塔里木盆地腹地玛扎塔格山隆升时限探讨及其环境意义

位于塔里木盆地腹地(N38°40.911', E80°18.484') 的玛扎塔格褶断带东西向延伸约300km,南缘发育出露连续、完全的早更新世地层,岩性主要以灰黄色泥岩、粉砂质泥岩为主。本文以其中出露完全的一段河湖相泥岩、粉砂岩为研究对象,共采集古地磁样品130块16个采点。通过岩石磁学研究,说明主要载磁矿物是磁铁矿,107块样品的磁化率各向异性结果显示地层校正后其最小轴近直立,并且磁面理较磁线理发育,具有沉积组构特征。地层校正后磁化率各向异性最大轴的方向指示了早更新世时研究区域NWW-SEE的古流向。系统热退磁结果揭示出了正反极性,高分辨率的磁性地层学研究限定研究剖面时代约为1.3~0.9Ma。从而推测玛扎塔格剖面中第四纪地层记录的最近一次构造活动时间约为0.8Ma,即早更新世末中更新世初。河湖相泥岩、粉砂质泥岩的岩性特征代表了当时温湿的气候。研究区近东西向的古流向与玛扎塔格山脊近于平行,附合快速隆升构造地貌特征,暗示该套地层沉积时代(1.3~0.9Ma)对应了玛扎塔格山的快速隆升过程。     

A re-evaluation of the timing of the earliest reported human occupation of Britain: the age of the sediments at Happisburgh, eastern England

Lower Palaeolithic artefacts have been reported at Happisburgh, north Norfolk, in sediments that have been assigned to the late Early Pleistocene, in either marine isotope stage (MIS) 25 or 21, using magnetostratigraphy, biostratigraphy and clast lithology. However, the proposal that these sediments were deposited by the ancestral River Thames is inconsistent both with the established late Early Pleistocene palaeogeography of the region and with the dispositions of the contemporaneous Thames terraces. The Happisburgh deposits were evidently emplaced by a local river, which reworked older sediments that from their lithology had been derived largely from the Bytham River rather than the Thames catchment. Nonetheless, the potential significance of this sedimentary succession for early human dispersal and behaviour requires a conservative assessment of its youngest possible age. Although its basal part is clearly Early Pleistocene, there is nothing to preclude an early Middle Pleistocene age for the overlying sediments that have yielded the artefacts and the mammalian biostratigraphic evidence. It is indeed arguable that these sediments date from the cooling transition at the end of MIS 15c, and are thus younger than the artefact-bearing succession at Pakefield. Pending the availability of additional dating evidence, future discussion of the Happisburgh site should be qualified with respect to any claim for an Early Pleistocene age for the human occupation indicated.     

Environmental change in northern Belize since the latest Pleistocene

Cores from the New River Lagoon in Belize have been analysed using a range of palaeolimnological proxies to reconstruct change since the latest Pleistocene. The combination of diatom and stable isotope analyses (supported by mineralogical and major element data) indicate that the New River Lagoon has been a freshwater system throughout the period of record. For most of this time the lagoon has been hydrologically open, but there are indications that it may have become closed in the latest Pleistocene or very early Holocene. This may have been associated with a drier climate and lower sea level. Mid‐Holocene records are consistent with those from elsewhere in the region, indicating a stable and moist climate. The late Holocene was marked by greater variability, but there is no clear evidence of any drying in the late Classic coincident with the Maya ‘collapse’ ca. AD 900. Our results indicate that the continuity of occupation at the Maya site of Lamanai on the shores of the New River Lagoon is consistent with continued access to freshwater during periods of regional climatic variability. The importance of conditions at individual sites when considering both system response and human vulnerability to climate change is emphasised. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

