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RESEARCH PRODUCT

Mutual Climatic Range Methods for Quaternary Ostracods

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Abstract The development of Mutual Climatic Range (MCR) methods for ostracods has included the estimation of marine bottom-water palaeotemperatures, but it has focused mainly on the use of non-marine ostracods to infer past air temperatures. The Delorme analogue MCR method, using only those components of a fossil assemblage that co-exist today, has yielded mean annual air temperature and annual precipitation estimates for North American Quaternary sites. The Mutual Ostracod Temperature Range (MOTR) non-analogue MCR method utilises all species in a fossil assemblage; calibrations based on a European database have been applied to the estimation of mean July and January air temperatures for English Pleistocene sites. These approaches are reviewed and their relative merits discussed; both yield results comparable to those of other proxies such as the beetle MCR method. A revised calibration table for European non-marine ostracods is provided, and new MOTR estimates for English glacial and interglacial sites are presented.