جزییات کتاب
The global climate changes that led to the expansion and contraction of high latitude ice sheets during the Quaternary period were associated with equally dramatic changes in tropical environments. These included shifts in vegetation zones, changes in the hydrology and ecology of lakes and rivers, and fluctuations in the size of mountain glaciers and sandy deserts. Until recently it was thought that such changes were triggered by fluctuations in the distribution of polar ice cover. Now there is increasing recognition that the tropics themselves have acted as drivers of global climate change over a range of timescales. The aim of Quaternary Environmental Change in the Tropics is to provide a synthesis of the changes that occurred in tropical terrestrial and marine systems during the Pleistocene and Holocene, complementing data-derived reconstructions with output from state-of-the-art climate models. It is targeted at final-year undergraduate students and research specialists, but will provide an introduction to tropical Quaternary research for a variety of other readers.Content: Chapter 1 Introduction (pages 1–33): Sarah E. Metcalfe and David J. NashChapter 2 Contemporary Climate and Circulation of the Tropics (pages 34–43): Stefan HastenrathChapter 3 Tropical Oceans (pages 45–78): Jan?Berend W. Stuut, Matthias Prange, Ute Merkel and Silke StephChapter 4 Africa (pages 79–150): David J. Nash and Michael E. MeadowsChapter 5 India, Arabia and Adjacent Regions (pages 151–206): Ashok K. Singhvi, Nilesh Bhatt, Ken W. Glennie and Pradeep SrivastavaChapter 6 China and Southeast Asia (pages 207–235): Dan PennyChapter 7 Australia and the Southwest Pacific (pages 236–262): Peter Kershaw and Sander van der KaarsChapter 8 Latin America and the Caribbean (pages 263–311): Mark B. Bush and Sarah E. MetcalfeChapter 9 Modelling of Tropical Environments during the Quaternary (pages 313–359): Zhengyu Liu and Pascale BraconnotChapter 10 Historical Environmental Change in the Tropics (pages 360–391): Georgina H. Endfield and Robert B. MarksChapter 11 Past Environmental Changes, Future Environmental Challenges (pages 392–411): David J. Nash and Sarah E. Metcalfe