Nicholas Shackleton

Sir Nicholas John Shackleton ( born June 23, 1937 † 24 January 2006, England ) was a British geologist and paleoclimatologist. He specialized in the study of recent sediments of the ocean floor that could shed light on the climate evolution from the beginning of the Ice Age of the Quaternary to the present time for him.

Nicholas Shackleton, called " Nick", was born into an important British scientist family. He was the great-nephew of polar explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton and the son of the geologist Robert Shackleton. He got the opportunity to study at Clare College, Cambridge, where he first graduated as Bachelor in Physics and then in his dissertation specializing in geochemistry. During this work, he had close contact with Cesare Emiliani, the founder of paleoceanography and isotope stratigraphy. Shackleton remained after his graduation in 1967 in Cambridge and was eventually Professor of Earth Sciences at the University of Cambridge.

Shackleton was a key figure in the field of paleoceanography and a pioneer in the field of application of mass spectrometry for the determination of the 16O/18O isotope ratio in the calcite fossil microorganisms ( foraminifera ). By determining and definition of oxygen isotope stages of Shackleton could not only improve the age determination of marine sediments ( isotope stratigraphy ), but also make inferences on the Earth's climate in the Quaternary. An important finding Shackleton was that the isotopic composition of seawater is based on fractionation during evaporation. Due to the enrichment of the light isotope 16O in the polar ice, the sea water during glacial isotopically heavier ( ice effect ). The isotope signal in foraminifera thus reflects the global ice volume.

Caused a stir in 1976 with a contribution in the scientific publication organ of Science, in which he demonstrated with his colleagues Imbrie and Hays, that the climate variability within the last few million years correlate closely with changes in the Earth's orbit around the sun and the position of the earth ( Milankovitch cycles). This meant that the already discussed since the 1929 Serbian mathematician Milutin Milankovitch theory has been widely recognized, after the distribution of solar radiation on the earth's surface one of the decisive factors for medium-term climate change. Later, Shackleton showed that with these climate variations also accompanied changes in the carbon dioxide content of the atmosphere. Further work focused on the development of accurate scales for geological periods of the Quaternary. Shackleton also found out that the last reversal of Earth's magnetic 780,000 years ago must have taken place.

Shackleton was a member of the Royal Society since 1985 and was defeated in 1998 for his contributions in the geosciences by the Queen knighted. Since 1995 he was director of the Godwin Institute for Quaternary Research. 1999 to 2003 he was President of the International Union for Quaternary Research ( INQUA ). He was also known for its collection of ancient woodwind instruments, particularly clarinets, he could also play excellent.

Awards

• Member of the Royal Society since 1985
• Crafoord Prize (1995 ), together with Willi Dansgaard
• Wollaston Medal ( 1996)
• Milankovitch Medal ( 1999)
• Royal Medal of the Royal Society (2003)
• Vetlesen Price ( 2004)
• Price Blue Planet (2005)
• Gold Medal ( Founder's Medal ) of the Royal Geographical Society ( 2005)