Canyon Creek: A late Pleistocene vertebrate locality in interior Alaska

The Canyon Creek vertebrate-fossil locality is an extensive road cut near Fairbanks that exposes sediments that range in age from early Wisconsin to late Holocene. Tanana River gravel at the base of the section evidently formed during the Delta Glaciation of the north-central Alaska Range. Younger layers and lenses of fluvial sand are interbedded with arkosic gravel from Canyon Creek that contains tephra as well as fossil bones of an interstadial fauna about 40,000 years old. Solifluction deposits containing ventifacts, wedge casts, and rodent burrows formed during a subsequent period of periglacial activity that took place during the maximum phase of Donnelly Glaciation about 25,000–17,000 years ago. Overlying sheets of eolian sand are separated by a 9500-year-old paleosol that may correlate with a phase of early Holocene spruce expansion through central Alaska. The Pleistocene fauna from Canyon Creek consists of rodents (indicated by burrows), Mammuthus primigenius (woolly mammoth), Equus lambei (Yukon wild ass), Camelops hesternus (western camel), Bison sp. cf. B. crassicornis (large-horned bison), Ovis sp. cf.O. dalli (mountain sheep), Canis sp. cf. C. lupus (wolf), Lepus sp. cf. L. othus or L. arcticus (tundra hare), and Rangifer sp. (caribou). This assemblage suggests an open landscape in which trees and tall shrubs were either absent or confined to sheltered and moist sites. Camelops evidently was present in eastern Beringia during the middle Wisconsin interstadial interval but may have disappeared during the following glacial episode. The stratigraphic section at Canyon Creek appears to demonstrate that the Delta Glaciation of the north-central Alaska Range is at least in part of early Wisconsin age and was separated from the succeeding Donnelly Glaciation by an interstadial rather than interglacial episode.     

Dating Early and Middle (Reid) Pleistocene Glaciations in Central Yukon by Tephrochronology

The late Cenozoic deposits of central Yukon contain numerous distal tephra beds, derived from vents in the Wrangell Mountains and Aleutian arc–Alaska Peninsula region. We use a few of these tephra beds to gain a better understanding on the timing of extensive Pleistocene glaciations that affected this area. Exposures at Fort Selkirk show that the Cordilleran Ice Sheet advanced close to the outer limit of glaciation about 1.5 myr ago. At the Midnight Dome Terrace, near Dawson City, exposed outwash gravel, aeolian sand, and loess, related to valley glaciers in the adjacent Ogilvie Mountains, are of the same age. Reid glacial deposits at Ash Bend on the Stewart River are older than oxygen isotope stage (OIS) 6 and likely of OIS 8 age, that is, about 250,000 yr B.P. Supporting evidence for this chronology comes from major peaks in the rates of terrigeneous sediment input into the Gulf of Alaska at 1.5 and 0.25 myr B.P.     

末次间冰期以来对宁黄土剖面的热释光测年

利用细颗粒热释光技术对陇西黄土高原会宁黄土剖面末次间冰期以来黄土、古土壤的8个样品进行了年龄测定,并在此基础上分别利用线性内插和多项式回归方法建立了会宁剖面深度-年代时间模式,以2种模式计算的S0/L1、L1/S1、S1/L2界线年龄与SPECMAP深海氧同位素1/2、4/5、5/6阶段的界线年龄可较好对比,这为末次间冰期以来会宁地区古气候演化的深入研究提供了基本时间框架。     

Advances and Issues in Luminescence Dating of Loess Deposits in Arid Central Asia

