Was There Savanna Corridor on the Exposed Sunda Shelf During the Last Glacial Period?

To date, it is still heatedly debated that whether the exposed Sunda Shelf was covered by savanna or rainforest in the Last Glacial Period (LGP). A lot of palynological evidences revealed that large increase of non-arboreal pollen did not occurred on the southern South China Sea (SCS), and lowland and montane rainforest pollen were still predominant. Most of the herb-predominated pollen records occurred on the northern Australia, possibly indicating dispersions of herbs from current distribution centers. As a result, we advocated that inland and connected exposed Sunda Shelf around the southern SCS were covered by tropical forests rather than savanna during the LGP, although climate was drier then. This conclusion is not only supported by palaeoclimate-vegetation modeling, but also corresponds with most of the palynological evidences from South America. Current palynological records also showed the lack of palaeoenviromental reconstruction in Southeast Asia, including less pollen records and ambiguous correlations between marine pollen assemblage and its catchment vegetation.     

Change of Gas Hydrate Reservoir and Its Effect on the Environment in Xisha Trough since the Last Glacial Maximum

In this article, Milkov and Sassen’s model is selected to calculate the thickness of the gas hydrate stable zone (GHSZ) and the amount of gas hydrate in the Xisha (西沙) Trough at present and at the last glacial maximum (LGM), respectively, and the effects of the changes in the bottom water temperature and the sea level on these were also discussed. The average thickness of the GHSZ in Xisha Trough is estimated to be 287 m and 299 m based on the relationship between the GHSZ thickness and the water depth established in this study at present and at LGM, respectively. Then, by assuming that the distributed area of gas hydrates is 8 000 km2 and that the gas hydrate saturation is 1.2% of the sediment volume, the amounts of gas hydrate are estimated to be ~2.76×1010 m3 and ~2.87×1010 m3, and the volumes of hydrate-bound gases are ~4.52×1012 m3 and ~4.71×1012 m3 at present and at LGM, re- spectively. The above results show that the thickness of GHSZ decreases with the bottom water tem- perature increase and increases with the sea level increase, wherein the effect of the former is larger than that of the latter, that the average thickness of GHSZ in Xisha Trough had been reduced by ~12 m, and that 1.9×1011 m3 of methane is released from approximately 1.1×109 m3 of gas hydrate since LGM. The released methane should have greatly affected the environment.     

Loess deposition in Asia： its initiation and development before and during the Quaternary

Dust is important in the Earth environment system. However; the role of dust in climate change remains largely unknown. A better understanding of the temporal and spatial variability of the dust accumulation in Asia forms an important step towards establishing the link between dust deposition and climate change. Here, a summary is given for the timing of the onset and expansion of loess deposition in Asia beginning in the early, Miocene. Recent progress on some aspects of loess chronology and palaeoenvironmental reconstruction is also reviewed.     

Re-analysis of late Quaternary dust mass accumulation rates in Serbia using new luminescence chronology for loess–palaeosol sequence at Surduk

Despite numerous palaeoenvironmental investigations of loess–palaeosol sequences across the Carpathian Basin, well-dated high-resolution records are scarce. This paper presents a new high-resolution chronology for the loess-palaeosol sequence at Surduk (Serbia), based on optically stimulated luminescence (quartz) and post-infrared infrared stimulated luminescence (polymineral) dating. The presented record spans 53–19 ka, with primary loess deposition occurring after 52±2 ka, and differs from previously published chronologies that relied on less precise and now superseded dating protocols. Based on the new chronology, mass accumulation rates (MARs) for Surduk were constructed and compared with sites in the Carpathian Basin. The results demonstrate that accumulation periods across this area are not consistent in timing or rates. The high-resolution dating strategy identifies a disturbance in sediment deposition that occurred after 45±2 ka and implies that site contains a hiatus. Finally, we show samples that failed routine dose recovery and preheat plateau tests, and had low fast ratios. Supported by bulk sample geochemical analysis it is proposed that a potential abrupt source shift, during the Last Glacial Maximum, may be the cause of the anomalous luminescence behaviour.     