宁夏红寺堡盆地萨拉乌苏组地层时代重新厘定及意义

以沉积旋回划分为基础,采用光释光和碳十四测年技术手段,将宁夏红寺堡盆地上更新统地层时代进行了重新划分与厘定。研究结果将红寺堡盆地原定为萨拉乌苏组的湖相沉积解体为上下两套,下部湖相沉积即为传统意义上的萨拉乌苏组,上部湖相沉积结合区域地层对比结果将其重新划归为水洞沟组,总体上反映了晚更新世青藏高原东北缘发育的两期重要的古大湖事件。在深海大洋氧同位素曲线上这两期古大湖事件分别相当于MIS3与MIS5段,代表了区域上两期温暖湿润的气候环境,也与该时期全球古气候环境的变迁基本一致。同时,在这两期古大湖发育期间,存在一期重要的构造隆升事件,表现为两套地层之间存在明显的区域不整合接触,可能是青藏高原晚更新世强烈隆升的响应。因此,针对青藏高原东北缘上更新统萨拉乌苏组湖相沉积层开展系统的年代学研究,对其地层时代进行重新划分与厘定,对于研究晚更新世古大湖形成与演化、古气候变迁以及青藏高原的隆升提供了重要的地质背景资料。      

加利福尼亚洋流北区早更新世以来似太平洋年代际振荡的微体化石记录

加利福尼亚洋流系统(CCS)是东北太平洋一股十分重要的边界流,在全球海气交换过程中具有重要地位。CCS的海洋-大气变化尤其是涌升流的强弱变化,在年代和多年代时间尺度上的变化主要受太平洋年代际震荡(PDO,20~30年周期)的控制。为了解CCS北区早更新世以来涌升流强弱变化规律及其主要控制机理,本文分析了国际大洋钻探1020B(CCS北区南部41°N)和1245B(北部44°N)钻孔钙质超微化石和硅藻化石等记录。结果显示,多半时间段的记录具有冰期和间冰期旋回的变化;其中超微化石的高含量见于间冰期,而硅藻高含量对应于冰期。这两类化石在沉积物中的含量变化显示出时间尺度长约0.5 Ma的3个阶段:早更新世(1.5~1.1 Ma)两个孔以超微化石含量高为特征;中更新世(1.1~0.65 Ma)两孔中的超微化石和硅藻化石含量相对较高,但它们在两个孔的变化趋势不同;晚更新世(0.65 Ma)以来,南部1020B孔超微化石含量高且出现频率高于硅藻化石,而北部1245B孔以硅藻化石含量较高且持久出现为特征。本文提出了该区涌升流受长周期“似太平洋年代际振荡模式”和“似北太平洋环流振荡模式”控制的假设。早更新世(1.5~1.1 Ma)主要受到持续的似PDO正位相 (似+PDO,表层海水温暖)的控制,涌升流弱,海水中碳酸盐离子丰富,利于颗石藻骨骼钙化形成颗石和颗石产量高,沉积物中超微化石含量高。中更新世过渡期(MPT,1.1~0.65 Ma)受到似PDO负位相(似-PDO,海水表层水体冷、涌升流强、海水pH值低,硅藻生产力高,沉积物中硅藻化石含量高)与似+PDO的交替影响。晚更新世(0.65 Ma)以来,南部1020站位受到似-PDO/似-NPGO?的交替控制,但似-NPGO?的强度和出现频率均大于似-PDO,因此超微化石含量和出现时期比硅藻多;北部1245站位则仅受似-PDO的持续性控制,涌升流较强且持续时间长、沉积物中硅藻化石几乎持续出现且含量较高。MPT时期以硅藻化石含量在1.1 Ma突然增加(南部增加3倍,北部5倍)为起始点,以0.65 Ma时超微化石含量突变(南部增加3倍,北部降3倍)为终止点。本文认为MPT起止点化石含量的突变,是古海洋和气候环境突变的结果,也意味着长时间尺度的似PDO的正负位相之间的转换变化可能是突变过程。MPT时期CCS北部区域内出现了南部和北部站位硅质和钙质两类化石含量变化趋势相反的记录,指示着这一时期该区的古海洋和气候条件出现了地理上的南北分异,并且自0.65 Ma以来南北两个站位控制模式不同。本文的这些记录为CCS区现代海洋-大气过程和生物地理分区大致以40°N为界的研究提供了早更新世以来的历史记录。     

