The stratigraphy,sedimentology and palaeontology of the Pleistocene Knocknasilloge Member,Co. Wexford. Ireland

The Pleistocene Knocknasilloge Member, an upward coarsening sequence of massive and laminated muds to cross-laminated fine sands and silts, was deposited in a series of shallow lacustrine basins formed at the retreating margin of the Late Devensian Irish Sea ice-sheet. Sedimentary successions mark increased proximity to a sediment input source and a shift from lake floor suspension sedimentation to bottom traction in low-angled prodelta foresets and distributary barmouth channels. The microfauna contained within the sequence is derived from preexisting climatic stages and there is no evidence to support either an in situ interglacial or glaciomarine origin, as previously proposed.     

Pleistocene stratigraphy in the Devils Hole Area,Central North Sea: Foraminiferal and amino-acid evidence

A detailed study of the foraminiferal assemblages from the 229.1-m-deep core 81/34 in the central North Sea has been combined with a series of measurements of the isoleucine epimerisation of foraminiferal tests. A total of 17 foraminiferal zones have been established and both the faunal compositions and the amino-acid values suggest that a major part of the sequence represents deposits of early and middle Pleistocene age. Only the uppermost zone is referred to the late Pleistocene. The sequence mainly comprises a series of marine zones from cold periods, but with some barren, possibly non-marine intervals in between. Only two of the foraminiferal zones can be referred to interglacial periods. The oldest one of these, defined here as the Devils Hole Interglacial, may belong to the latter part of the Cromerian Complex, while the upper warm interval is correlated with the Holsteinian of northwest Europe on the basis of its amino-acid values. A detailed stratigraphical correlation between core 81/34 and the neighbouring core 81/29 is suggested on the basis of their foraminiferal content, palaeomagnetic evidence and amino-acid measurements from both cores. A characteristic feature of both sequences is that most of the Quaternary record is missing. Similar episodic patterns of deposition and erosion have been reported previously from the North Sea area.     

陕晋上第三系静乐红粘土及有关问题的初步讨论

静乐组指含有较丰富结核的紫红色风成粘土,在建组时未指定正层型,缺少进一步工作的对比标准,建议以陕西蓝田段家坡剖面作为静乐组的次层型候选剖面。原以山西静乐贺丰为层型的上新世静乐阶含义不清,应该尽快建立上新世榆社期对应的年代地层单位。从目前研究结果看,静乐组分布十分广泛,其发育程度甚至超过保德组。研究资料表明上新世榆社期是我国北方向干旱化转折的重要时期     

Paleoecological and archaeological implications of a late Pleistocene/Early holocene record of vegetation and climate from the pacific coastal plain of panama

A phytolith record from Monte Oscuro, a crater lake located 10 m above sea level on the Pacific coastal plain of Panama, shows that during the Late Pleistocene the lake bed was dry and savanna-like vegetation expanded at the expense of tropical deciduous forest, the modern potential vegetation. A significant reduction of precipitation below current levels was almost certainly required to effect the changes observed. Core sediment characteristics indicate that permanent inundation of the Monte Oscuro basin with water occurred at about 10,500 ¹⁴C yr B.P. Pollen and phytolith records show that deciduous tropical forest expanded into the lake’s watershed during the early Holocene. Significant burning of the vegetation and increases of weedy plants at ca. 7500 to 7000 ¹⁴C yr B.P. indicate disturbance, which most likely resulted from early human occupation of the seasonal tropical forest near Monte Oscuro and the development of slash-and-burn methods of cultivation.     

A new chronological framework for Middle and Upper Pleistocene landscape evolution in the Sussex/Hampshire Coastal Corridor, UK

The unique Middle and Late Pleistocene sedimentary record preserved along the Sussex/Hampshire Coastal Corridor between Romsey and Brighton contains a wealth of deposits including highstand marine sediments associated with a variety of different aged beaches, fluvial sediments associated with rivers crossing the coastal plain and cold stage deposits accumulating above the marine and fluvial sediments. Although quarrying activity has been extensive across much of the area it has been undertaken in flooded workings due to the high level of the watertable. Consequently little is known in detail about the sequences except where they outcrop on the foreshore around the coast. This paper examines recent work from the lower coastal plain using a multi-disciplinary approach these deposits to elucidate the age of the sequences and their associated environments of deposition.OSL dates from two of the beaches, the Aldingbourne and Brighton/Norton Beaches, place both within MIS 7. Although these OSL dates cannot differentiate between sub-stages within MIS 7, coupling these results with inferences from local geography, lithology and contained microfossils it is clear that the beaches belong to two different phases within MIS 7. These two beaches are clearly divided by a major phase of erosion and downcutting associated with a fall in sea-level. Fluvial sediments from Solent Terrace 2 and Arun Terrace 4 also date within MIS 7 and are tentatively ascribed to the downcutting event between the beaches. Together this information allows us to propose, for the first time, a robust independently dated framework for the lower parts of the coastal plain integrating for the first time the marine and terrestrial record.     

