Sediments deposited on the continental margin, including fjords, constitute one of the best archives of climate and environmental change. They allow reconstructing past changes in hydrology, including river discharge and glacier variability, at relatively high resolution and on timescales that cover the Holocene and beyond. Interpreting coastal sediment records in terms of past changes in hydrology, however, necessitates a comprehensive understanding of how these processes are recorded in the physical and chemical properties of the sediments. This course will provide an overview of the processes that deliver terrestrial sediment to the coastal ocean and it will illustrate how sediment archives can be used to reconstruct past change in river discharge, glacier variability and aquatic productivity, with a particular focus on the Patagonian fjords.
Dr. Sebastien Bertrand
GEOPS, Paris-Saclay University, France
The overall objective of this course is to understand how coastal sediment archives can be used to reconstruct past changes in hydrology. After having followed this course, students will be able to:
Lectures will cover the following topics:
Practical exercises will include:
Teaching methods for this course involve a mixture of lectures, guided exercises (group work), and discussion of scientific articles.
-Nichols, G. (2009). Sedimentology and Stratigraphy, 2nd Edition. Wiley-Blackwell, 432 p.
-Blaauw, M. (2010). Methods and code for ‘classical’ age-modelling of radiocarbon sequences. Quaternary Geochronology, 5, 512 – 518.
-Howe, J.A., Austin, W.E.N., Forwick, M. and Paetzel, M. (2010). Fjord systems and archives. Geological Society London Special Publications, 344, 392 p.
– Croudace, I.W. and Rothwell, R.G. (2015). Micro-XRF Studies of Sediment Cores: Applications of a non-destructive tool for the environmental sciences. Developments in Paleoenvironmental Research Book Series, Springer, 656 p.
-Bertrand, S., Tjallingii, R., Kylander, M., Wilhelm, B., Brown, E., Roberts, S., Arnaud, F., Bindler, R. (forthcoming). Inorganic geochemistry of lake sediments: A review of data acquisition techniques and guidelines for data interpretation. Earth-Science Reviews.