Early and Middle Pleistocene vegetation history of the Médoc region,southwest France

Pleistocene deposits, together with their pollen, plant macrofossil, foraminiferal, dinoflagellate and coleopteran remains, from five sites along the Atlantic coast of the Médoc Peninsula are described and discussed. Sediments making up the Négade Formation are shown to have been laid down under either estuarine or lagoonal conditions when closed Quercus–Pinus‐Tsuga canadensis regional woodland existed. Comparison with plant records from The Netherlands indicates that these deposits are most likely attributable to either the Early Pleistocene Bavel Interglacial (marine oxygen isotope stage (MIS) 31), or an interglacial of the Waalian (MIS 37–49) or Tiglian (MIS 63–79). In addition, clays assigned to the Argiles du Gurp sensu stricto, were similarly deposited in either an estuary or lagoon, which subsequently was cut off from the sea. A freshwater lake with vegetation dominated by Azolla filiculoides then developed. This was succeeded by reedswamp and an organic mud (termed Lignite in the corresponding French stratigraphical records) formed. Regional Quercus–Abies woodland was replaced by one with Pinus dominant and Pterocarya a minor component. Comparison with plant records from France and other parts of Europe suggest that the clays and organic mud might be correlated with the Holsteinian (Praclaux) Interglacial (MIS 11c). Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

青海黄河源盆地早更新世以来环境演变

黄河源盆地位于青藏高原东北部,是黄河的源头地区,对环境和气候变化非常敏感。对黄河源盆地中的河湖相沉积物进行了孢粉分析,获得丰富的孢粉数据,结果显示孢粉组合以菊科、蒿科、藜科、禾本科、松、桦等草本和木本植物花粉为主。通过对各类植物的孢粉组合特征分析,揭示了黄河源地区早更新世以来古植被、古气候的演替和变化。其演变经历了4个阶段：第一阶段223.9～90.1万年,为森林草原环境,反映了温暖潮湿的气候;第二阶段90.1～35万年,为灌丛草原环境,反映了总体干冷的气候;第三阶段35～2.8万年,为稀树草甸草原环境,属湿润寒冷的气候;第四阶段2.8～0.8万年,为荒漠草原环境,反应干冷的气候。     

Variation and pattern in the responses of mammal faunas to Late Pleistocene climatic change in southeastern South Australia

We examined mammal occurrence and variability through the Late Pleistocene vertebrate fossil deposit of Grant Hall in Victoria Fossil Cave, Naracoorte, South Australia. To determine long‐term patterns of change, we compared the composition and relative abundance trends of the assemblage with a nearby Middle Pleistocene deposit in Cathedral Cave. Total species richness did not change through the Grant Hall sequence, dated from 93 ± 8 to 70 ± 5 ka. However, species relative abundances varied between ecologically divergent species, and in some cases between species that demonstrate similar environmental preferences. For some species this variation is comparable to that recorded in Cathedral Cave. Of those showing similar trends between the two deposits, the forest inhabitant, Pseudomys fumeus, recorded an 8.6% decline through Grant Hall, coincident with a 9.7% increase in the dry heath/mallee dweller Pseudomys apodemoides. These patterns indicate that climatic transition from relatively warm, moist to cooler, drier conditions impacted some species in similar ways through climatic cycles of the past. However, the majority of the fauna demonstrated complex responses that are individual and variable through time. Statistical tests of species trends from the Grant Hall assemblage caution that large fossil samples are required to validate patterns observed. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Paleoecological and archaeological implications of a late Pleistocene/Early holocene record of vegetation and climate from the pacific coastal plain of panama

A phytolith record from Monte Oscuro, a crater lake located 10 m above sea level on the Pacific coastal plain of Panama, shows that during the Late Pleistocene the lake bed was dry and savanna-like vegetation expanded at the expense of tropical deciduous forest, the modern potential vegetation. A significant reduction of precipitation below current levels was almost certainly required to effect the changes observed. Core sediment characteristics indicate that permanent inundation of the Monte Oscuro basin with water occurred at about 10,500 ¹⁴C yr B.P. Pollen and phytolith records show that deciduous tropical forest expanded into the lake’s watershed during the early Holocene. Significant burning of the vegetation and increases of weedy plants at ca. 7500 to 7000 ¹⁴C yr B.P. indicate disturbance, which most likely resulted from early human occupation of the seasonal tropical forest near Monte Oscuro and the development of slash-and-burn methods of cultivation.     

