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Author: Jeremy B. C. Jackson Publisher: University of Chicago Press ISBN: 9780226389424 Category : Science Languages : en Pages : 448
Book Description
How were the tropical Americas formed? This ambitious volume draws on extensive, multidisciplinary research to develop new views of the geological formation of the isthmus linking North and South America and of the major environmental changes that reshaped the Neotropics to create its present-day marine and terrestrial ecosystems. Recent discoveries show that dramatic changes in climate and ocean circulation can occur very quickly, and that ecological communities respond just as rapidly. Abrupt changes in the composition of fossil assemblages, formerly dismissed as artifacts of a poor fossil record, now are seen as accurate records of swift changes in the composition of ocean communities. The twenty-four contributors use current work in paleontology, geology, oceanography, anthropology, ecology, and evolution to paint this challenging portrait of rapid environmental and evolutionary change. Their conclusions argue for a revision of existing interpretations of the fossil record and the processes—including invading Eurasian peoples—that have produced it.
Author: Jeremy B. C. Jackson Publisher: University of Chicago Press ISBN: 9780226389424 Category : Science Languages : en Pages : 448
Book Description
How were the tropical Americas formed? This ambitious volume draws on extensive, multidisciplinary research to develop new views of the geological formation of the isthmus linking North and South America and of the major environmental changes that reshaped the Neotropics to create its present-day marine and terrestrial ecosystems. Recent discoveries show that dramatic changes in climate and ocean circulation can occur very quickly, and that ecological communities respond just as rapidly. Abrupt changes in the composition of fossil assemblages, formerly dismissed as artifacts of a poor fossil record, now are seen as accurate records of swift changes in the composition of ocean communities. The twenty-four contributors use current work in paleontology, geology, oceanography, anthropology, ecology, and evolution to paint this challenging portrait of rapid environmental and evolutionary change. Their conclusions argue for a revision of existing interpretations of the fossil record and the processes—including invading Eurasian peoples—that have produced it.
Author: National Research Council Publisher: National Academies Press ISBN: 0309148383 Category : Science Languages : en Pages : 128
Book Description
The hominin fossil record documents a history of critical evolutionary events that have ultimately shaped and defined what it means to be human, including the origins of bipedalism; the emergence of our genus Homo; the first use of stone tools; increases in brain size; and the emergence of Homo sapiens, tools, and culture. The Earth's geological record suggests that some evolutionary events were coincident with substantial changes in African and Eurasian climate, raising the possibility that critical junctures in human evolution and behavioral development may have been affected by the environmental characteristics of the areas where hominins evolved. Understanding Climate's Change on Human Evolution explores the opportunities of using scientific research to improve our understanding of how climate may have helped shape our species. Improved climate records for specific regions will be required before it is possible to evaluate how critical resources for hominins, especially water and vegetation, would have been distributed on the landscape during key intervals of hominin history. Existing records contain substantial temporal gaps. The book's initiatives are presented in two major research themes: first, determining the impacts of climate change and climate variability on human evolution and dispersal; and second, integrating climate modeling, environmental records, and biotic responses. Understanding Climate's Change on Human Evolution suggests a new scientific program for international climate and human evolution studies that involve an exploration initiative to locate new fossil sites and to broaden the geographic and temporal sampling of the fossil and archeological record; a comprehensive and integrative scientific drilling program in lakes, lake bed outcrops, and ocean basins surrounding the regions where hominins evolved and a major investment in climate modeling experiments for key time intervals and regions that are critical to understanding human evolution.
Author: Frederick E. Grine Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media ISBN: 1402099800 Category : Social Science Languages : en Pages : 217
Book Description
There are some issues in human paleontology that seem to be timeless. Most deal with the origin and early evolution of our own genus – something about which we should care. Some of these issues pertain to taxonomy and systematics. How many species of Homo were there in the Pliocene and Pleistocene? How do we identify the earliest members the genus Homo? If there is more than one Plio-Pleistocene species, how do they relate to one another, and where and when did they evolve? Other issues relate to questions about body size, proportions and the functional adaptations of the locomotor skeleton. When did the human postcranial “Bauplan” evolve, and for what reasons? What behaviors (and what behavioral limitations) can be inferred from the postcranial bones that have been attributed to Homo habilis and Homo erectus? Still other issues relate to growth, development and life history strategies, and the biological and archeological evidence for diet and behavior in early Homo. It is often argued that dietary change played an important role in the origin and early evolution of our genus, with stone tools opening up scavenging and hunting opportunities that would have added meat protein to the diet of Homo. Still other issues relate to the environmental and climatic context in which this genus evolved.