Phosphate deposits of Neogene age in Greece. Mineralogy, geochemistry and genetic implications

In Greece, several occurrences of phosphates have been located in Mesozoic and Cenozoic sedimentary rocks. The aim of the present paper is to describe the mineralogy, geochemistry and the origin of the phosphates deposited in marine and lacustrine basins of Neogene age in Greece. Phosphates of marine origin formed in an outer shelf-upper slope environment (Palliki Peninsula, Kefalonia Island) as well as in a hemipelagic environment (Heraklion, Crete Island). In both the deposits, the phosphate minerals belong to the apatite group. In Kefalonia Island, phosphatic material accumulations occur in the field as scattered or accumulated vertebrate bones, fish teeth and other biogenic components, hosted in a sandy limestone of Upper Tortonian age. On a microscopic scale, in the groundmass of the limestone, phosphate minerals are present as fillings and secondarily as replacements of foraminiferal and other calcareous microfossil tests. In Crete Island, burrowed cobbles and phosphatic concretions up to 10 cm in diameter have been detected east of Heraklion town. The phosphatic material is hosted in a sandy marlstone that is interbedded with diatomaceous rocks of Middle Pliocene age. Phosphates of lacustrine origin have been formed in the NW–SE-oriented Upper Miocene basins of Florina–Ptolemais and Elassona–Sarantaporo, located, respectively, in western Macedonia and Thessaly, Greece. The phosphate minerals are mainly represented by Ca/Fe phosphates such as anapaite and mitridatite and secondarily by Ca phosphates of the apatite group that are hosted in a thick succession of clayey diatomite rock. They usually form lenticular layers, asymmetric lenses, nodular and botryoidal aggregates, and faecal pellet replacements.

The major and trace element content of a representative set of rocks was studied. Their geochemistry was found to be controlled by the presence of detrital minerals, the host rock mineralogies, and the types of phosphate minerals present. The relatively high amounts of uranium, arsenic and barium detected in some of the phosphate rocks studied are mainly related with organic matter and are comparable to those detected in other phosphate deposits worldwide.

In the deposits studied, phosphogenesis was mainly promoted by the decay of organic substances derived from diatoms, fishes and other vertebrates, leaves and trunks, and faecal pellets in a highly reducing environment on or just below the sea or lake bottom, and secondarily by the feeding of the basin with phosphate-bearing nutrients that originated in the land.     

Geochronology of Middle and Upper Pleistocene Loess Sections in Hungary

The application of both thermoluminescence and infrared stimulated luminescence dating to the extensively studied “classical” Hungarian loess/paleosol sequences from Basaharc, Mende, and Paks provides a reliable chronological framework and climatostratigraphic reconstruction for the last interglacial/glacial cycle. Based on this combined luminescence dating study a new chronology is proposed for the “Young Loess” in Hungary. Luminescence dating suggests that the loess below the MF2 horizon formed during the penultimate glaciation. The MF1 horizon probably formed during an interstade within oxygen isotope stage 3. For the youngest loess, overlying MF1, a very high accumulation rate was determined. Large time gaps occur above MF2 and MF1, indicating that most of the record of the last glaciation is missing in the standard sections at Basaharc, Mende, and Paks. Either large discontinuities or a very low accumulation rate occurred in all three type sections during the soil-forming periods. High-resolution studies of climatic proxies using this combined luminescence dating approach provide a reliable chronological framework for loess and loess derivatives of the last glacial cycle in Hungary, although a precise and complete chronostratigraphic reconstruction cannot be achieved from the incomplete records found at these sites.     

