Paleoenvironmental changes in the northern shelf of the Sea of Okhotsk during the Holocene

The combined micropaleontological (spores and pollen, diatoms, benthic foraminifers), lithologic, and isotopic-geochemical analysis of sediments from the northern shelf of the Sea of Okhotsk recovered by hydrostatic corer from the depth of 140 mbsl elucidated environmental changes in this part of the basin and adjacent land areas during the last 12.7 thousands cal. years. Geochronological scale of the core is established using the acceleration mass-spectrometry method for radiocarbon dating of benthic Foraminifera tests. The first insignificant warming in the northern part of the sea after glaciation occurred in the mid-Boreal time (9.6 ka ago) but not at the onset of the Holocene. The strongest warming in the region took place in the mid-Atlantic epoch to reach climatic optimum in the second half of the Subboreal (6 to 2.5 ka ago). A cooling in the northern shelf and adjacent land areas is established at the beginning of the Subatlantic (2.5 ka). A comparison of results obtained for Core 89211 with dated hydrological and climatic changes in central and southern parts of the Sea of Okhotsk (Gorbarenko et al., 2003, 2004) is used for a high-resolution analysis of climatic fluctuations in the study region and other areas of the basin during deglaciation and the Holocene.     

Variations in the pattern and rate of isostatic uplift indicated by a comparison of Holocene sea-level curves from Scotland

Differences in the timing of maxima and minima and shape between sea-level curves from the western Forth valley, lower Strathearn, inner Moray Firth and eastern Solway Firth areas of Scotland are interpreted as being due to differences in isostatic uplift and different methodologies used to interpret the basic data. Possible changes in the relative rates of uplift between areas suggest that the practice of applying the western Forth ‘model’ of relative sea-level change to other parts of Scotland must be questioned.     

Late Pleistocene and Holocene depositional systems and the palaeogeography of the Dogger Bank, North Sea

3D seismic data from the Dogger Bank, North Sea, allow the mapping of Late Pleistocene and Holocene depositional systems in unprecedented detail. The data demonstrate that glacial processes resulted in the development of incised tunnel valley systems during the Weichselian and that these were subsequently modified by fluvial processes in a pro-glacial setting. Subsequently, the Dogger Bank formed an emergent plain during the Holocene with a complex meandering river system, associated tributary or distributary channels and lakes, dominating the region. Prior to the sea level rising sufficiently to submerge the Dogger Bank around 7500 yr ago, the meandering river system was replaced by a dendritic channel network of potential fluvial, estuarine or intertidal origin. As the Holocene depositional features bear no systematic relationship to the bathymetry this study demonstrates that previously published bathymetry-based models for the Holocene palaeogeographic development of the North Sea require modification.     

Geochemical stability of fine-grained silicic Holocene tephra in Iceland and Scotland

This paper tests two assumptions fundamental to the use of fine-grained silicic tephras from Iceland for creating chronological frameworks in northwest Europe. It is shown firstly, that glass shards can retain their overall chemical integrity on at least a four millennial time-scale in contrasting depositional environments in Iceland and Scotland, and secondly, that an acid digestion process, the most practical method for extracting tephra from peat, does not significantly bias the results of major element analysis by electron microprobe. The implication is that there is great potential and an appropriate method for developing both the resolution and the spatial coverage of chronologies based on silicic Icelandic tephras in northwest Europe.     

Holocene temperature fluctuations in the northern Tibetan Plateau

Arid Central Asia (ACA) lies on a major climatic boundary between the mid-latitude westerlies and the northwestern limit of the Asian summer monsoon, yet only a few high-quality reconstructions exist for its climate history. Here we calibrate a new organic geochemical proxy for lake temperature, and present a 45-yr-resolution temperature record from Hurleg Lake at the eastern margin of the ACA in the northern Tibetan Plateau. Combination with other proxy data from the same samples reveals a distinct warm–dry climate association throughout the record, which contrasts with the warm–wet association found in the Asian monsoon region. This indicates that the climatic boundary between the westerly and the monsoon regimes has remained roughly in the same place throughout the Holocene, at least near our study site. Six millennial-scale cold events are found within the past 9000 yr, which approximately coincide with previously documented events of northern high-latitude cooling and tropical drought. This suggests a connection between the North Atlantic and tropical monsoon climate systems, via the westerly circulation. Finally, we also observe an increase in regional climate variability after the mid-Holocene, which we relate to changes in vegetation (forest) cover in the monsoon region through a land-surface albedo feedback.     

