Quaternary Science

Quaternary Science is the interdisciplinary study of the Quaternary, the most recent geological period spanning from 2.6 million years ago until the present. The Quaternary was shaped by significant climate and environmental changes, including the repeated occurrence of glacial periods. It provides a window into the natural drivers of climate fluctuations, the scale and rate of past changes, the impacts to ecosystems and landscapes, and the context through which modern biomes and humans evolved. As a result, research on the Quaternary often includes the integration of Earth sciences, archaeology, climatology, ecology, marine geology, paleoceanography and numerical modeling, as well as collaboration with local and indigenous communities. University of Toronto Earth Scientists are engaged in a wide range of fundamental research in Quaternary Science including:

• The development of human engagement with fire and the integration of natural fire regimes with climate change.
• Using cave deposits to reconstruct past temperatures, precipitation, and environmental conditions.
• Geoarchaeological research on the landscape of early human adaptation in Africa.
• Paleoclimatic analysis of sediment records of the boreal and sub-arctic peatlands in Ontario's Hudson Bay Lowlands and swamp vegetation in the Great Lakes region.
• Application of near surface geophysics (Ground Penetrating Radar and Magnetometry) to detect buried evidence of human activity.
• Quaternary paleoceanography studies how the physical and chemical properties of the  ocean have changed over the past 3 million years, linking these variations to glacial‑interglacial cycles, ice‑sheet dynamics, and atmospheric CO₂. By placing marine changes within the broader climate system, the research clarifies past ocean–climate feedbacks and helps improve projections of future marine responses to ongoing warming.