Speleothem science: from process to past environments

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 bookapplies 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 designedas the ideal companion to someone embarking on speleothem research and, sincethe 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 ofthese topics here. The book will also be valuable to Quaternary scientists who, up to now, have lacked a thorough overview of these important archives. INDICE : 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 2.3Carbonate diagenesis and eogenetic karst 2.4 Speleogenesis in mesogenetic andtelogenetic 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 Synthesis8. 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 11.2The last millennium 11.3 Holocene environmental changes- speleothem responses11.4 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

• ISBN: 978-1-4051-9620-8
• Editorial: Wiley-Blackwell
• Encuadernacion: Cartoné
• Páginas: 416
• Fecha Publicación: 16/03/2012
• Nº Volúmenes: 1
• Idioma: Inglés