Holocene shore displacement and chronology in Ångermanland, eastern Sweden, the Scandinavian glacio-isostatic uplift centre

The shore displacement during the Holocene in southeastern Ångermanland, Sweden, has been investigated by means of radiocarbon-dating of isolation intervals in sediment cores from a total of nine new basins. Results from earlier investigations have been used in complement. There is a forced regression in the area from c. 9300 BP ( c . 10500 cal. yr BP) until c . 8000 BP ( c . 9000 cal. yr BP), on average c . 8 m/100 years, after which there is a gradually slowing regression of c . 2.5–1.0 m/100 years up to the present time. The most rapid regression occurs during the later phase of the Ancylus Lake stage, 9500–9000 cal. yr BP. There is no evidence of halts in the regression. Crustal uplift in the area since deglaciation is c . 310 m. The deglaciation of southeastern Ångermanland took place c . 9300 BP ( c . 10500 cal. yr BP); this is c . 900 years earlier than the age given by clay varve dating. The shore displacement curve provides a means of estimating the difference between the clay varve time scale and calibrated radiocarbon dates, by comparison with varve-dated altitudes of alluvial deltas of the River Ångermanalven. From c. 2500 to c. 8000 cal. BP there is a deficit in clay varves of some 300 years; further back in time this discrepancy increases significantly. The main explanation for the discrepancy is most likely lacking varves in the time-span 8500–10200 cal. yr BP, located along the upper reaches of River Ångermanalven below the highest shore level.     

南海北部陆架中全新世沉积记录及古环境意义

 通过分析珠江口外陆架C069孔沉积柱样的粒度、黏土矿物、主量元素及底栖有孔虫,来研究南海北部中全新世晚期古环境演化。4.2 ka前为全新世大暖期后期,气候湿润,珠江口外陆架受大量的珠江淡水影响,导致C069孔位置的水动力条件较强,形成下段粒度较粗的碎屑沉积物,高岭石含量较高,低的MgO/Al2O3比值,以及受冲淡水影响形成的底栖有孔虫。由于受4.2 ka的极冷事件的影响,C069孔上段的沉积环境受珠江冲淡水影响减小,水动力条件减弱,沉积物粒度变细,高岭石含量降低,MgO/Al2O3比值增大,形成正常浅水环境的底栖有孔虫。4.2 ka以后,台湾来源物质的贡献增多,导致沉积物中伊利石和绿泥石的含量增多,伊利石结晶度和化学指数值都明显变小。     

Vegetation history along the eastern, desert escarpment of the Sierra San Pedro Mártir, Baja California, Mexico

Plant macrofossils from 38 packrat middens spanning the last ~ 33,000 cal yr BP record vegetation between ~ 650 and 900 m elevation along the eastern escarpment of the Sierra San Pedro Mártir, northern Baja California. The middens span most of the Holocene, with a gap between ~ 4600 and 1800 cal yr BP, but coverage in the Pleistocene is uneven with a larger hiatus between 23,100 and 14,400 cal yr BP. The midden flora is relatively stable from the Pleistocene to Holocene. Exceptions include Pinus californiarum, Juniperus californica and other chaparral elements that were most abundant > 23,100 cal yr BP and declined after 14,400 cal yr BP. Despite being near the chaparral/woodland-desertscrub ecotone during glacial times, the midden assemblages reflect none of the climatic reversals evident in the glacial or marine record, and this is corroborated by a nearby semi-continuous pollen stratigraphy from lake sediments. Regular appearance of C₄ grasses and summer-flowering annuals since 13,600 cal yr BP indicates occurrence of summer rainfall equivalent to modern (JAS average of ~ 80–90 mm). This casts doubt on the claim, based on temperature proxies from marine sediments in the Guaymas Basin, that monsoonal development in the northern Gulf and Arizona was delayed until after 6200 cal yr BP.     

MIS3中期以来北黄海中部陆架古环境演化

通过对北黄海中部陆架DLC70-2孔的岩性、粒度、微体古生物以及AMS14C年代学的分析,探讨了研究区MIS3中期以来的古环境演化。研究表明,北黄海中部陆架MIS3中期以来的沉积环境演化与海平面变化存在良好的对应关系,具有明显的阶段性特征:岩芯22.89~18.50 m段(43 639~42 558 cal yr B.P.)对应MIS3中期海平面上升过程中形成的河口湾相,与上覆地层之间存在明显的沉积间断;随着海平面的逐渐上升,海水自14 602 cal yr B.P. 开始侵入研究区,形成了18.50 m以上的沉积地层,自下而上可划分为末次冰盛期以来海平面上升过程中的河口充填相(18.50~10.02 m,14 602~12 602 cal yr B.P.)-新仙女木事件中晚期海平面停滞期间的河流泛滥平原相(10.02~5.10 m,12 602~10 357 cal yr B.P.)-全新世早中期海平面上升过程中的滨海、浅海相(5.10~0 m,10 357~4 913 cal yr B.P.)。岩芯10.02~5.10 m段(12 602~10 357 cal yr B.P.)记录的源自河流泛滥平原沉积的硬质黏土层与新仙女木事件的全球效应密切相关,可作为新仙女木事件在北黄海陆架响应的一个重要证据。     