早更新世东山古湖氯离子含量变化与季风演化

高分辨率东山古湖沉积物中氯离子含量变化表明，早更新世早期亚洲季风稳定建立，其变化较小。早期较干；中期出现大湿润期，氯离子含量最低；晚期（１．７－１．６６Ｍａ）再变干。     

Fire and vegetation history on Santa Rosa Island,Channel Islands,and long‐term environmental change in southern California

The long‐term history of vegetation and fire was investigated at two locations – Soledad Pond (275 m; from ca. 12 000 cal. a BP) and Abalone Rocks Marsh (0 m; from ca. 7000 cal. a BP) – on Santa Rosa Island, situated off the coast of southern California. A coastal conifer forest covered highlands of Santa Rosa during the last glacial, but by ca. 11 800 cal. a BP Pinus stands, coastal sage scrub and grassland replaced the forest as the climate warmed. The early Holocene became increasingly drier, particularly after ca. 9150 cal. a BP, as the pond dried frequently, and coastal sage scrub covered the nearby hillslopes. By ca. 6900 cal. a BP grasslands recovered at both sites. Pollen of wetland plants became prominent at Soledad Pond after ca. 4500 cal. a BP, and at Abalone Rocks Marsh after ca. 3465 cal. a BP. Diatoms suggest freshening of the Abalone Rocks Marsh somewhat later, probably by additional runoff from the highlands. Introduction of non‐native species by ranchers occurred subsequent to AD 1850. Charcoal influx is high early in the record, but declines during the early Holocene when minimal biomass suggests extended drought. A general increase occurs after ca. 7000 cal. a BP, and especially after ca. 4500 cal. a BP. The Holocene pattern closely resembles population levels constructed from the archaeological record, and suggests a potential influence by humans on the fire regime of the islands, particularly during the late Holocene. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Possible ice-rafted erratics in late Early to early Middle Pleistocene shallow marine and coastal deposits in northeast Norfolk, UK

Erratic clasts with a mass of up to 15 kg are described from preglacial shallow marine and coastal deposits (Wroxham Crag Formation) in northeast Norfolk. Detailed examination of their petrology has enabled them to be provenanced to northern Britain and southern Norway. Their clustered occurrence in coastal sediments in Norfolk is believed to be the product of ice-rafting from glacier incursions into the North Sea from eastern Scotland and southern Norway, and their subsequent grounding and melting within coastal areas of what is now north Norfolk. The precise timing of these restricted glaciations is difficult to determine. However, the relationship of the erratics to the biostratigraphic record and the first major expansion of ice into the North Sea suggest these events occurred during at least one glaciation between the late Early Pleistocene and early Middle Pleistocene (c. 1.1–0.6 Ma). In contrast to the late Middle (Anglian) and Late Pleistocene (Last Glacial Maximum) glaciations, where the North Sea was largely devoid of extensive marine conditions, the presence of far-travelled ice-rafted materials implies that earlier cold stage sea-levels were considerably higher.     

