Reconstruction of the Ross Ice Drainage System, Antarctica, at the Last Glacial Maximum

We present here a revised reconstruction of the Ross ice drainage system of Antarctica at the last glacial maximum (LGM) based on a recent convergence of terrestrial and marine data. The Ross drainage system includes all ice flowlines that enter the marine Ross Embayment. Today, it encompasses one-fourth of the ice-sheet surface, extending far inland into both East and West Antarctica. Grounding lines now situated in the inner Ross Embayment advanced seaward at the LGM (radiocarbon chronology in Denton and Marchant 2000 and in Hall and Denton 2000a, b), resulting in a thick grounded ice sheet across the Ross continental shelf. In response to this grounding in the Ross (and Weddell) Embayment, ice-surface elevations of the marine-based West Antarctic Ice Sheet were somewhat higher at the LGM than at present (Steig and White 1997; Borns et al. 1998; Ackert et al. 1999). At the same time, surface elevations of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet inland of the Transantarctic Mountains were slightly lower than now, except near outlet glaciers that were dammed by grounded ice in the Ross Embayment. The probable reason for this contrasting behavior is that lowered global sea level at the LGM, from growth of Northern Hemisphere ice sheets, caused widespread grounding of the marine portion of the Antarctic Ice Sheet, whereas decreased LGM accumulation led to slight surface lowering of the interior terrestrial ice sheet in East Antarctica. Rising sea level after the LGM tripped grounding-line recession in the Ross Embayment, which has probably continued to the present day (Conway et al. 1999). Hence, gravitational collapse of the grounded ice sheet from the Ross Embayment, accompanied by lowering of the interior West Antarctic ice surface and of outlet glaciers in the Transantarctic Mountains, occurred largely during the Holocene. At the same time, increased Holocene accumulation caused a slight rise of the inland East Antarctic ice surface.     

Forms, response times and variability of relative sea-level curves, glaciated North America

Relative sea level curves from glaciated North America reveal coherent spatial patterns of response times. In the Laurentide Ice Sheet area, curve half-lives range from 1.2–1.4 ka at the uplift centre to 1.7–2 ka in a ridge of high values inboard of the glacial limit. Half-lives decline from this ridge to less than 1 ka along the margin. In the Innuitian Ice Sheet area, half-lives are about 2 ka at the uplift centre and decline to less than 1 ka at the margin. The central Laurentide response times are about half those of central Fennoscandia. This accords with the theoretical expectation that central response times are inversely proportional to ice sheet radius for ice loads large enough that rebound at the centre is insensitive to lithospheric thickness. The Innuitian central response time indicates that rebound at the centre of this ice sheet, which is much smaller than the Fennoscandian Ice Sheet, remains sensitive to lithospheric thickness. Radial gradients in response times reflect the increasing influence of the lithosphere at sites increasingly closer to the margin. Along this gradient, rebound progresses as though at the centres of smaller and smaller ice sheets. That is, the effective spatial scale of the ice load decreases toward the margin. Near the glacial limit, postglacial isostatic adjustment is complicated by forebulge migration and collapse. This is seen most strongly in the relative sea level record of Atlantic Canada, which has subsided during the Holocene more than 20 m more than the adjacent American seaboard. The relative sea level history of some areas, notably the St. Lawrence Estuary, is complicated by tectonic processes.     

LATE QUATERNARY ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGES IN THE ANTARCTIC AND THEIR CORRELATION WITH GLOBAL CHANGE

TheAnturCticisoneofthemostimpohantcoldsourcesonEarth,asabout24.5xlo'km'oficewhichtakes9opeamtoftotalicevolumeontheglobecoveronit.RotreaoradvanceOftheAntarcticIceSheetwillaffatfluCtuationofsealevel.ItiscalculatalthatiftheAntercticIceSheetlscomplotelymeltaw…     

COSMOGENIC 10BE-AGES FROM THE STORE KOLDEWEY ISLAND, NE GREENLAND

Earlier work in northeast Greenland has suggested a limited advance of the Greenland Ice Sheet during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). However, this concept has recently been challenged by marine geological studies, indicating grounded ice on the continental shelf at this time. New ¹⁰Be‐ages from the Store Koldewey island, northeast Greenland, suggest that unscoured mountain plateaus at the outer coast were covered at least partly by cold‐based ice during the LGM. It is, however, still inconclusive whether this ice was dynamically connected to the Greenland Ice Sheet or not. Regardless of the LGM ice sheet extent, the ¹⁰Be results from Store Koldewey add to a growing body of evidence suggesting considerable antiquity of crystalline unscoured terrain near present and Pleistocene ice sheet margins.     

