Devensian Late-glacial environmental change in the Gordano Valley, North Somerset, England: a rare archive for southwest Britain

The Late-glacial and Holocene environmental history of the Gordano Valley, North Somerset, UK has been reconstructed using pollen, sediment particle size and mineralogical analyses and radiocarbon dating. A Devensian sediment ridge across the valley confined the waters of a small lake, within which the initial sedimentation was minerogenic. Radiocarbon dating of overlying organic-rich deposits suggests that this began late in the Dimlington Stadial c. 18,000–15,000 Cal. BP. Petrographic analyses indicate the minerogenic sediments were partly wind-blown in origin. Climatic amelioration during the Windermere Interstadial c. 15,000 Cal. BP encouraged a shift from minerogenic to biogenic sedimentation. A brief return to minerogenic sedimentation between c. 10,400 and c. 9,520 Cal. BP was followed by uninterrupted fen peat accumulation throughout the Holocene. The later minerogenic horizon appears to represent the Loch Lomond Stadial. Few stratigraphic sequences preserving the complete Devensian Late-glacial–Holocene transition exist in southwest Britain, making the sedimentary archive of the Gordano Valley valuable regionally for reconstructing Late-glacial climate change.     

Luminescence geochronology for sediments from Lake El’gygytgyn,northeast Siberia,Russia: constraining the timing of paleoenvironmental events for the past 200 ka

This study focused on the luminescence dating of sediments from Lake El’gygytgyn, a meteorite impact crater 100 km north of the Arctic Circle in northeast Siberia, formed 3.58 Ma ago. The sediment is principally eolian deposited in to a lake with nearly permanently ice. The fine-grained polymineral and quartz extracts taken from nine distinct levels from the upper 12.3 m of sediment core PG1351 were dated by infrared stimulated (IRSL) and green stimulated luminescence (GSL) using multiple aliquot additive dose procedures. The veracity of these ages is evaluated by comparing to an age model for the core derived from magnetic excursions and from correlation of variations of the magnetic susceptibility record to similar magnitude variations in δ ¹⁸O in the Greenland Ice core record. The IRSL ages from the upper 9 m of core correspond well with the independent age control for the past ca. 200 ka. However, sediments deeper in the core at 12.3 m with an inferred age of ca. 250 ka age yield a saturated IRSL response and therefore a non-finite OSL age. The youngest sediment dated from 0.70 m depth yielded the IRSL age of ca. 11.5 ka, older than the corresponding age of 9.3–8.8 ka, indicating a discrepancy in dating the youngest sediments in the upper 1 m of core. This study confirms the utility of IRSL by the multiple aliquot additive dose method to date sediments <200 ka old from eastern Siberia. This is the sixth in a series of eleven papers published in this special issue dedicated to initial studies of El’gygytgyn Crater Lake and its catchment in NE Russia. Julie Brigham-Grette, Martin Melles, Pavel Minyuk were guest editors of this special issue.     

湖泊碳库效应及校正方法

湖泊作为过去环境变化的信息载体,可以很好地提供高分辨率的连续记录,因此常被用来进行定年研究。湖泊沉积物放射性碳定年由于缺乏陆源植物残体、碳屑等可靠的定年材料,多选用其他材料（如全样有机质、水生残体及各类壳体）,但是这些材料通常受到“碳库效应”（The reservoir effect）的影响,而使得年代结果失真,导致难以建立高精度的年代框架,成为这一领域研究放射性碳年代应用的瓶颈。因此,如何对湖相沉积物¹⁴C年代结果进行有效的碳库效应校正,对高精度年代序列的建立具有重要意义。本文综览了近几十年来针对湖泊碳库效应进行研究所取得的一系列研究成果,详细总结了影响湖泊碳库效应的各种因素,讨论了碳库效应对湖泊沉积物定年结果的影响;分析了目前对湖泊碳库的各类校正方法,包括使用同一测年手段、不同测年材料建立点上碳库大小以及采用不同测年手段对碳库的校正等。本文为湖泊沉积物高精度年代序列的建立提供了一定的参考。     

Reconstructing lake and drainage basin history using terrestrial sediment layers: analysis of cores from a post-glacial lake in New England, USA

