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Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University's objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide.

Print Price: $13.50

Format:
Paperback
160 pp.
approximately 35 b/w illustrations, 111 mm x 174 mm

ISBN-13:
9780199580699

Publication date:
February 2014

Imprint: OUP UK


The Ice Age

A Very Short Introduction

Jamie Woodward

Series : Very Short Introductions

The study of the Quaternary ice age has revolutionized ideas about Earth system change and the pace of landscape and ecosystem dynamics. The Ice Age: A Very Short Introduction looks at evidence from the continents, the oceans, and the ice core records, and the human stories behind it all. Jamie Woodward examines the remarkable environmental shifts that took place during the Great Ice Age of the Quaternary Period. He explores the evolution of ideas, evaluates the contributions of the leading players in the great debates, and presents some of the ingenious methods that have been used to retrieve information about the recent geological past.

In an era of warming climate, the study of the ice age past is now more important than ever. This book examines the wonders of the Quaternary ice age - to show how ice age landscapes and ecosystems were repeatedly and rapidly transformed as plants, animals, and humans reorganized their worlds.

ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Readership : Suitable for general readers and students of geology, history, and the environment, including geologists, zoologists, botanists, geographers, archaeologists, anthropologists, geophysicists, climate modellers, and dating specialists.

Introduction
1. The Quaternary Ice Age
2. Erratic Boulders and the Diluvium
3. Monster Glaciers
4. Die Eiszeit
5. 1840
6. Ice sheets or icebergs
7. Glacials, interglacials, and celestial cycles
8. Deep ocean sediments and dating the past
9. Ice cores, abrupt climate shifts, and ecosystem change
Epilogue
Further reading

There are no Instructor/Student Resources available at this time.

Jamie Woodward is Professor of Physical Geography at The University of Manchester. He has published widely on Quaternary environmental change and human activity in ice age environments and has extensive field experience in the Mediterranean region and in the Nile Valley. He is the Co-Editor of Geoarchaeology: An International Journal and is the Quaternary Science and Geomorphology Editor for the Journal of the Geological Society of London He has recently co-authored four chapters and edited The Physical Geography of the Mediterranean for OUP (2009).

Special Features

  • Considers the development of Ice Age theory through history.
  • Looks at how we came to understand the changing climates and environments of the Ice Age.
  • Explores how data from ocean and ice-core records is being used to interpret the patterns and cycles of climate change.
  • Written in an easy and fluid narrative style, including stories and biographical sketches of the key people and the human stories of those involved.
  • Part of the best-selling Very Short Introductions series - over six million copies sold worldwide.