Late Quaternary contourites and glaciomarine sedimentation in the Fram Strait

Two sites in the eastern Fram Strait, the Vestnesa Ridge and the Yermak Plateau, have been surveyed and sampled providing a depositional record over the last glacial‐interglacial cycle. The Fram Strait is the only deep‐water connection from the Arctic Ocean to the North Atlantic and contains a marine sediment record of both high latitude thermohaline flow and ice sheet interaction. On the Vestnesa Ridge, the western Svalbard margin, a sediment drift was identified in 1226 m of water. Gravity and multicores from the crest of the drift recovered turbidites and contourites. ¹⁴C dating indicates an age range of 8287 to 26 900 years BP (Early Holocene to Late Weichselian). The Yermak Plateau is characterized by slope sediments in 961 m of water. Gravity and multicores recovered contourites and hemipelagites. ¹⁴C ages were between 8615 and 46 437 years BP (Early Holocene to mid‐Weichselian). Downcore dinoflagellate cyst analyses from both sites provide a record of changing surface water conditions since the mid‐Weichselian, suggesting variable sea ice extent, productivity and polynyas present even during the Last Glacial Maximum. Four layers of ice‐rafted debris were also identified and correlated within the cores. These events occurred ca at 9, 24 to 25, 26 to 27 and 43 ka, asynchronous with Heinrich layers in the wider north‐east Atlantic and here interpreted as reflecting instability in the Svalbard/Barents Ice sheet and the northward advection of warm Atlantic water during the Late Weichselian. The activity of the ancestral West Spitsbergen Current is interpreted using mean sortable silt records from the cores. On the Vestnesa Ridge drift the modern mass accumulation rate, calculated using excess ²¹⁰Pb, is 0·076 g cm^?2 year^?1. On the Yermak Plateau slope the modern mass accumulation rate is 0·053 g cm^?2 year^?1.     

Late Quaternary climate-driven environmental change in the Larsemann Hills, East Antarctica, multi-proxy evidence from a lake sediment core

Little is known about the response of terrestrial East Antarctica to climate changes during the last glacial-interglacial cycle. Here we present a continuous sediment record from a lake in the Larsemann Hills, situated on a peninsula believed to have been ice-free for at least 40,000 yr. A mutli-proxy data set including geochronology, diatoms, pigments and carbonate stable isotopes indicates warmer and wetter conditions than present in the early part of the record. We interpret this as Marine Isotope Stage 5e after application of a chronological age-depth model and similar ice core evidence. Dry and cold conditions are inferred during the last glacial, with lake-level minima, floristic changes towards a shallow water algal community, and a greater biological receipt of ultraviolet radiation. During the Last Glacial Maximum and Termination I the lake was perennially ice-covered, with minimal snowmelt in the catchment. After ca. 10,500 cal yr B.P., the lake became seasonally moated or ice-free during summer. Despite a low accumulation rate, the sediments document some Holocene environmental changes including neoglacial cooling after ca. 2450 cal yr B.P., and a gradual increase in aridity and salinity to the present.     

Late Quaternary fluctuations of the Leeuwin Current and palaeoclimates on the adjacent land masses: Clay mineral evidence

