Department of Geography

Recent and current palaeo-environmental research projects of Prof. Paul Shaw include:

Palaeoclimates of southern Africa

The reconstruction of the palaeoclimates of southern Africa for the last 200,000 years from dryland landforms, such as sand dunes, dry valleys and lake shorelines. Recent research has focused on the luminescence (OSL) dating of cores taken from the shorelines of Lake Ngami (Botswana) and Lake Chilwa (Malawi), which indicate past periods of high water levels, and give an insight into past climate dynamics. The research is carried out in conjunction with colleagues in the Arid Environmental Systems research group in the School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford, UK.

Climatic reconstruction

Climatic reconstruction from the micro-scale analysis of trace elements in cave speleothem aragonite using Secondary Ionising Mass Spectrometery (SIMS). This high-resolution technique decodes the climatic signal preserved in stalagmites as they grow in caves, providing evidence of changes in rainfall in tropical areas where the material originates. The research is carried out in conjunction with colleagues at the Universities of Stockholm (Sweden) and St. Andrews (UK) using facilities at the University of Edinburgh and the Stockholm Natural History Museum.

Mediterranean volcanic eruptions

The reconstruction of Quaternary volcanic eruptive events in the Mediterranean from sedimentary sources. The research looks at the preservation of volcanic ash in spring deposits on the flanks of Mt Etna (Sicily) and evidence for the extensive Campanian eruption in Italy around 37,000 years ago in the tephra deposits of the Danube floodplain, Romania.