Early Cretaceous megaspore assemblages from southeastern Australia

Twenty-nine megaspore species including six new taxa (Bacutriletes otwayensis sp. nov.,Erlansonisporites cerebrus sp. nov., Erlansonisporites decisum sp. nov., Hughesisporites coronatus sp. nov., Hughesisporites dettmanniae sp. nov., and Verrutriletes depressus sp. nov.) are documented from Aptian and Albian strata of the Gippsland and Otway basins, southeastern Australia. Together with six taxa known only from underlying Neocomian strata, these megaspores are used to establish four provisional biozones for the Lower Cretaceous that complement existing biostratigraphic schemes based on miospores and plant macrofossils. Megaspores are best represented in silty floodbasin facies and it is likely that the parent plants predominantly occupied moist understorey to fully aquatic habitats on the floodplain. Megaspores are sparsely represented in most other fluvial facies chiefly due to reworking of floodbasin sediments into higher energy channel and crevasse deposits. The relatively high diversity of lycophyte and fern megaspores contrasts with the scarcity of these plant groups in macrofossil assemblages. The megaspore record suggests that heterosporous cryptogams may have been significantly more prominent in the vegetation of this region than previously suggested. Several megaspores from southeastern Australia are closely comparable to forms from India and Argentina indicating broad similarities between Early Cretaceous heterosporous fern and lycophyte communities across Gondwana. These similarities also suggest that megaspores may be useful for inter-continental biostratigraphic correlation.     

A late Early Pleistocene pollen record from Fontana Ranuccio (central Italy)

A pollen record from a sediment core drilled underneath the Acheulian site of Fontana Ranuccio provides new data on the vegetation characters in central Italy during the late Early Pleistocene, in a forest phase possibly corresponding to a substage of Marine Isotope Stage 21. A number of tree taxa nowadays extinct in Europe (Cathaya, Tsuga, Taxodium type, Carya and Pterocarya) are present at Fontana Ranuccio in a temperate phase characterised by dense forest conditions, dominated by Alnus and Pterocarya. The comparison of the Fontana Ranuccio record with other dated sites distributed along the Italian peninsula indicates that the floristic and vegetational characters of the Mid Pleistocene revolution present a rather distinct succession of biostratigraphic events. Compared to other Early Pleistocene pollen records from southern Europe, the Italian Peninsula shows greater floristic similarities with the Eastern Mediterranean regions than with the Iberian Peninsula. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Amazon Fan biomarker evidence against the Pleistocene rainforest refuge hypothesis?

Ocean Drilling Program Leg 155 Site 942 on the Amazon Fan is an ideal location for monitoring palaeoclimatic changes within a significant proportion of the Amazon Basin. We present n‐alkane δ¹³C and taraxerol and laevoglucosan concentration records from this site covering the last 38 ka. The entire n‐alkane δ¹³C record is constrained between ?31‰ and ?34‰, which is well within the isotopic range occupied by C₃ vegetation. The concentration and relative abundance of taraxerol, a mangrove indicator, varies by over an order of magnitude, but seems to have had no effect on the n‐alkane δ¹³C record. The laevoglucosan concentrations are extremely low during the last glacial period, suggesting a relatively low occurrence of forest fires. Laevoglucosan concentrations are highest between 13.5 and 12.5 ka, suggesting an increased incidence of Amazon forest fires at the very end of the Younger Dryas. These records, combined with previously published pollen records from Site 932, reveal no evidence for massive incursions of grasslands into Amazonia during the last glacial period, despite evidence of reduced outflow of the Amazon River indicating more arid conditions. We therefore suggest that savannah encroachment, as proposed by the Pleistocene refuge hypothesis, can be refuted as an explanation for high species endemism within the Amazon Basin, and alternative explanations are required. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