Early and Middle Pleistocene vegetation history of the Médoc region,southwest France

Pleistocene deposits, together with their pollen, plant macrofossil, foraminiferal, dinoflagellate and coleopteran remains, from five sites along the Atlantic coast of the Médoc Peninsula are described and discussed. Sediments making up the Négade Formation are shown to have been laid down under either estuarine or lagoonal conditions when closed Quercus–Pinus‐Tsuga canadensis regional woodland existed. Comparison with plant records from The Netherlands indicates that these deposits are most likely attributable to either the Early Pleistocene Bavel Interglacial (marine oxygen isotope stage (MIS) 31), or an interglacial of the Waalian (MIS 37–49) or Tiglian (MIS 63–79). In addition, clays assigned to the Argiles du Gurp sensu stricto, were similarly deposited in either an estuary or lagoon, which subsequently was cut off from the sea. A freshwater lake with vegetation dominated by Azolla filiculoides then developed. This was succeeded by reedswamp and an organic mud (termed Lignite in the corresponding French stratigraphical records) formed. Regional Quercus–Abies woodland was replaced by one with Pinus dominant and Pterocarya a minor component. Comparison with plant records from France and other parts of Europe suggest that the clays and organic mud might be correlated with the Holsteinian (Praclaux) Interglacial (MIS 11c). Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

北部湾北部上更新统的沉积特征及其记录的古环境

晚更新世100 ka以来作为重要气候阶段对后续环境演化影响深远。北部湾位于东亚低纬度季风区,为冷暖气团影响交汇带,是我国最靠近印度洋的大型海湾,沿海地势崎岖,山洪暴发,需要加强对该阶段气候波动及演化研究。在北部湾北部钦州湾口外近浅海钻取了海底岩芯,岩芯直达第四系地层下伏风化壳且进尺为80.05 m,文章对上更新统25.1~9.7 m岩芯段沉积物进行了粒度、微量元素、碎屑矿物、微体古生物测试鉴定以及¹⁴C与光释光测年。对数据的研究结果显示,该岩芯段孢粉为热带-亚热带山地植被,所处沉积环境为河流相,沉积要素波动变化并具有阶段性特征,物源来自周边陆区风化侵蚀。划分出4个岩芯深度段及相应的4个气候阶段,并对测年数据应用线性插值方法得到气候阶段为：末次间冰期（103~60 ka）水动力低能-高能环境、末次冰期早冰阶（60~46 ka）低能环境、末次冰期间冰阶（46~19 ka）低能-高能环境、末次冰期晚冰阶（19~11.4 ka）低能环境,均与相邻云贵高原和中国长江以南地区同期区域气候具有可比性。除此之外,还辨识出67 ka前后出现了一次暖事件,具有颗粒变细,有机质、微量元素、黄铁矿和褐铁矿等含量出现异常峰值并且相对增幅极高的特征,表明环境湿热和微生物还原活跃等。该暖事件在时间上与Dansgaard-Oeschger旋回（D-O旋回）序号19暖事件最为接近,序号18暖事件则次之,说明在我国季风区的湖北三宝洞、重庆新崖洞、南京葫芦洞石笋研究已发现的对应D-O旋回暖事件序号20~18时期,再往西南沿岸同样发生了与D-O旋回可对应的暖事件。

     

Pleistocene speleothems of Mallorca: implications for palaeoclimate and carbonate diagenesis in mixing zones

The Pleistocene speleothems of Sa Bassa Blanca cave, Mallorca, are excellent indicators of palaeoclimate variations, and are samples that allow evaluation of the products and processes of mixing‐zone diagenesis in an open‐water cave system. Integrated stratigraphic, petrographic and geochemical data from a horizontal core of speleothem identified two main origins for speleothem precipitates: meteoric‐marine mixing zone and meteoric‐vadose zone. Mixing‐zone precipitates formed at and just below the water–air interface of cave pools during interglacial times, when the cave was flooded as a result of highstand sea‐level. Mixing‐zone precipitates include bladed and dendritic high‐Mg calcite, microporous‐bladed calcite with variable Mg content, and acicular aragonite; their presence suggests that calcium‐carbonate cementation is significant in the studied mixing‐zone system. Fluid inclusion salinities, δ¹³C and δ¹⁸O compositions of the mixing‐zone precipitates suggest that mixing ratio was not the primary control on whether precipitation or dissolution occurred, rather, the proximity to the water table and degassing of CO₂ at the interface, were the major controls on precipitation. Thus, simple two‐end‐member mixing models may apply only in mixing zones well below the water table. Meteoric‐vadose speleothems include calcite and high‐Mg calcite with columnar and bladed morphologies. Vadose speleothems precipitated during glacial stages when sea level was lower than present. Progressive increase in δ¹³C and δ¹⁸O of the vadose speleothems resulted from cooling temperatures and more positive seawater δ¹⁸O associated with glacial buildup. Such covariation could be considered as a valid alternative to models predicting invariant δ¹⁸O and highly variable δ¹³C in meteoric calcite. Glacio‐eustatic oscillations of sea‐level are recorded as alternating vadose and mixing‐zone speleothems. Short‐term climatic variations are recorded as alternating aragonite and calcite speleothems precipitated in the mixing zone. Fluid‐inclusion and stable‐isotope data suggest that aragonite, as opposed to calcite, precipitated during times of reduced meteoric recharge.     