Holocene evolution of a drowned melt-water valley in the Danish Wadden Sea

Cores from the salt marshes along the drowned melt-water valley of river Varde Å in the Danish Wadden Sea have been dated and analysed (litho- and biostratigraphically) to reconstruct the Holocene geomorphologic evolution and relative sea level history of the area. The analysed cores cover the total post-glacial transgression, and the reconstructed sea level curve represents the first unbroken curve of this kind from the Danish Wadden Sea, including all phases from the time where sea level first reached the Pleistocene substrate of the area. The sea level has been rising from − 12 m below the present level at c. 8400 cal yr BP, interrupted by two minor drops of < 0.5 m at c. 5500 cal yr BP and 1200 cal yr BP, and one major drop of ∼ 1.5 m at c. 3300 cal yr BP. Sediment deposition has been able to keep pace with sea level rise, and the Holocene sequence consists in most places of clay atop a basal peat unit overlying sand of Weichselian age and glacio-fluvial origin. In its deepest part, the basal peat started to form around 8400 cal yr BP, and reached a thickness of up to 3.5 m. This thickness is about half of the original, when corrected for auto-compaction. The superimposed clay contains small (63-355 μm) red iron stains in the top and bottom units, and foraminifers of the calcareous type in the middle. The fact that iron stains and foraminifers in no cases coexist, but always exclude each other is interpreted as a result of the difference between salt-marsh facies (iron stains) and tidal-flat facies (foraminifers). This represents a novel and easy way to distinguish between these two otherwise often undistinguishable sedimentary facies in the geological record.     

南海北部陆坡沉积记录的全新世早期夏季风极强事件

在AMS14C精确定年的基础上,通过南海北部MD05-2905站高分辨率的氧同位素、粒度、元素分析,其结果显示所有指标均在11.2～8.5kaB.P.期间发生异常,根据夏季风指标认为这是夏季风极强事件。将本站位相同纬度（20°N）的夏季平均日辐射量与季风指标进行对比,发现全新世早期（11.2～8.5kaB.P.）东亚夏季风极强事件对应着夏季太阳辐射量最大值和热带辐合带（ITCZ）的位置向北移动,说明全新世早期夏季风突然增强可能是在岁差周期控制下,较高的太阳辐射量驱动了热带辐合带（ITCZ）及其有关的雨场向北移动,在南海北部产生了大量的降水,导致氧同位素偏负、碳酸盐的含量较低以及线性沉积速率较高。这与前人对相邻地区湖光岩玛珥湖的孢粉研究、江西南岭地区泥炭的记录以及中国南方石笋记录的研究结果相吻合。该季风最强事件与阿拉伯海发现的早全新世季风最强事件以及根据格陵兰冰芯记录的早全新世甲烷最大值推测低纬地区湿地扩张相一致,这反映了南海北部全新世早期与全球低纬地区早全新世气候变化格局一致。     

The Holocene thermal maximum and late-Holocene cooling in the tundra of NE European Russia

To investigate the Holocene climate and treeline dynamics in the European Russian Arctic, we analysed sediment pollen, conifer stomata, and plant macrofossils from Lake Kharinei, a tundra lake near the treeline in the Pechora area. We present quantitative summer temperature reconstructions from Lake Kharinei and Lake Tumbulovaty, a previously studied lake in the same region, using a pollen–climate transfer function based on a new calibration set from northern European Russia. Our records suggest that the early-Holocene summer temperatures from 11,500 cal yr BP onwards were already slightly higher than at present, followed by a stable Holocene Thermal Maximum (HTM) at 8000–3500 cal yr BP when summer temperatures in the tundra were ca. 3°C above present-day values. A Picea forest surrounded Lake Kharinei during the HTM, reaching 150 km north of the present taiga limit. The HTM ended with a temperature drop at 3500–2500 cal yr BP associated with permafrost initiation in the region. Mixed spruce forest began to disappear around Lake Kharinei at ca. 3500 cal yr BP, with the last tree macrofossils recorded at ca. 2500 cal yr BP, suggesting that the present wide tundra zone in the Pechora region formed during the last ca. 3500 yr.     

