Bearing up well? Understanding the past,present and future of Australia's koalas

The modern Koala Phascolarctos cinereus is the last surviving member of a once diverse family Phascolarctidae (Marsupialia, Phascolarctomorphia). Nine genera and at least 16 species of koala are known. Late Oligocene sediments of central Australia record the oldest fossils and highest species diversity. Five species are known from the early to middle Miocene rainforest assemblages of the Riversleigh World Heritage Area, Queensland. With the onset of dryer conditions after the middle Miocene climatic optimum (~ 16 Ma), rainforest habitats contracted resulting in the apparent extinction of three koala lineages (Litokoala, Nimiokoala, Priscakoala). Phascolarctos first appears in the fossil record during the Pliocene and the modern species around 350 ka. Despite a dramatic decline in taxonomic diversity to a single extant species, the fossil record indicates that at most only three koala species coexisted in any given faunal assemblage throughout their 24 million year history. Within these assemblages, the vast majority of extinct koalas are extremely rare (some known from only a single specimen) which may reflect a general rarity within their palaeohabitats compared with the modern species which is represented by an estimated 400,000 individuals spread over most of eastern mainland Australia. Be that as it may, P. cinereus, although once geographically more widespread, occurring for example in Western Australia in the Pleistocene, underwent significant range contractions and localized population extinctions during the stressful climatic conditions of the late Pleistocene and more recently through human-induced habitat destruction. Combined with threats of disease, reduced genetic diversity and climate change, the survival of this iconic Australian marsupial is arguably a cause for concern.     

Early-Holocene climatic oscillations recorded by lake-level fluctuations in west-central Europe and in central Italy

On the basis of lake-level data, the period of the Preboreal oscillation (PBO) at 11 300–11 150 cal yr BP as defined by the GRIP oxygen-isotope record appears to correspond to wetter climatic conditions in west-central Europe and to a marked drying in north-central Italy. Additional short-lived phases of higher lake level have been identified before the PBO at ca 11 450–11 400 and 11 350 cal yr BP in west-central Europe, and at ca 11 500 cal yr BP in Italy. Such multiple climatic oscillations around the PBO have been observed in various records in northwestern Europe. On the basis of various proxies, a map of changes in moisture over western Europe during the PBO indicates a mid-latitude zone between 58 and 43°N characterised by wetter conditions, while a drier climate developed in southern and northern Europe. This wet middle zone shows a larger extension and suggests a more meandering, weaker Atlantic Westerly Jet during the PBO than during the 8.2 kyr event. A comparison of lake-level records in west-central Europe with (1) outbursts from North American and north-European proglacial lakes, and (2) variations in solar activity as reflected by ¹⁴C and the ¹⁰Be records supports the hypothesis that the PBO was a response to successive meltwater pulses at 11 300, 11 250, 11 200 and 11 170 cal yr BP and to a sudden decrease in solar activity at 11 250 cal yr BP. This study points to the necessity of developing integrated multi-proxy approaches to construct more robust regional event stratigraphies, and of better documenting palaeohydrological changes in the Mediterranean area.     

Early–Middle Pleistocene environmental changes and human evolution in the Italian peninsula

This paper is aimed to elucidate the ecological scenario in Italy in the Early to Middle Pleistocene, when species of the genus Homo are known to spread across Europe in two distinct waves: earlier than 1.2 Ma and at about 600 ka, respectively. This topic represents both (1) a fundamental aspect for a better understanding of the factors that allowed humans to colonize the middle latitudes of Eurasia, and (2) a reasonable frontier for current Quaternary palaeobiology, thanks to increasing knowledge of regional and local patterns. As for Italy, a combination of palaeobotanical and palaeontological data sets shows on the one hand a general complexity in both space and time, and on the other hand changes of considerable importance within and among the biological communities. These changes had a major importance during the worldwide change in the Earth climatic system known as “Middle Pleistocene Revolution”, which according to our data culminates with crucial effects of the extreme conditions of MIS 16. Subsequently, during great part of the Middle Pleistocene, the peculiar features of the Italian territory may have favoured isolation and a local persistence of plant populations and possibly mammal taxa, humans included, as for instance suggested by the corrected chronology of the Ceprano calvarium.     

