Long-term Environmental Change

Geography 430/530:  Winter 2008
2:00-3:20 M/W, 201 Condon Hall
CRN 25332

Instructor:  Dan Gavin, dgavin@uoregon.edu, 110 Condon Hall, 6-5787

Department of Geography, University of Oregon

Course overview:  Climate and the pattern of life on Earth has changed continuously for millions of years resulting in the landscapes we know today.  These records of past environmental changes have been assembled from a variety of different paleoenivronmental indicators.  This course focuses on the methods used for paleoenvironmental reconstruction, how Earth's climate has varied over a range of different timescales, how the biota, especially vegetation, has varied in concert with climate, and the theories that have emerged to explain those variations.  Emphasis will be placed on data synthesis and use of models to help understand the mechanisms underlying change in natural systems.

Prerequisites:  Geog. 321 (Climatology);  Geog. 322 (Geomorphology) or 323 (Biogeography)

Format and grading:  Lectures, a mid-term and final exam, and an annotated bibliography focusing on a particular method, theme, region, or timescale involved in environmental change research.  Both exams and the annotated bibliography must be completed to receive a passing grade.

Course Web Page: http://geography.uoregon.edu/gavin/courses/Geog430/

Tentative outline of topics
  • Deep-time environmental change (Past ~50 million years)
    • Marine sediments: isotopic, geochemical, and biological indicators
    • Cenozoic climate change
  • Quaternary environmental change (Past 1.8 million years)
    • Chronological methods; radiocarbon
    • Late Quaternary marine and ice core records
    • The ice-age mystery
    • More indicators of past climate and biota: lake sediments, soils, middens
    • Quaternary vegetation dynamics: rates of response
    • The migration paradox and phylogeography
    • Human-environment interactions
  • Holocene environmental change (Past 11,000 years)
    • Holocene environmental variations
    • Dendroclimatology: tree-ring analysis and paleoclimate reconstruction
    • Abrupt climate change during the Holocene
    • Regional contrasts: Northwest and Northeast United States
      • Holocene history
      • Environmental narratives of the past 200 years
    • Relevance of the past for the future
Readings:  Research in this field evolves rapidly, and the reading will consist mainly of recent journal articles, supplemented by book chapters as necessary.  All of the required reading will be available online, or on reserve at the Science Library.
last update:  10/31/2007
Department of Geography, University of Oregon, Eugene OR, 97403-1251
contact:  dgavin@uoregon.edu