LAST GLACIATION AND MAXIMUM GLACIATION IN THE QINGHAI-XIZANG (TIBET) PLATEAU: A CONTROVERSY TO M. KUHLE,S ICE SHEET HYPOTHESIS

Since the late 1950's, many Chinese scientists have explored the remains of the Quaternary glaciation in the Qinghai-Xizang (Tibet) Plateau and its surrounding mountains. In the main, 3-4 glaciations have been recognized. The largest one occurred in the Late Middle Pleistocene with piedmont glaciers, ice caps and trellis valley glaciers in many high peak regions. But here is no evidence of a unified ice sheet covering the whole plateau as described by M. Kuhle. Due to the further uplifting of the Himalayas and Qinghai-Xizang Plateau the climate became progressively drier, diminishing the extension of glaciers during the Late Pleistocene. The elevation of the snow line during the Last Glaciation was about 4,000 m on the south, east and northeast edges of the plateau and ascended to 5500 m on the hinder northwest of the plateau. The thermal effect of the big plateau massif, the sharp increase of aridity from the southeast rim to the northwest inland area and the abrupt decrease of precipitation during the     

The grain-size characteristics of Quaternary deposits at Xingshan near Siping in Jilin province, China

This research paper analyses the grain-size characteristics of the Quaternary deposits at Xingshan near Siping, Jilin province in China by employing graphic measures to study the grain size distribution and its mode of transport and deposition. The Quaternary deposits at Xingshan lie unconformable on Cretaceous rocks made of siltstone, mudstone and sandstone. The average grain size is between 8.06 to 8.55Φ (0.002 6 ～0.003 7 mm). The Quaternary deposits at Xingshan mainly compose of very fine silt to clay. The compositions of the grade are clay 63% and silt 37%. The clay size components are weathered debris transported and deposited by flowing water from the SE highlands or hills to the low lying NW Xingshan plains whereas the silty components accumulated by aoelian process. The Quaternary deposits at Xingshan accumulated in the middle and late Pleistocene interglacial periods from (459.12～39.03) ka to (88.92～7.56) ka. The standard deviation ranged from 0.96 to 1.36Φ, indicating that the sediments are moderately to poorly sorted, Coefficient of skewness ranged from 0.16～0.31 with an average skewness of 0.218, (Positively skewed towards fine). Kurtosis values (0.84～1.05) from the grain size distribution and visual inspection of the frequency curves indicate platykurtic to mesokurtic curves and unimodal to bimodal grain-size distribution. The type of deposit formation is sand dune and the source is at a distal from its provenance.     

Luminescence dating of sand–loess sequences and response of Mu Us and Otindag sand fields (north China) to climatic changes

The sand–loess transition zone in north China is sensitive to climate change, and is an ideal place to investigate past environmental changes. However, past climate change at millennial–centennial timescales in this region has not been well reconstructed because of limited numerical dating. Alternations of sandy loam soils with aeolian sand layers in the Mu Us and Otindag sand fields, which lie along the sand–loess transition zone, indicate multiple intervals of dune activity and stability. This change is probably a response to variations of the East Asian monsoon climate during the late Quaternary. The single aliquot regeneration (SAR) optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating protocol, which has been successfully applied to aeolian deposits worldwide, is applied to these two sand fields in this study. The OSL ages provide reliable constraints for reconstruction of past climate changes at suborbital timescale. Sections in both sand fields contain aeolian sand beds recording millennial‐scale episodes of dry climate and widespread dune activation, including episodes at about the same time as Heinrich Event 5 and the Younger Dryas in the North Atlantic region. These results demonstrate the potential of aeolian sediments in semi‐arid north China to record millennial‐scale climatic events, and also suggest that dry–wet climate variation at the desert margin in China may be linked to climatic change elsewhere in the Northern Hemisphere, through atmospheric circulation. This article was published online on 27 November 2008. An error was subsequently identified. This notice is included in the online and print versions to indicate that both have been corrected (16 December 2008). Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Late Quaternary landscapes in Central Australia: sedimentary history and palaeoecology of Puritjarra rock shelter

