Reconstructing late-Holocene environmental change in Iceland using high-resolution tephrochronology
High resolution records of sediment accumulation are necessary to evaluate subtle temporal and spatial variations in sediment flux, especially in the context of decadal-scale human–environment interactions. Digital photography using consumer-grade cameras may be used to gather thousands of stratigra...
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crsagepubl:10.1177/0959683612455536 2023-05-15T16:48:13+02:00 Reconstructing late-Holocene environmental change in Iceland using high-resolution tephrochronology Streeter, Richard T Dugmore, Andrew J 2012 http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0959683612455536 http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0959683612455536 http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full-xml/10.1177/0959683612455536 en eng SAGE Publications http://journals.sagepub.com/page/policies/text-and-data-mining-license The Holocene volume 23, issue 2, page 197-207 ISSN 0959-6836 1477-0911 Paleontology Earth-Surface Processes Ecology Archeology Global and Planetary Change journal-article 2012 crsagepubl https://doi.org/10.1177/0959683612455536 2022-09-28T18:56:43Z High resolution records of sediment accumulation are necessary to evaluate subtle temporal and spatial variations in sediment flux, especially in the context of decadal-scale human–environment interactions. Digital photography using consumer-grade cameras may be used to gather thousands of stratigraphic measurements to ± 1 mm (potentially equivalent to ± 2 years of accumulation) and provide data amenable to statistical manipulation. This new approach is illustrated with an evaluation of 15th century landscape change in Iceland. High resolution measurements show that apparent ‘spikes’ in accumulation after episodes of plague are an artefact of lower resolution measurements (± 2.5 mm) over decadal periods. Regional records show little change in sediment accumulation rates after the plagues but key local records made possible using this new methodology reveal that the period ad 1389–1416 (encompassing the plague outbreak of ad 1402) had some of the lowest sediment accumulation rates since settlement of the island. This new approach to landscape assessment indicates that in this pastoralist community the aftermath of human mortality rates of 50–60% saw no development of feral sheep populations or a switch to less labour-intensive wool production. The implication is that cattle production was maintained and the relative easing of landscape impacts could explain the lag between 14th century climatic deterioration and 18th century increases in landscape change. Article in Journal/Newspaper Iceland SAGE Publications (via Crossref) The Holocene 23 2 197 207 |
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Open Polar |
collection |
SAGE Publications (via Crossref) |
op_collection_id |
crsagepubl |
language |
English |
topic |
Paleontology Earth-Surface Processes Ecology Archeology Global and Planetary Change |
spellingShingle |
Paleontology Earth-Surface Processes Ecology Archeology Global and Planetary Change Streeter, Richard T Dugmore, Andrew J Reconstructing late-Holocene environmental change in Iceland using high-resolution tephrochronology |
topic_facet |
Paleontology Earth-Surface Processes Ecology Archeology Global and Planetary Change |
description |
High resolution records of sediment accumulation are necessary to evaluate subtle temporal and spatial variations in sediment flux, especially in the context of decadal-scale human–environment interactions. Digital photography using consumer-grade cameras may be used to gather thousands of stratigraphic measurements to ± 1 mm (potentially equivalent to ± 2 years of accumulation) and provide data amenable to statistical manipulation. This new approach is illustrated with an evaluation of 15th century landscape change in Iceland. High resolution measurements show that apparent ‘spikes’ in accumulation after episodes of plague are an artefact of lower resolution measurements (± 2.5 mm) over decadal periods. Regional records show little change in sediment accumulation rates after the plagues but key local records made possible using this new methodology reveal that the period ad 1389–1416 (encompassing the plague outbreak of ad 1402) had some of the lowest sediment accumulation rates since settlement of the island. This new approach to landscape assessment indicates that in this pastoralist community the aftermath of human mortality rates of 50–60% saw no development of feral sheep populations or a switch to less labour-intensive wool production. The implication is that cattle production was maintained and the relative easing of landscape impacts could explain the lag between 14th century climatic deterioration and 18th century increases in landscape change. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Streeter, Richard T Dugmore, Andrew J |
author_facet |
Streeter, Richard T Dugmore, Andrew J |
author_sort |
Streeter, Richard T |
title |
Reconstructing late-Holocene environmental change in Iceland using high-resolution tephrochronology |
title_short |
Reconstructing late-Holocene environmental change in Iceland using high-resolution tephrochronology |
title_full |
Reconstructing late-Holocene environmental change in Iceland using high-resolution tephrochronology |
title_fullStr |
Reconstructing late-Holocene environmental change in Iceland using high-resolution tephrochronology |
title_full_unstemmed |
Reconstructing late-Holocene environmental change in Iceland using high-resolution tephrochronology |
title_sort |
reconstructing late-holocene environmental change in iceland using high-resolution tephrochronology |
publisher |
SAGE Publications |
publishDate |
2012 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0959683612455536 http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0959683612455536 http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full-xml/10.1177/0959683612455536 |
genre |
Iceland |
genre_facet |
Iceland |
op_source |
The Holocene volume 23, issue 2, page 197-207 ISSN 0959-6836 1477-0911 |
op_rights |
http://journals.sagepub.com/page/policies/text-and-data-mining-license |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1177/0959683612455536 |
container_title |
The Holocene |
container_volume |
23 |
container_issue |
2 |
container_start_page |
197 |
op_container_end_page |
207 |
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1766038332003844096 |