珠江三角洲三水盆地早全新世以来 孢粉分析与古环境重建

为了深入探讨珠江三角洲的沉积古环境和古气候历史,在三水市区获取了2个高取芯率的钻孔岩芯,进行了12个AMS 14C测年,并结合孢粉、硅藻等分析结果探讨三水地区全新世的海平面与河流水动力变化,以及古植被演替过程。结果表明：钻孔所在区域全新世沉积总体从9 000 cal. a B.P.左右开始,呈现河流相―河湾相―河口湾相―潮坪相―河口湾相―河漫滩相的演变过程。三水区的早全新世沉积阶段年代最早为9 000 cal. a B.P.左右,表现为河口湾相的淤泥质粉砂沉积,硅藻以淡水种类为主,最高沉积速率为1.6 cm/a。海侵初始时间为8 700 cal. a B.P.左右,最高海平面时间为7 600 cal. a B.P.左右,此时海岸带发育红树林,丘陵山地发育较茂盛的亚常绿热带常绿阔叶林;中―晚全新世阶段（6 500―2 200 cal. a B.P.）,以泥炭粉砂沉积为主,沉积速率为0.2~0.5 cm/a,河口区高潮线附近及河流弯道低洼滩地在5 000 cal. a B.P.前后形成淡水沼泽、河口三角洲边缘区洼地水松林发育。在晚全新世（2 200 cal. a B.P.左右）以来,陆相黏土质沉积指示河口泥沙快速堆积,三角洲平原迅速扩大,沉积速率高达1.7 cm/a。孢粉结果显示次生的芒箕孢子剧增,陆地植被稀疏,人类活动显著增强。     

The Antarctic contribution to Holocene global sea level rise

The Holocene glacial and climatic development in Antarctica differed considerably from that in the Northern Hemisphere. Initial deglaciation of inner shelf and adjacent land areas in Antarctica dates back to between 10-8 Kya, when most Northern Hemisphere ice sheets had already disappeared or diminished considerably. The continued deglaciation of currently ice-free land in Antarctica occurred gradually between ca. 8-5 Kya. A large southern portion of the marine-based Ross Ice Sheet disintegrated during this late deglaciation phase. Some currently ice-free areas were deglaciated as late as 3 Kya. Between 8-5 Kya, global glacio-eustatically driven sea level rose by 10-17m, with 4-8 m of this increase occurring after 7 Kya. Since the Northern Hemisphere ice sheets had practically disappeared by 8-7 Kya, we suggest that Antarctic deglaciation caused a considerable part of the global sea level rise between 8-7 Kya, and most of it between 7-5 Kya. The global mid-Holocene sea level high stand, broadly dated to between 8-4 Kya, and the Littorina-Tapes transgressions in Scandinavia and simultaneous transgressions recorded from sites e.g. in Svalbard and Greenland, dated to 7-5 Kya, probably reflect input of meltwater from the Antarctic deglaciation.     

Late glacial palaeoceanography of Hinlopen Strait, northern Svalbard

Timing and structure of the Late and post-glacial development of the northern Svalbard margin, together with the initial influx of Atlantic water into the Arctic Ocean are still very poorly constrained. We investigated a sediment core (NP94-51) from a high accumulation area on the continental shelf north of Hinlopen Strait with the purpose of resolving the timing and structure of the last deglaciation. Detailed analyses of ice-rafted detritus, benthic and planktonic foraminiferal fauna, diatom flora, grain size and radiocarbon dates are used to reconstruct the palaeoceanographic evolution of the area. Our results indicate that the disintegration of Hinlopen Strait ice and possibly the northern margin of the Svalbard Ice Sheet commenced between 13.7 and 13.9 ¹⁴C Ky BP. Influx of subsurface Atlantic waters into the area (12.6 ¹⁴C Ky BP) and the retreat of the sea ice cover, with the accompanying opening of the surface waters (10.8 ¹⁴C Ky BP), happened at different times and both much later than the disintegration of the ice sheets. The transition into the Holocene shows a two-step warming.     