Early formed regional antiforms and synforms that fold younger matrix schistosities: their effect on sites of mineral growth

In the metamorphic cores of many orogenic belts, large macroscopic folds in compositional layering also appear to fold one or more pervasive matrix foliations. The latter geometry suggests the folds formed relatively late in the tectonic history, after foliation development. However, microstructural analysis of four examples of such folds suggests this is not the case. The folds formed relatively early in the orogenic history and are the end product of multiple, near orthogonal, overprinting bulk shortening events. Once large macroscopic folds initiate, they may tighten further during successive periods of sub-parallel shortening, folding or reactivation of foliations that develop during intervening periods of near orthogonal shortening. Reactivation of the compositional layering defining the fold limbs causes foliation to be rotated into parallelism with the limbs.Multiple periods of porphyroblast growth accompanied the multiple phases of deformation that postdated the initial development of these folds. Some of these phases of deformation were attended by the development of large numbers of same asymmetry spiral-shaped inclusion trails in porphyroblasts on one limb of the fold and not the other, or larger numbers of opposite asymmetry spirals on the other limb, or similar numbers of the same asymmetry spirals on both limbs. Significantly, the largest disparity in numbers from limb to limb occurred for the first of these cases. For all four regional folds examined, the structural relationships that accompanied these large disparities were identical. In each case the shear sense operating on steeply dipping foliations was opposite to that required to originally develop the fold. Reactivation of the folded compositional layering was not possible for this shear sense. This favoured the development of sites of approximately coaxial shortening early during the deformation history, enhancing microfracture and promoting the growth of porphyroblasts on this limb in comparision to the other. These distributions of inclusion trail geometries from limb to limb cannot be explained by porphyroblast rotation, or folding of pre-existing rotated porphyroblasts within a shear zone, but can be explained by development of the inclusion trails synchronous with successive sub-vertical and sub-horizontal foliations.     

Microborer ichnocoenoses in Quaternary corals from New Caledonia: reconstructions of paleo-water depths and reef growth strategies in relation to environmental changes

Coral reef growth and development depend on several environmental factors, including tectonic and climatic parameters and local ecological drivers. Reef growth is especially sensitive to sea-level variations. Paleo-water depth reconstructions are essential tools used to determine reef growth patterns during different periods of reef growth. Assemblages of corals and/or coralline algae have been commonly used in such paleodepth reconstructions. This study shows that using microendolith ichnocoenoses can sometimes provide better accuracy than traditional coralgal analyses, particularly in the depth-range 0–10 m where coralgal assemblages usually show broad distribution ranges. Holocene and Pleistocene cores from two barrier reef sites on the west coast of Grande Terre in New Caledonia are examined here. Holocene reef development at these sites feature examples of microendolith ichnocoenoses that document rapid environmental changes and small sea-level variations of about 2–5 m in amplitude, and record these changes with more accuracy than coral and coralline algae assemblages which are highly dependant on the hydrodynamic energy of the setting. During the Pleistocene, which was less chronologically constrained, the microendolith ichnocoenoses also reflect paleo-water depths and reef-growth patterns at different periods of reef history.     

Vegetation context and climatic limits of the Early Pleistocene hominin dispersal in Europe

The vegetation and the climatic context in which the first hominins entered and dispersed in Europe during the Early Pleistocene are reconstructed, using literature review and a new climatic simulation. Both in situ fauna and in situ pollen at the twelve early hominin sites under consideration indicate the occurrence of open landscapes: grasslands or forested steppes. The presence of ancient hominins (Homo of the erectus group) in Europe is only possible at the transition from glacial to interglacial periods, the full glacial being too cold for them and the transition interglacial to glacial too forested. Glacial–interglacial cycles forced by obliquity showed paralleled vegetation successions, which repeated c. 42 times during the course of the Early Pleistocene (2.58–0.78 Ma), providing 42 narrow windows of opportunity for hominins to disperse into Europe.The climatic conditions of this Early Pleistocene vegetation at glacial-interglacial transitions are compared with a climatic simulation for 9 ka ago without ice sheet, as this time period is so far the best analogue available. The climate at the beginning of the present interglacial displayed a stronger seasonality than now. Forest cover would not have been hampered though, clearly indicating that other factors linked to refugial location and soils leave this period relatively free of forests. Similar situations with an offset between climate and vegetation at the beginning of interglacials repeated themselves throughout the Quaternary and benefitted the early hominins when colonising Europe.The duration of this open phase of vegetation at the glacial–interglacial transition was long enough to allow colonisation from the Levant to the Atlantic.The twelve sites fall within rather narrow ranges of summer precipitation and temperature of the coldest month, suggesting the hominins had only a very low tolerance to climate variability.     