Rapid Holocene climate changes in the North Atlantic: evidence from lake sediments from the Faroe Islands

Holocene records from two lakes on the Faroe Islands were investigated to determine regional climatic variability: the fairly wind-exposed Lake Starvatn on Streymoy and the more sheltered Lake Lykkjuvötn on Sandoy. Sediment cores were analysed for content of biogenic silica, organic carbon and clastic material, and magnetic susceptibility. In addition, a new qualitative proxy for past lake ice cover and wind activity was developed using the flux of clastic grains that are larger than 255 μm. Both long-term and short-term climatic developments were similar between the two lakes, suggesting a response to a regional climate signal. The long-term climate development is characterized by early Holocene rapid warming followed by Holocene climatic optimum conditions ending around 8300 cal. yr BP. A more open landscape as evidenced from increased sand grain influx in the period 8300–7200 cal. yr BP could reflect the aftermath of the 8200 cal. yr BP event, although the event itself is not recognized in either of the two lake records. From around 7200 cal. yr BP the mid-Holocene climate deterioration is observed and from 4200 cal. yr BP the climate deteriorated further with increased amplitude of centennial cooling episodes.     

中全新世以来琼东南陆架粘土矿物特征及物质来源

以往针对南海北部陆架沉积物物质来源的诸多研究, 在一定程度上忽略了海南岛物质的影响.基于柱状沉积物样品的岩性、粒度、粘土矿物和AMS14C年代分析, 探讨了琼东南陆架沉积区X2站沉积物的物质来源.结果表明, X2站沉积物可划分为上、下两段, 下段(Ⅰ, 240~120 cm)主要为粘土质粉砂, 上段(Ⅱ, 120~0 cm)主要为粉砂质砂.粘土矿物主要由伊利石和高岭石组成, 含有少量绿泥石和蒙脱石.对比分析显示, 伊利石和绿泥石可能主要来自于珠江和台湾岛; 高岭石可能主要来源于海南岛和珠江, 蒙脱石主要来自于近源的雷琼地区, 即海南岛物源对南海北部陆架西段具有一定的影响.近4 ka以来, X2站沉积物的明显变粗和高岭石含量逐渐增高, 说明海南物质的输入增强, 这可能是由于近4 ka以来的气候变化或者人类活动增强所致.      

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.     

南海北部陆坡近四万年的高分辨率古海洋学记录

南海北部陆坡在东沙群岛东南水深1727m处所采的17940柱状样,提供了迄今所知南海最高沉积速率的次深海沉积,全新统厚达6．5m。全柱13.30m的沉积物记录了近4万年来南海古海洋变迁的历史。通过间距1～2cm的高密度采样进行氧同位素分析及其它分析,结果揭示了全新世夏季风百年等级的变化周期和冰期时千年等级的准周期性气候波动。     

A high-resolution Holocene diatom record on the North Icelandic shelf

A high-resolution diatom record from core MD99-2275 reveals a series of palaeoceanographic changes on the North Icelandic shelf since about 9000 cal. yr BP. The influence of relatively warm high-salinity Atlantic water-masses of the IC was strong in the study area during the Holocene Climate Optimum (8760 (base of record) to c . 5300 cal. yr BP) and peaked between c . 8000 and 7000 cal. yr BP. There is a general cooling trend from c . 7000 cal. yr BP to the present, which is indicated by an increase in the influence of cold Polar water-masses from the EGC and the EIC and a decrease in the influence of the IC. A major change in diatom assemblages at around 5300 cal. yr BP indicates a palaeoceanographic shift on the North Icelandic shelf in the mid-Holocene. In addition, several abrupt palaeoceanographic changes are distinguished. Enhanced influence of Polar waters is reflected during the intervals 8120–8000, 6650–6100, 4300–4100, 3000–2700, 1300–1100 and 600–200 cal. yr BP. The palaeoceanographic indication of the diatom record of core MD99-2275 is consistent with the indication of other environmental parameters from the same core, such as benthic and planktonic foraminifera as well as magnetic properties, and the results are also consistent with palaeoclimatic records from adjacent areas around Iceland and in the North Atlantic region.     

Rice domestication and climatic change: phytolith evidence from East China

Fossil rice phytoliths have been identified from a lateglacial to Holocene sequence of epicontinental sediments in the East China Sea that were probably transported by the Yangtze River from its middle and/or lower reaches. The rice phytoliths occurred first in the sequence at about 13900 cal. yr BP and disappeared during the period of 13000-10000 cal. yr BP, implying the earliest domesticated cereal crops of the world ever reported. Based on the records of phytoliths, pollen, diatoms and foraminifera from the sequence, the climate between 13000 and 10000 cal. yr BP was notably colder (Younger Dryas). The coincidence of disappearance of domesticated rice phytoliths with cold climate conditions may suggest a great climatic influence on human activities during that time. Warmer and wetter conditions during the period 13900 to 13000 cal. yr BP and after 10000 cal. yr BP have probably favoured rice domestication in the area.     