Puritjarra rock shelter provides a long record of late Quaternary vegetation in the Australian arid zone. Analysis of the sedimentary history of this rock shelter is combined with reanalysis of charcoal and phytolith records to provide a first‐order picture of changing landscapes in western Central Australia. These show a landscape responding to increasing aridity from 45 ka with deflation of clay‐rich red palaeosols (<45 ka) and sharp declines in grassland and other vegetation at 40–36 ka, and at the beginning of the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) (24 ka). Vegetation in the catchment of the rock shelter recovered after 15 ka with expansion of both acacia woodland and spinifex grasslands, registering stronger summer rainfall in the interior of the continent. By 8.3 ka re‐vegetation of local palaeosols and dunes had choked off sediment supply to the rock shelter and the character of the sediments changed abruptly. Poaceae values peaked at 5.8 ka, suggesting the early–mid Holocene climatic optimum in Central Australia is bracketed between 8.3 and 5.8 ka. Local vegetation was disrupted in the late Holocene with a sharp decline in Poaceae at 3.8 ka, coinciding with an abrupt intensification of ENSO. Local grasslands recovered over the next two millennia and by 1.5 ka the modern vegetation appears to have become established. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Late Quaternary vegetation changes around Lake Rutundu,Mount Kenya,East Africa: evidence from grass cuticles,pollen and stable carbon isotopes

Woody, subalpine shrubs and grasses currently surround Lake Rutundu, Mount Kenya. Multiple proxies, including carbon isotopes, pollen and grass cuticles, from a 755‐cm‐long core were used to reconstruct the vegetation over the past 38 300 calendar years. Stable carbon‐isotope ratios of total organic carbon and terrestrial biomarkers from the lake sediments imply that the proportion of terrestrial plants using the C₄ photosynthetic pathway was greater during the Late Pleistocene than in the Holocene. Pollen data show that grasses were a major constituent of the vegetation throughout the Late Pleistocene and Holocene. The proportion of grass pollen relative to the pollen from other plants was greatest at the last glacial maximum (LGM). Grass cuticles confirm evidence that C₄ grass taxa were present at the LGM and that the majority followed the cold‐tolerant NADP‐MEC₄ subpathway. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Quaternary stratigraphy of the buried valleys of the lower Red Deer River,Alberta, Canada

The Quaternary fills of the buried valleys of southern Alberta and Saskatchewan have provided a wealth of information for the reconstruction of the glacial-interglacial record of the western plains of Canada, and this paper reports on the previously unstudied stratigraphy of the buried Calgary Valley and its former tributaries in the lower Red Deer River area. We attempt to differentiate Empress Group sediments, which potentially relate to pre-glacial, interglacial/ interstadial and post-glacial lake and river deposition, using sedimentology, stratigraphy and palaeoecology. Twenty-nine stratigraphical logs indicate that Empress Group sediments have infilled a considerably large area of badlands and tributary coulees that once drained into the Calgary Valley, located 15 km to the north of Dinosaur Provincial Park. Radiocarbon dates of 52.4 ka, 27.4 ka and > 42.4 ka and glacially modified quartz grains suggest that at least some of the valley fills date to interglacial or interstadial periods and may be mid-Wisconsinan in age. However, outcrops of an older till overlying other valley fills suggest that the buried valleys were only partially excavated during interglacials/interstadials and that older (even pre-glacial) sediments could have survived. Subglacial channels, recognisable on air photographs, largely coincide with buried valley positions due to the preferential excavation of the Quaternary sediment by meltwater and are filled with post-glacial lake sediment from which a radiocarbon date of 16 ka BP was obtained. Pre-glacial and glacial/post-glacial Empress Group sediments are lithologically indistinct but cover a large time span in southern Alberta.     

