Fossil Arthropods from a Full-Glacial Site in Northeastern Italy

Fossil remains of beetles and oribatid mites from a peat deposit dated 18,870 ± 300 yr B.P. near Verona, northeastern Italy, represent the first insect fauna of its kind from the last glacial maximum to be described from Italy. The assemblage includes the ground beetle Amara alpina, whose distribution today in Europe is restricted to mountains in Scandinavia and Scotland. Ecological requirements and geographic distribution of recent populations of the identified species suggest mesic habitats with standing water and peat bogs during the glacial maximum. The paleoenvironment was comparable to present-day lowland moors in Scandinavia or mesic environments above 1000 m altitude on the southern slopes of the Alps. The climate is inferred to have been colder and wetter than today. Mean July temperature may have been 8-9°C lower than at present.     

Paleoentomology and paleoecology of a possible sangamonian site near Innerkip,Ontario

A stream section near Innerkip, Ontario, exposes several meters of organic silts and peaty detritus beneath two late Wisconsinan tills. Radiocarbon dates provide a minimal middle Wisconsinan age of >50,000 yr B.P. A 250-kg bulk sample from the peat stratum was processed for vertebrates, plant macrofossils, and insects. Vertebrate remains include teeth from deer, muskrat, and vole as well as plates from a turtle shell. At least 6000 insect fragments from a minimum of 19 Coleoptera families were identified. The most common groups are hydrophilids and dytiscids (water beetles), curculionids (weevils), staphylinids (rove beetles), and carabids (ground beetles). The majority of identified beetles are associated with fresh water as aquatic predators, scavengers, or grazers, while others prefer hygric substrates and moist plant litter. The large number of plant-dependent beetles, the numerous floating and emergent aquatic plant seeds, and the presence of the associated vertebrates point toward a locally rich and varied flora and fauna, probably deposited in a well-vegetated pond. The modern distributions and ecologies of the identified fossil insects suggest temperatures similar to those found in southern Ontario today. On these grounds the Innerkip peat represents either a very warm interstadial or a possible interglacial deposit. If the latter is true this is the second presumed Sangamon-aged site known in southern Ontario.     

Characterization of the Soil Hydromorphic Conditions in a Paludified Dunefield during the Mid-Holocene Hemlock Decline near Québec City, Québec

The mid-Holocene eastern hemlock [Tsuga canadensisL. (Carr.)] decline has been recently attributed to the activity of insect defoliators. N. Bihiry and L. Filion,Quaternary Research45,312–320 (1996). In this study, soil hydromorphic conditions were investigated for the period 6800–3200 yr B.P. using micromorphological data from a peat section from a swale in a paludified dunefield in southern Québec. After a short period of plant colonization in shallow pools between 6800 and 6400 yr B.P., mesic conditions predominated in the interdune before the decline (6400–4900 yr B.P.), as evidenced by strong bioturbation and abundance of excrements from the soil fauna. During the decline, a shift from mesic to wet conditions occurred (4900–4100 yr B.P.), although xeric to mesic conditions persisted on dune ridges until at least 4200 yr B.P. Wetness culminated when beaver occupied the site (4100–3750 yr B.P.). Hemlock needles with chewing damage typical of hemlock looper (Lambdina fiscellaria) feeding were identified at levels dated 4900, 4600, and 4200 yr B.P., respectively, implying that the hemlock decline was associated with at least three defoliation events. The ca. 400-yr interval between these events likely represents the time required for this late-sucessional tree species to recover.     

