrial archives offer multi-proxy information with temporal and spatial coverage comparable to marine palaeo-records. Pollen assemblages that are preserved in terrestrial sedimentary systems are, however, one such source. They offer palaeoecologists an archive from which to gain insight into past environmental change and associated vegetation dynamics, typically extending back many thousands of years. Recent preliminary results from the stable isotopic analyses of raw and extracted pollen exina suggest that significant potential exists to utilise palaeo-pollen records as quantitative indicators of past terrestrial palaeoenvironmental change over medium- to long-timescales. Moreover, by combining isotopic analyses with conventional pollen assemblages the information available is greatly enhanced, especially regarding the relative timing of plant community response to external forcing. In this paper, we review the limited number of studies that have investigated the isotopic analysis of pollen and we highlight the difficulties and current limitations that are involved. We propose some possible solutions to the methodological issues raised and discuss recent findings of a pilot study of the carbon, hydrogen and oxygen isotopes in raw pollen grains collected from a network of north European sites. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Details
- Title
- The stable isotope analysis of pollen as an indicator of terrestrial palaeoenvironmental change; a review of progress and recent developments
- Creators
- NJ Loader (null)DL Hemming (null)
- Resource Type
- Abstract
- Publication Details
- Quaternary Science Reviews, Vol.23(8-Jul), pp.893-900; Apr/2004
- Number of pages
- 8
- Language
- English
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2003.06.015
- Conference
- Meeting on Isotopes in Quaternary Palaeoenvironmental Reconstruction (Nottingham, ENGLAND, 01/Apr/2002 - 01/Apr/2002)
- Scientific Unit
- The Weizmann Institute of Science
- Record Identifier
- 993263793603596
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