High-resolution loess deposits are widely distributed in Arid Central Asia (ACA) and provide important records associated with dust transportation, paleoenvironmental and paleoclimatic evolution. The chronology is the foundation of the research into loess deposits as an environmental archive. In recent decades, the gradually developed optical dating method has been increasingly matured and become an important approach to establishing the loess-paleosol sequences. Here, we summarized and discussed previous work on loess chronology mainly based on optical dating approach in ACA. The following understandings have been listed: ① In comparison with optical dating method, the suitable material for ¹⁴C dating is uncommon in ACA. However, the dating range of luminescence dating is more extensive, and the dating materials are accessible. Thus, the optical dating is widely applicable in the establishment of loess framework in this area. ② Until now, the quartz Single Aliquot Regeneration (SAR) method can be applied to the establishment of loess-paleosol sequence since last glacial period. But several issues remain unaddressed. For example, the Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) signal sensitivity of quartz grains are low in some areas. Furthermore, the results of OSL dating of different grain sizes within a single sample are inconsistent in some areas. The solution of these problems still requires more methodological research. ③ The post-IR IRSL (pIRIR) and multiple elevated temperature stimulation (MET-pIRIR) protoCols of feldspar have basically overcome the anomalous fading issue in the traditional IRSL dating process. In ACA, the framework since MIS 7 can be established with K-feldspar luminescence dating method. Compared with quartz luminescence characteristics, the K-feldspar luminescence signals are more sensitive and exhibit a high saturation level. In specific applications, it is necessary to establish the age frame according to the luminescence sensitivity, the age of samples or other factors.     

洛川黄土地层定年的一个模式及其初步应用

选择黄土中２～１６μｍ的颗粒作为沉积速率相对稳定的大气粉尘沉降组分，根据黄土粒度变化与沉积速率变化的相关性，设计了以下的年代学模型:Ｔｍ＝Ｔ１＋（Ｔ２－Ｔ１）（∑ｍ_ｉ＝１ＣｉＨｉ）/（∑ｎ_ｉ＝１ＣｉＨｉ）以黄土地层中根据热释光和古地磁极性倒转点获得的绝对年代作为时间控制点，利用上面的模式对洛川第四纪黄土地层的年代进行了计算，结果表明该模式可以用于黄土高原中部黄土地层的精细定年。     

Cryostratigraphy of late Pleistocene syngenetic permafrost (yedoma) in northern Alaska, Itkillik River exposure

Extremely ice-rich syngenetic permafrost, or yedoma, developed extensively under the cold climate of the Pleistocene in unglaciated regions of Eurasia and North America. In Alaska, yedoma occurs in the Arctic Foothills, the northern part of the Seward Peninsula, and in interior Alaska. A remarkable 33-m-high exposure along the lower Itkillik River in northern Alaska opened an opportunity to study the unmodified yedoma, including stratigraphy, particle-size distribution, soil carbon contents, morphology and quantity of segregated, wedge, and thermokarst-cave ice. The exposed permafrost sequence comprised seven cryostratigraphic units, which formed over a period from > 48,000 to 5,000 ¹⁴C yr BP, including: 1) active layer; 2) intermediate layer of the upper permafrost; 3–4) two yedoma silt units with different thicknesses of syngenetic ice wedges; 5) buried peat layer; 6) buried intermediate layer beneath the peat; and 7) silt layer with short ice wedges. This exposure is comparable to the well known Mus-Khaya and Duvanny Yar yedoma exposures in Russia. Based on our field observations, literature sources, and interpretation of satellite images and aerial photography, we have developed a preliminary map of yedoma distribution in Alaska.     

Dated Paleontological cave sites of Central Europe from Late Middle Pleistocene to early Upper Pleistocene (OIS 5 to OIS 8)

Caves are terrestrial depositories that preserve a large variety of organic and inorganic remains. These may contain important Quaternary climatic and ecological information. Most of the faunal remains, however, cannot be linked to any Interglacial or Glacial period exclusively. Reliable dating of such remains is therefore required. Experience has, however, shown that ESR dating of speleothems or ²³⁰Th/U dating of bones are of disputable value. Only TIMS-²³⁰Th/U dating of speleothems appears to yield reliable ages. Dating the bottom and top of speleothem layers permit assigning Pleistocene faunal remains to the OIS chronology if the deposition of the speleothems and the faunal remains are clearly correlated. Care must be taken to consider the depositional situation of each site before interpreting any age dates. In this paper we present an overview of all numerically dated paleontological cave sites in Central Europe between OIS 5 and OIS 8. A total of 25 strata were dated from 13 sites, most of them deposited during OIS 5; the rest belonging to OIS 6 and 7. Numerically dated paleontological sites older than OIS 8 are not known.     