Interactions between climate and vegetation during the Lateglacial period as recorded by lake and mire sediment archives in Northern Italy and Southern Switzerland

We reconstruct the vegetational history of the southern side of the Alps at 18,000–10,000 cal yr BP using previous and new AMS-dated stratigraphic records of pollen, stomata, and macrofossils. To address potential effects of climatic change on vegetation, we compare our results with independent paleoclimatic series (e.g. isotope and chironomid records from the Alps and the Alpine forelands). The period before 16,000 cal yr BP is documented only at the lowland sites. The previous studies used for comparison with our new Palughetto record, however, shows that Alpine deglaciation must have started before 18,000–17,500 cal yr BP south of the Alps and that deglaciated sites were colonized by open woods and shrublands (Juniperus, tree Betula, Larix, Pinus cembra) at ca 17,500 cal yr BP. The vegetational history of a new site (Palughetto, 1040 m a.s.l.) is consistent with that of previous investigations in the study region. Our results show three conspicuous vegetational shifts delimited by statistically significant pollen zones, at ca 14,800–14,400, 13,300–12,800 and 11,600–11,200 cal yr BP. At sites situated above 1000 m a.s.l. (e.g. Palughetto, Pian di Gembro) forests expanded in alpine environments at ca 14,500 cal yr BP (onset of Bølling period, GI-1 in the Greenland ice record). At the same time, rather closed treeline communities of the lowlands were replaced by dense stands of Pinus sylvestris and Betula. These early forests and shrublands consisted of Larix, P. cembra, Juniperus, P. sylvestris, Pinus mugo, and Betula, and had become established at ca 16,000 cal yr BP, probably in response to a temperature increase. If combined with other records from the Southern Alps, our data suggest that treeline ascended by ca 800–1000 m in a few centuries at most, probably as a consequence of climatic warming at the beginning of the Bølling period. At 13,100–12,800 cal yr BP the onset of a long-lasting decline of P. sylvestris was accompanied by the expansion of Quercus and other thermophilous tree taxa below ca 600 m a.s.l. This vegetational change was probably induced by a shift to warmer climatic conditions before the onset of the Younger Dryas, as indicated by independent paleoclimatic records. Only a few centuries later, at ca 12,700–12,500 cal yr BP, an expansion of herbaceous taxa occurred in the lowlands as well as at higher altitudes, documenting an opening of forested habitats. This change coincided with the beginning of the Younger Dryas cooling (GS-1), which according to the paleoclimatic series (e.g. oxygen isotope series), started at 12,700–12,600 cal yr BP and lasted for about 1000 years. Environments south of the Alps responded markedly to climatic warming at the onset of the Holocene (11,600–11,500 cal yr BP). Thermophilous trees that had declined during the Younger Dryas re-expanded very rapidly in the lowlands and reached the high altitude sites below ca 1500 m a.s.l. within a few centuries at most. Our study implies that the synchronous vegetational changes observed over wide areas were probably a consequence of abrupt climatic shifts at the end of the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) and during the Lateglacial. We emphasize that important vegetational changes such as the expansion of forests occurred millennia before the onset of similar processes in northwestern and central Europe.     

Tectonometamorphic evolution of Seram and Ambon,eastern Indonesia: Insights from 40Ar/39Ar geochronology

The island of Seram, eastern Indonesia, experienced a complex Neogene history of multiple metamorphic and deformational events driven by Australia–SE Asia collision. Geological mapping, and structural and petrographic analysis has identified two main phases in the island's tectonic, metamorphic, and magmatic evolution: (1) an initial episode of extreme extension that exhumed hot lherzolites from the subcontinental lithospheric mantle and drove ultrahigh-temperature metamorphism and melting of adjacent continental crust; and (2) subsequent episodes of extensional detachment faulting and strike-slip faulting that further exhumed granulites and mantle rocks across Seram and Ambon. Here we present the results of sixteen ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar furnace step heating experiments on white mica, biotite, and phlogopite for a suite of twelve rocks that were targeted to further unravel Seram's tectonic and metamorphic history. Despite a wide lithological and structural diversity among the samples, there is a remarkable degree of correlation between the ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages recorded by different rock types situated in different structural settings, recording thermal events at 16 Ma, 5.7 Ma, 4.5 Ma, and 3.4 Ma. These frequently measured ages are defined, in most instances, by two or more ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages that are identical within error. At 16 Ma, a major kyanite-grade metamorphic event affected the Tehoru Formation across western and central Seram, coincident with ultrahigh-temperature metamorphism and melting of granulite-facies rocks comprising the Kobipoto Complex, and the intrusion of lamprophyres. Later, at 5.7 Ma, Kobipoto Complex rocks were exhumed beneath extensional detachment faults on the Kaibobo Peninsula of western Seram, heating and shearing adjacent Tehoru Formation schists to form Taunusa Complex gneisses. Then, at 4.5 Ma, ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages record deformation within the Kawa Shear Zone (central Seram) and overprinting of detachment faults in western Seram. Finally, at 3.4 Ma, Kobipoto Complex migmatites were exhumed on Ambon, at the same time as deformation within the Kawa Shear Zone and further overprinting of detachments in western Seram. These ages support there having been multiple synchronised episodes of high-temperature extension and strike-slip faulting, interpreted to be the result of Western Seram having been ripped off from SE Sulawesi, extended, and dragged east by subduction rollback of the Banda Slab.     