Pollen record from Colle Curti and Cesi: Early and Middle Pleistocene mammal sites in the Umbro–Marchean Apennine Mountains (central Italy)

The palynological record from the Colle Curti and Cesi continental deposits has been examined in order to identify the main palaeofloristic and vegetational changes between 0.99 and 0.6–0.7 Ma. These data show a progressive increase in aridity, as well as a progressive decrease in temperature, which are associated with the transition in dominance from the 41 to 100 ka cyclicity in the Milankovitch orbital record during the Middle Pleistocene. The disappearance of Tsuga, recorded during the lower part of the Brunhes Chron, also has been related to a shift in global aridity. During the successive open vegetational phases (glacials), Chenopodiaceae and Artemisia progressively increase, whereas Cyperaceae decrease. Forest phases (interglacials) are successively dominated by Tsuga, Abies with Picea and, finally, Pinus; but all lack significant expansion of broad‐leaved deciduous taxa. Palynological and sedimentological data, in addition to taphonomic interpretations, demonstrate the occurrence of several hiatuses in the lower parts of the interglacials. These hiatuses are considered to represent the palaeoenvironmental response to climatic changes affecting local sedimentological and geomorphological conditions. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Late Neogene rift valley fill sediments preserved in caves of the Dead Sea Fault Escarpment (Israel): palaeogeographic and morphotectonic implications

Evaporitic‐lagoonal marl and dolomite laminar fill sediments are preserved in relict dry caves of the Dead Sea Fault Escarpment (Israel) which has been tectonically active since the Late Neogene. The hosting caves are located within Turonian massive carbonate bedrock and at higher altitudes than previously documented fill sediments of the Dead Sea depression. Based on the relative altitudes of the cave sediments, the ‘reversed stratigraphy’ of the Dead Sea depression fill sediments, possible partial correlation of the cave sediments with other fill sedimentary units of the depression, and sedimentary, geochemical and mineralogical characteristics, it is concluded that: (i) the cave sediments are among the oldest of the depression fill; and (ii) the deposition of the cave sediments took place in hypersaline dolomite‐precipitating water bodies of Late Neogene age, during the initial morphotectonic stages of the depression formation. Variable and relatively low Sr/Ca and δ³⁴S ratios of the cave sediments (assuming precipitation from sea water) suggest variable fresh water input into the depositional brine. The present altitudes of the cave sediments reflect Late Neogene levels of water bodies in the depression, modified by vertical post‐Late Neogene tectonic movements within the still active fault escarpment. According to these altitudes, a 50 to 250 m uplift of the western margins of the depression since the Late Miocene to Early Pliocene is inferred.     

Middle Pleistocene temperate deposits at Dingé, Ille-et-Vilaine,northwest France: pollen,plant and insect macrofossil analysis

Nine cores were taken from a damp depression at Dingé, Ille-et-Vilaine, northwest France. Analyses of the pollen, plant macrofossil and Coleoptera remains preserved in the same organic samples of two profiles suggest a temperate vegetation characterised by a mixed deciduous forest with mesophilous taxa (Carpinus, Fagus, Quercus) followed by a coniferous forest with Pinus and Picea. The determination of plant taxa to species was made either directly through the identification of plant macrofossil remains and pollen or indirectly through the identification of phytophagous Coleoptera specifically related to certain plants. Stratigraphical information derived from pollen, plant macrofossil and insect data indicates that this sequence may be correlated with a temperate episode older than the Eemian and younger than the Holsteinian, possibly the Bouchet 2 (Oxygen Isotope Stage 7c) or Bouchet 3 (Oxygen Isotope Stage 7a) temperate periods or the Landos Interglacial (Oxygen Isotope Stage 9 pro parte). © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Oxygen isotopes composition of sapphires from the French Massif Central: implications for the origin of gem corundum in basaltic fields

