Paleolimnology of European Maar Lakes (Lecture Notes in Earth Sciences)

Worldwide interest is currently focussed on past global changes. The objective here is to document environmental variations of the past to help understand present day processes and provide background data for computer-modelling aimed at predicting the future. This new book brings together sedimentological, geochemical, palaeomagnetic and palaeobiological proxy-data from maar lakes of the three European volcanic areas of Westeifel (Germany), Massif Central (France) and the Italian Peninsula (Italy). The high resolution, in parts even annual, of the studied lacustrine sedimentary records give detailed evidences of palaeoclimatic variations, volcanic activities and human perturbations as well as their biotic response within the lakes and its catchment areas. Along with papers on the formation of maars and with overview articles on the three studied volcanic areas, this up-to-date book will be of interest to geologists, climatologists, geophysicists, archaeologists, and anyone interested in the history of the earth during the last 250,000 years.