A postglacial coleopterous assemblage from Lockport Gulf,New York

The Lockport Gulf site near Lockport, New York, is a 1.9-m sequence of organic-rich marls having a basal date of approximately 10,920 yr B.P. Six bulk samples with a combined weight of 48 kg produced over 780 individual fossil insects representing five orders, as well as molluscs and abundant plant macrofossils. Coleoptera were represented by 24 families. Several major beetle groups (Carabidae, ground beetles; Hydrophilidae, water scavenger beetles; Elmidae, riffle beetles; Staphylinidae, rove beetles; and Scolytidae, bark beetles) indicate a riffle-and-pool stream, surrounded by marsh, with open riparian habitats and nearby trees. Two zones were recognized based on the Coleoptera assemblages. The Zone 1 fauna (ca. 10,920–9800 yr B.P.) was dominated by boreal forest taxa with abundant bark beetles indicating the presence of spruce trees. In Zone 2 (ca. 9700-9100 yr B.P.) the combination of species with a restricted modern distribution in the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Forest region and pine and deciduous tree inhabitants suggests a change in vegetation by 9700 yr B.P. Thermal estimates from a faunal analysis indicate that the climatic conditions were stable across the spruce-pine transition, with the mean July temperature in the range of 16° to 18°C.     

A Late Pleistocene sequence at Margreteberg, southwestern Sweden

At Margreteberg, southwestern Sweden, a comple Pleistocene sequence has been stratigraphically investigated. Strata of clay, silt, sand, peat and solifluction layers are overlain by till-like sediments which are covered by sandy-clayey strata. By means of biostratigraphical analyses (foraminifera, olluscs, wood remains, pollen and diatoms), a reconstruction of the palaeoenvirnmental development has been obtained. Radiocarbon measurements and amiono acis ratios have been carried out in order to date the sediments. The foraminifera in the lowermost clay strata indicate Arctic or boreal-Arctic marine environment during the Late Saalian or Late Elsterian perods The δ¹⁸ Ovalues and molluscs also suggest that the clay was deposited in glaciomarine conditions. Amino acid ratios (D/L=0.25) of Hiatella in the clay imply an age between the Holsteinian and Eemian Interglacials. Teh peat layers contain a pollen flora. Prtedominated by Picea and Pinus, and are pollen analytically dated to the end of the Eemian interglacial. The solofluction sediments most probably were fromed during the first stage (s) of the Early weichselian and may include the initaial phase of the Brorup Interstadial (the Rodebaek interstadial). During this stage(s) aretic-Subarctic conditions previaled reflected by a pollen flora with a predominance of herbs and shrubs. Acidophilous and aerohpilous diatoms indicate oligotrophic shallow wate conditions in an Arctic environment, when almost no leaching of mineral solis occurred. The solofluction sediments also contain reworked interglacial (Eemian) pollen and brackish-Marine diatoms. Radiocarbon dating of the peat, wood and solofluction sediments yieded infinnite ages>40,000B.P.     

Geomorphology and palaeoecology of the Mark valley (southern Netherlands): palaeoecology, palaeohydrology and climate during the Weichselian Late Glacial

Bohncke, Sjoerd, Vandenberghe, Jef, Coope, Russell & Reiling, Rudo 1987 03 01: Geomorphology and palaeoecology of the Mark valley (southern Netherlands): palaeoecology, palaeohydrology and climate during the Weichselian Late Glacial. Boreas , Vol. 16, pp. 69–85. Oslo. ISSN 0300–9483.
A backswamp peat, located on an Upper Pleniglacial terrace, has been analysed in detail with respect to its pollen content, its macroscopic plant remains and its fossil insect fauna. The analyses permitted a detailed reconstruction of the Late Glacial palaeoenvironment besides an estimation of fluctuations in the local humidity and fluctuations in the palaeotemperatures. The main boundaries in the sequence have been radiocarbon dated, indicating a peat accumulation from c .12,600 B.P. to 10,970 B.P. The Bölling s.l . shows a clear migration of vegetation belts, starting with a shrub vegetation and passing into a birch wood. This progressive vegetation development culminates in a short lasting Pinus maximum early in the Alleröd, without being hampered by events during the Older Dryas. Up to and including the Alleröd no serious climate deterioration is registered. The humidity curve reveals a semiterrestrial phase in the local hydrosere that correlates with the Older Dryas and that is explained by the geomorphological evolution of the adjacent river system. The transition to the Younger Dryas coincides with a return to fluvial conditions and a marked change in the pollen record and insect fauna, indicating a decline in the average July temperature from between 18 and 15°C to 11 and 10°C.     