南海北部晚全新世高海平面及其波动的海滩沉积证据

揭示晚全新世以来的海平面变化过程对于理解海平面所处的现状和变化的趋势等具有重要意义。构造活动相对稳定的雷州半岛珊瑚礁区蕴藏着丰富的海平面变化信息,文中对该区晚全新世发育的海滩沉积序列研究表明,距今约1.7～1.2Cal.kaBP(14C年代为2.1～1.7kaBP)期间总体上是一个海平面持续上升的时期,其中在距今约1.5Cal.kaBP时海平面有过短暂的下降波动,约1.2Cal.kaBP时的海平面比现在的至少高128cm;之后海平面开始下降,至今海岸线后退了约210m,形成现代海滩-沙堤地貌体系。结合本区珊瑚礁记录的全新世其他时段海平面的变化特征,本文认为全新世海平面与气候变化一样,也存在千年、百年、年代际尺度的波动特征。     

Sedimentary architecture and genesis of Holocene shallow-water mud-mounds, northern Belize

Abstract Cangrejo and Bulkhead Shoals are areally extensive, Holocene biodetrital mud‐mounds in northern Belize. They encompass areas of 20 km² and 35 km² in distal and proximal positions, respectively, on a wide and shallow‐water, microtidal carbonate shelf where storms are the major process affecting sediment dynamics. Sediments at each mound are primarily biodetrital and comprise part of a eustatically forced, dominantly subtidal cycle with a recognizable deepening‐upward transgressive systems tract, condensed section and shallowing‐upward highstand systems tract. Antecedent topographic relief on Pleistocene limestone bedrock also provided marine accommodation space for deposition of sediments that are a maximum of 7·6 m thick at Cangrejo and 4·5 m thick at Bulkhead. Despite differences in energy levels and location, facies and internal sedimentological architectures of the mud‐mounds are similar. On top of Pleistocene limestone or buried soil developed on it are mangrove peat and overlying to laterally correlative shelly gravels. Deposition of these basal transgressive, premound facies tracked the rapid rate of sea‐level rise from about 6400–6500 years BP to 4500 years BP, and the thin basal sedimentation unit of the overlying mound‐core appears to be a condensed section. Following this, the thick and complex facies mosaic comprising mound‐cores represents highstand systems tract sediments deposited in the last ≈ 4500 years during slow and decelerating sea‐level rise. Within these sections, there is an early phase of progradationally offlapping catch‐up deposition and a later (and current) phase of aggradational keep‐up deposition. The mound‐cores comprise stacked storm‐deposited autogenic sedimentation units, the upper bounding surfaces of which are mostly eroded former sediment–water interfaces below which depositional textures have largely been overprinted by biogenic processes associated with Thalassia‐colonized surfaces. Vertical stacking of these units imparts a quasi‐cyclic architecture to the section that superficially mimics metre‐scale parasequences in ancient rocks. The locations of the mud‐mounds and the tidal channels transecting them have apparently been stable over the last 50 years. Characteristics that might distinguish these mud‐mounds and those mudbanks deposited in more restricted settings such as Florida Bay are their broad areal extent, high proportion of sand‐size sediment fractions and relatively abundant biotic particles derived from adjoining open shelf areas.     