Clay minerals eroded from soils by rivers and wind action become entrained in shallow‐ as well as deep‐water masses of the surrounding seas. Their pattern on the sea floor gives clues to their propagation by ocean currents. Clay mineral assemblages in sediment cores can be used as a useful proxy to decipher past changes in the intensity of ocean currents or in the nature of the palaeoclimatic processes on the adjacent landmasses. Three cores taken from beneath the path of the present‐day Leeuwin Current in the Timor Passage, from off the Australian North West Shelf and off the North West Cape of Western Australia are investigated. They provide a Late Quaternary record of environmental changes. Kaolinite and chlorite are transported into the Timor Passage today by the Indonesian Throughflow, while illite is provided locally from Timor. The Leeuwin Current leaves the Timor Passage with a characteristic clay mineral signature acquired in the Indonesian Archipelago (kaolinite, chlorite and illite). Uptake of clay minerals along its way through the Timor Sea, e.g. illite from the Kimberley area, changes this signature. South of North West Cape chlorite, injected by the rivers of the Pilbara region into the path of the Leeuwin Current, is prominent in surface sediments in less than 1000 m water depth and outlines the flow of the current today. During the last glacial period, the volume of the Indonesian Throughflow decreased and less kaolinite and chlorite reached the Timor Passage. Offshore from North West Cape, a reduction in chlorite during the last glacial may indicate a decrease or absence of the Leeuwin Current and/or a reduction in the input of chlorite due to drier conditions on land. A maximum of illite in recent sediments and the Holocene offshore from North West Cape results from the input of material from rivers periodically draining the adjacent hinterland. Again, a reduction in illite points to a drier climate in the area during the last glacial.     

Late Quaternary glaciation in Southern Africa: moraine ridges and glacial deposits at Mount Enterprise in the Drakensberg of the Eastern Cape Province,South Africa

Late Quaternary moraines and diamictons containing striated clasts are described from near Elliot in the Drakensberg of South Africa. An equilibrium line altitude (ELA) of 2109 m is suggested for the palaeoglacier associated with the innermost moraine. This glacier was fed by a very extensive snowblow area and the ELA may reflect the temperature–precipitation–wind ELA rather than the temperature–precipitation ELA and be considerably below the ‘regional’ ELA. Mean annual air temperatures when glaciation occurred were probably at least 10.0°C below those of the present. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Fossil hyrax dung and evidence of Late Pleistocene and Holocene vegetation types in the Namib Desert

Pollen was derived from fossil dung of herbivorous hyraxes, deposited in a rock shelter on the highest mountain in Namibia, Dâures or Brandberg, situated on the Namib Desert margin. Radiocarbon dating ranging in age between modern times and 30 000 yr BP showed it represents the first empirical pollen evidence of continental palaeovegetation during the Late Pleistocene along the western escarpment of southern Africa. The initial results indicate Last Glacial Maximum vegetation differed totally from the current pattern as vegetation types were dominated by small Asteraceae shrubs, in contrast to those of the Holocene and modern times which show more succulents, grass and woody elements (arboreal pollen). The results suggest that Cape floral communities did not reach into the tropics along the western escarpment of Africa, despite such pollen types occurring in marine cores. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

末次盛冰期以来河北平原第四系地下水流系统的演变

以区域自然地理及地质历史分析为基础,以环境同位素及大陆盐化咸水后期变化为实证依据,重塑了末次盛冰期以来河北平原第四系地下水流模式演变。研究发现,末次盛冰期以来河北平原第四系地下水流系统经历3个演变阶段:(1)距今18～15ka的低海平面时期,接受持续补给,地下水得到充分交替,发育穿透达到或接近第四系底界的区域水流系统;(2)距今15～12ka的海平面急剧抬升期,地形势差减弱,发育穿透第三含水层组的早期中间水流系统,与此同时区域水流系统趋于停滞;(3)距今2.5ka以来,现代河流地貌成形,高位河床与低位河床及河间低地的势差成为主要驱动力,发育穿透第一及第二含水层组的晚期中间水流系统。随着海平面抬升,后期发育的水流系统切割前期水流系统的一部分并叠置其上。因此,现今河北平原第四系的地下水流系统乃是不同演变时期地下水流系统的时空四维集合体。其他濒海平原,乃至侵蚀强度随时间减弱的内陆盆地,都有可能出现类似图景。距今12ka前后形成的大陆盐化咸水,由上升水流带到浅部,导致浅层咸水以及土地盐渍化,乃是河北平原水资源利用及生态与环境保护的关键性不利因素。     

Climatic and sea level controls on Late Quaternary eolian activity on the Agulhas Plain, South Africa