Evolutionary history of hoofed mammals during the Oligocene–Miocene transition in Western Europe

The biostratigraphy and diversity patterns of terrestrial, hoofed mammals help to understand the transition between the Palaeogene and the Neogene in Western Europe. Three phases are highlighted: (1) the beginning of the Arvernian (Late Oligocene, MP25-27) was characterised by a “stable” faunal composition including the last occurrences of taxa inherited from the Grande Coupure and of newly emerged ones; (2) the latest Arvernian (Late Oligocene, MP28-30) and the Agenian (Early Miocene, MN1-2) saw gradual immigrations leading to progressive replacement of the Arvernian, hoofed mammals towards the establishment of the “classical” Agenian fauna; (3) the beginning of the Orleanian (Early Miocene, MN3-4) coincided with the African-Eurasian faunal interchanges of the Proboscidean Datum Events and led to complete renewal of the Agenian taxa and total disappearance of the last Oligocene survivors. Faunal balances, poly-cohorts and particularly cluster analyses emphasise these three periods and define a temporally well-framed Oligocene–Miocene transition between MP28 and MN2. This transition started in MP28 with a major immigration event, linked to the arrival in Europe of new ungulate taxa, notably a stem group of “Eupecora” and the small anthracothere Microbunodon. Due to its high significance in the reorganisation of European, hoofed-mammal communities, we propose to name it the Microbunodon Event. This first step was followed by a phase of extinctions (MP29-30) and later by a phase of regional speciation and diversification (MN1-2). The Oligocene–Miocene faunal transition ended right before the two-phased turnover linked to the Proboscidean Datum Events (MN3-4). Locomotion types of rhinocerotids and ruminants provide new data on the evolution of environments during the Oligocene–Miocene transition and help understand the factors controlling these different phases. Indeed, it appears that the faunal turnovers were primarily directed by migrations, whereas the Agenian transitional phase mainly witnessed speciations.     

GGR Biennial Review: Key Advances in Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry in the Geological Sciences during the Period 2008–2009

Secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS or ion microprobe) remains one of the most powerful techniques in the analytical geochemist’s toolkit. The key strength of SIMS is its capacity to provide trace element and isotope data at sampling sizes which are not approached by other methods. As compared with the main competing technique of laser ablation-ICP-MS, SIMS commonly provides a total sampling mass some 10 to 500 times smaller; this feature can be the deciding factor as to whether an analytical objective is technically achievable. Additional strengths of SIMS lie in the areas of depth profiling and trace element imaging. Though perhaps not as commonly used in the geosciences, these two operational modes represent unique capabilities of SIMS.     

Stratigraphy and palaeoclimatic significance of Late Quaternary loess–palaeosol sequences of the Last Interglacial–Glacial cycle in central Alaska

Loess is one of the most widespread subaerial deposits in Alaska and adjacent Yukon Territory and may have a history that goes back 3 Ma. Based on mineralogy and major and trace element chemistry, central Alaskan loess has a composition that is distinctive from other loess bodies of the world, although it is quartz-dominated. Central Alaskan loess was probably derived from a variety of rock types, including granites, metabasalts and schists. Detailed stratigraphic data and pedologic criteria indicate that, contrary to early studies, many palaeosols are present in central Alaskan loess sections. The buried soils indicate that loess sedimentation was episodic, or at least rates of deposition decreased to the point where pedogenesis could keep ahead of aeolian input. As in China, loess deposition and pedogenesis are likely competing processes and neither stops completely during either phase of the loess/soil formation cycle. Loess deposition in central Alaska took place before, and probably during the last interglacial period, during stadials of the mid-Wisconsin period, during the last glacial period and during the Holocene. An unexpected result of our geochronological studies is that only moderate loess deposition took place during the last glacial period. Our studies lead us to conclude that vegetation plays a key role in loess accumulation in Alaska. Factors favouring loess production are enhanced during glacial periods but factors that favour loess accumulation are diminished during glacial periods. The most important of these is vegetation; boreal forest serves as an effective loess trap, but sparsely distributed herb tundra does not. Thus, thick accumulations of loess should not be expected where tundra vegetation was dominant and this is borne out by modern studies near the treeline in central Alaska. Much of the stratigraphic diversity of North American loess, including that found in the Central Lowlands, the Great Plains, and Alaska is explained by a new model that emphasizes the relative importance of loess production factors versus loess accumulation factors.     