Single‐Grain Luminescence Dating of Sediment Surrounding a Possible Late Pleistocene Artifact from the Wenas Creek Mammoth Site,Pacific Northwest,USA

Excavations at the Wenas Creek Mammoth Site yielded mammoth, bison, and two possible artifacts in a single colluvial stratum, with radiocarbon bone dates ∼17 ka. Eight infrared‐stimulated luminescence (IRSL) samples were collected to establish general ages of site strata, returning multi‐grain estimates consistent with stratigraphic integrity and the radiocarbon dates. Four additional IRSL samples were collected to estimate the depositional age of one artifact found in place. These produced a pooled total of 94 single‐grain estimates from near the artifact, 80% averaging 16.8 ± 0.9 ka, and 20% averaging 5.1 ± 0.5 ka. These results could be interpreted to demonstrate pre‐Clovis age artifact deposition consistent with the bone dates, or a mid to late Holocene intrusion into older deposits, possibly by bioturbation. The single‐grain IRSL dates do not provide proof of pre‐Clovis presence beyond reasonable doubt at this site, but do show that this technique is valuable in assessing the stratigraphic integrity needed for any such claim.     

Middle to Late Pleistocene palaeoenvironmental evolution of the southeastern Alpine Valeriano Creek succession (northeastern Italy)

The Middle–Late Pleistocene alluvial and lacustrine succession of Valeriano Creek (southeastern Alpine foothills, 190 m a.s.l.) documents the environmental evolution of the piedmont plain before the onset of the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). The sedimentary record was investigated by multidisciplinary stratigraphical and sedimentological studies coupled with petrographic and palaeobotanical analysis. A chronology has been provided by luminescence, radiocarbon dating and pollen biochronology. The succession developed at the valley mouth of a small catchment and is confined in the piedmont plain by the alluvial fans of major rivers. The oldest deposits were formed during a cold phase during the late Middle Pleistocene. This part of the piedmont plain was generally stable until Termination II, when it was trenched more than 15 m deep by watercourses. The infilling succession of the trench, mostly by low‐energy alluvial sediments interbedded with mire and peat deposits, documents, for the first time on the southern side of the Alps, the relationships between fluvial activity, vegetation and climate change at the foothills piedmont plain during late Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5. The stadial–interstadial climate forcing implies a local reorganisation of fluvial dynamics and of forest composition, although substantial plant cover persisted even during cooler stadials. In accordance with coeval alluvial and speleothem records from the northern side of the Alps, this environmental evolution supports a very restricted Alpine glaciation of the main fluvial catchments of the southeastern Alps during MIS 5a–d. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Multistage Extension and Age Dating of the Xiaoqinling Metamorphic Core Complex,Central China

There are two extensional systems in the Xiaoqinling metamorphic core complex (XMCC). One is the detachment fault system developed along the peripheries of the XMCC, which extended in an ESE-WNW direction and whose upper plate moved towards the WNW. The other extensional system includes the retrograde shear zones and normal faults developed within the XMCC, which represent the collapse of the XMCC. Ar-Ar and K-Ar dating shows that the extension of the detachment fault system continued from 135 to 123 Ma, i.e. in the late stage of its evolution at about 127 Ma. The collapse represented by the extensional system within the XMCC was operative during 120(106 Ma, and its main activity occurred about 116 Ma ago. These suggest that the XMCC experienced two extensional stages in its evolution, i.e., the syn-orogenic regional extension and post-orogenic collapse extension.     

A Late Pleistocene Tephra Layer in the Southern Great Basin and Colorado Plateau Derived from Mono Craters, California

A newly identified tephra in stratified deposits in southwestern Utah, dated 14,000 ¹⁴C yr B.P., may aid in correlating late Pleistocene deposits across parts of the southern Great Basin and west-central Colorado Plateau. Geochemical analyses of the ash suggest the tephra originated from Mono Craters, California, and most probably correlates with Wilson Creek ash #3. Because the ash is 2 mm thick 550 km from its source, the event may have been larger than others correlated to Mono Craters eruptions.     

