Department of Geography

Quaternary Environments

• Credits: 3
• Level: Undergraduate, Year 3
• Semester: 2
• Status: Elective course for BSc/BA major (Geography) and BSc Geography.
• Pre-requisites: GEOG 1900; or GEOG 1231 and GEOG 1232 or HOD approval.
• Course coordinator: Prof. Paul Shaw
• Note: replaces GEOG 3006. Students who have already completed that course may not additionally take this one.

Course coverage

The Quaternary era, changes to terrestrial, atmospheric and oceanic systems, proxy evidence in palaeoenvironmental reconstruction, geochronological methods and applications, major geomorphological systems and landforms (coasts, lakes, dunes, caves) as proxy evidence, the Holocene and human expansion, histories of major geomorphic environments (rain forest, deserts), the implications of Quaternary change for the future.

Significance/Rationale

Global climatic change is one of the most pressing problems of the 21st century, but scientific knowledge of it is based on a limited set of data extending back a few decades. Extending the record back to thousands of years is a rapidly advancing multidisciplinary scientific field devoted to the analysis and dating of proxy evidence, such as landforms and sediments. The course introduces these concepts to students, and builds on knowledge gained in physical geography courses taken in Levels 1 and 2. The course contributes to the preparation of UWI geography graduates for the 21st century by exposure to critical thinking, effective communications and self-motivated learning. It provides students with wide-ranging knowledge of, and ability to evaluate, the pressing problem of contemporary climate change.

Course description

The course aims to introduce students to the history of the earth during the past 2 million years – the Quaternary era. It examines the main changes that have taken place in the terrestrial, oceanic and atmospheric environments. It introduces types of proxy evidence that allow reconstruction of Quaternary environments, and some of the dating techniques which allow them to be placed accurately within a time frame. The subject is pertinent to the study of current climatic changes by identifying the methods and processes of identifying, quantifying and understanding natural and man-made changes on a longer time scale. It builds on geomorphological and meteorological knowledge acquired at Levels 1 and 2.