Rapid Shrinking of Glaciers in the Middle Qilian Mountain Region of Northwest China during the Last ～50 Years

During the past five decades, fluctuations of glaciers were reconstructed from historical documents, aerial photographs, and remote sensing data. From 1956 to 2003, 910 glaciers investigated had reduced in area by 21.7% of the 1956 value, with a mean reduction for the individual glacier of 0.10 km2. The relative area reductions of small glaciers were usually higher than those of large ones, which exhibited larger absolute loss, indicating that the small glaciers were more sensitive to climate change than la...     

Planktonic Foraminifera in the Continental Slope of the Northern South China Sea during the Last 130,000 Years and Their Paleo-Oceanographic Implications

Core V36-06-3, approximately 12m long, was raised from the lower part of the continental slope of the continental South China Sea from a water depth of 2,809 m. Analyses of planktonic foraminifera, CaCO_3 content and oxygen isotopes(δ~(18)O) in shells of Globigerinoides sacculifer show that the trend of the sea surfacetemperature change at this site over the last 130,000 years is consistent with that in other oceans, while the expression of the dissolution cycles of calcium carbonates here is contrary to that in the Pacific Ocean but consistent with that in the Atlantic Ocean, which means that the dissolution was intense and the CaCO_3 content was slightly low during the glacial ages, but the reverse was true for the interglacial ages. The reason for this is that during the glacial ages large quantity of terrigenous detrital materials were brought into the abyssal and bathyal Zones, thus diluting the calcium carbonate deposits and intensifying their dissolution.     

A Multi-cycle Climatic Fluctuation Record of the Last Interglacial Period:Typical Stratigraphic Section in the Salawusu River Valley on the Ordos Plateau,China

The Last Interglacial Period strata in the Milanggouwan section in the Salawusu River valley on the Ordos Plateau, China, have 8.5 sedimentary cycles composed alternately of eolian dune sands, fluvio-lacustrine facies and paleosols. Based on comprehensive analyses on the distribution of magnetic susceptibility and CaCO3 and paleo-ecology indicated by fossils in the region, it is considered that the sedimentation cycles resulted from dry-cold and warm-humid climate fluctuations. Magnetic susceptibility values and CaCO3 contents in stratigraphic sectors Ⅰ, Ⅲ, Ⅴ and Ⅱ, Ⅳ basically respectively present peaks and low vales, and the former three can in time correlate with MIS5a, MIS5c and MIS5e successively and the latter two with MIS5b and MIS5d. In addition, some horizons of eolian dune sands and the low vales of their magnetic susceptibility and CaCO3 are also correlated with 6 periods of cooling events indicated by the higher content of foraminifer Neogloboquadrina pachyderma (S.) documented in the V29-191 drill in the North Atlantic and the cold events recorded by δ^18O in the ice cores in GRIP, especially with 9 periods of dust events in Chinese Loess Plateau.     

Aridification — Climate change in South-Eastern Europe

Climatic change in SE Europe can be characterized by the term aridification, which means increasing semi-aridity, manifested in an increase of mean annual temperature and at the same time in a decrease in the yearly precipitation.The paper deals with research results obtained within the framework of the MEDALUS II project (funded by the Commission of the European Communities). The project had the following objectives:

• 1.(i) Assessment of the impact of global change on the climate of the investigated area, including possible future climates.
• 2.(ii) Physical processes of aridification, including studies of groundwater level change, soil moisture profile dynamics, soil development, vegetation change and soil erosion.
• 3.(iii) Land use change, involving research on present land use and suggestions for the future.