The history and architecture of lacustrine depositional systems in the northern Lake Michigan basin

The post-glacial history of the Great Lakes has involved changes in lake levels that are equivalent in vertical extent to the Pleistocene changes in global sea level and changes in sediment accumulation by at least two orders of magnitude. In the sediments of the northern Lake Michigan basin, these radical changes in base level and sediment supply are preserved in detailed records of changing depositional environment and the impact of these changes on depositional architecture. The seismic sequences of the sediment fill previously described in Lake Huron have been carried into northern Lake Michigan and used to map the history and architecture of basinal deposition. As the Laurentide Ice Sheet retreated northward in the early Holocene, it opened progressively deeper channels to the east that allowed the larger lakes to drain through the North Channel, Huron, and Georgian Bay basins. At the end of the Main Algonquin highstand, about 10,200 (radiocarbon) yrs ago, the eastern drainage passage deepened in a series of steps that defined four seismic sequences and lowered lake levels by over 100 m. Near the same time a new source of sediment and meltwaters poured across the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and into the northern Lake Michigan basin from the Superior basin ice lobe. A marked increase in deposition is seen first in the northern part of the study area, and slightly later in the Whitefish Fan area at the southern end of the study area. Accumulation rates in the area gradually decreased even as lake levels continued to fall. Drainage directly from the Superior basin ended before the beginning of the main Mattawa phase about 9,200 (radiocarbon) yrs ago.Although individual lowstand systems tracts are at the most a few hundred yrs in duration, their geometries and seismic character are comparable to marine systems tracts associated with sea level falls of similar magnitudes. In some of the thicker lowstand deposits a second order cyclicity in sedimentation can be detected in the high resolution seismic records.     

欧亚大陆中北部末次盛冰期以来的湖泊水位变化及其古气候指示意义

湖泊水位高低通常能有效地指示湖盆内湿润条件的变化,进而反映区域有效降水（降水—蒸发）变化,成为重建第四纪古气候演变的重要指标之一。通过对苏联和蒙古国古湖泊数据库以及中国晚第四纪古湖泊数据库中149个湖泊水位变化资料的梳理总结,探讨了末次盛冰期（18 cal. ka BP）以来该地区干湿变化规律及区域分异。根据研究区气候特征、地理位置及已有研究成果将其分为东欧湖泊区、中东亚干旱区和中国北方季风区三大湖区。根据不同水位记录在整个湖泊历史中出现的频率,采用3级重新分类区分出高、中、低3级水量,并把每个湖泊数字化的3级古水量表示成与现代的差值,得到每个湖泊样点每千年时间间隔内相对现代的5级水量变化（很湿润、湿润、无变化、干旱和很干旱）。结果表明,三大湖区末次盛冰期以来可能经历了不同的干湿变化过程：东欧地区湖泊水量记录在晚冰期之前较少,至全新世逐渐增多,且基本表现为早全新世干旱、中晚全新世相对湿润的状况。中东亚干旱区整体呈现出末次盛冰期至中全新世均较湿润而晚全新世干旱的气候状况,但区域内部不同湖泊在起讫时间和强度上存在显著差异。中国北方季风区的湿润期主要发生在早中全新世,但是不同湖泊有所不同。对比分析显示,早全新世时东欧地区东部气候随着斯堪的那维亚冰流的逐渐消退而逐渐变湿润,中全新世由于夏季北欧反气旋东翼的气旋气流增强而达到最湿润状态,西部地区早全新世由于强劲的西伯利亚热高压存在而整体偏干旱,中全新世由于夏季亚洲季风的渗透而转为湿润。中东亚干旱区冰期内的湿润条件可能主要与西风带降水及低温低蒸发有关,而全新世则可能主要与夏季风深入内陆导致降水增加有关。中国北方季风区全新世湿度变化可能主要受东亚季风控制。     

Early and late Holocene water-level fluctuations of Lake Annecy, France: sediment and pollen evidence and climatic implications

Early and late Holocene water-level changes in Lake Annecy, France, were reconstructed from a sediment sequence from Annecy. Two early Holocene successive rises in lake level at ca. 8900-8700 BP are recorded. Another increase in lake level, beginning at ca. 780 BP, is documented. The higher lake-level conditions in Lake Annecy during the 9th millennium BP, i.e. between the Preboreal oscillation and the 8200 yr event, appear to coincide with a more widespread cooling period which has been recorded in western Europe, in the Greenland ice-sheet and the North Atlantic ocean. The rise in lake level at ca. 780 BP can be related to the early Little Ice Age.     

