Knowledge of the palaeoenvironment and palaeogeography of the recent geological past is fundamental to our understanding of modern physical, biological and human environments. Understanding the Quaternary period, which spans the last 2.58 million years, is the central focus of the Quaternary Palaeoenvironments theme. We use multi-proxy approaches, combining both floral and faunal fossil analyses, together with sedimentary, magnetic and geochemical evidence, to reconstruct past environmental history from a range of environments across Britain, Europe, the surrounding seas, and beyond.
Research topics in this area are wide-ranging and include: Glaciation and environmental evolution of Fenland and Eastern England; the Pleistocene stratigraphy of the Birmingham region; Pleistocene evolution of the Bristol Channel; Global glaciations; Engineering geology of glacial and periglacial sediments in the English South Midlands; the British–Irish Ice Sheet during the Devensian Stage in the Vale of York; Interglacial vegetation history; Palaeoecology of Mediterranean ecosystems; Aerobiology; Clay mineralogy and diagenesis.
The Quaternary Palaeoenvironments laboratories are home to an extensive pollen reference collection, much of which can be viewed online; as well as the Quaternary Museum, which contains extensive teaching and research resources used by members of the wider Cambridge Quaternary community.
Research projects
Research projects currently being undertaken on this theme include:
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Engineering geology of formerly glaciated and periglaciated terrainsThis project aims to investigate the influence of past terrestrial glacier and ground ice formation and decay on the variability in geotechnical properties and behaviour of Quaternary engineering soils. Geological bedrock of the Oxford Clay Formation and clay-rich diamicton (till) in the geographical area of the English south Midlands is investigated in in relation to the middle Pleistocene Anglian (Elsterian) glacial limit. |
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TwoRainsTwoRains is an international and interdisciplinary ERC funded project investigating the interplay and dynamics of winter and summer rainfall systems, investigate the nature of human adaptation to the ecological conditions created by those systems. It is using the Indus Civilisation to ask the question “Does climate change really cause collapse?” |
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Quaternary Palaeoenvironments Group projectsKnowledge of the palaeoenvironment and palaeogeography of the recent geological past is fundamental to our understanding of modern physical, biological and human environments. Understanding this period, the Quaternary, is the central focus of research in the Quaternary Palaeoenvironments Group (QPG). The Quaternary, the last 2.6 million years of geological time, saw major climatic changes which caused ice sheets to advance into temperate latitudes. Repeated glacial episodes caused significant fluctuations in sea level, major geographical changes and major plant and animal population migrations. Sedimentary sequences record these changes in great detail and are central to unravelling past events. We use a multidisciplinary approach which embraces wide ranging litho-, bio- and chronostratigraphical methods to unravel events during Quaternary and later Neogene time. |
Earlier projects
- The ADaPt Project: Adaptation, Dispersals and Phenotype
- Detecting signatures of natural selection in the human genome with geographically explicit models
- How Britain Became An Island
- Palaeoenvironmental and palaeoclimatic evolution of the Baltic Sea basin during the Last Interglacial (Eemian, Mikulino)