Age of landslides along the Grande Rivière de la Baleine estuary, eastern coast of Hudson Bay, Québec (Canada)

A 12km long terrace along the estuary of the Grande Rivière de la Baleine, northern Québec (5517'N, 7747'W), has been locally modified by seven large landslides during the last 3,200¹⁴ C years. The oldest undated landslide occurred between 3,200 B.P(formation of the upper terrace) and 2,200B.P., i.e. the radio carbon age of the second oldest landslide. The third one occurred around 900B.P. sometime before peat started to accumulate on the flowbowl floor. The more recent landslides were dendrochronologically dated. They were formed in less than 30 years, i.e. in 1818 (2 synchronous landslides), 1839 and 1846 A.D. These 19th-century landslides were dated through a comparative analysis of growth curves derived from buried trees found in the flowing sediments or from tilted and cut trees, with the regional master chronologies and the northern Québec light-ring chronology, using more specifically the 1816 and 1817 light-ring years. The 1818 landslides occurred during the growing season (July), whereas the 1839 and 1846 landslides were formed during spring. The occurrence of numerous landslides during this short period seems to be related to sustained cool and humid climatic conditions that may have enhanced the subsoil water content.     

Paleoenvironmental implications of a late glacial insect assemblage from northwestern New York

The Winter Gulf site near North Collins, New York is a 0.8-m sequence of organic detritus dated at approximately 12,700 yr B.P. A 260-kg sample produced over 500 identified individuals representing five orders of insects. Three insect zones were recognized, the lowest representing an open mire with sparse numbers of carices and other sedges; aquatic beetles were rare, and no trees were in the vicinity of the sample site. The middle zone indicated an extensive marsh or moist meadow environment with spruce nearby. The upper zone represented a mixed riparian and spruce forest insect assemblage.The results of the Winter Gulf insect analyses support published hypotheses that the site was probably a protected embayment of early lake Warren. Although the flora at the site has been previously interpreted as representing parkland tundra, temperature analyses of the fauna indicate that the thermal conditions were much warmer than parkland tundra regions of North America today. These results have important significance for the region immediately south of the Laurentide Ice Sheet during this period of the Late Wisconsinan.     

靖远黄土剖面磁性地层的初步研究

曹岘黄土剖面位于甘肃省靖远县,系黄河中游六级阶地黄土堆积,厚约505m,含33层古土壤,系黄土-古土壤系列,是目前已知世界上最厚的黄土剖面。作者对该剖面进行了古地磁学研究,结果表明:曹岘黄土剖面含布容正极性时和松山反极性时,B/M 界线位于L₈中部,加拉米洛正极性亚时位于L₁₀—L₁₃,位置。曹岘黄土堆积始于1.40MaB.P.,该黄土剖面可以与兰州、洛川和蓝田等黄土剖面对比。     

A radiocarbon-dated Ancylus transgression site in south-eastern Finland

A previously studied site at Hangassuo in the commune of Anjalankoski, formerly Sippola, in south-eastern Finland has been re-examined. The basal layers of the profile contain a clay-gyttja horzon deposited on peat, indicative of the Ancylus Lake transgression. A date of approx. 9500 B.P. was obtained for the lower peat layer, deposited after isolation of the basin during the Yoldia phase, and a date of 9280 ± 190 B.P. for the lower part of the transgression horizon. The upper part gave a date of 8870 ± 170 B.P. These dates suggest that the beginning of the Ancylus Lake phase and the Ancylus transgression occurred considerably earlier than has previously been suggested in the Late Quaternary chronology for Finland. The appearance of Alnus in the area is also dated. The pollen curve begins at 8360 ± 190 B.P. and the major increase of the species occurs at 7810 ± 180 B.P.
The events in the history of the Ancylus Lake and problems connected with these are discussed.     