青藏高原错鄂钻孔更新世早期古气候变化周期及其气候-构造意义

青藏高原在晚新生代的构造隆升对全球气候环境变化影响巨大,因此研究青藏高原构造隆升与气候变化之间的关系具有重要意义。以往对青藏高原湖泊沉积物古气候重建研究多集中于晚更新世至全新世阶段,而更新世早期的相关研究较为缺乏。错鄂钻孔(CE)揭露了整套第四纪地层,其中岩芯124.6~174.4 m地层连续,古地磁年龄约为1.8~2.6 Ma,是进行青藏高原更新世早期古气候变化周期及其影响因素研究的良好材料。本研究使用Acycle软件对错鄂钻孔1.8~2.6 Ma的425个样品磁化率(χ)、饱和等温剩磁(SIRM)和非磁滞剩磁磁化率(χ_ARM)3个磁学指标进行频谱分析。频谱分析结果显示3个磁学指标均表现出100 ka和22 ka的周期。其中,100 ka周期可能是受东亚季风的影响,说明在更新世早期,东亚季风可进入高原内部影响错鄂湖区的气候变化;22 ka周期可能是源于印度季风的影响。全球冰量在这一时期对东亚季风和错鄂湖区气候环境变化影响较小,因此错鄂钻孔中没有记录到41 ka的周期。2.2 Ma时岩芯磁化率100 ka周期滤波振幅变大,结合前人孢粉记录显示这一时期存在一次气候干旱事件,推测2.2 Ma时青藏高原发生局部构造活动导致印度季风对错鄂湖区的影响减弱,并发生干旱事件。这也使得错鄂湖区在2.6~2.2 Ma气候变化主要受印度季风影响,在2.2 Ma之后转变为主要受东亚季风影响。

     

Late Quaternary vegetation,climate and fire dynamics inferred from the El Tiro record in the southeastern Ecuadorian Andes

In order to study the stability and dynamics of mountain rainforest and paramo ecosystems, including the biodiversity of these ecosystems, the Holocene and late Pleistocene climate and fire variability, and human impact in the southeastern Ecuadorian Andes, we present a high‐resolution pollen record from El Tiro Pass (2810 m elevation), Podocarpus National Park. Palaeoenvironmental changes, investigated by pollen, spores and charcoal analysis, inferred from a 127 cm long core spanning the last ca. 21 000 cal. yr BP, indicate that grass‐paramo was the main vegetation type at the El Tiro Pass during the late Pleistocene period. The grass‐paramo was rich in Poaceae, Plantago rigida and Plantago australis, reflecting cold and moist climatic conditions. During the early Holocene, from 11 200 to 8900 cal. yr BP, subparamo and upper mountain rainforest vegetation expanded slightly, indicating a slow warming of climatic conditions during this period. From 8900 to 3300 cal. yr BP an upper mountain rainforest developed at the study site, indicated by an increase in Hedyosmun, Podocarpaceae, Myrsine and Ilex. This suggests a warmer climate than the present day at this elevation. The modern subparamo vegetation became established since 3300 cal. yr BP at El Tiro Pass. Fires, probably anthropogenic origin, were very rare during the late Pleistocene but became frequent after 8000 cal. yr BP. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A New Mid Early Pleistocene Mammalian FaunaDiscovered in Choukoutien，China and Its Application in Biostratigraphy

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元谋人时代研究评述——兼论我国早更新世古人类时代问题

我国早更新世古人类遗址时代的确定对于认识早期人类起源、扩散与演化具有重要意义。对元谋人化石的各种年龄测定结果和认识分歧进行了综合评述。综合分析认为，在翔实的岩石地层学和古生物地层学基础上，开展高分辨率磁性地层学研究是解决包括元谋人在内的这一时期哺乳动物时代科学问题的最有效的研究途径。     

Quantitative reconstruction of Early Pleistocene climate in southeastern Australia and implications for atmospheric circulation