Late Miocene–Quaternary rapid stepwise uplift of the NE Tibetan Plateau and its effects on climatic and environmental changes

The way in which the NE Tibetan Plateau uplifted and its impact on climatic change are crucial to understanding the evolution of the Tibetan Plateau and the development of the present geomorphology and climate of Central and East Asia. This paper is not a comprehensive review of current thinking but instead synthesises our past decades of work together with a number of new findings. The dating of Late Cenozoic basin sediments and the tectonic geomorphology of the NE Tibetan Plateau demonstrates that the rapid persistent rise of this plateau began ~ 8 ± 1 Ma followed by stepwise accelerated rise at ~ 3.6 Ma, 2.6 Ma, 1.8–1.7 Ma, 1.2–0.6 Ma and 0.15 Ma. The Yellow River basin developed at ~ 1.7 Ma and evolved to its present pattern through stepwise backward-expansion toward its source area in response to the stepwise uplift of the plateau. High-resolution multi-climatic proxy records from the basins and terrace sediments indicate a persistent stepwise accelerated enhancement of the East Asian winter monsoon and drying of the Asian interior coupled with the episodic tectonic uplift since ~ 8 Ma and later also with the global cooling since ~ 3.2 Ma, suggesting a major role for tectonic forcing of the cooling.     

U–Pb,Lu–Hf and Sm–Nd isotopic constraints on provenance and depositional timing of metasedimentary rocks in the western Gawler Craton: Implications for Proterozoic reconstruction models

The Gawler Craton forms the bulk of the South Australian Craton and occupies a pivotal location that links rock systems in Antarctica to those in northern Australia. The western Gawler Craton is a virtually unexposed region where the timing of basin development and metamorphism is largely unknown, making the region ambiguous in the context of models seeking to reconstruct the Australian Proterozoic.Detrital zircon data from metasedimentary rocks in the central Fowler Domain in the western Gawler Craton provide maximum depositional ages between 1760 and 1700 Ma, with rare older detrital components ranging in age up to 3130 Ma. In the bulk of samples, ?_Nd(1700 Ma) values range between ?4.3 and ?3.8. The combination of these data suggest on average, comparatively evolved but age-restricted source regions. Lu–Hf isotopic data from the ca 1700 Ma aged zircons provide a wide range of values (?_Hf(1700 Ma) +6 to ?6). Monazite U–Pb data from granulite-grade metasedimentary rocks yield metamorphic ages of 1690–1670 Ma. This range overlaps with and extends the timing of the widespread Kimban Orogeny in the Gawler Craton, and provides minimum depositional age constraints, indicating that basin development immediately preceded medium to high grade metamorphism.The timing of Paleoproterozoic basin development and metamorphism in the western Gawler Craton coincides with that in the northern and eastern Gawler Craton, and also in the adjacent Curnamona Province, suggesting protoliths to the rocks within the Fowler Domain may have originally formed part of a large ca 1760–1700 Ma basin system in the southern Australian Proterozoic. Provenance characteristics between these basins are remarkably similar and point to the Arunta Region in the North Australian Craton as a potential source. In this context there is little support for tectonic reconstruction models that: (1) suggest components of the Gawler Craton accreted together at different stages in the interval ca 1760–1680 Ma; and (2) that the North Australian Craton and the southern Australian Proterozoic were separate continental fragments between 1760 and 1700 Ma.     

Pliocene volcano-tectonics and paleogeography of the Turkana Basin,Kenya and Ethiopia