Located at the interface between the temperate westerly and sub-tropical climate systems, South Africa's winter rainfall zone (WRZ) is a key location in understanding Late Quaternary atmospheric circulation dynamics. Inactive eolian deposits in the WRZ, comprising pan-fringing lunette and coastal dunes, were investigated to establish their depositional ages and utility as paleoenvironmental indicators. The resulting optical luminescence chronology reveals episodic lunette accretion at 60,000-45,000 yr, 12,000-13,000 yr, 2800-2600 yr, 1200 yr, and <1000 yr, with coastal dune ages clustering at 4100-4700 yr.Episodes of lunette and coastal dune accretion on the Agulhas Plain are temporally distinct, reflecting differing fundamental controls on their activity. Comparisons to previously published data also reveal that the lunettes differ in age from more ancient coastal eolianites. Lunette deposition is asynchronous between locations, reflecting the topographic and hydrological setting of the individual pans. In near-coastal settings, with limited surface recharge, lunette accretion appears to be at least partially controlled by sea level induced changes in groundwater levels. Those pans with more significant surface recharge (particularly from fluvial systems) may produce less ambiguous paleoenvironmental records, with pan status more strongly reflecting regional hydrological conditions. Lunette orientation is indicative of strong westerly winds during both the Pleistocene and Holocene. Lunette accretion would have been promoted by reduced on-shore moisture transport during the summer months, enhancing rainfall seasonality. Such conditions would have been promoted by increased continentality as the Agulhas Bank was exposed during low sea level stands.     

Late Quaternary climatic events and sea-level changes recorded by turbidite activity, Dakar Canyon, NW Africa

The relationship of sea-level changes and short-term climatic changes with turbidite deposition is poorly documented, although the mechanisms of gravity-driven sediment transport in submarine canyons during sea-level changes have been reported from many regions. This study focuses on the activity of the Dakar Canyon off southern Senegal in response to major glacial/interglacial sea-level shifts and variability in the NW-African continental climate. The sedimentary record from the canyon allows us to determine the timing of turbidite events and, on the basis of XRF-scanning element data, we have identified the climate signal at a sub-millennial time scale from the surrounding hemipelagic sediments. Over the late Quaternary the highest frequency in turbidite activity in the Dakar Canyon is confined to major climatic terminations when remobilisation of sediments from the shelf was triggered by the eustatic sea-level rise. However, episodic turbidite events coincide with the timing of Heinrich events in the North Atlantic. During these times continental climate has changed rapidly, with evidence for higher dust supply over NW Africa which has fed turbidity currents. Increased aridity and enhanced wind strength in the southern Saharan-Sahelian zone may have provided a source for this dust.     

Late Quaternary environmental changes on Pacific islands: controversy,certainty and conjecture

The late Quaternary history of the Pacific islands is poorly known. Most details about Pleistocene history come from studies of ocean-floor sediments, although a few insular pollen records extend back into the last glacial stage. There is limited evidence for Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) aridity and a rise in LGM–early Holocene precipitation associated with strengthening of the Southern Oscillation. The middle Holocene warming is best represented by sea-level records, which, from all parts of the Pacific, now show a contemporary maximum ca. 5000–3000 yr BP. Late Holocene cooling and precipitation increase were probably more widespread than available data suggest. The advent of humans into Pacific island environments, mostly during the late Holocene, is critically reviewed. Vegetation change may have, at least in part, been the result of climate change. Many Pacific island grasslands may be climatogenic rather than anthropogenic. Fires may have occurred naturally long before people arrived on Pacific islands. Ideas about early human impacts on Pacific island enviroments need to be critically reviewed. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Climatic and environmental variability during the termination of the Last Glacial Stage in coastal eastern Australia: a review

By comparison with the Northern Hemisphere, there is a paucity of high-resolution, continuous records extending into the Last Glacial Maximum from the Southern Hemisphere. With specific reference to coastal eastern Australia, there are long records of paleoclimatic and paleoenvironmental variability available from the tropical north and temperate south. However, there are significant spatial gaps between such records: in particular, until relatively recently, little attention had been paid to the subtropics. This review paper summarises understanding of regional paleoenvironmental and paleoclimatic variability in coastal eastern Australia during the termination of the Last Glacial Stage, with the aim of highlighting gaps in the current state of knowledge. Recommendations for future research are prioritised to answer knowledge gaps in understanding climate variability in eastern Australia between ca 33–18 kyr BP.     