Four sediment cores and twenty-five ¹⁴C ages from Ritterbush Pond in northern Vermont provide a detailed and continuous temporal record of Holocene lake and watershed dynamics. Using visual logs, carbon content, magnetic susceptibility, stable isotope signatures, and X-radiography, all measured at 1-cm scale, we identify and date discrete layers of terrestrially-derived sediment in the organic-rich, lacustrine gyttja. These inorganic layers range in thickness from <1 mm to >10 cm and range in grain size and sorting from homogeneous silt to graded sand. AMS radiocarbon ages both from macrofossils within the thickest layers, and gyttja bracketing these layers, provide the basis for correlation among the cores, the dating of 52 basin-wide sedimentation events, and the development of a detailed sedimentation chronology for the Holocene.Physical, chemical, and isotopic analyses suggest the inorganic layers are terrestrially derived and result from hydrologic events large enough to erode and transport sediment from the watershed into the pond. The temporal and spatial distribution of the inorganic layers suggests changing basin-wide sedimentation and thus erosion dynamics since deglaciation over 12,000 years ago. Specifically, for intervals lasting 400 to 1000 years, during the early (>8600 cal yBP), middle (6400 to 6800 cal yBP) and late Holocene (1800 to 2600 cal yBP), the Ritterbush Pond watershed eroded more rapidly than at other times and terrestrially derived material poured into the pond. Analysis of Ritterbush Pond sediments demonstrates the potential for North American lakes to preserve a record of drainage basin dynamics.     

Terrace formation in the upper Bengal basin since the Middle Pleistocene: Brahmaputra fan delta construction during multiple highstands

Floodplains, paleosols, and antecedent landforms near the apex of the Brahmaputra fan delta in north‐central Bangladesh preserve cycles of fluvial sediment deposition, erosion and weathering. Together these landforms and their associated deposits comprise morphostratigraphic units that define the river's history and have influenced its channel position and avulsion behaviour through the Late Quaternary. Previously, temporal differentiation within these units has not been sufficient to decipher their sequence of deposition, an important step in understanding the spatial pattern of migration of the Brahmaputra River. Holocene units in this region are fairly well established by radiocarbon dating of in situ organic material, but pre‐Holocene units are considered Pleistocene‐aged if organic material is dated >48 000 year BP (the limit of radiocarbon dating) or the sediments are positioned beneath a prominent paleosol, interpreted as a buried soil horizon that developed during a previous sea level lowstand. In such cases, these morphostratigraphic units have been broadly interpreted as Pleistocene without knowing their absolute depositional ages or relative evolutionary chronology. Here we use detailed sediment analysis to better differentiate morphostratigraphic units at the Brahmaputra's avulsion node, establishing the sequence of deposition and subsequent weathering of these bodies. We then test this relative chronology by luminescence dating of the sands beneath these landform surfaces. This work provides the first absolute depositional age constraints of terrace sediments for the Middle to Late Pleistocene Brahmaputra River and upper Bengal basin. The luminescence ages are complemented by detailed compositional trends in the terrace deposits, including clay mineralogy and the degree of weathering. Together, these newly dated and carefully described morphostratigraphic units reflect eustasy‐driven cycles of terrace development by way of highstand floodplain deposition and subsequent lowstand exposure and weathering, along with active tectonic deformation. Defining this Late Quaternary history of terrace development and position of the Brahmaputra River is a first step toward an integrated understanding of basin and delta evolution over multiple glacioeustatic cycles and tectonically relevant timescales.     

基于光释光测年的共和盆地风沙活动历史研究

位于青藏高原东北缘的共和盆地处于亚洲冬、夏季风和西风环流作用交替控制的干旱-半干旱区,盆地中分布着大面积的沙漠,是重建过去气候的重要载体。前人对共和盆地25个风成剖面的102个OSL年代结果进行分析,得出晚更新世以来共和盆地的风沙活动在各个时期都有发生,黄土堆积主要是更新世末期到早全新世,古土壤主要是晚全新世发育的, 但其测年工作缺乏高密度光释光测年检验。通过对共和盆地西南部的羊曲剖面进行系统的高密度光释光年代学研究发现,羊曲剖面主要是末次冰消期沉积的,9.6-7.1 ka风沙活动迅速减弱,7.1-2 ka存在明显的沉积间断,说明基于单个剖面进行环境演变重建需谨慎。结合盆地内已发表OSL年代结果,末次冰消期以来,风沙活动在共和盆地一直存在,其最强烈时期是14-10 ka左右,黄土主要是末次冰消期14-10 ka沉积的,古土壤发育主要集中在3-2 ka和6-4 ka,此外在9-8 ka也有发育。     