The distribution of hominin fossil sites in the Turkana Basin, Kenya is intimately linked to the history of the Omo River, which affected the paleogeography and ecology of the basin since the dawn of the Pliocene. We report new geological data concerning the outlet channel of the Omo River between earliest Pliocene and final closure of the Turkana Basin drainage system in the latest Pliocene to earliest Quaternary. Throughout most of the Pliocene the Omo River entered the Turkana Basin from its source in the highlands of Ethiopia and exited the eastern margin of the basin to discharge into the Lamu embayment along the coast of the Indian Ocean. During the earliest Pliocene the river’s outlet was located in the northern part of the basin, where a remnant outlet channel is preserved in basalts that pre-date eruption of the Gombe flood basalt between 4.05 and 3.95 Ma. The outlet channel was faulted down to the west prior to 4.05 Ma, forming a natural dam behind which Lake Lonyumun developed. Lake Lonyumun was drained between 3.95 and 3.9 Ma when a new outlet channel formed north of Loiyangalani in the southeastern margin of the Turkana Basin. That outlet was blocked by Lenderit Basalt lava flows between 2.2 and 2.0 Ma. Faulting that initiated either during or shortly after eruption of the Lenderit Basalt closed the depression that is occupied by modern Lake Turkana to sediment and water.Several large shield volcanoes formed east of the Turkana Basin beginning by 2.5–3.0 Ma, volcanism overlapping in time, but probably migrating eastward from Mount Kulal on the eastern edge of the basin to Mount Marsabit located at the eastern edge of the Chalbi Desert. The mass of the volcanic rocks loaded and depressed the lithosphere, enhancing subsidence in a shallow southeast trending depression that overlay the Cretaceous and Paleogene (?) Anza Rift. Subsidence in this flexural depression guided the course of the Omo River towards the Indian Ocean, and also localized accumulations of lava along the margins of the shield volcanoes. Lava flows at Mount Marsabit extended across the Omo River Valley after 1.8–2.0 Ma based on estimated ages of fossils in lacustrine and terrestrial deposits, and possibly by as early as 2.5 ± 0.3 Ma based on dating of a lava flow. During the enhanced precipitation in latest Pleistocene and earliest Holocene (11–9.5 ka) this flexural depression became the site of Lake Chalbi, which was separated from Lake Turkana by a tectonically controlled drainage divide.     

Linking the Tengchong Terrane in SW Yunnan with the Lhasa Terrane in southern Tibet through magmatic correlation

New zircon U–Pb data, along with the data reported in the literature, reveal five phases of magmatic activity in the Tengchong Terrane since the Early Paleozoic with spatial and temporal variations summarized as Cambrian–Ordovician (500–460 Ma) to the east, minor Triassic (245–206 Ma) in the east and west, abundant Early Cretaceous (131–114 Ma) in the east, extensive Late Cretaceous (77–65 Ma) in the central region, and Paleocene–Eocene (65–49 Ma) in the central and western Tengchong Terrane, in which the Cretaceous–Eocene magmatism migrated from east to west. The increased zircon ε_Hf(t) of the Early Cretaceous granitoids from − 12.3 to − 1.4 at ca. 131–122 Ma to − 4.6 to + 7.1 at ca. 122–114 Ma, identified for the first time in this study, and the magmatic flare-up at ca. 53 Ma in the central and western Tengchong Terrane indicate increased contributions from mantle- or juvenile crust-derived components. The spatial and temporal variations and changing magmatic compositions over time in the Tengchong Terrane closely resemble those of the Lhasa Terrane in southern Tibet. Such similarities, together with the data of stratigraphy and paleobiogeography, enable us to propose that the Tengchong Terrane in SW Yunnan is most likely linked with the Lhasa Terrane in southern Tibet, both of which experienced similar tectonomagmatic histories since the Early Paleozoic.     

Comparison of Milankovitch periods between continental loess and deep sea records over the last 2.5 Ma

A high-resolution East Asian winter monsoon proxy record reconstructed from the Baoji loess section in China shows two major shifts in climate modes over the past 2.5 Ma, one occurring at about 1.7–1.6 Ma BP and the other at about 0.8–0.5 Ma BP. The 1.7–1.6 Ma shift is characterized by a rather abrupt transition of winter monsoon variability from various periodicities to dominant 41-ka cycles, and accompanied by a substantial increase in intensity of winter monsoon winds as manifested by an increase in average loess grain size. The 0.8–0.5 Ma event shows a relatively gradual transition from constant 41-ka cycles to predominant 100-ka climatic oscillations with a significant increase in amplitude. The 0.8–0.5 Ma shift matches that registered in deep-sea δ¹⁸O records, whereas the 1.7–1.6 Ma shift is absent in global ice volume changes. This comparison suggests that at about 1.6 Ma BP, the ice sheets in the Northern Hemisphere may have reached a critical size, sufficient to modulate changes in the global climate system. The discrepancy of climate cyclicity between loess and deep-sea records over the 2.5–1.6 Ma interval suggests that the older Matuyama climate evolution cannot be understood simply by a regular 41 ka cycle model on a global scale. More long proxy records derived from continental deposits are needed.     

