Extinction chronology of the cave lion Panthera spelaea

The cave lion, Panthera spelaea, was widespread across northern Eurasia and Alaska/Yukon during the Late Pleistocene. Both morphology and DNA indicate an animal distinct from modern lions (probably at the species level) so that its disappearance in the Late Pleistocene should be treated as a true extinction. New AMS radiocarbon dates directly on cave lion from across its range, together with published dates from other studies – totalling 111 dates – indicate extinction across Eurasia in the interval ca. 14–14.5 cal ka BP, and in Alaska/Yukon about a thousand years later. It is likely that its extinction occurred directly or indirectly in response to the climatic warming that occurred ca. 14.7 cal ka BP at the onset of Greenland Interstadial 1, accompanied by a spread of shrubs and trees and reduction in open habitats. Possibly there was also a concomitant reduction in abundance of available prey, although most of its probable prey species survived substantially later. At present it is unclear whether human expansion in the Lateglacial might have played a role in cave lion extinction. Gaps in the temporal pattern of dates suggest earlier temporary contractions of range, ca. 40–35 cal ka BP in Siberia (during MIS 3) and ca. 25–20 cal ka BP in Europe (during the ‘Last Glacial Maximum’), but further dates are required to corroborate these. The Holocene expansion of modern lion (Panthera leo) into south-west Asia and south-east Europe re-occupied part of the former range of P. spelaea, but the Late Pleistocene temporal and geographical relationships of the two species are unknown.     

European quaternary refugia: a factor in large carnivore extinction?

The extinction of large carnivores in Europe during the Quaternary is reviewed and the potential role of glacial refugia in these extinctions is investigated using the VORTEX model for population viability analysis. A model was built for a medium sized big cat similar to the extinct Panthera gombaszoegensis utilising life history data from the modern jaguar Panthera onca. This approach highlighted the potential importance of glacial refugia in the extinction process. Even model refugia the size of the Italian peninsula did not guarantee persistence of a population over a 1000 yr time span, illustrating the role of chance in survival in such a refugium. An area the size of the largest Mediterranean island was unable to support a big cat population for a period of 1000 yr. The models also demonstrated the importance of inbreeding as a mechanism for extinction in refugia. It is suggested that repeated genetic bottlenecks during successive glaciations would tend to remove lethal recessive alleles from the population, increasing the probability of survival in refugia in subsequent glaciations. The history of extinction of large carnivores in the European Quaternary is interpreted in the light of these results. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Building the Hindu Kush: monazite records of terrane accretion,plutonism and the evolution of the Himalaya–Karakoram–Tibet orogen

In situ U‐Th/Pb (LA‐ICP‐MS) monazite ages from the Hindu Kush of NW Pakistan provide new petrochronologic constraints on the tectonic evolution of the Himalaya–Karakoram–Tibet orogen. Monazites from two adjacent garnet + staurolite schist specimens yield multiple age populations that record the major Mesozoic and Cenozoic deformational, magmatic and metamorphic events along the southern margin of Eurasia. These include the accretion of the Hindu Kush–SW Pamir to Eurasia during the Late Triassic, followed by the accretion of the Karakoram terrane in the Early Jurassic. Younger Jurassic and Cretaceous ages record the development of an Andean‐style volcanic arc along the southern Eurasian margin, which ended with the docking of the Kohistan island arc and the emplacement of the Kohistan–Ladakh batholith during the Late Cretaceous. The initial Eocene collision of India with Eurasia was followed by widespread high‐temperature metamorphism and anatexis associated with crustal thickening within the Himalaya system in the Late Oligocene and Early Miocene.     

Plio-Pleistocene geological record and small mammal faunas, eastern shore of the Azov Sea, Southern European Russia

The shoreline of the Taganrog Gulf of the Azov Sea at the mouth of Don River provides a series of extended Upper Pliocene and Quaternary sections that have been actively studied in the last century. This extraglacial region had a complex sedimentary history combining subaerial aggradation with marine, fluvial, and deltaic sedimentation. The well-exposed stratigraphical sequence and abundant palaeontological record continuously attract geologists and highlight the region as one of international importance for the addressing of numerous problems of Late Pliocene and Quaternary stratigraphy and palaeogeography. Fossil mammalian faunas of the region include important Eurasian biostratigraphical markers such as Stenocranius ex gr. hintoni-gregaloides, Lagurini spp., and Mimomys savini. For many years, fossil remains of mammals provide decisive clues to the geological history of the region. Recent geological studies of reference sections have provided data on small mammals, palaeomagnetism and palaeogeographical reconstructions in the northeastern part of the Azovian Region. Mammalian assemblages indicate the presence of the Late Pliocene, late Early Pleistocene, Middle Pleistocene and Late Pleistocene levels and, in addition, provide a clear biostratigraphical context for the Early Middle Pleistocene transition.     