末次冰期山东黄土物源研究:来自碎屑锆石U-Pb年龄的约束

胶东半岛北部海滨和山东中部山区北麓沉积了典型的风尘黄土,详细记录了晚更新世以来的气候变化,然而有关这些黄土究竟来自哪里,目前仍处于争议之中.锆石是黄土中常见的副矿物,其U-Pb年龄谱对比被广泛用于黄土的物源示踪研究.基于此,利用激光剥蚀电感耦合等离子质谱仪(LA-ICP-MS)对上述地区晚更新世典型的黄土剖面开展碎屑锆...     

松嫩平原中更新世以来气候干旱化

哈尔滨黄土位于欧亚黄土带最东端,是研究气候干旱化的理想载体,对于重建松嫩平原气候干旱化历史及完善亚洲内陆干旱化东进进程具有重要意义。然而,松嫩平原干旱化的相关研究相当薄弱,黄土与区域构造—气候—水系演化之间的耦合关系尚未明确。对哈尔滨黄土—古土壤序列进行了沉积学特征分析以及粒度、磁化率、总有机碳和Sr-Nd同位素组成测试,结合粒度端元和小波分析,对松嫩平原气候干旱化历史及驱动机制进行研究。结果表明:受高纬度寒冷气候影响,哈尔滨黄土—古土壤序列的沉积特征与其他地区存在显著差异,潜育化的沉积环境是古土壤层磁化率呈现低值的主控因素;哈尔滨黄土堆积的出现指示了松嫩平原干旱化和松嫩沙地的发育始于~460 ka;黄土大于63 μm以及EM3端元组分共同指示了380 ka和300 ka两次明显的干旱化加剧和沙地扩张事件;TOC和Sr同位素指标揭示了这种干旱化加剧的现象一直持续到180 ka。此后,松嫩平原的气候逐渐趋于暖湿。研究显示,全球气候变冷（冰量的扩增）—区域构造（松辽分水岭隆起）—水系演化（松辽水系的变迁）共同驱动了松嫩平原气候干旱化。上述认识对松嫩平原的生态与社会经济的可持续发展具有重要意义。     

甘肃南金山金矿床的~(40)Ar-~(39)Ar同位素年龄及其地质意义

南金山金矿是我国西北地区最重要的金矿床之一 ,矿床产于下石炭统白山组浅变质海相火山碎屑岩中。本文通过对金矿床中的蚀变绢云母进行了40 Ar 3 9Ar同位素年龄测定 ,获得了两组数据 ,分别为 2 5 0 .6±2 .8Ma和 2 32 .7± 4.1Ma ,说明南金山金矿的形成经历了两期成矿作用。     

滇东南地区中三叠统沉积型锰矿的热释光特征

矿物和岩石的热释光是矿物晶体特征中研究程度较低的领域。将采自滇东南地区中三叠统的锰矿样品分类后进行热释光实验研究。实验发现:上矿段褐红色锰碳酸盐集合体的热释光谱线多两峰型,前特征峰位于250～350℃之间,后特征峰位于350～430℃之间,且前峰的峰值明显低于后峰,热释光强度最大值均出现在最高温度——450℃处,前峰均存在,后峰偶有缺失;下矿段黑色锰氧化物集合体的热释光特征是在280～340℃处为第一峰,而在390±10℃范围内为一拐点,420±10℃处为另一拐点,使热释光谱线呈现阶梯状,但部分样品第一峰缺失。将上、下矿段同类矿样的热释光谱线对比发现:上、下矿段内部的同类型矿石的热释光特征具相似性,上、下矿段之间的同类型矿石的热释光特征几乎无可比性,说明矿石形成时所处环境对热释光谱线的影响大于矿物成分对矿石热释光谱线的影响。     

The use of electron backscatter diffraction and orientation contrast imaging as tools for sulphide textural studies: example from the Greens Creek deposit (Alaska)