Late Quaternary history of Washington Land, North Greenland

During the last glacial stage, Washington Land in western North Greenland was probably completely inundated by the Greenland Ice Sheet. The oldest shell dates from raised marine deposits that provide minimum ages for the last deglaciation are 9300 cal. yr BP (northern Washington Land) and 7600 cal. yr BP (SW Washington Land). These dates indicate that Washington Land, which borders the central part of Nares Strait separating Greenland from Ellesmere Island in Canada, did not become free of glacier ice until well into the Holocene. The elevation of the marine limit falls from 110 m a.s.l. in the north to 60 m a.s.l. in the southwest. The recession was followed by readvance of glaciers in the late Holocene, and the youngest shell date from Neoglacial lateral moraines north of Humboldt Gletscher is 600 cal. yr BP. Since the Neoglacial maximum, probably around 100 years ago, glaciers have receded. The Holocene marine assemblages comprise a few southern extralimital records, notably of Chlamys islandica dated to 7300 cal. yr BP. Musk ox and reindeer disappeared from Washington Land recently, perhaps in connection with the cold period that culminated about 100 years ago.     

MIS2期南海北部粘土矿物记录的东亚夏季风快速变化

运用伊利石结晶度线性剥离法,定量计算了华南、台湾和吕宋这 3 个主要物源区对南海北部陆坡MD12-3432和MD12-3434两个岩芯(分别为50. 80 m和8. 33 m)MIS 2期粘土相对贡献量的时间序列变化.结果显示,台湾对两个岩芯的贡献最大(36%~62%),吕宋的贡献次之(28%~50%),二者之和一般大于90%,而来自华南的贡献最小(3%~17%).台湾和吕宋的贡献量呈现显著反向的千年时间尺度快速波动,二者贡献量随东亚夏季风增强或减弱而显著变化,因此,吕宋/台湾贡献量比值可以用于指示东亚夏季风的快速演化.吕宋/台湾粘土贡献量比值在B?lling-Aller?d和Dansgaard-Oeschger 2事件期间的增加,反映了同时期东亚夏季风的快速增强;而在Heinrich 1和Heinrich 2事件期间的减小,则指示了东亚夏季风的减弱.吕宋/台湾贡献量比值对东亚夏季风快速变化的指示,在一定程度上要明显优于蒙脱石/(伊利石+绿泥石)比值.南海北部MIS 2期粘土矿物对东亚夏季风快速变化的响应具有明显的空间差异性,受洋流搬运扰动和物源控制作用影响,陆坡相对浅水区粘土矿物记录的东亚夏季风快速变化信息相对有限,而深水稳定的沉积环境则更有利于保存东亚夏季风快速变化信息.     

Lateglacial and Holocene terrestrial and marine proxies reflecting climate changes in the Malangen fjord area, Norway, northeast North Atlantic

A high-resolution Younger Dryas–late Holocene record of climate and environment from the Malangen fjord has been established on the basis of two marine sediment cores. Five pollen-spore assemblage zones have been defined covering the period c . 11 500 cal. yr BP (10 200 ¹⁴C yr BP) to c . 1600 cal. yr BP (1600 ¹⁴C yr BP) with a hiatus of c . 2000 cal. years between c . 10 200 and 8100 cal. yr BP (9000 and 7300 ¹⁴C yr BP). The Holocene vegetation development from pioneer vegetation to forest development, identified in the marine pollen record, correlates well with pollen records from terrestrial sections of northern Norway. The marine pollen record was also correlated directly with marine proxy records of the bottom water temperature investigated in the same sediment cores. Correlation between the marine and terrestrial proxies suggests that changes in the influx of warm Atlantic Water to the fjord led to an instant change in the vegetation of the surrounding land area. The results thus support a strong link between marine and atmospheric mean climatic states in the North Atlantic region throughout the Holocene.     

