1. 3/7/2014 QuaternaryScience Conference - KensingtonChelseaToday
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Quaternary Science
Conference
Tuesday , 21 st January 201 4
Hosted by the QRA at the Royal Geographical Society
by Daniel Shamaun
On the 7 -9 of January 201 4, 300 scientists attended a
conference on climate change for the 50th anniv ersary of the
Quaternary Research Association (QRA) at the Roy al
Geographical Society . Quaternary research focuses on the Quaternary period, an ice age which began 2.6
million y ears ago and includes the present day . Ice ages go through colder ‘glacial’ periods and warmer
‘interglacial’ periods; and we are currently in a warmer period called the Holocene which started 1 1 ,7 00
y ears ago.
It is around the start of the Holocene that we can see the first ev idence of human activ ity modify ing the
env ironment, as we started to cut down forests for agriculture during the Neolithic Rev olution 1 2,000-
1 0,500 y ears ago. Our effect on the env ironment has led members of the QRA to focus on the Holocene, and
they hav e been approximating sea lev els in this period to improv e the accuracy of the predictions of future
sea lev el changes.
Ian Shennan and Roland Gehrels presented Sea Lev el in Time and Space at the conference, showing their
research and a history of the measurement of sea lev els. It turns out that it’s not nearly as simple as y ou
may hav e thought. Variables like seismic activ ity and the original location of meltwater affect sea lev els,
not just melting ice caps and temperature.
For example, If Ice caps in Greenland melt, the sea lev el there actually drops and the sea lev el rises on the
other side of the world in Antarctica. This is because large masses of ice (and land) generate enough of their
own grav itational pull attracting water to them, and raising the local sea lev el. If they melt they become
lighter, losing some of their pull, and also rising in the water as they become more buoy ant, making the
local sea lev el drop and displacing water further away . Seismic activ ity also affects sea lev els. An
earthquake can mov e the Earth’s plates up, making it seem as though the sea lev el has dropped when in fact
it hasn’t mov ed. It’s far more than just a case of holding a ruler up to a cliff.
Shennan and Gehrels also gav e an example of catastrophic climate change. The melting of a remainder of
the Laurentide ice sheet 8,400 y ears ago caused a massiv e drainage of freshwater into the ocean circulation
(specifically the thermohaline circulation) with such v olume and force that it may hav e caused a tsunami.
Gehrels showed that this resulted in a sea lev el rise that caused the Netherlands coastline to mov e by 200m
in 4 y ears, and if our ice caps melt another pulse like this could be coming soon. It is the possibility this kind
of ev ent that justifies funding the QRA.
Dr Catherine Souch, RGS-IBG Head of Research and Higher Education said, “By researching climates ov er
the last 2.6 million y ears, Quaternary scientists can be well placed to make predictions about future
climates... If we are to meet the env ironmental challenges of the future, it is v ital that this research is being
carried out now.” There could not be stronger ev idence that climate change is real, whether our effect on it
is substantial or not, we need to be prepared for the future.
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2. 3/7/2014 QuaternaryScience Conference - KensingtonChelseaToday
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