Palaeozoic to Early Jurassic history of the northwestern corner of Gondwana,and implications for the evolution of the Iapetus,Rheic and Pacific Oceans

The Palaeozoic to Mesozoic igneous and metamorphic basement rocks exposed in the Mérida Andes of Venezuela and the Santander Massif of Colombia are generally considered to define allochthonous terranes that accreted to the margin of Gondwana during the Ordovician and the Carboniferous. However, terrane sutures have not been identified and there are no published isotopic data that support the existence of separate crustal domains. A general paucity of geochronological data led to published tectonic reconstructions for the evolution of the northwestern corner of Gondwana that do not account for the magmatic and metamorphic histories of the basement rocks of the Mérida Andes and the Santander Massif. We present new zircon U–Pb (ICP-MS) data from 52 igneous and metamorphic rocks, which we combine with whole rock geochemical and Pb isotopic data to constrain the tectonic history of the Precambrian to Mesozoic basement of the Mérida Andes and the Santander Massif. These data show that the basement rocks of these massifs are autochthonous to Gondwana and share a similar tectono-magmatic history with the Gondwanan margin of Peru, Chile and Argentina, which evolved during the subduction of oceanic lithosphere of the Iapetus Ocean. The oldest Palaeozoic arc magmatism is recorded at ~ 500 Ma, and was followed shortly by Barrovian metamorphism. Peak metamorphic conditions at upper amphibolite facies are recorded by anatexis at ~ 477 Ma and the intrusion of synkinematic granitoids until ~ 472 Ma. Subsequent retrogression resulted from localised back-arc or intra-arc extension at ~ 453 Ma, when volcanic tuffs and interfingered sedimentary rocks were deposited over the amphibolite facies basement. Continental arc magmatism dwindled after ~ 430 Ma and terminated at ~ 415 Ma, coevally with most of the western margin of Gondwana. After Pangaea amalgamation in the Late Carboniferous to Early Permian, a magmatic arc developed on its western margin at ~ 294 Ma as a result of subduction of oceanic crust of the palaeo-Pacific ocean. Intermittent arc magmatism recorded between ~ 294 and ~ 225 Ma was followed by the onset of the Andean subduction cycle at ~ 213 Ma, in an extensional regime. Extension was accompanied by slab roll-back which led to the migration of the arc axis into the Central Cordillera of Colombia in the Early Jurassic.     

Molybdenite Re–Os and albite 40Ar/39Ar dating of Cu–Au–Mo and magnetite porphyry systems in the Yangtze River valley and metallogenic implications

The area of the Middle–Lower Yangtze River valley, Eastern China, extending from Wuhan (Hubei province) to western Zhenjiang (Jiangsu province), hosts an important belt of Cu–Au–Mo and Fe deposits. There are two styles of mineralization, i.e., skarn/porphyry/stratabound Cu–Au–Mo–(Fe) deposits and magnetite porphyry deposits in several NNE-trending Cretaceous fault-bound volcanic basins. The origin of both deposit systems is much debated. We dated 11 molybdenite samples from five skarn/porphyry Cu–Au–Mo deposits and 5 molybdenite samples from the Datuanshan stratabound Cu–Au–Mo deposit by ICP-MS Re–Os isotope analysis. Nine samples from the same set were additionally analyzed by NTIMS on Re–Os. Results from the two methods are almost identical. The Re–Os model ages of 16 molybdenite samples range from 134.7 ± 2.3 to 143.7 ± 1.6 Ma (2σ). The model ages of the five samples from the Datuanshan stratabound deposit vary from 138.0 ± 3.2 to 140.8 ± 2.0 Ma, with a mean of 139.3 ± 2.6 Ma; their isochron age is 139.1 ± 2.7 Ma with an initial Os ratio of 0.7 ± 8.1 (MSWD = 0.29). These data indicate that the porphyry/skarn systems and the stratabound deposits have the same age and suggest an origin within the same metallogenic system. Albite ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar dating of the magnetite porphyry deposits indicates that they formed at 123 to 125 Ma, i.e., 10–20 Ma later. Both mineralization styles characterize transitional geodynamic regimes, i.e., the period around 140 Ma when the main NS-trending compressional regime changed to an EW-trending lithospheric extensional regime, and the period of 125–115 Ma of dramatic EW-trending lithospheric extension.     