Insect remains from an Alleröd peat at Lake Bysjön, South Sweden

An insect fauna in a peat layer from Lake Bysjön, South Sweden, ¹⁴C-dated to 11,200 ± 100 B. P. is described. The recorded insects indicate that the peat is of terrestrial origin and that it was formed in a subarctic environment.     

Changes in late Quaternary vegetation and insect communities in southwestern Ontario

The Gage Street site in Kitchener, Ontario, is a peat/marl sequence representing continuous lacustrine sedimentation from the time of deglaciation (ca. 13,000 yr B.P.) through 6900 yr B.P. Insect, pollen, and plant macrofossil remains isolated from the sediments indicate that from ca. 13,000 to 12,500 yr B.P. the region was characterized by parkland-tundra vegetation existing within thermal conditions more analogous to those today of the midboreal forest. The transition from parkland to coniferous forest at ca. 12,500 yr B.P. occurred within a climate that was only gradually warming. By the time of the spruce/pine transition at 10,500 yr B.P., an insect fauna had become established that is typical of southwestern Ontario today. The replacement of this fauna at ca. 8400 yr B.P. by one characteristic of the lowlands of the east-central United States represents the beginning of Hypsithermal conditions in southern Ontario. Vegetation and insects indicate that the climate continued to gradually warm through the mid-Holocene.     

Holocene climate and landscape evolution East of the Pechora Delta, East-European Russian Arctic

This study presents a multiproxy record of Holocene environmental change in the region East of the Pechora Delta. A peat plateau profile (Ortino II) is analyzed for plant macrofossils, sediment type, loss on ignition, and radiocarbon dating. A paleosol profile (Ortino III) is described and radiocarbon dated. A previously published peat plateau profile (Ortino I) was analyzed for pollen and conifer stomata, loss on ignition, and radiocarbon dating. The interpretation of the latter site is reassessed in view of new evidence. Spruce immigrated to the study area at about 8900 ¹⁴C yr B.P. Peatland development started at approximately the same time. During the Early Holocene Hypsithermal taiga forests occupied most of the present East-European tundra and peatlands were permafrost free. Cooling started after 5000 ¹⁴C yr B.P., resulting in a retreat of forests and permafrost aggradation. Remaining forests disappeared from the study area around 3000 ¹⁴C yr B.P., coinciding with more permafrost aggradation. The retreat of forests resulted in landscape instability and the redistribution of sand by eolian activity. The displacement of the Arctic forest line and permafrost zones indicates a warming of at least 2–3°C in mean July and annual temperatures during the Early Holocene. At least two cooling periods can be recognized for the second half of the Holocene, starting at about 4800 and 3000 ¹⁴C yr B.P.     

Holocene palaeoenvironmental reconstruction based on fossil beetle faunas from the Southern Altai region,north‐west China

We present here the results of the first‐ever Quaternary entomological research in China. The Halashazi Wetland, located in the southern Altai Mountain region in the northernmost part of Xinjiang Province, yielded Holocene insect fossils (mostly beetles) from two peat profiles. In total, 55 Coleoptera taxa were found, including 37 identified species. A new species, Helophorus sinoglacialis, was identified. The fauna is strongly northern Holarctic in character. The interval from 10 424 to 9705 cal a BP was probably a cold and wet period, and the study site was above the treeline. From 9665 to 9500 cal a BP it was probably warmer and drier, and treeline moved to higher elevations. Following a depositional hiatus, mid‐Holocene (5400–4400 cal a BP ) insect assemblages represent cold conditions with the site above the treeline. The exception was a brief warming around 5450 cal a BP , when bark beetle evidence suggests that the treeline moved to a higher elevation. Of the 37 identified beetle species from the Halashazi site, 34 (92%) have modern records in Siberia. The Altai Mountains probably served as a dispersal corridor between the Siberian arctic and alpine regions of northern China. Copyright © 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Fossil insect evidence for late pleistocene paleoenvironments of the lamb spring site,Colorado