Distant effects of India–Eurasia convergence and Mesozoic intracontinental deformation in Central Asia: Constraints from apatite fission-track thermochronology

During the Mesozoic, the active southern margin of Eurasia was the site of several accretion and collision events that fit into a framework of convergence between Eurasia and advancing (peri-) Gondwanan units. Far-field effects of the Mesozoic Mongol–Okhotsk and Cimmerian orogenies have been recorded deep within the interior of Eurasia. Convergence finally culminated in the massive India–Eurasia continent–continent collision in the Early Cenozoic. This collision, continued convergence between both continents, and resulting ongoing indentation of India into Eurasia have dominated the geological, tectonic and geodynamic evolution of Eurasia. Amongst others, distant effects of these events have reactivated an array of mobile belts in Central Asia. Apatite fission-track dating and thermal history modeling performed on samples from the Kyrgyz Tien Shan and Siberian Altai Mountains record both Mesozoic deformation and Cenozoic reactivation of intracontinental Eurasia. The onset of the building and growth of the modern Tien Shan and Altai orogens is constrained to the Late Miocene and Pliocene, with a likely trend of activity younger towards the north. This would underscore the general model that deformation related to India–Eurasia convergence was progressively propagated northwards through Central Asia via the inherited structural fabric of the Eurasian crust.     

Aeolianites reveal Pleistocene marine history of Bermuda

Bermuda is a reef atoll along the northern edge of Caribbean coral province. Although investigated by seismic and some shallow drilling, the Pleistocene marine depositional geohistory is poorly constrained. Islands along the southern rim are built by tropical calcareous aeolianites that range in age from Holocene to early Pleistocene (ca 880 kyr). These dunes are composed of particles that were derived from adjacent Pleistocene marine environments at the time of formation. Thus, the aeolianites should contain a record of marine deposition through the Early to Late Pleistocene. Carbonate grains from all aeolian deposits can, via Ward cluster analysis, be separated into two distinct groups: (i) a Halimeda‐rich group; and (ii) a crustose coralline‐rich group. Distribution of these two groups is interpreted to broadly reflect low‐energy (lagoonal) and high‐energy marginal reef (coralline algae and cup‐reef) environments, respectively. Unlike the beach sources, coral particles are perplexingly absent in the aeolianites. This conundrum is interpreted to partly reflect the domal nature of Bermudan corals, which are not incorporated into aeolian deposits due to their relatively large size. Aeolianites from Marine Isotope Stages 7, 9 and 11 record sediments produced in adjacent shallow marine settings that were similar to those present today. The spatially consistent sediment trends are not, however, present in aeolianites from Marine Isotope Stage 5E, where the aeolian bioclastic components are uniformly rich in Halimeda along both southern and northern shores. Such a distribution, where coralline‐rich sediments would be expected, suggests an extrinsic oceanographic control, interpreted herein to be elevated seawater temperature brought in by the Gulf Stream. This interpretation is consistent with palaeozoological studies of Bermuda, as well as North America, the Mediterranean, Japan and Western Australia.     

Extinction of the woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius) and woolly rhinoceros (Coelodonta antiquitatis) in Eurasia: Review of chronological and environmental issues

Kuzmin, Y. V. 2009: Extinction of the woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius) and woolly rhinoceros (Coelodonta antiquitatis) in Eurasia: Review of chronological and environmental issues. Boreas, 10.1111/j.1502‐3885.2009.00122.x. ISSN 0300‐9483. The current evidence for date and environmental preferences of the extinction of two middle–late Pleistocene megafaunal species, the woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius Blum.) and woolly rhinoceros (Coelodonta antiquitatis Blum.), is presented in this review. It is suggested that extinction of these large herbivores in Eurasia was closely related to landscape changes near the Pleistocene–Holocene boundary (c. 12 000–9000 uncalibrated radiocarbon years ago, yr BP), mainly involving the widespread forest formations in the temperate and arctic regions of northern Eurasia and the loss of grasslands crucial to the existence of woolly mammoth and rhinoceros. However, some woolly mammoth populations survived well into the Holocene (up to c. 3700 yr BP), showing that the process of final extinction was fairly complex, with delays in some regions of up to several millennia. The possible role of Palaeolithic humans in the extinction of Late Pleistocene megafauna is also considered.     