南极冰盖的物质平衡研究:进展与展望

南极冰盖物质平衡最新的研究进展表明,西南极洲表现出两种变化模式,西部在增厚,而北面在更快地减薄。西南极冰盖总体可能正在减薄,其物质损失的速率可能足以使海平面每年上升近0.2mm。东南极冰盖物质不平衡可能很小,甚至其符号还不能被确定。南极半岛正在经历着快速变化。目前还不能可靠地估算南极冰盖的物质平衡状态。同时,大型冰川的停滞,一些冰川流速加快,冰盖大范围加速减薄,冰架大面积的快速崩解和支流冰川的加速,以及着地线强烈的底部融化等显示出南极冰盖存在快速变化。南极冰盖物质平衡未来的重点研究领域是开展冰盖表面高程变化的监测与模拟,确定表面物质平衡及其在各冰流盆地的分布,着地线的冰流通量,冰架底部的融化,了解冰后期冰盖退缩的动力过程,以及开发、对比和改进与冰盖物质平衡模拟和预测相关的各种模型。     

Sediment fluxes and buffering in the post‐glacial Indus Basin

The Indus drainage has experienced major variations in climate since the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) that have affected the volumes and compositions of the sediment reaching the ocean since that time. We here present a comprehensive first‐order source‐to‐sink budget spanning the time since the LGM. We show that buffering of sediment in the floodplain accounts for ca. 20–25% of the mass flux. Sedimentation rates have varied greatly and must have been on average three times the recent, predamming rates. Much of the sediment was released by incision of fluvial terraces constructed behind landslide dams within the mountains, and especially along the major river valleys. New bedrock erosion is estimated to supply around 45% of the sedimentation. Around 50% of deposited sediment lies under the southern floodplains, with 50% offshore in large shelf clinoforms. Provenance indicators show a change of erosional focus during the Early Holocene, but no change in the Mid–Late Holocene because of further reworking from the floodplains. While suspended loads travel rapidly from source‐to‐sink, zircon grains in the bedload show travel times of 7–14 kyr. The largest lag times are anticipated in the Indus submarine fan where sedimentation lags erosion by at least 10 kyr.     

Early Holocene deglaciation of the eastern coast of Hudson Bay

The final stage of deglaciation of Hudson Bay was a major Holocene catastrophic event marked by the drainage of Lake Agassiz/Ojibway at ~ 8.47 ka cal BP and the rapid collapse of the Laurentide Ice Sheet. Previous work undertaken in the Nastapoka River area (eastern Hudson Bay) demonstrated that during the relative sea level highstand that shortly followed the drainage of the lake, the western margin of the Québec–Labrador ice sector rapidly retreated eastward to reach a stillstand position in a coastal hill range. In this study, an analysis of Landsat 7TM images has allowed a mapping of large-scale glacial landforms (outwash deposits, eskers, flutings, and De Geer and Rogen moraines) between Kuujjuaraapik (SE Hudson Bay) and Puvirnituq (NE Hudson Bay). The key results from this mapping are: i) ice-contact outwash deposits mapped along the entire arc-shaped coastline of the eastern Hudson Bay outline a major ice stillstand phase in the coastal hills that extended at least from Kuujjuaraapik to Inukjuak. The presence of these hills allowed a stabilisation of the ice margin that led to the accumulation of thick and extensive ice-contact submarine fans. ii) The position of these deposits on the down ice side (west) of large sets of flutings indicates an important phase of sediment delivery by a rapid ice flow phase toward a marine-based ice margin. iii) A second system of outwash deposits observed farther inland indicates a subsequent phase of stabilisation of the ice margin during its retreat toward central Québec–Labrador.     

