Sessions convened or co-convened by AQUA members.

SSP2.8 Fjord sediments as a repository of post-glacial climate and environmental change

Conveners: Greer Gilmer, Andrew Gorman, William Austin

Mid to high latitude fjords are global hot spots for the burial of organic carbon because their unique morphology makes them highly effective at trapping and preserving sediment. Interaction between the surrounding topography, fjord morphology, and global and hemispheric-scale climate dynamics leads to diverse regional patterns in climate, fjord circulation, and sediment accumulation. High sediment accumulation in fjords makes them an ideal location for the development of high-resolution records of past climate. These records can provide insight into how fjord processes and large-scale climate dynamics have operated in the past, and how they may respond to future climate change. Developing these globally important records requires a multi-disciplinary approach that includes geophysical investigation of fjord basins, physical and geochemical analysis of sediment, and characterization of fjord processes.

This session aims to use the common theme of fjords to bring together researchers from across disciplines working in Northern and Southern Hemisphere glaciated and non-glaciated fjords. We welcome submissions from a wide range of topics including, but not limited to, geophysical characterization of fjords, paleoclimate reconstructions using fjord sediments, organic carbon burial, and fjord circulation.

SSP1.17  The early adolescence of coastal and marine geoarchaeology 

Conveners: Ingrid War, Piers Larcombe, Stephen Lokier, Moyra Wilson, Juliet Sefton

This session will facilitate discussion and enhance collaboration between archaeologists and geoscientists working in coastal and marine environments.
Coastal and marine geoscience has a multi-decadal research history and archaeology is rapidly developing its research profile in these environments. Despite a common interest, pigeonholing of groups and studies into narrow, often ‘traditional’, disciplines inhibits collaboration, stifles progress and wastes research resources. Interdisciplinary knowledge transfer is key. There is much to be gained from sharing and integrating knowledge and methodologies between these fields.
Societal motivation for integrated marine and coastal geoarchaeological studies, additional to ‘blue-skies’ research, includes: planning for coastal and offshore developments, with associated regulatory needs to evaluate potential impacts on coastal and underwater cultural heritage.
Marine geoarchaeology comprises elements of oceanography, sedimentology, geochronology, archaeology and cultural interpretation, drawing heavily on both traditional disciplines. This session welcomes papers that either actively link Earth sciences and archaeology or those demonstrating how Earth sciences can advance our understanding of past cultural contexts.
Presentations could encompass: pure geoarchaeology, applied coastal archaeology, submerged palaeolandscape research, relevant sedimentary processes, palaeoenvironmental and other multidisciplinary research, including studies evaluating marine and coastal change at all timescales, the effects of episodic events, and modern processes.

CL5.7 Novel proxies for understanding past fires: outcomes for land and ecosystem management

Conveners: Micheline Campbell, Liza McDonough, Yuval Burstyn, Kathleen Johnson, Pauline Treble

Approximately 40% of the Earth’s terrestrial surface is fire-prone, with wildfires likely to become larger, more common, and more severe with climate change. To date, our understanding of fires is largely limited to the last few decades, when satellite imagery is available. However, satellite products do not capture the full range of past natural climate variability and anthropogenic forcing (e.g., the agrarian revolution, migration into the Americas and European colonisation). Better understanding of how climate, vegetation communities, and anthropogenic activity interact to affect fire regimes is necessary for the development of land management strategies to mitigate the impact of climate change. Environmental proxy data from tree fire scars, sedimentary charcoal cores, ice cores, and speleothems can be used to investigate how changes in climate, land use, and human activity drive changes in fire regimes. This session aims to highlight research which has the potential to produce tangible outcomes for ecosystem management and land use policy. We encourage submissions which highlight the links between fire and climate, or which make use of novel proxies, proxy archives, or statistical approaches. We particularly welcome submissions of records at human-relevant temporal resolutions (seasonal to decadal), and which examine the impact of changed land management practices (e.g. from Indigenous to colonial and post-colonial land management systems) on modern fire activity.