Timing and duration of growth hiatuses in mid Holocene massive Porites corals from the northern South China Sea

Growth hiatuses in massive corals are usually indicative of past ecological or environmental stresses. Among 37 fossil Porites colonies surveyed from the reef flat of Dadonghai fringing reef at Sanya, Hainan Island, northern South China Sea, seven of them were found to show clear evidence of past mortality, representing a population of ～19%. Among these samples, two of them (SYO‐13 and SYO‐28) display clear growth hiatuses reflecting mortality followed by subsequent recruitment, and five others exhibit a well‐preserved mortality surface and no subsequent recruitment. The growth hiatuses were dated using high‐precision thermal ionisation mass spectrometry U‐series techniques. The age results suggest all the dated corals formed and died in the mid Holocene. Multiple dates below the growth hiatuses suggest that SYO‐13 and SYO‐28 died at 6298 ± 11 and 6929 ± 19 a BP (i.e. years before AD 1950), respectively. Multiple dates above the growth hiatuses indicate that growth in SYO‐13 and SYO‐28 resumed at 6257 ± 14 and 6898 ± 20 a BP, respectively. The calculated durations of growth hiatuses are therefore 41 ± 18 a for SYO‐13 and 31 ± 28 a for SYO‐28, respectively, implying growth resumed within decades after the mortality events. U‐series dating of four other samples with dead heads suggests that they died at 6035 ± 53, 6059 ± 23, 6127 ± 22 and 6474 ± 24 a BP, respectively. In addition, using solution inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP‐MS), monthly resolution Sr/Ca and Mg/Ca ratios were determined for the annual growth bands below and above the growth hiatuses for three of the dated samples. The Sr/Ca and Mg/Ca profiles indicate that the three corals probably died in different seasons (from spring to autumn), and the mortality appears to be unrelated to anomalous sea surface temperature‐induced bleaching. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

上海地区全新世海平面的变化

本文通过对位于上海冈身西侧的赵巷孔进行孢粉和微古分析，论述上海地区全新世海平面变化，上海地区在全新世时期海平面经历6次波动，3次海平面上升，3次海平面下降，在7000-6000a,B.P气候最佳时期上海地区海平面表现出升中有降的现象，本文对这一短暂的海退现象作了简要的分析。     

Holocene environmental and climatic changes inferred from Wulungu Lake in northern Xinjiang, China

Sedimentological, geochemical and palynological data from Wulungu Lake in northern Xinjiang, China, are used to reconstruct environmental and climate changes since 9550 cal yr BP. High abundance of Sparganium and Poaceae, low Md (median diameter) and δ¹³C_organic values indicate aridity between 9550 and 6730 cal yr BP. High Md and δ¹³C_organic values, and the prevalence of desert-steppe and steppe vegetation between 4200 and 560 cal yr BP, indicate that effective moisture increased after 6730 cal yr BP, peaking at 4200 and 560 cal yr BP. Low Md values, a negative excursion of δ¹³C_org, and the transition from steppe to desert vegetation since 560 cal yr BP reflect a decrease in effective moisture during the latest Holocene. Late Holocene human activities were indicated by sharp increase in the abundance of Pediastrum then. Variations in carbonate contents indicate that temperature was generally high between 9550 and 7740 cal yr BP, low between 7740 and 6730 cal yr BP, intermediate between 6730 and 560 cal yr BP, and low during the last 560 yr. Regional comparison indicates that the Asian monsoon did not extend to Wulungu Lake and westerlies were the main factor in determining the moisture availability during the Holocene.     

Holocene evolution of the Mar Chiquita coastal lagoon area (Argentina) indicated by pollen analysis

Palynologycal information was integrated with the aim to study vegetation history and environmental changes in Mar Chiquita coastal lagoon area (in the southeast of Buenos Aires province, Argentina) related to sea‐level fluctuations during the Holocene. Prior to 5000 yr BP a mosaic of psammophytic and halophytic communities developed on extensive sandy flats. Between 4000 and 2500 yr BP, during a period of sea‐level stabilisation, similar halophytic communities developed in the south and in the middle part of the present lagoon. Between 4500 and 3500 yr BP hydrophytic and halophytic communities developed in Laguna Hinojales. Beginning 2500 yr BP, when sea level was nearing its present position, modern plant communities became established. Pollen records suggest that littoral evolution of the area was much more complex than previous models have described, introducing new evidence of the geomorphological evolution of Mar Chiquita coastal lagoon. The estuarine environment was delimited by a system of barrier islands instead of a linear prograding barrier, as has been proposed. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Traces of volcanic ash from the Mediterranean,Iceland and North America in a Holocene record from south Wales,UK