The study of Quarternary insect fossils has shown their value as paleoenvironmental indicators, especially during times of rapid climatic change, and this method is now being introduced into North America archeological studies. Abundant insect fossils have been recovered from 13,000 year old detrital organic materials from silty clays at the Lamb Spring site, south of Denver, Colorado. The spring deposits also contain bones of extinct camel and mammoth, thought to have been modified by human hunters. The late Pleistocene insect fauna from Lamb Spring comprises 71 identified taxa from 6 orders and 14 families, principally beetles, providing substantial paleoenvironmental data. The beetle fauna is a mixture of grassland and mountain elements, and they appear to represent an environment similar to that found today in high mountain valleys, such as South Park, Colorado. Based on this fauna, mean summer temperatures at 13,140 B.P. were probably 10°C cooler than present.     

Development of low–centred ice–wedge polygons in the northernmost Ungava Peninsual, Queébec, Canada

Morphological and vegetation mapping and stratigraphic studies were carried out on a 60 by 250 m low–centered polygon field on a flood–plain of the Riviére Deception in the continuous permafrost zone of northernmost Ungava. Analyses of grain size, water and ice content, deformation structures, and macrorests were carried out on drill–core samples, up to a maximum depth of 3.19 m, and radiocarbon dates were obtained from several peat horizons. Five different vegetational habits were identified: uplifted banks, ice–wedge fissures, hummocky centres, wet polygon centres, and water ponds. The stratigraphic analyses revealed many sand layers and organic layers, alternating with a few layers of segregated ice. In the raises banks, brown fen peats represent former wet conditions prior to bank uplift. Total ice volumes of the core samples from polygon centres and banks averaged 60%, and were generally in the form of pore ice. Segregated ice was concentrated in ice wedges. The Low gradient of the polygon field and the shallow active layer are responsible for impded drainage. The origins of this isolated low–centred polygon field are discussed in terms of special local terrain conditions. River flooding since glacio–isostatic emergence at 6000 BP repeatedly spread alluvial sands onto the low flood–plain, which thus became progressively built up to its present elevation. Peat layers buried by these alluvial sands have permitted the changing local drainage conditions to be radiocarbon–dated for the last 2600 years for the core sites. Impeded drainage, low winter temperatures, probable thin snow cover, rapid sedimentation of flood–plain sands, and high volumetric ice contents have created the critical thermal regime necessary for repeated frost cracking in a polygonal pattern, with concomitant ice–wedge dev–elopment. Ice wedges developed at least as early as 2200 BP, causing the formation of low banks. Further growth of ice wedges deformed the peat and sand layers on the bank margins and led to the rise of the latter to heights of 0.5 to 1 m above the intervening low wet polygon centres. More water was then collected in the depressions, leading to a transformations of the vegetation cover from mossy heath to sphagnum bog, wet fen, sedge-covered ponds, and eventually in some cases to open-water pools. The stratigraphic evidence suggests that several generations of high banks formed and disappeared and that their position has changed. Deformation by continued ice–wedge growth has been insignificant since 1000 BP, However. A relatively thick surface peat layer also indicates that sand layers have not been contributed to the polygon field by flooding since ? 500 BP.     

A Holocene tephra record from the Lofoten Islands, Arctic Norway

Pilcher, J., Bradley, R. S., Francus, P. & Anderson, L. 2005 (May): A Holocene tephra record from the Lofoten Islands, Arctic Norway. Boreas , Vol. 34, pp. 136–156. Oslo. ISSN 0300–9483.
A tephrochronology has been established for a peat bog in the Lofoten Islands that provides a dating framework for future lake and bog studies of climate variation in this climatically sensitive area. Twenty-three tephra layers were identified, all apparently of Icelandic origin. These included the historically dated tephras of AD 1875 (Askja), AD 1362 (Öraefajökull), AD 1158 (Hekla), AD 1104 (Hekla) and the Landnam tephra identified at AD 875 in the GRIP ice core. Other layers, previously radiocarbon dated in Ireland and elsewhere, include the Hekla eruptions of c. 2310 BC and c. 5990 BC. The basal clays below the peat contain tephra of both the Askja eruption of c. 9500 BC (10 000 radiocarbon years BP) and the well-known Vedde Ash of c. 12 000 BP (10 030 80 BC in GRIP ice core).     