The application of GPR to barrier—lagoon sedimentation study in Boao of Hainan Island

Sedimentary successions and internal structure of the coastal barrier-lagoon system of Boao, eastern Hainan Island were studied through utilizing data from test holes and trenches and ground-penetrating-radar (GPR) profiles. During late Pleistocene, fluvial and delta plains developed over an unevenly eroded bedrock during low sea level stand, followed by the formation of littoral and lagoon facies and defined coastal barrier-lagoon-estuary system during the post-glacial uppermost Pleistocene-lower Holocene eustatic rise of the sea level, and the upper Holocene high stand. GPR results show that Yudaitan, a sandy coastal bar backed by a low-laying land (shoal) just east of the active lagoon, is a continuous, parallel and slightly-wavy reflectors indicating homogeneous sandy or sandy gravel sediments, and inclined reflectors partly caused by progradation and accumulation of beach sand and gravel. Quasi-continuous, hummocky and chaotic reflectors from the shoal of Nangang village correspond to mixed accumulation of sands and clay. This research indicates the GPR is a non-intrusive, rapid, and economical method for high-resolution profiling of subsurface sediments in sandy gravelly coast.     

The application of GPR to barrier-lagoon sedimentation study in Boao of Hainan Island

Sedimentary successions and internal structure of the coastal barrier-lagoon system of Boao, eastern Hainan Island were studied through utilizing data from test holes and trenches and ground-penetrating-radar (GPR) profiles. During late Pleistocene, fluvial and delta plains developed over an unevenly eroded bedrock during low sea level stand, followed by the formation of littoral and lagoon facies and defined coastal barrier-lagoon-estuary system during the post-glacial uppermost Pleistocene-lower Holocene eustatic rise of the sea level, and the upper Holocene high stand. GPR results show that Yudaitan, a sandy coastal bar backed by a low-laying land (shoal) just east of the active lagoon, is a continuous, parallel and slightly-wavy reflectors indicating homogeneous sandy or sandy gravel sediments, and inclined reflectors partly caused by progradation and accumulation of beach sand and gravel. Quasi-continuous, hummocky and chaotic reflectors from the shoal of Nangang village correspond to mixed accumula     

The application of GPR to barrier-lagoon sedimentation study in Boao of Hainan Island

Sedimentary successions and internal structure of the coastal barrier-lagoon system of Boao, eastern Hainan Island were studied through utilizing data from test holes and trenches and ground-penetrating-radar (GPR) profiles. During late Pleistocene, fluvial and delta plains developed over an unevenly eroded bedrock during low sea level stand, followed by the formation of littoral and lagoon facies and defined coastal barrier-lagoon-estuary system during the post-glacial uppermost Pleistocene-lower Holocene eustatic rise of the sea level, and the upper Holocene high stand. GPR results show that Yudaitan, a sandy coastal bar backed by a low-laying land (shoal) just east of the active lagoon, is a continuous, parallel and slightly-wavy reflectors indicating homogeneous sandy or sandy gravel sediments, and inclined reflectors partly caused by progradation and accumulation of beach sand and gravel. Quasi-continuous, hummocky and chaotic reflectors from the shoal of Nangang village correspond to mixed accumulation of sands and clay. This research indicates the GPR is a non-intrusive, rapid, and economical method for high-resolution profiling of subsurface sediments in sandy gravelly coast.     

The influence of temperature, moisture, and eolian activity on Holocene lake development in West Greenland

Holocene paleolimnological records (diatoms, organic content, spectrally inferred sediment chlorophyll-a) from three West Greenland lakes (~67°N) situated along a transect from the outer coast to a nunatak at the periphery of the Greenland Ice Sheet are used to explore the nature of regional postglacial lake development and its relationship to Holocene climate evolution. The lakes were deglaciated asynchronously by approximately 4?ka (earliest on the coast) and thus their sediment records document different starting points of Holocene ontogeny, both temporally and paleoclimatically. Despite similar time-transgressive characteristics of the diatom stratigraphies, overarching climatic factors, principally effective moisture, and eolian inputs, govern individual lake development. The transition to Neoglaciation between 5.6 and 4?ka BP marks a shift toward a cooler, moister, windier climate from the aridity and higher temperatures of the mid-Holocene (8?C6?ka BP). A shift toward increased aridity, windiness, and eolian activity is documented in the interior lakes over the last 500?years. These lake records demonstrate the sensitivity of freshwater lakes in arid regions to changes in effective moisture and highlight the role of wind and eolian activity in Arctic lake environments.     