南海北部渐新世末沉积环境及物源突变事件

南海北部沉积物成分在渐新世末(23.8Ma)发生剧烈改变,出现地球化学成分上的突变,并在深海沉积中发生沉积间断及滑塌堆积。这些沉积事件在时间上与南海扩张轴由东西方向转为北东—南西方向发生跳跃的时间十分吻合,是渐新世以来南海构造演化史上最为重大的构造事件。经过这次构造事件,白云凹陷由渐新世晚期的浅水陆架环境转为中新世以后的深水陆坡环境,南海北部地区沉积物源由渐新世近源为主转变为中新世远源为主的供给特点;并使南海北部地区自中新世以来总体呈现海侵的特征。这次沉积环境与物源突变事件对南海北部地区油气藏的形成影响深远。     

First discovery of cryptotephra in Holocene peat deposits of Estonia, eastern Baltic

This article reports the first discovery of middle Holocene cryptotephra from a peat sequence in Estonia, eastern Baltic. Two sequences, Mustjärve and Parika (located 110 km apart), were chosen for a pilot study aimed at finding traces of tephra fallout during the middle Holocene. Peat accumulation at both sites started in the early Holocene (c. 9500–9000 ¹⁴C yr BP; c . 11 000–10000 cal. yr BP) and continued throughout the whole Holocene. The radiocarbon-dated intervals between c. 2000 and 5000 ¹⁴C yr BP (c. 2000–5500 cal. yr BP) were chosen from both sites for the study. Colourless tephra shards were identified at 312–316 cm below the peat surface in the Mustjärve peat sequence, while no tephra was found in peat of the same age at Parika. Electron microprobe analyses suggest a correlation with the initial phase of the Hekla-4 eruption (c. 4260 cal. yr BP), although the age-depth model indicated an age around 4900 cal. yr BP. Small concentrations of colourless to light brown tephra shards at 266–270 cm in the Mustjärve sequence indicate that the Kebister tephra (c. 3750 cal. yr BP) might also be present, but geochemical analyses were not possible. The low concentration and small size of the tephra particles indicate that Estonian bogs are probably on the verge of where tephrochronology is possible in northwestern Europe. Further studies of full Holocene sequences are required in order to discover traces of other ash plumes reaching as far east as the eastern Baltic area.     

Post‐Glacial immigration of the harbour porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) into the Baltic Sea*

At the end of the Pleistocene, environmental conditions in the Baltic Basin were affected by the melting glaciers and the resultant freshwater bodies. In contrast to various seal species, there is no subfossil evidence of the harbour porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) from the early Holocene stages of the Baltic Basin. This article is an attempt to clarify the colonization of the harbour porpoise into the Baltic Sea and to reveal the ecological background of this process. All published Holocene subfossil records from the porpoise in the Baltic region were sought and supplemented with those from museums and zoological collections; 148 records document the porpoise's occurrence. The earliest records of the harbour porpoise date from the time between 9600 and 7000 cal. yr BP and originate from the early and middle Mesolithic coastal settlements of the Maglemose and Kongemose culture during the early Littorina stage. Around 7500–5700 cal. yr BP, the porpoise is recorded frequently at many localities from late Mesolithic (Ertebølle culture) and Neolithic in the coastal areas of the western Baltic Sea, as well as for the first time in the Gulfs of Bothnia and Finland. Since 4000 cal. yr BP, P. phocoena has only been recorded in the western Baltic. We suggest that immigration and dispersion of P. phocoena into the Baltic Sea was connected with the Littorina transgression beginning around 9000 cal. yr BP. The continuous influx of seawater and the associated ecological changes led to a new, very species‐rich, fish community and adequate living conditions for the harbour porpoise.     

Late Holocene sea-level changes and isostasy in western Denmark

Cores and exposed cliff sections in salt marshes around Ho Bugt, a tidal embayment in the northernmost part of the Danish Wadden Sea, were subjected to ¹⁴C dating and litho- and biostratigraphical analyses to reconstruct paleoenvironmental changes and to establish a late Holocene relative sea-level history. Four stages in the late Holocene development of Ho Bugt can be identified: (1) groundwater-table rise and growth of basal peat (from at least 2300 BC to AD 0); (2) salt-marsh formation (0 to AD 250); (3) a freshening phase (AD 250 to AD 1600?), culminating in the drying out of the marshes and producing a distinct black horizon followed by an aeolian phase with sand deposition; and (4) renewed salt-marsh deposition (AD 1600? to present). From 16 calibrated AMS radiocarbon ages on fossil plant fragments and 4 calibrated conventional radiocarbon ages on peat, we reconstructed a local relative sea-level history that shows a steady sea-level rise of 4 m since 4000 cal yr BP. Contrary to suggestions made in the literature, the relative sea-level record of Ho Bugt does not contain a late Holocene highstand. Relative sea-level changes at Ho Bugt are controlled by glacio-isostatic subsidence and can be duplicated by a glacial isostatic adjustment model in which no water is added to the world's oceans after ca. 5000 cal yr BP.