The Greens Creek polymetallic massive sulphide deposit is hosted in a typical polyphase deformed lower greenschist facies orogenic setting. The structure of the host rocks is well constrained, exhibiting a series of three superimposed ductile deformations followed by two brittle episodes. The ore is found both in fold hinges where early-formed depositional features are preserved and in fold limbs where primary features are typically strongly modified or obliterated. Samples from both settings have been investigated using electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) coupled with forescatter orientation contrast (OC) imaging in order to observe the effects of deformation and lower greenschist facies metamorphism on pyrite. Results suggest that colloform pyrite may preserve information relevant to palaeoenvironment, that apparently simple textures are generally more complex, and that pyrite can deform plastically by dislocation glide and creep processes at lower temperatures and/or strain rates than generally accepted. This analysis indicates that EBSD and OC imaging provide powerful tools for observing textural relationships in pyrite that are not shown by more traditional methods. They should become routine tools for pyrite texture analysis.Editorial handling: D. Lentz     

太平洋海山磷酸盐的锶同位素成分及形成年代

作者首次对太平洋不同海山上对富钴结壳伴生的各种产状的磷酸盐的锶同位素成分及其形成年代进行了深入研究。研究表明，我国调查区磷酸盐的^87Sr/^86Sr比值变化于0.70766至0.70842之间，形成年代相当于距今21Ma至39.5Ma。磷酸盐化作用主要发生在晚始新世-早新新世及晚渐新世-早中新世期间。西、中太平洋磷酸盐形成年代的一致性揭示，自晚始新世至早中新世，在太平洋水下海山上曾发生过广泛的磷酸盐化作用，磷酸盐的形成是古海洋环境变迁的一个重要反映。     

Loess chronology of the Middle and Upper Pleistocene in Tadjikistan

The loess/paleosol sequences of Central Asia are continuous terrestrial records of the Quaternary period and enable detailed comparison with paleoclimatic archives such as marine and ice core records in order to reconstruct regional and global paleoclimatic and paleoecological development during the past 130?000 years. Thermoluminescence (TL) and infrared stimulated luminescence (IRSL) dating methods are applied to the extensively studied loess/paleosol sequence of the section at Darai Kalon/Chashmanigar, Tadjikistan, in order to determine a more accurate chronological framework and climatostratigraphic reconstruction for the last interglacial/glacial cycle. Luminescence dating suggests that the loess above the first pedocomplex from the top, PC1, accumulated during the last glacial period. A high accumulation rate of up to 1.20?m per 1000 years was determined for the last glacial loess, especially for the uppermost 5–8?m. PC1 formed during the last interglacial period (oxygen-isotope stage 5). The loess between PC1 and PC2 is designated to be of penultimate glacial deposition age. Infrared stimulated luminescence and TL age estimates are in agreement to 80?000 years before present (BP), indicating a long-distance transport of the aeolian dust prior to deposition. The upper numerical age-limit range is between 300?000 and 450?000 years. However, reliable dating of the loess older than 130?000 years is not possible due to age scatter between samples and an inadequate increase of paleodose with depth. This high-resolution dating study underlines the importance of the section at Darai Kalon and indicates that it is one of the most continuous loess/paleosol records of the Northern Hemisphere. The chronological results are particularly important for the reconstruction of the human evolution in Central Asia, suggesting much older age estimates than previously obtained for most of the archeological key sites associated with PC5 and PC4 in Tadjikistan.     

Geochronology of Middle and Upper Pleistocene Loess Sections in Hungary

The application of both thermoluminescence and infrared stimulated luminescence dating to the extensively studied “classical” Hungarian loess/paleosol sequences from Basaharc, Mende, and Paks provides a reliable chronological framework and climatostratigraphic reconstruction for the last interglacial/glacial cycle. Based on this combined luminescence dating study a new chronology is proposed for the “Young Loess” in Hungary. Luminescence dating suggests that the loess below the MF2 horizon formed during the penultimate glaciation. The MF1 horizon probably formed during an interstade within oxygen isotope stage 3. For the youngest loess, overlying MF1, a very high accumulation rate was determined. Large time gaps occur above MF2 and MF1, indicating that most of the record of the last glaciation is missing in the standard sections at Basaharc, Mende, and Paks. Either large discontinuities or a very low accumulation rate occurred in all three type sections during the soil-forming periods. High-resolution studies of climatic proxies using this combined luminescence dating approach provide a reliable chronological framework for loess and loess derivatives of the last glacial cycle in Hungary, although a precise and complete chronostratigraphic reconstruction cannot be achieved from the incomplete records found at these sites.