A tephra record is presented for a sediment core from Llyn Llech Owain, south Wales, spanning the early- to mid-Holocene. Seven cryptotephra deposits are discovered with three thought to correlate with known eruptions and the remaining four considered to represent previously undocumented events. One deposit is suggested to correlate with the ~6.9 cal ka bp Lairg A tephra from Iceland, whereas more distant sources are proposed as the origin for two of the tephra deposits. A peak of colourless shards in early-Holocene sediments is thought to tentatively correlate with the ~9.6 cal ka bp Fondi di Baia tephra (Campi Flegrei) and a second cryptotephra is tentatively correlated with the ~3.6 cal ka bp Aniakchak (CFE) II tephra (Alaska). The Fondi di Baia tephra has never been recorded beyond proximal sites and its discovery in south Wales significantly extends the geographical distribution of ash from this eruption. The remaining four cryptotephra deposits are yet to be correlated with known eruptions, demonstrating that our current understanding of widespread tephra deposits is incomplete. This new tephra record highlights the potential for sites at more southerly and westerly locations in northwest Europe to act as repositories for ash from several volcanic regions.     

Manganese Abnormity in Holocene Sediments of the Bohai Sea

Manganese abnormity has been observed in the Holocene sediments of the mud area of Bohai Sea. On the basis of grain size, chemical composition, heavy mineral content and accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) 14C dating of foraminifer, relationships between manganese abnormity and sedimentation rates, material source, hydrodynamic conditions are probed. Manganese abnormity occurred during the Middle Holocene when sea level and sedimentation rates were higher than those at present. Sedimentary hiatus was not observed when material sources and hydrodynamic conditions were quite similar. Compared with the former period, the latter period showed a decrease in reduction environment and an inclination toward oxidation environment with high manganese content, whereas provenance and hydrodynamic conditions showed only a slight change. From the above observations, it can be concluded that correlation among manganese abnormity, material source, and hydrodynamic conditions is not obvious. Redox environment seems to be the key factor for manganese enrichment, which is mainly related to marine authigenic process.     

The effect of geomorphological setting on Holocene lake sediment variability,northern Swedish Lapland

Comparison of catchment geomorphology and lithostratigraphical analysis of sediments in two small neighbouring alpine lakes show that the minerogenic influx into the lakes has varied significantly during the Holocene, despite similarities in environmental setting. One lake contains a homogeneous organic‐rich sediment sequence whereas the sediment of the other lake is laminated and has a higher minerogenic content. X‐ray radiographs are used to visualise lithostratigraphical structures and provide high‐resolution density data. We find that moderate differences in geomorphology and process activity in the lakeshore region around alpine lakes can significantly affect the lake sediment composition. Minerogenic sediment accumulation rates vary strongly over time, owing to different depositional processes, which complicate temporal reconstructions. We also find that non‐glacial processes deposit minerogenic sediment layers with similar characteristics (high density, low organic content) as layers interpreted as having a glaciofluvial origin. This has implications for palaeoclimate studies based on proglacial lacustrine sediment. Our results indicate that erosion of surface sediments in the catchments characterised the early Holocene. A low and constant minerogenic inflow indicates that stable environmental conditions (with little fluvial erosion) were established in the catchments during the middle Holocene. The variability in sediment composition increased again in the late Holocene, possibly as a result of short‐term climate fluctuations superimposed on a general climate deterioration trend. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

上海地区全新世海面变化及环境演化

收集和整理上海地区各类古海面标志的地质意义及~(14)C测年资料,建立了上海地区全新世海面变化曲线。并结合上海地区地层建造、微古化石、孢粉及古人类遗址的发掘资料,探讨了上海地区全新世的环境演化,及环境变化对古人类活动的影响。     

Holocene Relative Sea Level Changes along the Seattle Fault at Restoration Point, Washington