Alluvial and colluvial gem sapphires are common in the basaltic fields of the French Massif Central (FMC) but sapphire-bearing xenoliths are very rare, found only in the Menet trachytic cone in Cantal. The O-isotope composition of the sapphires ranges between 4.4 and 13.9‰. Two distinct groups have been defined: the first with a restricted isotopic range between 4.4 and 6.8‰ (n = 22; mean δ¹⁸O = 5.6 ± 0.7‰), falls within the worldwide range defined for blue-green-yellow sapphires related to basaltic gem fields (3.0 < δ¹⁸O < 8.2‰, n = 150), and overlaps the ranges defined for magmatic sapphires in syenite (4.4 < δ¹⁸O < 8.3‰, n = 29). A second group, with an isotopic range between 7.6 and 13.9‰ (n = 9), suggests a metamorphic sapphire source such as biotite schist in gneisses or skarns. The δ¹⁸O values of 4.4–4.5‰ for the blue sapphire-bearing anorthoclasite xenolith from Menet is lower than the δ¹⁸O values obtained for anorthoclase (7.7–7.9‰), but suggest that these sapphires were derived from an igneous reservoir in the subcontinental spinel lherzolitic mantle of the FMC. The presence of inclusions of columbite-group minerals, pyrochlore, Nb-bearing rutile, and thorite in these sapphires provides an additional argument for a magmatic origin. In the FMC lithospheric mantle, felsic melts crystallized to form anorthoclasites, the most evolved peraluminous variant of the alkaline basaltic melt. The O-isotopic compositions of the first group suggests that these sapphires crystallized from felsic magmas under upper mantle conditions. The second group of isotopic values, typified for example by the Le Bras sapphire with a δ¹⁸O of 13.9‰, indicates that metamorphic sapphires from granulites were transported to the surface by basaltic magma.     

Neogene and Quaternary coexisting in the geological time scale: The inclusive compromise

Removing the Tertiary and Quaternary Periods whilst conserving the Paleogene and Neogene Periods in The Geological Timescale 2004 caused a storm of protest. One response was to advocate restoring an enlarged Quaternary and consigning the Neogene to a minor role within the Tertiary. Amongst an array of practical, traditional, sentimental and anthropocentric reasons for this response, the one hard-core justification was that the rigidly nested hierarchy of the geological timescale must be preserved.The central objective of this paper is conserving the historically legitimate, Miocene-present, Neogene Period and System. There are two options for conserving the Quaternary concurrently with the Neogene: (i) an inclusive compromise in a flexible hierarchy, and (ii) an upgrading of Pliocene and Pleistocene divisions to the level of epoch.In the inclusive compromise there coexist alternative pathways through the hierarchical ranks. Thus geohistorians and biohistorians have two options for traversing the hierarchy from era to age, as in this example using the hierarchical positioning of the Calabrian Age and Stage:either Cenozoic [era]↔Neogene [period]↔Pleistocene [epoch]↔Calabrian [age],or Cenozoic [era]↔Quaternary [subera]↔Pleistocene [epoch]↔Calabrian [age].We reaffirm that the inclusive compromise is entirely viable. In so doing we (i) challenge the necessity of the rigidly nested hierarchy, which should be capable of a little flexibility; (ii) reject all analogies of the arbitrary and conventional chronostratigraphic hierarchy with three natural biological hierarchies; (iii) reaffirm the integrity of the Neogene extending to the present; and (iv) see no reason to doubt the harmonious coexistence of the two options preserving the Quaternary and Neogene traditions in an orderly working and stable time scale.In the alternative schema conserving the Neogene, divisions of the Pliocene and Pleistocene are upgraded, so that the Late Pleistocene, Early Pleistocene and Late Pliocene Epochs comprise the Quaternary Subperiod, itself equivalent to Late Neogene. The inflexibly nested hierarchy is preserved but the Tertiary is lost.     