Various methods were applied with respect to the different research objectives.

• 1.(i) Statistical analysis of climatic oscillations and computer runs of climatic scenarios,
• 2.(ii) Analysis of ground water data, mapping and analysis of soils and vegetation, assessment of present and future soil, and
• 3.(iii) Land capability assessment through ranking environmental conditions according to the demands of the most widely grown arable crops in Hungary.

According to our results i) the average annual warming during the last 110 years was +0.0105 °C, and precipitation decreased by 0.917 mm/year; ii) a decline of −2 to −4 m in the annual mean groundwater level can be detected in the most sensitive areas, with gradual lowering of the water table in alkali ponds; complete desiccation of some of them severs the direct contact between groundwater and salt-affected soils, the solonchak soil dynamics cease, helophile and hygrophile plant associations disappear, and consequent changes in the soil erosion regime are likely to lead to disastrous erosion in the future; iii) the climatic changes induce a transformation in land use from arable crops to plantations, starting with orchards.     

Mineral Composition of Loess—Paleosol Samples from the Loess Plateau of China and Its Environmental Significance

34samples of loess-paleosol from the Luochuan and Xifeng sections in the Loess Plateau,northern China were eparated into sand,silt and clay fractions and analyzed for their mineral compositions.The results indicate that there is almost no difference between loess and paleosol in mineral composition.Major mineral species are quartz,mica,feldspar and chlorite,accounting for about 88-92% of the total;other minerals are kandite,smectite,vermiculite and a few heavy minerals.The calcite,magnetite and hematite were not taken into consideration because of their removal in the process of sample preparation.The main difference with respect to the mineral composition of samples collected from different sections and different statigraphic levels lies in the amount and grain size of minerals hosted.Comparisons between the Luochuan section and the Xifeng section,between paleosol and loess and between the upper part and the lower part of some paleosol layers show that the formers contain less feldspar but more mica and vermiculite and are finer in grain size,indicating the co-occurrence of both biochemical weathering process responsible for mineral change and physical weathering process leading to grain-size change during the soil-forming processes.This result favours such an explanation of the soil-forming mechanism that loess deposition and paleosol development occurred synchronously,though the rate of soil formation was greater than that of loess deposition,thus leading to soil development.     

Carbonate weathering rates in the Jura Mountains, France—The influence of vegetation

In order to better understand what controls carbonate weathering rates, we report results from the Jura Mountains (East France), an area exclusively composed of carbonate rocks. This region presents an altitude gradient increasing from 250 m to 1300 m. Ov…     

High Resolution Element Records in the Late Pleistocene Xifeng Loess Profile

Eighty-one samples were selected from the Late Pleistocene Xifeng loess profile and analyzed for their element abundances using instrumental neutron activation analysis,and for ^10Be using the AMS method.The results show that the variations of element abundance and ^10Be with dept are similar to those of δ^18O in DSDP ,and may be considered as an indicator of climatic and environmental changes.     

River related tourism in Europe — an overview

This paper gives an overview of different types of river-oriented tourism in Europa. All of them belong to the growing sectors of the business. They are based on essential characteristics of river landscapes as common factors of attractiveness. A series of supply-oriented indicators is used to draw up a ranking of the European river-cruise-districts. The cruising market is characterized by extensive investment strategies of some leading companies. In order to attract also younger people and families, they have to develop new structures of supply. The canal-systems of Western Europe form the most important prerequisite for houseboat-tourism. It's main districts can be ranked by the indicator: number of the types of charterable boats. The rising request for adventures and progress in kayak- and raft-technology are driving factors to whitewater-tourism. It's more important districts in the Alps, Pyrenees as well as in different medium mountains are shown. The shift into higher mountain regions causes ecological problems and severe personal risks. Biking has become a prefered leisure activity with river basins as the main goal areas. Some essential characteristics are given by the examples of two most significant routes: the Austrian Danubetrail and the Bavarian Altmühl-route. Finally, the planning concept of integral management of river basins is discussed which should support and coordinate the different styles of river-oriented tourism.     

