Palaeoecology of Quaternary Drylands

1. The importance of desert margins as indicators for global climatic fluctuations
2. The chemistry of playa-lake-sediments as a tool for the reconstruction of Holocene environmental conditions - a case study from the central Ebro basin
3. Environmental changes in the Central Sahara during the Holocene — The Mid-Holocene transition from freshwater lake into sebkha in the Segedim depression, NE Niger
4. Genesis and paleo-ecological interpretation of swamp ore deposits at Sahara paleo-lakes of East Niger
5. Fulgurites as palaeoclimatic indicators — the proof of fulgurite fragments in sand samples
6. Alluvial loess in the Central Sinai: Occurrence, origin, and palaeoclimatological consideration
7. The reconstruction of palaeoclimatological changes from mineralogical and geochemical compositions of loess and alluvial loess profiles
8. Geochemical implications for changing dust supply by the Indian Monsoon system to the Arabian Sea during the last glacial cycle
9. Little Ice Age climatic fluctuations in the Namib Desert, Namibia, and adjacent areas: Evidence of exceptionally large floods from slack water deposits and desert soil sequences
10. Palaeoenvironmental transitions between 22 ka and 8 ka in monsoonally influenced Namibia
11. Aeolian sedimentation in arid and semi-arid environments of Western Mongolia
12. Ostracod ecology of alluvial loess deposits in an eastern Tian Shan palaeo-lake (NW China)
13. Critical comments on the interpretation and publication of 14C, TL/OSL and 230Th/U dates and on the problem of teleconnections between global climatic processes

The twelve contributions in this volume represent  the results of a ten year interdisciplinary workshop on "desert margins" - concerned with the geomorphological, geochemica, mineralogical, sedimentological, soil scientific characterisation of (semi-) deserts in Spain, Africa, Arabia and China. Desert sediments and soils as well as processes and characteristics of their formation are regarded from different geoscientific perspectives. The subjects of research include the development of desert soils and landscapes, the formation of (alluvial) loess, swamp ores, fulgurites and floodout sediments and focus on the reconstruction of palaeoecological events and changes. A critical study of dating methods rounds off the book