Late Quaternary (24–10 ka BP) environmental history of the Neotropical lowlands inferred from ostracodes in sediments of Lago Petén Itzá, Guatemala

We inferred late Pleistocene and early Holocene (24–10 ka BP) environmental conditions in and around Lago Petén Itzá, Guatemala from ostracode remains in the lake sediments. Multivariate statistics were run on autecological information for 29 extant ostracode species collected in 63 aquatic ecosystems on the Yucatán Peninsula along a steep, increasing NW–S precipitation gradient and across a large altitudinal range. Conductivity and water depth are the most important factors that shape ostracode communities. Transfer functions were developed and applied to fossil ostracode assemblages in a ~76-m sediment core (PI-6, ~85 ka) taken in 71 m of water from Lago Petén Itzá, to infer past shifts in conductivity and water level. Results suggest climate was cold and wet during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). Alternating dry and wet conditions characterized the deglacial. Early Holocene climate was warmer and wetter. The LGM was characterized by low ostracode species richness (4 spp.) and abundance (<940 valves g⁻¹), dominance of benthic over nektobenthic taxa, abundant Physocypria globula, conductivity as low as 190 μS cm⁻¹, and clay-rich sediments with relatively high total organic carbon and low C/N ratios (<14), suggesting relatively deeper water at the core site associated with abundant precipitation. Greatest water depth at the core site during the LGM occurred late in the period and was ~50 m. The deglacial was characterized by drier conditions, higher ostracode species richness (6 spp.) and abundances up to 18,115 valves g⁻¹, dominance of nektobenthic species, and presence of shallow-water and littoral-zone indicators such as Heterocypris punctata and Strandesia intrepida, conductivity up to 550 μS cm⁻¹, C/N ratios as high as 37, and gypsum deposition. Lowest inferred lake depth at the core site during the deglacial was ~20 m. The early Holocene was characterized by high numbers of ostracode remains, up to 25,500 valves g⁻¹, and the presence of L. opesta and P. globula. Cytheridella ilosvayi was absent from late Pleistocene sediments, suggesting it colonized northern Central America during the Holocene.     

福建平潭岛晚第四纪沉积序列 及MIS 5海侵旋回特征

选择位于福建平潭岛北部芦洋埔海积平原的PT01钻孔,岩芯长度28.3 m,采用加速器碳同位素（AMS 14C）和光释光（OSL）测年建立地层年代框架,认为晚更新世富含有孔虫等海相生物化石的地层应归属于MIS 5高海面期,即MIS 5e的潮下带滨海相沉积。结合岩性特征、古生物化石、沉积物色度、粒度分析及其参数等指标,进行了沉积单元的划分,重建了MIS 6末期以来的沉积相变化过程,揭示出MIS 5期间的多次海平面波动变化,即MIS 5高海面期沉积环境仍存在滨海、潮坪、潟湖、风成砂等沉积相之间的转换,并可能存在短暂的陆相或风化过程。而该区整个末次冰期的沉积缺失或较薄,上部全新世沉积也不发育,厚度仅为3.79 m,以沼泽相―风成砂相为主。     

Paleoenvironmental implications of new OSL dates on the formation of the “Shell Bar” in the Qaidam Basin,northeastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau

A geological feature in the Qaidam Basin known as the “Shell Bar” contains millions of freshwater clam shells buried in situ. Since the 1980s, this feature in the now hyper-arid basin has been interpreted to be lake deposits that provide evidence for a warmer and more humid climate than present during late marine isotope stage 3 (MIS 3). Global climate during late MIS 3 and the last glacial maximum, however, was cold and dry, with much lower sea levels. We re-investigated the feature geomorphologically and sedimentologically, and employed optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating to verify the chronology of the sediments. We interpret the Shell Bar to be a remnant of a river channel formed by a stream that ran across an exposed lake bed during a regressive lake phase. Deflation of the surrounding older, fine-grained lacustrine deposits has left the fluvial channel sediments topographically inverted, indicating the erosive nature of the landscape. Luminescence ages place the formation of the Shell Bar in MIS 5 (~113–99 ka), much older than previous radiocarbon ages of <40 ka BP, but place the paleoclimatic inferences more in accord with other regional and global climate proxy records. We present a brief review of the age differences derived from ¹⁴C and OSL dating of some critical sections that were thought to represent a warmer and more humid climate than present during late MIS 3. We attribute the differences to underestimation of ¹⁴C ages. We suggest that ¹⁴C ages older than ~25 ka BP may require re-investigation, especially dates on samples from arid regions.     