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.     

白垩纪以来中国西部地体运动的古地磁证据和问题

地质证据表明中国西部各地体在白垩纪之前已经增生到欧亚大陆之上 ,但这些地体自白垩纪以来的古地磁极位置与稳定欧亚大陆的古地磁极位置存在较大差异 ,对其最可能的解释是发生在晚白垩世与古新世之交 (约 6 5Ma)印度板块和欧亚大陆之间的碰撞及其后印度板块的持续北向挤压 ,使得这些地体之间以及这些地体与稳定欧亚大陆之间发生了相对位移和地体内部的变形。文中利用现有的古地磁研究成果 ,计算了自白垩纪以来中国西部各地体与欧亚稳定大陆之间的南北向相对位移量。塔里木地块和柴达木地体的古地磁数据表明 ,阿尔金断裂至少经历了四期活动。在欧亚地区普遍存在的第三纪磁倾角偏缓现象 ,很可能反映了在该地区长期存在非偶极子场。     

板块构造学说的过去和现在以及我国地质学家做出的贡献

<正> 科学领域中的任何一门学科在其发展的历史中,往往存在着以具有重大突破为标志的迅速发展阶段。板块构造学说就是现代地球科学取得最新进展的代表。所以,有人将其称为地球科学的一场革命。板块构造理论创建于六十年代后期,但与其有关的一些思想、概念则源远流长。     

Rotation parameters of the Siberian domain and its eastern surrounding structures during different geological epochs

The motion of lithospheric blocks was analyzed in the junction zone between the Eurasian Plate and its surrounding structures. Its present-day stage was considered using GPS and seismologic data. Models of the movement of a rigid plate are considered for Eurasia. A model of Eurasia (northern part of Asia) was used to determine the rotation parameters of its southern periphery (Amur Plate) based on GPS data for the Far East (Sikhote Alin profile), and Transbaikal regions are shown as an example. A model of the Amur Plate was used to illustrate the behavior of the extension zone on its western boundary represented by the Lake Baikal depression during the Kultuk earthquake (M = 6.3, August, 27, 2008). Paleomagnetic data made it possible to determine the rotation pole of the Siberian Craton relative to its surrounding folded structures during the Mesozoic and to estimate its kinematic parameters. The permanent position of the rotation pole in the relative coordinate system since the terminal Paleozoic until the Recent indicates a constant rotation velocity of the Siberian domain within the Eurasian Plate structure.     

Last Interglacial peopling of Siberia: the Middle Palaeolithic site Ust''-Izhul'', the upper Yenisei area

Multidisciplinary Quaternary investigations in the Minusinsk Basin in the upper Yenisei River region and other southern Siberian continental depressions have produced evidence of prehistoric peopling pre‐dating the last glacial stage (>100 ka BP). Abundant ‘pebble tools’ and bone artefacts exposed from eroded alluvia of the Yenisei River terraces indicate repeated occupation of this territory since the Middle Pleistocene. A new stage of expansion of the early human occupation habitat occurred around the last interglacial (OIS 5e) by a Middle Palaeolithic (Neanderthaloid?) population characterized by a core and flake stone industry and open‐air occupation sites. The key camp/kill‐processing site at Ust‘‐Izhul’, dated to c. 125 ka BP and documenting complex behavioural activities, is so far the most complete in situ pre‐Late Palaeolithic site found in Siberia. This unique record provides new insights into the timing and the palaeoenvironmental conditions of the Pleistocene colonization of north‐central Asia.     