Late Quaternary vegetation changes around Lake Rutundu,Mount Kenya,East Africa: evidence from grass cuticles,pollen and stable carbon isotopes

Woody, subalpine shrubs and grasses currently surround Lake Rutundu, Mount Kenya. Multiple proxies, including carbon isotopes, pollen and grass cuticles, from a 755‐cm‐long core were used to reconstruct the vegetation over the past 38 300 calendar years. Stable carbon‐isotope ratios of total organic carbon and terrestrial biomarkers from the lake sediments imply that the proportion of terrestrial plants using the C₄ photosynthetic pathway was greater during the Late Pleistocene than in the Holocene. Pollen data show that grasses were a major constituent of the vegetation throughout the Late Pleistocene and Holocene. The proportion of grass pollen relative to the pollen from other plants was greatest at the last glacial maximum (LGM). Grass cuticles confirm evidence that C₄ grass taxa were present at the LGM and that the majority followed the cold‐tolerant NADP‐MEC₄ subpathway. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Response of chironomids to Late Quaternary environmental change in the Taitao Peninsula,southern Chile

An Erratum has been published for this article in Journal of Quaternary Science 17(7) 2002, 721. There is conflicting evidence concerning the extent and timing of late Quaternary climate variability in southern South America and how this may be linked to climate change in the Northern Hemisphere. Critical unresolved questions include whether or not a cool period occurred in southern South America during the Younger Dryas Chronozone (YDC) (11 000–10 000 ¹⁴C yr BP; 13 000–11 200 yr BP), and the timing of wet and dry phases during the Holocene. To date most evidence is from glacial, pollen and beetle records but, in an attempt to resolve these questions, we have used chironomid midges as an independent proxy in one of the first studies of its kind in Patagonia. We investigated the dynamics of midge assemblages during the Late‐glacial and Holocene at Lago Stibnite on the Taitao Peninsula, southern Chile (46°S). Changes in the midge assemblage suggest that the climate may have become cooler and drier during the YDC. During the Holocene there were cyclical changes in the midge assemblage that may have been in response to trophic change and/or to changes in precipitation when conditions appear to have been drier than today at 9400–6300 ¹⁴C yr BP and 2400–1600 ¹⁴C yr BP. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The morphology and late Quaternary paleogeomorphology of the continental shelf off Sydney,NSW

Shallow seismic-reflection profiling and proton-precession magnetometry have been conducted over the continental shelf off Sydney between Broken Bay (in the north) and Bate Bay (in the south) as well as over part of the upper continental slope in the area east of the coastline between Narrabeen and Port Hacking. In this area, four major paleodrainage channels incise the bedrock, within the coastal estuaries and on the inner and mid-shelf:

1. the Hawkesbury paleo-watercourse, which is joined offshore by four lesser paleochannels, that we call the Newport, Mona Vale, Narrabeen and Long Reef paleo-watercourses;

2. the Parramatta paleo-watercourse, which is joined by the Bondi paleo-watercourse;

3. the Botany paleo-watercourse and

4. the Georges paleo-watercourse, which is joined under the Kurnell Peninsula land isthmus by the Cooks paleo-watercourse, and then by the Hacking paleo-watercourses in Bate Bay.