沉积物粒度分析在厦门市第四纪环境研究和地层划分对比中的应用

采用MS2000型激光粒度分析仪进行测试，利用计算机粒度分析软件对数据进行整理和计算，绘制出样品的频率曲线、概率累积曲线以及粒度众数位值曲线等图件并进行沉积环境分析。厦门地区第四纪环境演化经历了中更新世同安组(含泥中粗砂、含泥细中砂、砂为主)海积一冲积一更新统上部龙海组(含泥粗中砂、含泥细中砂、含泥粗砂、粗砂、细中砂、含细砾中粗砂、中细砂等)冲积一洪冲积一更新世上部东山组(砂、砂砾、含泥中粗砂、粗砂、泥质中细砂、细砂、中粗砂等)冲洪积及部分海积(粉砂、细粉砂、含碳质泥、粘土、淤泥质粘土、粉砂质粘土等)一全新世长乐组(粉砂，淤泥质粘土、粉砂质粘土、碳质粘土、含砂淤泥质粘土，粉砂质亚粘土、粉细砂亚粘土等)海湾沉积。在解释环境变化的同时，说明粒度变化曲线在一定程度上可以作为地层划分的依据之一，并以此对研究区地层进行了详细划分。     

Interpolating paleovegetation data with an artificial neural network approach

To drive an atmospheric general circulation model (AGCM), land surface boundary conditions like albedo and morphological roughness, which depend on the vegetation type present, have to be prescribed. For the late Quaternary there are some data available, but they are still sparse. Here an artificial neural network approach to assimilate these paleovegetation data is investigated. In contrast to a biome model the relation between climatological parameters and vegetation type is not based on biological knowledge but estimated from the available vegetation data and the AGCM climatology at the corresponding locations. For a test application, a data set for the modern vegetation reduced to the amount of data available for the Holocene climate optimum (about 6000 years B.P.) is used. From this, the neural network is able to reconstruct the complete global vegetation with a kappa value of 0.56. The most pronounced errors occur in Australia and South America in areas corresponding to large data gaps.     

中国东部第四纪自然环境演化及庐山“冰碛层”堆积时期的自然环境研究

根据第四纪地层内孢粉组合和动物群等新资料恢复了我国东部各大区域第四纪各个时期的自然环境特征,其温暖期与干冷期的交替与深海沉积O~(18)温度变化趋势大致对应。庐山三次“冰期冰碛层”内孢粉组合表明均为温暖湿润针阔叶混交林景观,而不是寒冷的冰川环境。     

Late Quaternary contourites and glaciomarine sedimentation in the Fram Strait

Two sites in the eastern Fram Strait, the Vestnesa Ridge and the Yermak Plateau, have been surveyed and sampled providing a depositional record over the last glacial‐interglacial cycle. The Fram Strait is the only deep‐water connection from the Arctic Ocean to the North Atlantic and contains a marine sediment record of both high latitude thermohaline flow and ice sheet interaction. On the Vestnesa Ridge, the western Svalbard margin, a sediment drift was identified in 1226 m of water. Gravity and multicores from the crest of the drift recovered turbidites and contourites. ¹⁴C dating indicates an age range of 8287 to 26 900 years BP (Early Holocene to Late Weichselian). The Yermak Plateau is characterized by slope sediments in 961 m of water. Gravity and multicores recovered contourites and hemipelagites. ¹⁴C ages were between 8615 and 46 437 years BP (Early Holocene to mid‐Weichselian). Downcore dinoflagellate cyst analyses from both sites provide a record of changing surface water conditions since the mid‐Weichselian, suggesting variable sea ice extent, productivity and polynyas present even during the Last Glacial Maximum. Four layers of ice‐rafted debris were also identified and correlated within the cores. These events occurred ca at 9, 24 to 25, 26 to 27 and 43 ka, asynchronous with Heinrich layers in the wider north‐east Atlantic and here interpreted as reflecting instability in the Svalbard/Barents Ice sheet and the northward advection of warm Atlantic water during the Late Weichselian. The activity of the ancestral West Spitsbergen Current is interpreted using mean sortable silt records from the cores. On the Vestnesa Ridge drift the modern mass accumulation rate, calculated using excess ²¹⁰Pb, is 0·076 g cm^?2 year^?1. On the Yermak Plateau slope the modern mass accumulation rate is 0·053 g cm^?2 year^?1.