Correlation between the ore formation processes in the Berezitovoe gold-complex-metal deposit (western part of the Selenga-Stanovoy superterrane) and the regional tectonomagmatic events

The age of the major igneous complexes in the western part of the Selenga-Stanovoy superterrane has been estimated by ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar dating: trachyandesite-basalts of the Kuitun (Chichatka) complex—259.4 ± 6.2 Ma; gabbro of the Tukuringra complex—156.3 ± 4.8 Ma; granites and pegmatites of the Tukuringra complex—153.1 ± 3.8, 154.0 ± 4.4, 156.8 ± 4.0, and 151.2 ± 3.2 Ma; granodiorites, granites, and leucogranites of the Amudzhikan complex—131.7 ± 2.4, 134.5 ± 2.8, and 131.6 ± 4.2 Ma; and lamprophyre dikes—125.2 ± 2.4 and 125.2 ± 3.4 Ma. Two stages of hydrothermal ore formation process have been recognized: 132–131 and ~ 125 Ma. It is shown that the deposit formation and superposed processes follow the general regularities of the Late Mesozoic evolution of the Pacific Asia margin.     

Millennial-scale climate variability during the Last Interglacial recorded in a speleothem from south-western France

A stalagmite (BDinf) recovered from an archaeological cave (Bourgeois–Delaunay, La Chaise de Vouthon) in SW France provides a rare, high-resolution, precisely dated continental palaeoclimate record covering the warmest part of the Last Interglacial (128 ± 1–121 ± 1 ka). The growth interval spans the pluvial period recorded in Soreq and Peqiin Cave speleothems (during sapropel event S5), suggesting that the eastern Mediterranean and western Europe experienced relatively wet conditions simultaneously during this part of the Last Interglacial. Stable oxygen and carbon isotope ratios from BDinf show prominent millennial-scale variations, which are interpreted respectively in terms of changes in the amount of rainfall reaching the cave and soil biological activity. The timing of the oxygen isotope changes agrees with similar excursions recorded in speleothems from Corchia Cave (Italy), where close coupling between rainfall amount and regional sea surface temperatures has been demonstrated. Three “warmer–wetter” periods are interspersed with four “cooler–drier” periods. The first “warmer–wetter” period is the most prominent, as is the case at Corchia, and coincides with the SST optimum off western Europe. This is followed by a prominent “cooler–drier” excursion (centred on ～126 ka), which can be linked to a period of increased loess deposition recorded in annually laminated lake sediments from Eifel, Germany. Although there is already ample evidence for Last Interglacial climate instability, we show for the first time that specific climatic events occurred more or less synchronously between southwestern Europe, central Mediterranean (Italy) and northern Europe (Germany).     

A high-pressure folded klippe at Tehuitzingo on the western margin of an extrusion zone,Acatlán Complex,southern México

High-pressure (HP) rocks at Tehuitzingo, on the western margin of the HP belt within the Paleozoic Acatlán Complex (southern México), occur in a klippe that was thrust over low-grade clastic rocks. The youngest detrital zircon cluster in the low-grade rocks yielded U-Pb ages of 481 ± 16 Ma, which provide an older limit for deposition. The HP rocks are composed of metabasites, serpentinite, granite (482 ± 3 Ma) and mica schist (youngest concordant detrital zircon: 433 ± 3 Ma). The schist and granite are inferred to be high-grade equivalents of lower Paleozoic, low-grade rocks exposed elsewhere in the Acatlán Complex, from which they are inferred to have been removed by subduction erosion. Mineral analyses indicate that the subducted rocks underwent HP metamorphism and polyphase deformation at depths of ~ 50 km (~ 16 kbar and 750 °C: eclogite facies). Subsequent retrogression passed through epidote-amphibolite to greenschist facies, which was synchronous with W-vergent thrusting over the low-grade clastic rocks. Deposition of the low-grade rocks and thrusting are bracketed between either 481–329 Ma (Ordovician-Mississippian), and was followed by F₃ synformal folding. Cooling through ca. 385 °C is indicated by 329 ± 1 and 316–317 ± 2 Ma, ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar muscovite plateau ages in HP rocks, which are 5–17 my younger than those of the adjacent Piaxtla eclogites suggesting younger exhumation. The petrology, P-T conditions and ages of the Piaxtla Suite is consistent with an extrusion channel within the Acatlán Complex along the active western margin of Pangea during the Carboniferous. Detrital zircon populations in the low-grade psammite (ca. 481, 520–650, 720, 750, 815, 890, 1050 and 2750 Ma) and the HP schist (ca. 457–480, 534, 908, 954–1150, 1265, 1845 and 2035 Ma) indicate derivation from the Ordovician Acatlán granitoids, Neoproterozoic Brasiliano orogens, 900–750 Ma Goiás arc (Amazonia), 1–1.3 Ma Oaxaquia, and more ancient sources in Oaxaquia/Amazonia.     