乌兰布和沙漠东海子湖全新世湖相沉积结构分析及其环境意义

根据乌兰布和沙漠北部东海子湖沉积纪录,对146 cm的连续沉积进行146个样品的沉积结构分析,并运用沉积结构直方图对比、平均粒径值(M_z值)、沉积物标准离差(σ₁值)、风力降尘作用指标(Kd值)等方法对沉积物代表的环境进行分析研究。依据东海子湖沉积剖面的沉积结构特征,可以将乌兰布和沙漠北部地区中全新世以来划分为4个环境变化阶段:①中全新世湖泊(河流湖泊)沉积阶段,沉积纪录年龄为6 550~2 550 aBP,是环境普遍温暖、湿润的阶段。②晚全新世风力作用渐强阶段,沉积纪录年龄为2 550~1 211 aBP,是一个风力作用不断加强的环境变化时期。③晚全新世强风力作用阶段,沉积纪录年龄为1 211~275 aBP,也是乌兰布和沙漠风成沙堆积最旺盛的阶段。④近代强风力作用阶段,沉积纪录年龄为275 aBP以来。这样的环境变化过程表明,乌兰布和沙漠的形成、演化与中国北方环境演变的总体规律是相一致的。     

Landscape evolution and geodynamic controls in the Gulf of Cadiz (Huelva coast, SW Spain) during the Late Quaternary

The coastal evolution of the El Abalario area (Huelva, southern Spain) during the Late Pleistocene and Holocene is reinterpreted after a refinement of the available geochronology by means of optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating. New data come from the analysis of soft sediment deformation, palaeosols, geomorphological mapping, and published seismic surveys on the onshore and offshore Gulf of Cadiz.The present structure of El Abalario dome resulted from the complex interaction of littoral-catchment processes and sea-level changes upon an emergent coastal plain, conditioned by the upwarping of the underlying Pliocene–Pleistocene prograding deltaic sequence. Upwarping is probably related to escape of over-pressurized fluids, accompanied by dewatering, prior to (?) and during OIS (Oxygen Isotopic Stage) 5. Continued upwarping produced the large NW–SE gravitational fault of Torre del Loro (TLF) in the southwestern flank of the dome, roughly parallel to the present coastline during OIS 5–OIS 4. The resulting escarpment favoured the accumulation of aeolian sand dunes (units U1, U2, and U3) from OIS 5 to early OIS 1. Unit U1 (OIS 5) ends upwards in a supersurface with a thick weathering profile that suggests moist and temperate climatic conditions. Unit U2 accumulated mainly during OIS 4 and OIS 3 with prevailing W/E winds. The supersurface between U2 and U3 records a part of OIS 2, with relative low sea level. Sedimentation of unit U3 took place during the Last Deglaciation (radiocarbon and OSL ages) with prevailing W/SW winds, under a temperate moist climate, that became more arid towards the top (Holocene). A major supersurface with an iron crust-like layer (SsFe) developed during the Holocene Climatic Optimum (OIS 1) under wetter and more temperate conditions than before, fossilizing the TLF. The supersurface is covered by younger aeolian dunes (U4, U5, U6, and U7) transported by W–SW winds since the Late Neolithic–Chalcolithic cultural period (5.0 ky cal BP).     

