Two gravity cores were collected from 43 km and 90 km offshore of Kuala Terengganu (western Sunda Shelf, southern South China Sea) at ~60 m water depth to characterize late Quaternary paleoenvironments by using bulk sediment magnetic susceptibility (BMS), elemental analysis via X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (XRF), and foraminiferal analyses. Radiocarbon age estimates (using benthic foraminiferal carbonate material) indicated the nearshore core was Holocene (ca. 10,000-6,000 cal years BP) in age while the offshore core was deposited prior to the last glacial maximum (ca. 45,000 cal years BP and possibly older) during marine isotope stage (MIS) 3 (ca. 60,000 - 30,000 yrs BP) within the late Pleistocene. Elemental and BMS data agree well within both cores, except Pleistocene sediments exhibit higher BMS (ca. 1x10-4 si) and higher calcium content (ca. 2%) than Holocene sediments. These data can be interpreted as representing stronger terrestrial influence during the deposition of Pleistocene sediments or a higher dissolution of calcium carbonate. BMS data, elemental data, and micropaleontological evidence, relative abundances of 64 benthic foraminiferal species, indicate that both cores were deposited in an inner shelf environment similar to the modern shelf environment at ca. 50-60 m water depth. However, a higher ratio of planktonic foraminifera (Holocene: 0-1.3%, Pleistocene: 0-8.5%) suggests a greater influence of open marine waters in the Pleistocene sediments. The position of sea level during deposition of the late Pleistocene cored sediments is higher (ca. 60-0 m depending on the data set) than eustatic published sea-level data for MIS 3. This incongruity could be caused by age inaccuracies from limitations of the radiocarbon dating technique, although this seems unlikely as the lower range of age estimates fall within the technique and the uppermost range falls on the border of the limitations of the technique. Other options for the incongruity include large margins of error for late Pleistocene sea-level reconstruction and vertical crustal movement post-deposition from isostatic adjustment or tectonic activity.

Although it is generally accepted that the Arctic Ocean is a very sensitive and important region for changes in the global climate, this region is the last major physiographic province of the earth whose short-and long-term geological history is much less known in comparison to other ocean regions. This lack of knowledge is mainly caused by the major technological/logistic problems in reaching this harsh, ice-covered region with normal research vessels and in retrieving long and undisturbed sediment cores. During the the last about 20 years, however, several international and multidisciplinary ship expeditions, including the first scientific drilling on Lomonosov Ridge in 2004, a break-through in Arctic research, were carried out into the central Artic and its surrounding shelf seas. Results from these expeditions have greatly advanced our knowledge on Arctic Ocean paleoenvironments. Published syntheses about the knowledge on Arctic Ocean geology, on the other hand, are based on data available prior to 1990. A comprehensive compilation of data on Arctic Ocean paleoenvironment and its short-and long-term variability based on the huge amount of new data including the ACEX drilling data, has not been available yet. With this book, presenting (1) detailed information on glacio-marine sedimentary processes and geological proxies used for paleoenvironmental reconstructions, and (2) detailed geological data on modern environments, Quaternary variability on different time scales as well as the long-term climate history during Mesozoic-Tertiary times, this gap in knowledge will be filled. *Aimed at specialists and graduates *Presents background research, recent developments, and future trends *Written by a leading scholar and industry expert

The present volume is the first in a series of two books dedicated to the paleoceanography of the Late Cenozoic ocean. The need for an updated synthesis on paleoceanographic science is urgent, owing to the huge and very diversified progress made in this domain during the last decade. In addition, no comprehensive monography still exists in this domain. This is quite incomprehensible in view of the contribution of paleoceanographic research to our present understanding of the dynamics of the climate-ocean system. The focus on the Late Cenozoic ocean responds to two constraints. Firstly, most quantitative methods, notably those based on micropaleontological approaches, cannot be used back in time beyond a few million years at most. Secondly, the last few million years, with their strong climate oscillations, show specific high frequency changes of the ocean with a relatively reduced influcence of tectonics. The first volume addresses quantitative methodologies to reconstruct the dynamics of the ocean andthe second, major aspects of the ocean system (thermohaline circulation, carbon cycle, productivity, sea level etc.) and will also present regional synthesis about the paleoceanography of major the oceanic basins. In both cases, the focus is the “open ocean leaving aside nearshore processes that depend too much onlocal conditions. In this first volume, we have gathered up-to-date methodologies for the measurement and quantitative interpretation of tracers and proxies in deep sea sediments that allow reconstruction of a few key past-properties of the ocean( temperature, salinity, sea-ice cover, seasonal gradients, pH, ventilation, oceanic currents, thermohaline circulation, and paleoproductivity). Chapters encompass physical methods (conventional grain-size studies, tomodensitometry, magnetic and mineralogical properties), most current biological proxies (planktic and benthic foraminifers, deep sea corals, diatoms, coccoliths, dinocysts and biomarkers) and key geochemical tracers (trace elements, stable isotopes, radiogenic isotopes, and U-series). Contributors to the book and members of the review panel are among the best scientists in their specialty. They represent major European and North American laboratories and thus provide a priori guarantees to the quality and updat of the entire book. Scientists and graduate students in paleoclimatology, paleoceanography, climate modeling, and undergraduate and graduate students in marine geology represent the target audience. This volume should be of interest for scientists involved in several international programs, such as those linked to the IPCC (IODP – Integrated Ocean Drilling Program; PAGES – Past Global Changes; IMAGES – Marine Global Changes; PMIP: Paleoclimate Intercomparison Project; several IGCP projects etc.), That is, all programs that require access to time series illustrating changes in the climate-ocean system. Presents updated techniques and methods in paleoceanography Reviews the state-of-the-art interpretation of proxies used for quantitative reconstruction of the climate-ocean system Acts as a supplement for undergraduate and graduate courses in paleoceanography and marine geology

In view of the wide range of disciplines involved in Quaternary research, this book offers a one-stop resource for the Quaternary research community, since it reviews the latest techniques and provides an approach to how mollusk shell remains are used in the reconstruction of marine environments in southern South America. Written by specialists in the field, this monograph sets the scene for multidisciplinary research involving taphonomy, paleoecology, paleobiography, morphometry, shell mineralogy analysis and sclerochronology performed on mollusk assemblages and/or selected taxa, and offers a consistent picture of spatial and temporal environmental and climatic changes.

Stratified cultural remains from the Roman to Late Islamic periods in the coastal zone of Aqaba, Jordan at the northern end of the Gulf of Aqaba and analyses of thirteen sediment cores provide evidence for changes in the depositional environment during the Holocene. Local tectonic subsidence likely formed a coastal embayment ca. 8000 yr B.P. that was subsequently filled by human-induced siltation by ca. 4000 yr B.P. base on radiocarbon and microfossil analyses. Overlying sedimentation is dominated by fluvial and aeolian processes until the first century B.C. when Early Roman-Nabataean mudbrick structures were built in this area. Strong lead and copper concentrations in the sediment appear to stratigraphically constrain the Chalcolithic and Roman layers. Furthermore, an examination of archaeological sites near Aqaba suggests that people migrated to avoid the flood waters of Wadi Yutim and Wadi 'Arabah rather than moving their settlements based solely on changing sea-level.