Quaternary science

Quaternary science
Name	Quaternary science
Caption	Glacially sculpted landscape
Period	Quaternary
Start	2.58 million years ago
Regions	Global
Disciplines	Geology, Paleontology, Archaeology

Contents

Definition and Scope

Quaternary science defines temporal boundaries tied to the type section at Vrica and major stratotypes in Sicily and integrates stratigraphic frameworks developed by bodies such as the International Commission on Stratigraphy, International Union for Quaternary Research, International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and International Continental Scientific Drilling Program. Scope encompasses glaciology work at Lammergeier Glacier Observatory, paleoclimatology studies using cores from EPICA Dome C, Vostok, GISP2, and CORing projects, and paleoecology investigations at sites like Daintree Rainforest, Mojave Desert, Okavango Delta, and Great Barrier Reef. It links to applied disciplines executed by teams at US Geological Survey, Geological Survey of India, Geological Survey of Canada, and Bureau of Land Management.

Chronological subdivisions follow stages and marine isotope records established through correlations among Marine Isotope Stage 2, Last Glacial Maximum, Holocene, Pleistocene', Holocene Climate Optimum, and boundaries ratified by the International Commission on Stratigraphy and stratigraphers working in the Po Basin, North Sea, Gulf of Mexico, Black Sea, and Mediterranean Sea. Regional subdivisional schemes reference stratotypes in Sicilian stratigraphy, British Isles stratigraphy, North American chronostratigraphy, East Asian loess sequences, and chronologies from Green River Formation studies. Tephrochronology links events via marker horizons such as Toba eruption, Mount St. Helens, Santorini eruption, and volcanic records from Iceland and Kamchatka.

Quaternary scientists employ geochronology methods including radiocarbon dating at centers like Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit, AMS laboratories at University of Arizona, Optically Stimulated Luminescence protocols refined at University College London, Uranium–thorium dating used in Speleothem studies from Mammoth Cave, and cosmogenic nuclide dating in the Alps, Rocky Mountains, and Tibetan Plateau. Proxy techniques use palynology from cores in Lake Malawi, Lake Tanganyika, and Lake Chad; stable isotope analysis in foraminifera from Ocean Drilling Program and Integrated Ocean Drilling Program cores; and ancient DNA extracted at Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Wellcome Sanger Institute, and Broad Institute. Geomorphology employs remote sensing from Landsat, Sentinel, ICESat, and GRACE satellites, while modeling uses climate models developed by Hadley Centre, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Max Planck Institute for Meteorology, and paleoclimate reconstructions integrated into databases maintained by NOAA and PANGAEA.

Key events include glacial maxima recorded in Marine Isotope Stage 6, Marine Isotope Stage 2, interglacials such as Marine Isotope Stage 5e (Eemian), abrupt events like the Younger Dryas, 8.2 kiloyear event, and Heinrich events identified in North Atlantic cores and connected to outbursts from Lake Agassiz and meltwater routing through the St. Lawrence River and Hudson Bay. Regional glaciations include the Wisconsin glaciation, Weichselian glaciation, Devensian glaciation, and Alpine advances recorded in the European Alps, Scandinavian Ice Sheet, Cordilleran Ice Sheet, and Laurentide Ice Sheet. Paleoperiglacial processes are evident in permafrost records from Siberia, Alaska, and the Canadian Arctic Archipelago.

Biodiversity shifts are documented through megafaunal extinctions involving genera like Mammuthus, Smilodon, Giant ground sloth, and Diprotodon and linked to climatic shifts and events recorded at Monte Verde, Pinnacle Point, Niah Cave, and Lascaux. Vegetation dynamics reconstructed from pollen sequences in Kilimanjaro, Amazon Basin, Congo Basin, and Laurentian Great Lakes show migrations of taxa such as Picea, Betula, Quercus, and Nothofagus. Marine ecosystem responses are preserved in records from Coral Reef sites at Great Barrier Reef, shell middens at Scheveningen, and microfossil assemblages in North Pacific and North Atlantic cores.

Human and hominin evolution during the Quaternary is traced through fossils and artifacts at Olduvai Gorge, Hadar, Dmanisi, Denisova Cave, Blombos Cave, and Lagar Velho, with genetic insights from research groups at University of Cambridge, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Harvard University, and University of Copenhagen. Archaeological cultures such as the Upper Paleolithic, Middle Paleolithic, Acheulean, Mousterian, Clovis culture, and Natufian culture are tied to migrations along routes including the Out of Africa theory, crossings via the Bering Land Bridge, and dispersals through Sunda Shelf corridors. Cultural innovations—controlled use of fire at Wonderwerk Cave, seafaring evidence at Debra L. Friedkin site, and agricultural origins in the Fertile Crescent—are dated with chronologies from laboratories like the Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit.

Applied outcomes inform hazard assessment at agencies such as the United States Geological Survey, resource management by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, permafrost policy influenced by studies in Nunavut and Yakutia, and sea-level planning referencing datasets from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Interdisciplinary work links to coastal management in Netherlands projects, urban resilience studies in New York City, conservation programs by Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, and paleoclimate analogs used by climate modelers at Met Office and NOAA.