Holocene paleoclimatic variation in the Schirmacher Oasis,East Antarctica: A mineral magnetic approach

An analysis of remanent magnetism and radiocarbon ages in the dry lacustrine/sediment fills of the Schirmacher Oasis (SO) in East Antarctica was conducted to reconstruct past climatic condition. The statistically run mineral magnetic data on paleontological statistics software package (multivariate cluster analysis) placed on accelerator mass spectrometer radiocarbon chronology of the three sediment sections, trace 6 phases of climatic fluctuation between 13 and 3 ka, (Phases 1, 3 and 5 represent cold periods while Phases 2, 4, and 6 represent warm periods). One short warm period (Phase 2, ca. 12.5 ka) occurred in the late Pleistocene, and two marked warm periods (Phase 4, 11–8.7 ka; Phase 6, 4.4–3 ka) occurred in the Holocene. High magnetic susceptibility (χ), saturation isothermal remanent magnetism (SIRM), and soft isothermal remanent magnetism (soft IRM) values correspond to colder periods and low values reflect comparatively warmer lacustrine phases. Holocene Optima (Phase 4) and Mid Holocene Hypsithermal (Phase 6) are distinguished by decreased values of concentrations dependent parameters. Remanence is preserved in the low-coercive minerals. Heavy metals in the sediments include, Fe, Rb, Zn, Mo, Co, Pb, Mn, Cu, and As in order of decreasing abundance.     

Late Quaternary aggradation rates and stratigraphic architecture of the southern Po Plain,Italy

The Po River Basin, where accumulation and preservation of thick sedimentary packages are enhanced by high rates of tectonic subsidence, represents an ideal site to assess the relations between vertical changes in stratigraphic architecture and sediment accumulation rates. Based on a large stratigraphic database, a markedly contrasting stratigraphy of Late Pleistocene and Holocene deposits is reconstructed from the subsurface of the modern alluvial and coastal plains. Laterally extensive fluvial channel bodies and related pedogenically modified muds of latest Pleistocene age are unconformably overlain by Holocene overbank fines, grading seaward into paralic and nearshore facies associations. In the interfluvial areas, a stiff paleosol, dating at about 12.5–10 cal ky BP, marks the Pleistocene–Holocene boundary. Across this paleosol, aggradation rates (ARs) from 16 radiocarbon‐dated cores invariably show a sharp increase, from 0.1–0.9 mm year^?1 to 0.9–2.9 mm year^?1. Comparatively lower Pleistocene values are inferred to reflect fluvial activity under a low‐accommodation (lowstand and early transgressive) regime, whereas higher ARs during the Holocene are related to increasing accommodation under late transgressive and highstand conditions. Holocene sediment accumulation patterns vary significantly from site to site, and do not exhibit common trends. Very high accumulation rates (20–60 mm year^?1) are indicated by fluvial channel or progradational delta facies, suggesting that extremely variable spatial distribution of Holocene ARs was primarily controlled by autogenic processes, such as fluvial channel avulsion or delta lobe switching. Contrasting AR between uppermost Pleistocene and Holocene deposits also are reported from the interfluves of several coeval, alluvial‐coastal plain systems worldwide, suggesting a key control by allogenic processes. Sediment accumulation curves from adjacent incised valley fills show, instead, variable shapes as a function of the complex mechanisms of valley formation and filling.     

A late Pleistocene and Holocene mineral magnetic record from sediments of Lake Aibi,Dzungarian Basin,NW China

We studied mineral magnetic properties of a 6-m-long, late Pleistocene through Holocene sediment sequence from Lake Aibi in Dzungaria (Zunggary, Junggar), northern Xinjiang, China. Results were used to infer environmental changes and are compared with previously studied cores from Lake Manas. Both water bodies occupy the deepest parts of the Dzungarian Basin and are remnants of large Holocene lakes. During the Late Pleistocene, the magnetic mineralogy in both lakes was dominated by detrital, iron oxide minerals. Oxic conditions, which dominated during sedimentation and early diagenesis, persisted over the Pleistocene–Holocene transition. Later, during the middle Holocene, lake bottom conditions enabled authigenic formation of iron sulphide minerals such as pyrite (FeS₂) in Lake Aibi, and pyrite and greigite (Fe₃S₄) in Lake Manas. This iron sulphide mineralogy suggests increased biological activity in stagnant, anoxic bottom waters. Anoxic bottom conditions started about 9.8 cal kyr BP in Lake Manas and at about 7.2 cal kyr BP in Lake Aibi. A short dry event recorded in Lake Manas between 6.8 and 5.2 cal kyr BP is not clearly observed in Lake Aibi. In the late Holocene, i.e. the last 2.8 cal kyr, sediments of both lakes are again characterised by iron oxides, suggesting well-mixed, shallow water bodies. For this recent period, it seems that the detrital material in the two lakes had a common origin. Magnetic properties of sediments in Lakes Aibi and Manas show broadly similar environmental evolution during the late Pleistocene and Holocene. Nevertheless, despite the close proximity of the two lakes (~200 km) in the same basin, they display some different magnetic properties and record environmental changes at different times.     