Today, southeastern Australia experiences a winter-dominated rainfall regime, governed by the seasonal migration of the highly zonal Southern Hemisphere subtropical anticyclone. The late Cenozoic history of this rainfall regime is poorly understood, but it has been widely accepted that its onset was a product of the intensification and northward migration of the subtropical anticyclone, driven by steepening of hemispheric temperature gradients associated with the initiation of extensive Northern Hemisphere glaciation, ～2.6 million years ago (Ma). Here, we use fossil beetle remains from Stony Creek Basin, a small palaeolake record in upland southeastern Australia deposited over ～280,000 years between ～1.84 and 1.56 Ma, to quantitatively reconstruct regional climate during the Early Pleistocene. Climate reconstructions based on coexistence of extant beetle taxa indicate that temperatures were consistently 1–3 °C warmer than present, and rainfall as high as or substantially higher than today, throughout the record. In particular, beetle data indicate that rainfall was similar to today during winter, but 2–2.4 times higher than today during summer. This is consistent with the presence of diverse rainforest pollen also present in the record, and indicates that the modern, winter-dominated rainfall regime was not yet in place by ～1.5 Ma, at least one million years later than previously thought. We suggest that the Southern Hemisphere anticyclonic circulation must have been much less intense during the Early Pleistocene than today, rather than shifted meridionally as previously argued.     

Pollen record from Colle Curti and Cesi: Early and Middle Pleistocene mammal sites in the Umbro–Marchean Apennine Mountains (central Italy)

The palynological record from the Colle Curti and Cesi continental deposits has been examined in order to identify the main palaeofloristic and vegetational changes between 0.99 and 0.6–0.7 Ma. These data show a progressive increase in aridity, as well as a progressive decrease in temperature, which are associated with the transition in dominance from the 41 to 100 ka cyclicity in the Milankovitch orbital record during the Middle Pleistocene. The disappearance of Tsuga, recorded during the lower part of the Brunhes Chron, also has been related to a shift in global aridity. During the successive open vegetational phases (glacials), Chenopodiaceae and Artemisia progressively increase, whereas Cyperaceae decrease. Forest phases (interglacials) are successively dominated by Tsuga, Abies with Picea and, finally, Pinus; but all lack significant expansion of broad‐leaved deciduous taxa. Palynological and sedimentological data, in addition to taphonomic interpretations, demonstrate the occurrence of several hiatuses in the lower parts of the interglacials. These hiatuses are considered to represent the palaeoenvironmental response to climatic changes affecting local sedimentological and geomorphological conditions. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

北大西洋IODP U1313站位早更新世深海沉积物陆源组分粒度特征及其环境意义*

北大西洋地区是全球环境变化研究的热点区域。对IODP（国际综合大洋钻探计划）北大西洋306航次U1313站位深海沉积物陆源组分的粒度分析发现,陆源组分主要由黏土(粒径小于4μm)和极细粉沙(4～8μm)两个粒级构成,以黏土为主,分选性较差。通过与钙质超微化石、有孔虫等生物化石资料和同位素测年等技术相结合,重建了古气候的变化情况：(1)2.415～1.897 Ma BP,气候呈周期性波动;(2)1.897～1.640 Ma BP,气候变化相对平缓;(3)1.640～1.471 Ma BP,气候波动剧烈且频繁。粒度指标所反映的几次粗颗粒增多事件与早更新世期间数次气候变冷事件的发生时间一致。1.6 Ma BP前后粒度参数的突然变化,可能与地球轨道参数的改变有关,进一步证实地球轨道参数作为气候系统外部驱动力的重要性。     

西藏札达盆地上新统一早更新统河湖相地层多重地层划分与对比

根据札达盆地河湖相地层实测剖面中的接触关系、沉积旋回、沉积体系、岩相、岩性、古生物特征和ESR、古地磁测年结果,笔者对札达盆地上新统一早更新统河湖相地层进行了重新划分和时代确定。结合该套河湖相沉积的岩石地层、生物地层、年代地层、磁性地层、层序地层和地质构造事件,对札达盆地上新统一早更新统河湖相地层进行了多重地层的划分与对比。将札达盆地河湖相地层划分为3个组、4个沉积相、7个沉积亚相、11个岩性段。由新到老划分为：早更新统香孜组（Qp^1-1X）、上新统古格组（N22g）和上新统托林组（N2^1t）。