Late Quaternary loess deposition in the southern Chaiwopu Basin of the northern Chinese Tian Shan foreland and its palaeoclimatic implications

The piedmont aeolian sediment in Central Asia is has been widely used for Quaternary palaeoclimatic reconstructions. Here we present detailed sedimentological and rock magnetic investigations on 188 samples from the ~9.4‐m‐thick Urumqi River section (URS) in the southern Chaiwopu Basin of the northern Chinese Tian Shan foreland. Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating constrains the time‐span of the URS loess sedimentation from c. 28 to c. 6.8 ka. This chronology implies that the onset of the URS loess sedimentation is approximately synchronous with the Shangwangfeng Glaciation (MIS 2) in the headwaters of the Urumqi River. Analyses of sediment grain size and rock magnetic parameters indicate that sediment grain‐size composition controls magnetic properties of the URS loess, i.e. the wind intensity model, distinct from the pedogenic model interpreting the variations in magnetic properties of the loess in the Chinese Loess Plateau (CLP). Overall, the variations in sediment grain size and magnetic properties throughout the URS indicate that the present study area was dominated by a climate of strengthened wind associated with gradually intensified aridity during the latest Pleistocene. In contrast, the intensity of aridity and coldness during the early Holocene gradually became relatively weakened.     

东亚地区现代地壳运动特征与构造变形

根据“中国地壳运动观测网络”首次发布的GPS观测结果以及国际地球自转服务中心在 2 0 0 0年发布的ITRF97下的站速度矢量和“东南亚地球动力学项目”GPS网的观测结果 ,讨论了东亚地区现今地壳运动和构造变形特征。在ITRF97参考系下 ,中国大陆东部现今地壳运动以向南东方向(12 0 130°)运动为主 ,量值平均为 35mm/a ,西部受印度板块向北东碰撞的影响 ,运动方向发生偏转 ,呈显北东—近东西向运动 ,但这种影响涉及的范围达到了准噶尔盆地北缘一线 ,说明碰撞型板块边界对板内变形的影响远大于俯冲型板块边界。平均来看 ,75 %以上的印度板块相对于欧亚板块间的南北向缩短是通过地壳增厚变形来吸收的 ,这意味着在调节整个青藏高原构造变形的过程中 ,逆断和地壳增厚起了主要的作用。东南亚块体总体上与欧亚板块的运动有所差异 ,相对于欧亚大陆有 10mm/a左右向东的运动。菲律宾板块南部向西的运动速度只有 2 4mm/a。包括华南地块在内的东南亚块体的运动不仅仅是与印度板块的碰撞过程有关 ,也应当与沿着东南亚块体东边界的俯冲过程有关。     

Mesozoic-Cenozoic tectonics and geodynamics of Altai, Tien Shan, and Northern Kazakhstan, from apatite fission-track data

Apatite fission-track (AFT) thermochronological modeling as a diagnostic tool for periods of stability (peneplanation) and tectonic activity (orogeny) has been broadly used in tectonic studies of Central Asia in recent years. We discuss more than 100 AFT ages of samples from the Kyrgyz Tien Shan and Altai and compare them with AFT data from northern Kazakhstan. Geological, geomorphological, and AFT data indicate intense activity in the Late Cenozoic Eurasian continental interior. The impact from the India-Eurasia collision on the northern Tien Shan, Altai, and northern Kazakhstan regions showed up at 11, 5, and 3 Ma, respectively, as a result of stress propagation into the continent, with the ensuing reactivation and mountain growth. We hypothesize that a distant effect of the Late Cenozoic India-Eurasia collision was to rejuvenate Paleozoic fault zones and to deform the Mesozoic sedimentary cover north of the collision front as far as the West Siberian Plate. The reactivation facilitated formation of tectonic oil and gas traps. The activity in northern Central Asia under the effect of the Indian indentation into Eurasia appears to continue and may evolve to include uplift of southern West Siberian plate with uplift.     

Systematic position of the cave lion Panthera spelaea (Goldfuss) based on cranial and dental characters

Well-preserved skulls of Late Pleistocene Panthera spelaea are described from two geographically distant regions of Russia situated in the Russian Plain and Northern Siberia. The resemblance of the studied material with contemporaneous fossil lions from Alaska is established. The cranial morphology of P. spelaea confirms its phylogenetic position within the lion group, whereas many of the characters supporting the cave lion's relationship with the tiger are primitive. Both living and cave lions are advanced relative to the Middle Pleistocene P. fossilis in having larger upper incisors and more inflated bullae. P. spelaea also possesses the following advanced characters in common with the living lion: widened muzzle in the canine and P2 areas, wide nasal bones, relatively short pre-orbital part of the skull, laterally widened mastoid area, V-shaped form of the posterior tip of the frontal process of maxillary bone, and reduced cusp on the protocone bulge of P4. These conditions establish P. spelaea as a distinct species.     

