Since I am in the business of heaping praise today, I'm happy to draw attention to a wonderful diagram created by Malou Osendarp, based on research by Kim Cohen and Marc Hijma, showing the main climatic oscillations of the past million years and contriving, at the same time, to show various environmental changes as experienced in Western Europe. The descriptive text is in Part One of the book.
https://www.sidestone.com/books/doggerland-lost-world-under-the-north-sea
The basic curve shown on the diagram is the oxygen isotope sea level curve which is now widely accepted as more or less correct. The high points show the interglacials and interstadials and the low points (highlighted with the white colouring) show the polar desert / glacial episodes. We can also see the switches between deciduous and coniferous forest cover, the periods of open water as experienced by the present coastal areas, and the episodes where there is clear evidence of human occupation.
This diagram deserves to become a classic, and I will no doubt return to it quite soon..........
There is also a very useful graph on pp 212 and 213 of the book, showing the chronology and the technical labels given by researchers to the key environmental phases.
No comments:
Post a Comment