What Happened in the Trans-North China Orogen in the Period 2560-1850 Ma？

The Trans-North China Orogen （TNCO） was a Paleoproterozic continent-continent collisional belt along which the Eastern and Western Blocks amalgamated to form a coherent North China Craton （NCC）. Recent geological, structural, geochemical and isotopic data show that the orogen was a continental margin or Japan-type arc along the western margin of the Eastern Block, which was separated from the Western Block by an old ocean, with eastward-directed subduction of the oceanic lithosphere beneath the western margin of the Eastern Block. At 2550-2520 Ma, the deep subduction caused partial melting of the medium-lower crust, producing copious granitoid magma that was intruded into the upper levels of the crust to form granitoid plutons in the low- to medium-grade granite-greeustone terranes. At 2530-2520 Ma, subduction of the oceanic lithosphere caused partial melting of the mantle wedge, which led to underplating of mafic magma in the lower crust and widespread mafic and minor felsic volcanism in the arc, forming part of the greenstone assemblages. Extension driven by widespread mafic to felsic volcanism led to the development of back-arc and/or intra-arc basins in the orogen. At 2520-2475 Ma, the subduction caused further partial melting of the lower crust to form large amounts of tonalitic-trondhjemitic-granodioritic （TTG） magmatism. At this time following further extension of back-arc basins, episodic granitoid magmatism occurred, resulting in the emplacement of 2360 Ma, -2250 Ma 2110-21760 Ma and -2050 Ma granites in the orogen. Contemporary volcano-sedimentary rocks developed in the back-arc or intra-are basins. At 2150-1920 Ma, the orogen underwent several extensional events, possibly due to subduction of an oceanic ridge, leading to emplacement of mafic dykes that were subsequently metamorphosed to amphibolites and medium- to high-pressure mafic granulites. At 1880-1820 Ma, the ocean between the Eastern and Western Blocks was completely consumed by subduction, and the dosing of the ocean led to the continent-arc-continent collision, which caused large-scale thrusting and isoclinal folds and transported some of the rocks into the lower crustal levels or upper mantle to form granulites or eclogites. Peak metamorphism was followed by exhumation/uplift, resulting in widespread development of asymmetric folds and symplectic textures in the rocks.     

Changes in Phytoplankton Biomass in the Western Scheldt Estuary During the Period 1978–2006

We investigated whether climate change results in long-term changes in phytoplankton biomass and phenology in a turbid eutrophic coastal plain estuary. Changes in annual mean chlorophyll a (chla) concentrations were studied for the period 1978–2006 in the eutrophic and turbid macro-tidal Western Scheldt estuary. Three stations were investigated: WS1, at the mouth of the estuary; station WS6, halfway up the estuary; and station WS11, near the Dutch–Belgian border near the upstream end of the estuary. No significant long-term changes in yearly averaged chla concentrations were observed in WS1 and WS6, but in WS11 the phytoplankton biomass decreased considerably. This is most likely due to an increase in grazing pressure as a result of an improvement in the dissolved oxygen concentrations. Spectral analyses revealed a possible periodicity of 7 years in the mean chla which was related to periodicity in river discharge. We also observed strong phenological responses in the timing of the spring/summer bloom which were related to a well-documented increase in the temperature in the estuary. The fulcrum, the center of gravity or the day at which 50% of the cumulative chla was reached during the year, advanced by 1–2 days/year. A similar trend was observed for the month in which the maximum bloom was observed, with the exception of station WS1. All stations showed an earlier initiation of the bloom, whereas the day at which the phytoplankton bloom was terminated also moved forward in time excepted for WS11. As a result, the bloom length decreased at station WS1, remained the same at station WS6, and increased at WS11. This complicated pattern in bloom phenology demonstrates the complex nature of ecosystem functioning in estuaries.