Magnetostratigraphy of deep drilling core SG-1 in the western Qaidam Basin (NE Tibetan Plateau) and its tectonic implications

The Qaidam Basin is the largest intermontane basin of the northeastern Tibetan Plateau and contains a continuous Cenozoic sequence of lacustrine sediments. A ~ 1000-m-deep drilling (SG-1) with an average core recovery of ~ 95% was carried out in the depocenter of the Chahansilatu playa (sub-depression) in the western Qaidam Basin, aimed to obtain a high-resolution record of the paleoenvironmental evolution and the erosion history. Stepwise alternating field and thermal demagnetization, together with rock magnetic results, revealed a stable remanent magnetization for most samples, carried by magnetite. The polarity sequence consisted of 16 normal and 15 reverse zones which can be correlated with chrons 1n to 2An of the global geomagnetic polarity time scale. Magnetostratigraphic results date the entire core SG-1 at ~ 2.77 Ma to ~ 0.1 Ma and yielded sediment accumulation rate (SAR) ranging from 26.1 cm/ka to 51.5 cm/ka. Maximum SARs occurred within the intervals of ~ 2.6–2.2 Ma and after ~ 0.8 Ma, indicating two episodes of erosion, which we relate to pulse tectonic uplift of the NE Tibetan Plateau with subsequent global cooling.     

Ages of sediment-hosted Himalayan Pb–Zn–Cu–Ag polymetallic deposits in the Lanping basin,China: Re–Os geochronology of molybdenite and Sm–Nd dating of calcite

The Lanping basin is a significant Pb–Zn–Cu–Ag mineralization belt of the Sanjiang Tethyan metallogenic province in China. Over 100 thrust-controlled, sediment-hosted, Himalayan base metal deposits have been discovered in this basin, including the largest sandstone-hosted Pb–Zn deposit in the world (Jinding), and several Cu ± Ag ± Co deposits (Baiyangping, Baiyangchang and Jinman). These deposits, with total reserves of over 16.0 Mt Pb + Zn, 0.6 Mt Cu, and 7000 t Ag, are mainly hosted in Meso-Cenozoic mottled clastic rocks, and strictly controlled by two Cenozoic thrust systems developed in the western and eastern segments of the Lanping basin.To define the metallogenic history of the study area, we dated nine calcite samples associated with copper sulfides from the Jinman Cu deposit by the Sm–Nd method and five molybdenite samples from the Liancheng Cu–Mo deposit by the Re–Os method. The calcite Sm–Nd age for the Jinman deposit (58 ± 5 Ma) and the molybdenite Re–Os age for the Liancheng deposit (48 ± 2 Ma), together with previously published chronological data, demonstrate (1) the Cu–Ag mineralization in the western Lanping basin mainly occurred in three episodes (i.e., ∼56–54, 51–48, and 31–29 Ma), corresponding to the main- and late-collisional stages of the Indo–Asian orogeny; and (2) the Pb–Zn–Ag (±Cu) mineralization in the eastern Lanping basin lacked precise and direct dating, however, the apatite fission track ages of several representative deposits (21 ± 4 Ma to 32 ± 5 Ma) may offer some constraints on the mineralization age.     

Genesis of the Yuanlingzhai porphyry molybdenum deposit,Jiangxi province,South China: Constraints from petrochemistry and geochronology

The newly discovered Yuanlingzhai porphyry molybdenum (Mo) deposit in southern Jiangxi province belongs to the group of Mo-only deposits in the Nanling region. The mineralization developed at contact zones between the Yuanlingzhai granite porphyry and Neoproterozoic metamorphic rocks of the Xunwu Formation. Precise LA–MC–ICPMS zircon U–Pb dating of the Yuanlingzhai porphyry, as well as the adjacent western Keshubei and eastern Keshubei granites, yielded ages of 165.49 ± 0.59 Ma, 159.68 ± 0.43 Ma, and 185.13 ± 0.52–195.14 ± 0.63 Ma, respectively. Molybdenite Re–Os isochron ages of the ores are 160 ± 1–162.7 ± 1.1 Ma, which is consistent with the age of large-scale W–Sn deposits in South China. The Yuanlingzhai porphyry is characterized by high K₂O, P₂O₅, and A/CNK (1.33–1.59), and low CaO and Na₂O. The rock shows relatively enriched LREE without significant Eu anomalies (Eu/Eu^* = 0.80–0.90). Geochemical and mineralogical characteristics indicate that the ore-hosting porphyry is a typical S-type granite generated from the partial melting of crustal material with only minor mantle contribution. Both Harker and evolutionary discrimination diagrams indicate that the Yuanlangzhai and western Keshubei granites are not products of co-magmatic evolution. The Keshubei granites and Xunwu Formation were not significant sources for the components in the porphyry mineralization, but the Yuanlangzhai granite may have supplied some ore-forming material. However, the main ore-forming material was carried by fluids from deep sources, as demonstrated by fluid inclusion and stable isotope data from the molybdenum deposit. The Mo porphyry deposit formed in an extensional setting, and was possibly associated with Jurassic subduction of the Izanagi Plate.     