Of these paleodrainages, only that of the Hawkesbury River has discernible expression at depths >120 m, the sea-level low and inferred paleo-shoreline of the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) at ca 20 ka. Some of the lesser paleo-watercourses are manifested only at depths shallower than the ?120 m paleo-shoreline and include those of the Maroubra paleo-watercourse and the combined Manly/North Head paleo-watercourses. Paleochannels detected below the LGM shoreline are those of:

• the ancestral Hawkesbury River;

• the minor Peak paleo-watercourse east of Coogee, which is discernible at depths shallower than the ?100 m isobath and is maintained to depths greater than ?210 m; and

• the minor Island paleo-watercourse whose head terminates at ～?140 m east of Bronte, lies entirely below the LGM paleo-shoreline, and can be traced to a depth of ?260 m.

Based on the paleotopographic and sediment-infill geophysical records obtained, 10 stages in the evolution of the paleo-watercourses are proposed.     

Late Quaternary fluvial activity in the dry valleys (mekgacha) of the Middle and Southern Kalahari,southern Africa

Kalahari dry ‘fossil’ valleys (mekgacha) have been little used in palaeoenvironmental reconstruction, partly because the origins and functions of the valleys are a subject of debate, and partly because they contain few datable sediments. In the Middle Kalahari the valleys are endoreic, and, following a decline in ground-water tables owing to human interference over the past 150 years, rarely contain water. Evidence from three sites suggests that the valleys contained standing water between 15000 and 12000 yr BP, and that the main Okwa-Mmone system flowed into palaeolake Makgadikgadi at 920 m a.s.l. during this period. The Southern Kalahari contains the exoreic Molopo network which is hydrologically more active, being prone to surface flows in response to extreme rainfall events. The spring—fed Kuruman valley has two terraces, the lower composed of a series of flood deposits of late Holocene age. The flood of February 1988 provides a useful analogue for the conditions under which these deposits were formed, and of the temporal regime of the Kuruman River. Comparison with adjacent sites suggests that evidence put forward to indicate cycles of climatic amelioration in the last 4000 yr may, in part, represents the effect of extreme precipitation events. Historical floods show a strong correlation to Southern Oscillation high-phase (cold event) episodes, suggesting possibilities for extension of the Southern Oscillation record through palaeoflood studies.     

中国东部（105o E以东）第四纪冰川研究回顾、进展及展望

中国东部（105^o E以东）第四纪冰川及其演化可为中国东部乃至东亚地区古气候环境重建提供基础信息及关键证据,正确认知冰川发育条件及正确运用冰川遗迹判别标准又是重建中国东部第四纪冰川及其演化的关键。中国东部中低山地第四纪期间冰川发育与否,即泛冰川论与有限冰川论的争议由来已久。近年来,山东与周边地区中低山及沿海丘陵带的“第四纪冰川”研究波澜再起。在系统地回顾中国东部第四纪冰川研究历史及新近出现争议的基础上,结合冰川发育条件、山地冰川地貌组合、判别原则与识别依据、中国东部数座中高山地存在无争议且形态清晰的冰川地形及其测年资料以及东亚古气候环境演化记录等得出：中国东部仅有台湾山地、长白山、贺兰山与太白山等数座主峰海拔超过2 500 m的中高山地保存有晚更新世以来的冰川作用地形。其余山地及海拔更低的丘陵带在第四纪期间任何一次冰川作用中均未达到与当时冰期气候相耦合的高度,不存在泛冰川作用。已报道的“冰川遗迹”皆为各种形似地质地貌现象的系统误判,其确切成因及环境意义有待深入探讨。     

青藏高原东部末次冰期最盛期气候的花粉证据

青藏高原许多湖泊钻孔、泥炭剖面等所揭示的花粉记录为重建当时的古气候提供了可靠的证据．应用这些资料探讨青藏高原东部末次最大盛冰期植被和气候．大约２５～１５ｋａＢＰ前后西藏东南部、川西若尔盖及青海柴达木和可可西里地区,气候寒冷干燥,年均气温比现今低６℃左右,植被以荒漠草原为主;在青海湖地区森林退缩演变为草原植被;甘肃临夏气候冷湿,年均温比现在低５～６℃,发育山地暗针叶林