[Sasnet] IGC Symposium: microfossils, past climate (fwd)

[Bonnie A B Blackwell]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Wed, 5 Dec 2007 15:28:03 +0200
From: sheila hicks <sheila.hicks at OULU.FI>
To: QUATERNARY at CLIFFY.UCS.MUN.CA
Subject: IGC Symposium: microfossils, past climate

We would like to bring your attention to the following symposium at
the International Geological Congress, Oslo, Norway 6-14th Aug. 2008
<http://www.33igc.org/coco%29>http://www.33igc.org/coco) and to
encourage both oral and poster contributions.

CGC-08 'Reconstruction of past climates based on combinations of
microfossil records' Conveners Sheila Hicks and Lena Barnekow

A good understanding of the range of variation in past climates is
essential for making informed predictions of future climate change.
Microfossils (from peat, lake sediment and ice cores) have
traditionally provided a means of tracking climate variation but the
accuracy depends on the time resolution (sample size, sediment
accumulation rate and sampling interval), and upon whether it is
possible to provide quantitative or only qualitative results. Some
microfossils present a good proxy for summer temperature (pollen,
diatoms, chironomids) while others reflect precipitation (Testate
amoebae) or some other factor, e.g., spring ice break-up (Chrysophte
cysts). Individually each reveals a climate record, whether it be
through transfer functions or through changes in the actual quantity
of the proxy (accumulation rates), but when two or more proxies are
combined the strength of the signal is often greatly increased. This
symposium welcomes papers presenting quantified reconstructions of
any aspect of past climate where the basis for the reconstruction is
the combination of two or more microfossil proxies. The main focus
will be on high temporal resolution continuous time-series
reconstructions for the Holocene period but longer records and those
at a coarser time-scale will also be considered.

Abstract deadline 1st February 2008


Sheila Hicks
Research Professor in Quaternary Ecology
Institute of Geosciences
PO Box 3000
90014 University of Oulu
Finland

Tel: +358-8-5531438
Fax: +358-8-5531484