natural landscapes terms

global climate systems

encompass atmosphere, hydrosphere (water), cryosphere (ice) lithosphere (land), biosphere (living things)

ex. wind circulation, global conveyor belt w ice

causes of natural climate change

milankovitch cycles, volcanic eruptions, fluctuations in solar radiations, tectonic shifts

abedo-effect

a surface’s ability to reflect sunlight (high albedo = reflecting more, ex. snow and ice, causing cooling) (low albedo = reflecting less, ex. dark surfaces such as water absorb more, causing warming)

milankovitch

eccentricity - changes in shape of earth orbit, elliptical shape

obliquity - changes in tilt of earth’s axis

precession - changes in direction of earth’s axis

pleistocene

the first epoch of the quaternary period, before holocene

glaciation

the process or state of being covered by glaciers or ice sheets

glacial

period with when polar and mountain ice sheets were unusually extensive across the earth’s surface, relatively colder

interglacial

relatively warmer interval between glacial periods within an ice age (retreat of glaciers, rising sea levels, increased global temperatures)

global conveyor belt

impact of climate change

proxy records

stratigraphic subdivisions

geological time scale

international system classifying earth’s 4.6 billion year history into hierarchial framework of units (eons, eras, periods, epochs, ages)

based on relative placement of rock layers and biostratigraphy

concept of time in sedimentary sequence

hiatus

one of the ways sedimentary environments are characterised by time and space, a period of time when sedimentation stops or where previosuly deposited sediments are removed by erosion resulting in a gap in the rock record, indictes missing time in sequence of rock layers

palimpsest

one of the ways sedimentary environments are characterised by time and space, a deosit where material from different past events or time periods is superimposed or mixed, creates complex and possibly confusing record due to the layers having been disturbed or reworked

superposition

correlation (in context of stratigraphy)

process of matching or proving equivalence of rock layers from different locations by comparing their characteristics (physical continuity, lithology, fossil content)

index species

fossils of animals/plants that were alive for only a certain period of geological time, easily identifiable

lithostratigraphy

chronostratigaphy

biostratigraphy

constraints of a stratigraphical subdivision

boundary types

reflection of time and events in a landscape

scientific dating methods

paleomagnetism

how does it work (basic level)? …

when can it be used? …

what can go wrong? …

dendrochronology

how does it work (basic level)? …

when can it be used? …

what can go wrong? …

luminescence dating (OSL)

how does it work (basic level)? …

when can it be used? …

what can go wrong? …

14-C dating (radiocarbon)

how does it work (basic level)? …

when can it be used? …

what can go wrong? …

calibration

how does it work (basic level)? …

when can it be used? …

what can go wrong? …

sampling (what should an archaeologist know?)