Time: 12:15 - 1:15pm
Dr Ian Boomer, School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham
The Aral, Caspian and Black seas together constitute a major drainage basin that extends over much of central and eastern Europe into the westernmost regions of Arid Central Asia (ACA). They are hydrochemically distinct from one another and have quite different responses to natural and anthropogenic influences. The palaeoclimatic archives in their sediments provide an insight into how these areas responded to rapid climate change over the last 20 ka as well as giving us a long-term perspective on more recent human-induced issues. Ostracods are the only abundant, aquatic, calcareous organisms preserved in the late Quaternary sediments of all three water bodies. They provide us with both faunal and chemical/isotopic records of environmental change. Examples of the utility of ostracods will be given from all three systems.
Chair: Dave Horne