基于光释光测年的共和盆地风沙活动历史研究

位于青藏高原东北缘的共和盆地处于亚洲冬、夏季风和西风环流作用交替控制的干旱—半干旱区,盆地中分布着大面积的沙漠,是重建过去气候的重要载体。就前人对共和盆地25个风成剖面的102个光释光(OSL)年代结果进行分析,总结出晚更新世以来共和盆地的风沙活动在各个时期都有发生,黄土堆积主要是更新世末期到早全新世,古土壤主要是晚全新世发育的,但其测年工作缺乏高密度光释光测年检验。通过对共和盆地西南部的羊曲剖面进行系统的高密度光释光年代学研究发现,羊曲剖面主要是末次冰消期沉积的,9.6～7.1 ka风沙活动迅速减弱,7.1～2 ka存在明显的沉积间断,说明基于单个剖面进行环境演变重建需谨慎。结合盆地内已发表OSL年代结果,末次冰消期以来,风沙活动在共和盆地一直存在,其最强烈时期是14～10 ka左右,黄土主要是末次冰消期14～10 ka沉积的,古土壤发育主要集中在3～2 ka和6～4 ka,此外在9～8 ka也有发育。     

Sedimentary stable carbon isotope evidence of late Quaternary vegetation and climate change in highland Costa Rica

Continuous terrestrial records of paleoclimate and paleovegetation that extend to the late Pleistocene are rare for the circum-Caribbean uplands. In this study we analyzed the bulk and compound-specific carbon isotope composition of lake sediments spanning this period from Lago de las Morrenas 1 (LM1), a glacial lake in the highlands of southern Costa Rica, for evidence of climate and vegetation changes that may not have been apparent in previous analyses. The stable carbon isotope ratios of n-alkanes typically derived from terrestrial plants (δ¹³C_C27–C33) indicate an increased abundance of C₄ plant taxa during the late Pleistocene and earliest Holocene that may be related to decreased atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations, increased aridity, or habitat availability. These n-alkane isotope ratios also provide evidence of more arid conditions during the early and late Holocene, and more mesic conditions during the middle Holocene, a pattern prevalent in other paleoclimate records from the region that is thought to be related to millennial-scale dynamics of the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ). The sensitivity of the LM1 paleorecord to trade wind dynamics provides further support for the role of millennial-scale shifts in ITCZ dynamics in driving neotropical environmental change, and indicates that the effects of ITCZ migration were not limited to the lowlands.     

Quaternary sedimentation on the Woronora Plateau and its implications for climatic change

Shallow upland valleys at 300–500 m above sea level on the Woronora Plateau near Wollongong, NSW, have been Infilled by sandy sediment during the Quaternary. Within these valleys hygrophilous shrubs and sedges occupy permanently wet, fine‐grained organic sediments and more open sedgeland occupies sandier, better‐aerated but still organic‐rich sediments. Sediments lying directly above sandstone bedrock have radiocarbon ages ranging up to 17,000 years BP, but appear very similar to sediments presently accumulating. Indeed, at one site sediments ranging in age from about 6,000 to 11,700 years BP were identical in organic contents and grainsize characteristics to contemporary deposits. Limited evidence derived from plant fossils and pollen in the sediments indicated no major vegetation change during the past 11,700 years. Hence there is no evidence to suggest that the environment of the Woronora Plateau has changed substantially in late Pleistocene to Holocene times. Furthermore, the considerable range in the basal dates of the sediments indicates that the onset of sedimentation at any site does not necessarily correspond to changes either in climate or in the sedimentary processes operating within particular catchments.     