Vegetation context and climatic limits of the Early Pleistocene hominin dispersal in Europe

The vegetation and the climatic context in which the first hominins entered and dispersed in Europe during the Early Pleistocene are reconstructed, using literature review and a new climatic simulation. Both in situ fauna and in situ pollen at the twelve early hominin sites under consideration indicate the occurrence of open landscapes: grasslands or forested steppes. The presence of ancient hominins (Homo of the erectus group) in Europe is only possible at the transition from glacial to interglacial periods, the full glacial being too cold for them and the transition interglacial to glacial too forested. Glacial–interglacial cycles forced by obliquity showed paralleled vegetation successions, which repeated c. 42 times during the course of the Early Pleistocene (2.58–0.78 Ma), providing 42 narrow windows of opportunity for hominins to disperse into Europe.The climatic conditions of this Early Pleistocene vegetation at glacial-interglacial transitions are compared with a climatic simulation for 9 ka ago without ice sheet, as this time period is so far the best analogue available. The climate at the beginning of the present interglacial displayed a stronger seasonality than now. Forest cover would not have been hampered though, clearly indicating that other factors linked to refugial location and soils leave this period relatively free of forests. Similar situations with an offset between climate and vegetation at the beginning of interglacials repeated themselves throughout the Quaternary and benefitted the early hominins when colonising Europe.The duration of this open phase of vegetation at the glacial–interglacial transition was long enough to allow colonisation from the Levant to the Atlantic.The twelve sites fall within rather narrow ranges of summer precipitation and temperature of the coldest month, suggesting the hominins had only a very low tolerance to climate variability.     

Neoproterozoic,Paleozoic, and Mesozoic granitoid magmatism in the Qinling Orogen,China: Constraints on orogenic process

The Qinling Orogen is one of the main orogenic belts in Asia and is characterized by multi-stage orogenic processes and the development of voluminous magmatic intrusions. The results of zircon U–Pb dating indicate that granitoid magmatism in the Qinling Orogen mainly occurred in four distinct periods: the Neoproterozoic (979–711 Ma), Paleozoic (507–400 Ma), and Early (252–185 Ma) and Late (158–100 Ma) Mesozoic. The Neoproterozoic granitic magmatism in the Qinling Orogen is represented by strongly deformed S-type granites emplaced at 979–911 Ma, weakly deformed I-type granites at 894–815 Ma, and A-type granites at 759–711 Ma. They can be interpreted as the products of respectively syn-collisional, post-collisional and extensional setting, in response to the assembly and breakup of the Rodinia supercontinent. The Paleozoic magmatism can be temporally classified into three stages of 507–470 Ma, 460–422 Ma and ∼415–400 Ma. They were genetically related to the subduction of the Shangdan Ocean and subsequent collision of the southern North China Block and the South Qinling Belt. The 507–470 Ma magmatism is spatially and temporally related to ultrahigh-pressure metamorphism in the studied area. The 460–422 Ma magmatism with an extensive development in the North Qinling Belt is characterized by I-type granitoids and originated from the lower crust with the involvement of mantle-derived magma in a collisional setting. The magmatism with the formation age of ∼415–400 Ma only occurred in the middle part of the North Qinling Belt and is dominated by I-type granitoid intrusions, and probably formed in the late-stage of a collisional setting. Early Mesozoic magmatism in the study area occurred between 252 and 185 Ma, with the cluster in 225–200 Ma. It took place predominantly in the western part of the South Qinling Belt. The 250–240 Ma I-type granitoids are of small volume and show high Sr/Y ratios, and may have been formed in a continental arc setting related to subduction of the Mianlue Ocean between the South Qinling Belt and the South China Block. Voluminous late-stage (225–185 Ma) magmatism evolved from early I-type to later I-A-type granitoids associated with contemporaneous lamprophyres, representative of a transition from syn- to post-collisional setting in response to the collision between the North China and the South China blocks. Late Mesozoic (158–100 Ma) granitoids, located in the southern margin of the North China Block and the eastern part of the North Qinling Belt, are characterized by I-type, I- to A-type, and A-type granitoids that were emplaced in a post-orogenic or intraplate setting. The first three of the four periods of magmatism were associated with three important orogenic processes and the last one with intracontinental process. These suggest that the tectonic evolution of the Qinling Orogen is very complicated.