Age models for the Cape Blanc Debris Flow and the Mauritania Slide Complex in the Atlantic Ocean off NW Africa

Age models for the emplacement time of mass flow deposits from the Cape Blanc Debris Flow, the Mauritania Slide Complex and a levee of the Mauritania Canyon were obtained by offshore X-ray fluorescence (XRF) element stratigraphy on five gravity cores, allowing the assessment of slope instability in this part of the NW African continental margin with respect to climate-related sea-level variations during the Quaternary. The Cape Blanc Debris Flow emplaced approximately 155 kyr ago whereas deposition of the Mauritania Slide Complex is linked to the rapid sea-level rise at the Pleistocene/Holocene boundary. Turbidites on a levee of the Mauritania Canyon close to the Mauritania Slide Complex occurred at stage boundaries. These findings agree with other studies which show that the NW African continental margin has been unstable over the last Quaternary cycles, and that downslope sediment transport is frequently coupled to periods of climatic changes at stage boundaries.     

Southern dispersal and Palaeoecological implications of woolly rhinoceros (Coelodonta antiquitatis): review of the Iberian occurrences

Cold-adapted large mammal populations spread southward during the coldest and driest phases of the Late Pleistocene reaching the Iberian Peninsula. Presence of woolly rhinoceros (Coelodonta antiquitatis) can be identified from 23 Iberian sites, which is compiled and analyzed herein, and the fossil specimens from seven of these sites are described here for first time.Morphological and biometrical analyses demonstrate that the Iberian woolly rhinoceros did not significantly differ from individuals of other European populations, but represent the westernmost part of a continuous Eurasian belt of distribution.The first presence of woolly rhino in the Iberian Peninsula has been identified during the late Middle Pleistocene and early Late Pleistocene. However, the highest abundance of this species is recorded during MIS 3 and 2. The latest Iberian occurrences can be dated around 20 ka BP. The presence of woolly rhinoceros in the Iberian Peninsula correlates with periods of extreme dry and cold climatic conditions documented in Iberian terrestrial and marine sediment sequences.From a palaeobiogeographic point of view, the maximum southern spread of C. antiquitatis on the Iberian Peninsula was registered during the late Middle Pleistocene or early Late Pleistocene, reaching the latitude of Madrid (about 40°N). Subsequently, during MIS 3 and 2, all Iberian finds were restricted to the Northern regions of Iberia (Cantabrian area and Catalonia). The southern expansion of C. antiquitatis during the Late Pleistocene in the Iberian Peninsula reached similar latitudes to other Eurasian regions.The ecological composition of fossil assemblages with presence of woolly rhinoceros was statistically analyzed. Results show that temperate ungulate species are predominant at Iberian assemblages, resulting in a particular mixture of temperate and cold elements different of the typical Eurasian cold-adapted faunal associations. This particular situation suggests two possible explanations: a) Eventual migrations during the coldest time spans, resulting in a mixing of cold and temperate faunas, instead a faunal replacing; b) Persistence of woolly rhinoceros populations in the Iberian Peninsula during interglacial episodes confined at cryptic southern refugia.     