中原地区晚全新世以来的环境变化

本文利用丰富的历史资料和树木年轮资料,恢复了我国中原地区晚全新世2000余年以来的环境变化,建立了2200余年的降水变化序列。划分了晚全新世以来本地区的干湿和冷暖期。受晚全新世以来的季风环流的影响,本地区环境变化的基本模式是暖湿与冷干对应。然而,在小冰期时期特别是17世纪下半叶以后,这种模式有所改变,即冷湿对应。其主要原因作者认为有二:一是小冰期时期天气系统超常不稳定,这是由于地球气候系统的内外因素改变造成的;二是小冰期时夏季风锋面南移至中原一带,增加了本地区的降水。最后还讨论了晚全新世以来本地区季风变化的过程、机制以及它们所带来的环境变化。并提出了未来环境变化的可能趋向。     

澧阳平原晚更新世晚期至全新世早中期环境演变及其对人类活动的影响

通过对澧阳平原野外调查,多剖面地层对比分析及岩板垱（YBD）剖面样品的粒度、地球化学元素分析和年代测定,揭示该区晚更新世晚期至全新世早中期环境演变,并探讨其对人类活动的影响。研究结果表明,30~6 ka B.P.间,澧阳平原由冲沟发育的黄土台地向河湖发育的平原丘岗地貌过渡;气候环境经历了弱暖湿-气候变差-凉湿-波动回暖-暖湿的变化;更新世末至全新世早期稻作农业的出现与该区的环境条件和文化基础密切相关;环境演变也推动了古人类活动范围和聚落特征的变化。     

A multi-proxy approach to reconstruct hydrological changes and Holocene climate development of Nam Co, Central Tibet

Holocene lake level fluctuations were reconstructed from a 2.7-m sediment core from Nam Co, Central Tibet, China dating to >7.2 cal ka BP. Results were compared to existing lake records from the Tibetan Plateau to infer variations in the strength of the Asian Monsoon. Geomorphological features in the Nam Co catchment, such as beach ridges and lake terraces, indicate high lake stands during the late Glacial. A major low stand is suggested for the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). Sands and sandy silts at the base of the core are transgressive facies, with material transported by melt water and deposited under rising lake level conditions that followed the LGM low stand. Variations in grain size, major elements, biomarker stable isotopes and minerals in the core suggest a climate evolution reflected in at least five depositional units and subunits. Sediments in Unit I (~7.2 to ~5.4 cal ka BP) were deposited at highest lake levels. Large amounts of allogenic minerals and allochthonous organic matter suggest high precipitation and melt water input, implying positive water balance. Increasing aquatic productivity points to favourable environmental conditions. Unit II (~5.4 to ~4.0 cal ka BP) marks a transition between favourable, stable hydrological conditions and lake level decrease. Lower lake levels were a consequence of drier climate with less monsoonal precipitation, higher evaporation rates, and increased moisture recycling in the catchment. Unit III (~4.0 to ~1.4 cal ka BP) reflects the driest periods recorded, at ~3.7 cal ka BP and 1.6 cal ka BP. Lake shrinkage and salinization was interrupted as suggested by the deposition of Unit IV (~1.4 to ~0.8 cal ka BP), when increased precipitation and runoff that might be related to the Medieval Warm Period, led to a stable, but still low lake level. Unit V (800 cal years BP—present) is characterized by progressive lake shrinkage due to intense evaporation. Large fluctuations in geochemical variables indicate humid and arid periods, respectively, at Nam Co between ~450 and ~200 cal years BP, with the latter assumed to correspond to the Little Ice Age. Modern hydrological data indicate the lake level is rising. Comparison of the Nam Co record with other lake records from the Tibetan Plateau suggests general agreement with the broader picture of Holocene environmental evolution. The timing of dry and wet climate conditions at lake sites across Tibet indicates a gradually decreasing influence of the southern monsoon during the Holocene, from NW to SE. Nevertheless, further research is needed to improve our understanding of Holocene spatio-temporal hydrological variations across the Asian continent.