Author: Robert J. Morley Publisher: John Wiley & Sons ISBN: Category : Nature Languages : en Pages : 390
Book Description
Although tropical rain forests form the world?s most species-rich ecosystems, their origin and history remain unclear, except on the very short timescale of the last 40 000 years or so. This book provides the first comprehensive review of the history of tropical rain forests on a long term geological timescale, commencing with the origin of the angiosperms over 100 million years ago, which today overwhelmingly dominate these forests. Tropical rain forest evolution is discussed in a global context within an up to date plate tectonic, palaeogeographical and palaeoclimatic framework, primarily by reference to the record of fossil pollen and spores. A particularly important aspect of this book is that in addition to published literature, it relies heavily on unpublished palynological data generated for petroleum companies during the course of hydrocarbon exploration programmes. Without access to such data the book could not have been written. The main text of the book reviews the evolution of tropical rain forests on a continent by continent basis, culminating with a global synthesis of their history in relation to the changing positions of the world?s tectonic plates and changing climates. This section also establishes the age of the great tropical rain forest blocks and identifies the world?s oldest tropical rain forests. The final chapter compares 20th Century tropical rain forest destruction with prehistoric forest clearance in temperate regions, and looks for analogues of the present phase of destruction within the geological record before considering long term implications of total rain forest destruction. The book will be of interest to all concerned with tropical rain forests, especially biologists, botanists, ecologists, and students of evolution. It will be valuable for postgraduates and advanced undergraduates, as well as stratigraphers, palaeobotanists, palynologists, and petroleum geologists.
Author: Navnith Kumaran Publisher: Elsevier ISBN: 0323900860 Category : Science Languages : en Pages : 693
Book Description
Holocene Climate Change and Environment presents detailed, diverse case studies from a range of environmental and geological regions on the Indian subcontinent which occupies the central part of the monsoon domain. This book examines Holocene events at different time intervals based on a new, high-resolution, multi-proxy records (pollen, spores, NPP, diatoms, grain size characteristics, total organic carbon, carbon/nitrogen ratio, stable isotopes) and other physical tools from all regions of India. It also covers new facilities in chronological study and luminescence dating, which have added a new dimension toward understanding the Holocene glacial retreats evolution of coastal landforms, landscape dynamics and human evolution. Each chapter is presented with a unified structure for ease of access and application, including an introduction, geographic details, field work and sampling techniques, methods, results and discussion. This detailed examination of such an important region provides key insights in climate modeling and global prediction systems. - Provides data and research from environmentally and geologically diverse regions across the Indian subcontinent - Presents an integrated and interdisciplinary approach, including considerations of human impacts - Features detailed case studies that include methods and data, allowing for applications related to research and global modeling
Author: Margaret Leinen Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media ISBN: 9400909950 Category : Science Languages : en Pages : 904
Book Description
The NATO Advanced Research Workshop on "Paleoclimatology and Paleometeorology: Modem and Past Patterns of Global Atmospheric Transport" (held at Oracle, Arizona, USA from November 17-19, 1987) brought together atmospheric chemists, physicists, and meteorologists who study the origin and transport of modem-day mineral and biological aerosols with geologists and paleobotanists who study the sedimentary record of eolian and hydrologic processes along with modelers who study and conceptualize the processes influencing atmospheric transport at present and in the past. Presentations at the workshop provided a guide to our present knowledge of the entire spectrum of processes and phenomena important to the generation, transport, and deposition of eolian terrigenous material that ultimately becomes part of the geologic record and the modeling techniques that used to represent these processes. The presenta tions on the geologic record of eolian deposition documented our present understanding of the na~e and causes of climate change on time scales of the last glacial ages (tens of thousands of years) to time scales over which the arrangement of continents, mountains, and oceans has changed sub stantially (tens of millions of years). There has been a growing recognition of the importance of global climatic changes to the future well-being of humanity. In particular, the climatic response to human alterations to the earth's surface and chemical composition has led to concern over the agricultural, ecological, and societal impacts of such potential global changes.
Author: Jeremy B. C. Jackson
Author: Jeremy B. C. Jackson
Author: National Research Council
Author: Lamont-Doherty Geological Observatory
Author: 
Author: Frederick E. Grine
Author: Robert J. Morley
Author: Navnith Kumaran
Author: Henry Fairfield Osborn
Author: Huw Groucutt
Author: Margaret Leinen