Early and Middle Pleistocene landscapes of eastern England

This paper reviews the pattern of climate and environmental change in eastern England over the period of the Early and Middle Pleistocene, focussing especially upon northern East Anglia. Particular attention is given to the climate and tectonics that have brought about these changes and the distinctive geology, topography and biology that has developed. Throughout, an attempt is made to describe the new models that have been proposed for the Early and Middle Pleistocene of eastern England, and explain the reasons for these changes. The Early Pleistocene experienced relatively high insulation and relatively low magnitude climatic change and is represented primarily by non-climatically forced processes in the form of tidal current- and wave-activity which formed shallow marine deposits. It is possible to recognise a tectonic control in the distribution of deposits of this age because the surface processes do not have the power to remove this signature. The early Middle Pleistocene was dominated by higher magnitude climatic change involving, occasionally, climatic extremes that ranged from permafrost to mediterranean. The landscape at this time was dominated by the behaviour of major rivers (Thames, Bytham, Ancaster) and extensive coastal activity. In the latter part of the early Middle Pleistocene and the Late Middle Pleistocene the climate experienced major changes which resulted in periods of lowland glaciation and short intervals when the climate was warmer than the present. Details of tectonic activity are difficult to identify because they are removed by powerful surface processes, but it is possible to infer uplift focussed on the major interfluves of central England and subsidence in the North Seas basin. In the areas of glaciation the landscape changed radically from an organised terrain dominated by large rivers and extensive shallow coastal zones to complex, with small valleys, disrupted drainage and often discontinuous river, slope and coastal deposits. Likewise the switching off of the North Sea Delta and the opening of the Strait of Dover, separating Britain from continental Europe can be attributed to the onset of lowland glaciation. The case is made that eastern England was glaciated four times during the Middle Pleistocene: during MIS 16, 12, 10 and 6, and attention is given to recent evidence contradicting this model. Over the period of the Middle Pleistocene there is evidence for high biomass production occurring over short intervals coinciding with the climatic optima of MIS 19, 17, 15, 13, 11, and 7c, 7a and during most of these warmer periods, extending back to c. 750 ka (MIS 19/17), there is evidence in the region for the brief appearance of humans.     

Temporal variation in the geometry of a strike–slip fault zone: Examples from the Dead Sea Transform

The location of the active fault strands along the Dead Sea Transform fault zone (DST) changed through time. In the western margins of Dead Sea basin, the early activity began a few kilometers west of the preset shores and moved toward the center of the basin in four stages. Similar centerward migration of faulting is apparent in the Hula Valley north of the Sea of Galilee as well as in the Negev and the Sinai Peninsula. In the Arava Valley, seismic surveys reveal a series of buried inactive basins whereas the current active strand is on their eastern margins. In the central Arava the centerward migration of activity was followed by outward migration with Pleistocene faulting along NNE-trending faults nearly 50 km west of the center. Largely the faulting along the DST, which began in the early–middle Miocene over a wide zone of up to 50 km, became localized by the end of the Miocene. The subsidence of fault-controlled basins, which were active in the early stage, stopped at the end of the Miocene. Later during the Plio-Pleistocene new faults were formed in the Negev west of the main transform. They indicate that another cycle has begun with the widening of the fault zone. It is suggested that the localization of faulting goes on as long as there is no change in the stress field. The stresses change because the geometry of the plates must change as they move, and consequently the localization stage ends. The fault zone is rearranged, becomes wide, and a new localization stage begins as slip accumulates. It is hypothesized that alternating periods of widening and narrowing correlate to changes of the plate boundaries, manifest in different Euler poles.     

The first find of the cave hyena (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Crocuta crocuta spelea</Emphasis>) on the Oka plateau (Eastern Sayan)

These data indicate that the last representatives of Hyaenidae on the Oka plateau, i.e., cave hyenas (C. c. spelaea), are direct descendants of the hyenas that lived in the Altai–Sayan and Baikal mountain country from the Late Miocene to the end of the Pleistocene. Their continued existence over a long time undoubtedly indicates the absence of repeated glaciation during the Pleistocene. Cave hyenas are relics of the late Tertiary fauna in the area of Lake Baikal; they became extinct due to gradual cooling, which peaked at the end of the Late Pleistocene.     