Regional variations in atmospheric deposition and sources of anthropogenic lead in lake sediments across the Canadian Arctic

Stable Pb isotope profiles in dated lake sediment cores were used to gauge the relative amounts and possible sources of anthropogenic Pb deposited from the atmosphere in different regions of the Canadian Arctic. A distinct north-south difference was found. In four High Arctic lakes (i.e., north of 66°N) in this study, recent Pb isotopic shifts or concentration increases attributable to anthropogenic Pb were negligible. The maximum possible contribution from anthropogenic Pb was 0 to 19% of acid-leachable Pb in the 1980s or 1990s. In contrast, two lakes in the Hudson Bay region displayed significantly lower Pb isotope ratios and threefold to fivefold increases of Pb concentrations in modern sediments, corresponding to anthropogenic Pb inputs of at least 72 to 91% of leachable Pb. Eurasian urban and industrial Pb is known to dominate the High Arctic atmosphere. A possible explanation for its negligible influence on northern lake sediments is that atmospheric Pb deposition at northern latitudes is reduced compared with southern regions and is small compared to local geological inputs. ²¹⁰Pb deposition declines with increasing latitude, apparently because of declining precipitation rates; stable Pb deposition may be similarly affected. Meteorological considerations and variations in the post-1900 Pb isotopic trajectories indicated that the predominant anthropogenic Pb source region in NW Hudson Bay was Eurasia, while in SE Hudson Bay, it was Canada and the United States, with a minor Eurasian component.     

Palaeoenvironments of early hominins in temperate and Mediterranean Eurasia: new palaeobotanical data from Palaeolithic key-sites and synchronous natural sequences

The present study focuses on new palaeobotanical data (pollen, phytoliths and fruits) from three of the oldest Early Palaeolithic sites in Eurasia (Dmanisi in Georgia, Ca’ Belvedere di Monte Poggiolo in Italy and Pont-de-Lavaud in France). The main aim is to examine the ecological factors associated with the first human dispersals out of Africa into Eurasia. The palaeoecological data are discussed with regards to chronology and geographical location of the settlements. The vegetation pattern of each site consists of temperate Eurasian and Mediterranean taxa, subtropical trees being more or less recorded depending on climatic and geographic features. The new palaeobotanical data show that different vegetation structures occurred between the first human dispersal in Caucasus and the later dispersals in western Eurasia. However, in all cases hominins seemed to be adapted to temperate ecosystems. In Caucasus, human occupation took place at 1.7 Ma in a forest-steppe environment, while at ca 1 Ma human populations occupied various settings such as open landscapes or dense forests. These data suggest that during the Early Pleistocene, human populations evolved and dispersed in western Eurasia, gradually increasing their degree of adaptation to diversified environments.     

Pleistocene oceanographie changes indicated by deep sea benthic foraminifera in the northern Indian Ocean

An attempt has been made to understand the Pleistocene bottom water history in response to the paleoclimatic changes in the northern Indian Ocean employing quantitative analyses of deep sea benthic foraminifera at the DSDP sites 219 and 238. Among the 150 benthic foraminifera recorded a few species show dominance with changing percent frequencies during most of the sequence. The dominant benthic foraminiferal assemblages suggest that most of the Pleistocene bottom waters at site 219 and Early Pleistocene bottom waters at site 238 are of North Indian Deep Water (NIDW) origin. However, Late Pleistocene assemblage at site 238 appears to be closely associated with a water mass intermediate between North Indian Deep Water (NIDW) and Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW). Uvigerina proboscidea is the most dominant benthic foraminiferal species present during the Pleistocene at both the sites. A marked increase in the relative abundance ofU. proboscidea along with less diverse and equitable fauna during Early Pleistocene suggests a relative cooling, an intensified oceanic circulation and upwelling of nutrient rich bottom waters resulting in high surface productivity. At the same time, low sediment accumulation rate during Early Pleistocene reveals increased winnowing of the sediments possibly due to more corrosive and cold bottom waters. The Late Pleistocene in general, is marked by relatively warm and stable bottom waters as reflected by low abundance ofU. proboscidea and more diverse and equitable benthic fauna. The lower depth range for the occurrence ofBulimina aculeate in the Indian Ocean is around 2300 m, similar to that of many other areas.B. aculeata also shows marked increase in its abundance near the Pliocene/Pleistocene boundary while a sudden decrease in the relative abundance ofStilostomella lepidula occurs close to the Early/Late Pleistocene boundary.