At a marsh on the hanging wall of the Seattle fault, fossil brackish water diatom and plant seed assemblages show that the marsh lay near sea level between 7500 and 1000 cal yr B.P. This marsh is uniquely situated for recording environmental changes associated with past earthquakes on the Seattle fault. Since 7500 cal yr B.P., changes in fossil diatoms and seeds record several rapid environmental changes. In the earliest of these, brackish conditions changed to freshwater 6900 cal yr B.P., possibly because of coseismic uplift or beach berm accretion. If coseismic uplift produced the freshening 6900 cal yr B.P., that uplift probably did not exceed 2 m. During another event about 1700 cal yr B.P., brackish plant and diatom assemblages changed rapidly to a tidal flat assemblage because of either tectonic subsidence or berm erosion. The site then remained a tideflat until the most recent event, when an abrupt shift from tideflat diatoms to freshwater taxa resulted from 7 m of uplift during an earthquake on the Seattle fault 1000 cal yr B.P. Regardless of the earlier events, no Seattle fault earthquake similar to the one 1000 cal yr B.P. occurred at any other time in the past 7500 years.     

Early to middle Holocene silicic tephra horizons from the Katla volcanic system,Iceland: new results from the Faroe Islands

Comparatively few Icelandic tephra horizons dated to the early part of the Holocene have so far been detected outside Iceland. Here, I present several tephra horizons that have been recorded in a Holocene peat sequence on the Faroe Islands. Geochemical analyses show that at least two dacitic and one rhyolitic tephra layers were erupted from the Katla volcanic system on southern Iceland between ca. 8000 and 5900 cal. yr BP. The upper two layers can be correlated with the SILK tephras described from southern Iceland, whereas the third, dated to ca. 8000 cal. yr BP, has a geochemistry virtually identical to the rhyolitic component of the Vedde Ash. The results suggest that the Late Weichselian and early Holocene eruption history of the Katla volcano was probably more complex than inferred from Iceland. A new, early Holocene rhyolitic tephra dated to ca. 10 500 cal. yr BP probably originates in the Snæfellsnes volcanic centre in western Iceland. These new findings may play an important role in developing a Holocene tephra framework for northwest Europe. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

滦河口北部七里海地区中晚全新世沉积演化过程

滦河口北部七里海地区全新世演化过程是划分滦河三角洲范围的依据,也是认识陆海相互作用的有益补充。通过对七里海地区6个钻孔进行详细的沉积学、微体古生物研究和年代测定,分析了中晚全新世以来的沉积环境演化过程。滦河口北部七里海地区发育中晚全新世冲积扇-湖相三角洲、晚全新世砂坝-潟湖和海相三角洲及近现代砂坝-潟湖地貌沉积体系。6~5 ka B.P.,七里海西部发育冲积扇湖相三角洲沉积体系,东部为湖相三角洲前缘。5~1 ka B.P.,七里海南部形成潟湖,推断现今海岸线外侧发育一道滨海砂坝,区域形成第一期砂坝-潟湖地貌沉积体系。10~19世纪,区域受滦河泛滥的影响,逐渐成陆,发育潟湖-潮上带-分支河道的三角洲沉积组合。19世纪,第一期砂坝-潟湖地貌沉积体系中砂坝不断向陆迁移至翡翠岛,七里海地区形成浅水湖沼。1883年,滦河洪水在七里海新开口冲破海岸沙丘,形成七里海潟湖,区域形成现今砂坝-潟湖地貌沉积体系。1915年,滦河冲开翡翠岛南部沙丘入海,发育现代三角洲。     

关于江苏建湖庆丰剖面全新世沉积环境与海面变化关系的讨论

应用有孔虫、介形虫、软体动物和现代沉积环境等方面的研究成果,对江苏建湖庆丰剖面所显示的全新世沉积环境和海面变化进行讨论。认为在露头上大量原地埋藏的软体动物壳体指示环境的作用比有孔虫埋藏群更有意义。庆丰剖面所揭示的情况是 6 0 0 0～ 12 70aBP该地区一直处于潮间带-河口湾环境。 6 0 0 0aBP以前海面是上升的,6 0 0 0aBP达到了与现今海面相当的位置,其后海面是稳定的,看不出海面波动现象。