New evidence for the presence of reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) on the Iberian Peninsula in the Pleistocene: an archaeopalaeontological and chronological reassessment

Reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) populations reached the Iberian Peninsula during the end of the Middle Pleistocene and there are numerous examples of this species from Late Pleistocene Mousterian and Upper Palaeolithic sites. In this paper, new evidence of reindeer in the east Cantabrian region is presented that further supports the timing of this species’ first appearance, and previous assessments are updated. To date, the presence of this species has been identified at 55 sites in the Iberian Peninsula, nearly as many as those of mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius) and woolly rhinoceros (Coelodonta antiquitatis) combined. Most of the sites with presence of reindeer (50) are located in the Cantabrian region with a clear increase in the density of sites and remains towards the Pyrenees. The remaining five sites with evidence of reindeer are located on the other side of the Pyrenees in the NW corner of Catalonia. In contrast, archaeological evidence of reindeer in the form of art (both parietal and portable) is more scarce and scattered. Evidence for the representation of these animals has been found outside the northern fringe of the Iberian Peninsula, which could reflect either long‐distance cultural communication or the movement of human groups.     

Application of the long chain diol index (LDI) paleothermometer to the early Pleistocene (MIS 96)

Recently, a new organic geochemical paleothermometer based on the relative abundance of long chain alkyl 1,13- and 1,15-diols, the so-called long chain diol index (LDI), was proposed. Because of its novelty, the proxy has not been reported for sediments older than 43 ka. We therefore determined the LDI for 14 sediment samples from the early Pleistocene between 2.49 and 2.41 Ma, comprising Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 98 to 95, and converted the values to sea surface temperature (SST) estimates to test whether the LDI could be applied or not to the early Quaternary. We show that the long chain diols can be preserved in marine sediments from the early Pleistocene, although at our study site this is limited to periods of increased biomarker accumulation (glacials). Although the results are based on a limited time interval and number of samples, the similarity between LDI-based SST and alkenone-based SST from the same samples suggests that the LDI proxy may have potential for studies covering the entire Quaternary.     

辽宁西部第四纪哺乳动物及其地层时代

以大、小凌河流域为中心的辽西地区第四纪地层分布广泛, 奥陶纪石灰岩为主的基岩使该地区喀斯特地貌发育, 并在水溶蚀作用下形成洞穴, 为哺乳动物栖息提供了理想的场所。20世纪70年代以前曾发现过建平、凌源西八间房、喀左鸽子洞和锦县沈家台等化石产地, 之后陆续发现了喀左帽儿山洞穴、二布尺洞穴、朝阳马山洞和凌源沟门洞化石产地等。根据动物化石组合及其对比, 辽西发现的这些化石群分别代表中更新世晚期、晚更新世早期、晚更新世中期和晚更新世晚期4个地质时代。这些材料的发现, 对辽西乃至整个东北地区第四纪哺乳动物研究及区域第四纪地层的划分对比等具有重要意义。     

太行山中段羊角玄武岩形态特征及其地质意义

太行山中段左权羊角镇发育新生代玄武岩, 记录了太行山新生代以来的构造隆升事件。在详细的野外调查和研究的基础上, 通过与玄武岩发育相关的地貌面及其上的地层特征分析, 初步确定该玄武岩是上新世末期到早更新世初期的喷发产物, 初步揭示了太行山中段区域上晚上新世以来地貌发育历史, 主要存在6次构造隆升与剥蚀期: 在唐县期宽谷面形成的基础上, 于上新世晚期存在一次隆升和一次稳定侵蚀期, 并侵蚀形成“U”形谷; 早更新世初, 玄武岩开始间歇性喷发, 同时发生以西武家坪为中心的地区上拱, “U”形谷为玄武岩充填, 之后经剥蚀堆积形成第四级阶地面; 早更新世末, 该区再次发生隆升, 并形成第四级阶地; 中更新世末, 该区发生隆升, 形成第三级阶地; 晚更新世以来, 太行山中段又连续发生两次抬升, 从而在玄武岩体上形成了4级阶地, 形成太行山现今地貌。研究同时表明, 太行山中段上新世晚期以来的隆升主要发生于上新世末到早更新世时期。这一认识为探讨太行山中段晚上新世以来的构造隆升提供了具体证据。     