Palaeoenvironment and biogeography of a late MIS 3 fossil beetle fauna from South Taranaki,New Zealand

Fossil beetles from a last glacial landslide‐generated lake‐forest sequence aged 33 480–34 410 cal. yr BP (late Marine Isotope Stage 3 (MIS 3)) are identified from the Waitotara Valley in South Taranaki, North Island, New Zealand. The stratigraphy indicates that the landslide caused changes to local hydrology, resulting in the formation of a lake‐swamp environment and subsequent transition to forest. Fossil leaves suggest a forest dominated by Nothofagus menziesii, and radiocarbon ages indicate the site was forested for around 4000 yr. A fossil beetle‐based temperature estimate using the maximum likelihood envelope method indicates the climate was cooler than present day. The distributions of the fossil beetle taxa are examined and compared with the modern ecological patterns. The fossil fauna is very typical of a modern‐day Nelson (northern South Island) fauna. None of the beetle species is present in the modern South Taranaki fauna and many taxa such as Platypus caviceps, Alema paradoxa, Rhyzobius consors, Syrphetodes ater, Cyclaxyra impressa and species of Grynoma and Pycnomerus are now absent from part or all of the lower North Island. This is important because the lower North Island is currently an area of low diversity and endemism and these results suggest this biogeographical pattern stems from the last glaciation. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Early and Middle Weichselian in Norway: a review

All Known sites with fossils and ‘non-till sediments’ of possible Early and Middle Weichselian age in Norway are discussed. Along the west coast there are many sites marine shells which have been dated by means of radiocarbon, amino acids and thorium/uranium methods. Some sites are also correlated by means of underlying Eemian sequences. A tentative glaciation curve for western Norway indicates a first glacial advance soon after the end of the Eemian. There are indications of another re-advance around 40,000 B.P., and the Late Weichselian maximum (maxima?) occurred somewhere between 30,000 B.P. and 13,000 B.P. Parts of the coast may have been ice-free for most of the remaining periods. From the central parts of the country are known bones (e.g. mammoth), glaciolacustrine and fluvial sediments, peat, etc. The newly discovered site with peat of Brumunddal can very probably be correlated with the Jämtland Interstadial in Sweden, and the Brørup Interstadial in Denmark. If this is correct, nearly the whole of southern Scandinavia must have been deglaciated during the interstadial.     

Holocene peat growth and decay dynamics in sub-arctic peat plateaus, west-central Canada

Peat and net carbon accumulation rates in two sub-arctic peat plateaus of west-central Canada have been studied through geochemical analyses and accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) radiocarbon dating. The peatland sites started to develop around 6600–5900 cal. yr BP and the peat plateau stages are characterized by Sphagnum fuscum peat alternating with rootlet layers. The long-term peat and net carbon accumulation rates for both profiles are 0.30–0.31 mm/yr and 12.5–12.7 gC/m²yr, respectively. These values reflect very slow peat accumulation (0.04–0.09 mm/yr) and net carbon accumulation (3.7–5.2 gC/m²yr) in the top rootlet layers. Extensive AMS radiocarbon dating of one profile shows that accumulation rates are variable depending on peat plateau stage. Peat accumulation rates are up to six times higher and net carbon accumulation rates up to four times higher in S. fuscum than in rootlet stages. Local fires represented by charcoal remains in some of the rootlet layers result in very low accumulation rates. High C/N ratios throughout most of the peat profiles suggest low degrees of decomposition due to stable permafrost conditions. Hence, original peat accretion has remained largely unaltered, except in the initial stages of peatland development when permafrost was not yet present.