Climate-related cyclic deposition of carbonate and organic matter in Holocene lacustrine sediment,Lower Michigan,USA

Records from lake sediment cores are critical for assessing the relative stability of climate and ecosystems over the Holocene. Duck Lake in south-central Lower Michigan, USA, was the focus of a study that identified how changes in the geochemical variables in lake sediments relate to variations in regional climate and local land use during the Holocene. More than 8.5 m of lacustrine sediment were recovered using Livingston and freeze corers and analyzed for organic carbon, inorganic (carbonate) carbon, total nitrogen, and trace metals. Repeating packages of sediment (1–10 cm thick) that grade from light (inorganic carbon-rich) to dark (organic carbon-rich) were found from the surface to a depth of about 8 m. Variations in the high-resolution gray scale data from core X-radiographs are highly correlated to the relative amount of inorganic carbon. Geochemical analyses of the upper 8.5 m of sediment revealed a wide range of values: 0.05–10.6% for inorganic carbon (i.e. 0.5–89% calcium carbonate) and 1.1–28% for organic carbon (i.e. 2.7–70% organic matter). Organic carbon to nitrogen ratios indicate that most of the sediment organic matter is produced within the lake. A core chronology based on eight AMS radiocarbon dates shows low sediment accumulation rates (0.05 cm/year) from 10,000 to 3,800 cal year BP and higher sediment accumulation rates (0.1–0.3 cm/year) from 3,800 cal year BP to present. We suggest that carbonate accumulates during relatively dry times, whereas organic matter accumulation dominates when nutrient input to the lake is enhanced by wetter climate. The Duck Lake core records a distinct low point in inorganic carbon deposition that may be related to the 8.2 ka cooling event now documented from several sites in North America. Spectral analysis of gray scale values shows significant ~200-year periodicities over the past 8,000 years, hypothesized to result from climate changes induced by solar forcing. Concentrations of trace metals (e.g. lead, iron, copper, zinc) indicate the onset of regional anthropogenic influence about 150 cal year BP.     

克里雅河下游沉积物的光释光年龄与晚更新世末以来沙漠的形成

有关塔克拉玛干沙漠演化的年代学数据尚少,本文在地貌认知较少的克里雅河下游沙漠深处的圆沙和喀拉墩一带16处剖面获取了18件河流沉积光释光（OSL）年龄。新测得的年龄数据分布于3.4—44.1 ka。全新世样品多分布于圆沙与喀拉墩干三角洲及其之间的地区,年龄集中在11 ka、8—9 ka、5—6.5 ka、4.6 ka与3.4—3.7 ka。深海氧同位素3阶段（MIS3）样品位置在克里雅河与和田河之间,分布在约38—47 ka前后。末次冰期冰盛期（LGM）末样品分布在通往圆沙古河道的西侧,年龄在14.5 ka前后。根据沉积物样品及年代学数据认为：克里雅河下游曾在MIS3阶段末、LGM末与全新世多次发生洪泛;数次的洪泛事件对克里雅河下游地貌发育产生重要影响;克里雅河下游干三角洲及现代河流西侧的流动沙丘主要形成于全新世,与前人“发育于汉唐以来”的观点不完全一致。克里雅河下游河流沉积发生时间与塔里木盆地周缘山脉冰进冰消有一定对应,暗示气候变化可能间接影响着塔克拉玛干沙漠沙丘的发育。     

RADIOCARBON DATING OF GLACIAL MORAINES USING THE AEOLIAN BIOME: TEST RESULTS AT BISHOP CREEK,SIERRA NEVADA,CALIFORNIA

Radiocarbon measurements on fossilized remnants of the aeolian biome, incorporated in glacial moraines in the Sierra Nevada of California, are consistent with the relative order of moraines at Bishop Creek, on the eastern slopes of the Sierra Nevada. Holocene ¹⁴C ages correspond with periods of more effective moisture according to paleoecological and treeline data in the range, whereas Pleistocene ages are penecontemporaneous with Heinrich Events in the North Atlantic. These findings must be interpreted with caution, however, owing to a number of uncertainties, including: evidence that younger contaminants are added to till matrix; the possibility of older contaminants; the effects of pretreatment on aeolian biome remains; and processes by which organics undergo diagenesis within till matrices in different biogeochemical settings. [Key words: aeolian biome, Heinrich Events, moraines, radiocarbon dating, Sierra Nevada.]