Mechanisms to explain the loss of heavy minerals from the Upper Palaeozoic tillites of South Africa and Australia and the late Precambrian tillites of Australia

Heavy mineral studies on Pleistocene tills from North America, Upper Palaeozoic tillites of South Africa and Australia, and late Precambrian tillites of South Australia show that the heavy mineral suites of the Pleistocene tills are dominated by amphiboles, the Upper Palaeozoic tillites by garnet, and the late Precambrian tillites by zircon and tourmaline. About half of the garnets in the Upper Palaeozoic tillites show evidence of having been rounded, and retain delicate surface chattermark trails, which indicates that these garnets have not undergone chemical attack since deposition. Although the remainder of the garnets show, by way of etching, that intrastratal solutions were active in the sediments, it is suggested that amphiboles, pyroxenes and epidote, which must have been present in the original Upper Palaeozoic heavy mineral suites, were lost primarily by the action of sorting and mechanical abrasion in beach environments prior to, and during interglacial periods. The absence of garnet and the etching of tourmaline and zircon in the late Precambrian tillites is attributed to the action of alkaline intrastratal solutions over the long time interval during which the tillites were buried in the Adelaide Geosyncline.     

Datation par la méthode U/Th d'un travertin quaternaire du Sud-Est marocain : implications paléoclimatiques pendant le Pléistocène moyen et supérieur

A large travertine outcrop south of Errachidia, southern Morocco, was studied and U/Th dated. The carbonate fraction was provided by groundwaters then, as now, from the eastern High Atlas percolating through the regional Infra-Cenomanian aquifer. There were two main periods of accumulation at ca 262 kyr BP and 20–11.5 kyr BP separated by a long discontinuity with some limited weathering and erosion and correlated in part with a period of erosion at 30–20 kyr BP further to the west. The two travertine-deposition periods suggest increased rainfall and/or cooler thermal conditions in the eastern High Atlas source regions. Massive travertine accumulation ceased at the end of the Upper Pleistocene. To cite this article: L. Boudad et al., C. R. Geoscience 335 (2003).To cite this article: L. Boudad et al., C. R. Geoscience 335 (2003).     

Fluvial system response to external forcing and human impact – Late Pleistocene and Holocene fluvial dynamics of the lower Guadalete River in western Andalucía (Spain)

The 170 km long river course of the Guadalete River (western Andalucía) provides an excellent record of Late Pleistocene and Holocene fluvial sedimentation dynamics. Furthermore, its floodplain sediments are very well suited to describe geomorphic changes forced by climate fluctuations, sea‐level changes, tectonic influences and human activity. Multiproxy investigations were based on field mapping and the study of 18 profile sections, mainly including sedimentological characterisation, soil‐chemical analyses and radiocarbon dating of 34 samples. Findings were complemented by drillings and electrical resistivity tomography. The lowermost 50 km of the river section are divided into an upper and lower part (each 25 km long), based on different sediment preservation conditions. The boundary corresponds to the disappearance of the Late Pleistocene river terrace. Significant floodplain aggradation occurred at around 10 000 cal. years BP, while dynamics were strongly affected by sea‐level fluctuations until the early Holocene. Furthermore, sedimentation starting at 8000, 6100, 4600, 2200, 900 and 400 cal. years BP is related to enhanced fluvial dynamics due to environmental stress that presumably was triggered by climate fluctuations, that is, aridification. However, the strongest intensity of sedimentation at 400 cal. years BP points to climate anomalies in the course of the Little Ice Age. In contrast, several periods of stability associated with alluvial soil formation took place during the Bølling and Allerød interstadials, prior to 8000, 6100 and 5100, and after 4300 and 2000 cal. years BP. The anthropogenic signal in floodplain evolution is not clearly distinguishable from that of climate. However, human land use had the potential to amplify geomorphic processes, especially during periods of climate deteriorations that caused increasing stress on the environment.