早更新世以来青藏高原隆升作用在塔里木盆地腹地的响应

自约55Ma印度-欧亚板块碰撞,青藏高原经历持续挤压,发生多次阶段性隆升作用.晚新生代以来强烈隆升作用不仅造就了青藏高原北部强烈的构造变形效应,还引起了大规模的干旱化.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、粉砂岩为主,含有薄层粗砂岩及砾岩.本文延展了原来研究剖面,共采集古地磁样品90块共9个采点.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及野外磁化率研究确定研究剖面时代约为2.2～0.1Ma,对玛扎塔格整个剖面地层的年龄控制提供了限定.利用MS2磁化率仪对野外剖面现场测量,采集209米695点数据.通过与深海氧同位素比对分析,说明磁化率结果不仅较好揭示了全球气候变化,还精确记录了约1.8Ma、1.2Ma、0.9Ma、0.65Ma等多期构造活动,并且直接证明年龄约0.05Ma的地层发生了较强构造变形.青藏高原早更新世以来隆升过程具有脉冲特征,约0.9Ma的强烈隆升使主体达到冰冻圈,起到的屏障效应使塔里木盆地开始较快速干旱化,同时为黄土高原提供了更多风尘物质和增强了对粉尘的搬运能力,导致巨厚的粗粒上砂岩层L9形成.     

Lithostratigraphical correlation of micromammal sites and biostratigraphy of the Upper Pliocene to Lower Pleistocene in the Northeast Guadix‐Baza Basin (southern Spain)

The Plio‐Pleistocene non‐marine sequence in the northeast Guadix–Baza Basin (southern Spain) comprises alluvial and lacustrine deposits (Baza Formation). The results of a revised lithostratigraphical correlation between sections from the middle and upper members of the Baza Formation in the northeast part of the basin, supported by detailed mapping, is presented. The position of micromammal sites in the lithostratigraphical scheme, together with the results of intensive palaeontological sampling for small mammal remains, has allowed us to develop a high‐resolution biostratigraphical framework for the area. This provides an opportunity to refine the biozonation for the Plio‐Pleistocene micromammal faunas, and to define faunal events from the late Villanyian (late Pliocene) to the early Pleistocene. On the basis of the lithostratigraphical and biostratigraphical approaches we obtain the following sequence of biozones for the late Pliocene to early Pleistocene: Kislangia gusii, Mimomys cf. reidi, M. oswaldoreigi, Allophaiomys pliocaenicus and A. burgondiae. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Eltanin asteroid impact: possible South Pacific palaeomegatsunami footprint and potential implications for the Pliocene–Pleistocene transition

Large asteroid impacts are rare, and those into the deep ocean are rarer still. The Eltanin asteroid impact around 2.51 ± 0.07 Ma occurred at a time of great climatic and geological change associated with the Pliocene–Pleistocene boundary. Numerical models of the event indicate that a megatsunami was generated, although there is debate concerning its magnitude and the region‐wide extent of its influence. We summarise the existing evidence for possible Eltanin megatsunami deposits in Antarctica, Chile and New Zealand, while also examining other potential sites from several locations, mainly around the South Pacific region. In reviewing these data we note that these events were unfolding at the same time as those associated with the Pliocene–Pleistocene boundary and, as such, most of the geological evidence from that time has a climatic interpretation. The potential climatic and geological ramifications of the Eltanin asteroid impact, however, have failed to be considered by most researchers studying this time period. Although we are not advocating that all geological activity at that time is connected with the Eltanin asteroid impact, it raises interesting questions about the role potentially played by such catastrophic events in contributing to or even triggering epochal transitions. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

青藏高原第四纪冰川的早期记录及其构造与气候含义

综合青藏高原第四纪冰川早期记录的研究进展和典型盆地地层、沉积、古生物、古环境研究的系统成果,扎达盆地香孜组上部冻融层的出现代表了区域的古海拔达到了高原冰缘的高度,即3 500 m以上.这一段地层的时代可能从2.3 Ma前后开始.并与贡巴砾石层下部冰水沉积层的时代基本一致.卓奥友冰期和希夏邦马冰期的时代与扎达盆地沉积结束后,直接覆盖其上的终碛垄和冰碛垄的时代大致相当,展现了这一时期喜马拉雅山脉的山岳冰川进一步发育,也说明喜马拉雅山脉作为青藏高原海拔最高的地区开始冰冻圈的环境很可能在早更新世早中期.川西地区的早更新世的冰川沉积说明东喜马拉雅构造结附近地区这一时期已经抬升至冰冻圈高度,但是,海拨高度与气候环境与喜马拉雅山脉应有不同.具体的时代仍需要深入工作.青藏高原普遍开始冰冻罔记录是在中更新世早期.伴随着全球冰期的到来,这一时期的冰川作用在青藏高原最为发育和广泛.这些暗示着青藏高原在中更新世早期整体性地较快速抬升进入冰冻圈,即海拔3 500 m以上.详细的过程仍有待深入研究.