Isotopes in Palaeoenvironmental Research – A 20 year update

Abstract

This special issue of Quaternary Science Reviews comprises a series of review papers which discuss the application of stable isotopes to different types of Quaternary records. This is an update of the 2004 special issue of Quaternary Science Reviews on “Isotopes in Quaternary Paleoenvironmental Reconstruction (ISOPAL)”, volume 23, issue 7–8, pages 739–992. The last 2 decades have seen huge advances in methods and interpretation of the common stable isotopes in air, liquid and solid materials but there have also been advancements in the so-called rarer isotopes in difficult matrices. The volume will include updates and reviews on recent advances in some of the potentially faster moving disciplines which include isotopes in: the anthropocene, bones and teeth, chironomid head capsules, as well as isotopes in coastal (organic matter) and marine (benthic foraminifera) sediments. Updates on silicon isotopes and isotopes in biomarkers (focussing in on peatlands) are discussed and there is also a review on how isotopes are used in sclerochronology.