Radiocarbon dating from 40 to 60 ka BP at Border Cave,South Africa

We present 21 radiocarbon dates on 19 charcoal samples from the sedimentary sequence preserved in Border Cave, South Africa. The background radiocarbon activity for charcoal from the cave was determined to be 0.050±0.018 percent modern carbon, from the analysis of a radiocarbon-dead sample from unit 5WA. Radiocarbon ages for individual samples ranged from 25.2 to >58.2 ka BP.The error-weighted mean ages for successively older strata are 38.5+0.85/−0.95 ka BP for unit 1WA, 50.2+1.1/−1.0 ka BP for units 2BS.LR.A and 2BS.LR.B, 56.5+2.7/−2.0 ka BP for unit 2BS.LR.C and 59.2+3.4/−2.4 ka BP for unit 2WA. This radiocarbon chronology is consistent with independent chronologies derived from electron spin resonance and amino acid racemization dating. The results therefore provide further evidence that radiocarbon dating of charcoal by the ABOX-SC technique can yield reliable radiocarbon ages beyond 40 ka BP. They also imply that Border Cave 5, a modern human mandible, predates >58.2 ka BP and that the Middle Stone Age (Mode 3)—Later Stone Age (Mode 5) transition of Border Cave was largely effected between ∼56.5 and ∼41.6 ka ago.     

The onset of dune formation in the Strzelecki Desert,South Australia

This study is concerned with the Late Quaternary climatic chronology of the Strzelecki Desert dunefields in central Australia. The sand ridges comprise layers of quartz sand, some of which include palaeosol horizons with carbonated rootlets providing excellent opportunity for dating of alternations of dune building and stability by using optically stimulated luminescence (OSL). Deduced from the OSL age of the oldest aeolian layer dated, we conclude that the onset of aridity dates back to at least ∼65 ka. Older phases of aeolian activity though, following a fluvial depositional phase 160 ka ago, cannot be excluded, although no aeolian layers giving evidence for this have been found in the two dunes dated here. Unconsolidated dune sands in the upper part of one section with Late Holocene (4 ka to modern) depositional ages indicate a reactivation of the dunefield in recent times.From the crosscheck of ¹⁴C ages of the carbonated rootlets with OSL results it is concluded that under the given environmental conditions radiocarbon dating of the calcareous rootlets is not able to provide reliable ages for the phase of soil development.     

A revised chronology of the lowest occupation layer of Pedra Furada Rock Shelter,Piauı́, Brazil: the Pleistocene peopling of the Americas

The present work revisits the chronology of the archaeologically controversial Pedra Furada Rock Shelter of Southeast Piauı́, Brazil, using an improved radiocarbon laboratory pre-treatment and measurements on charcoal samples. The procedure, known as ABOX-SC (acid–base–wet oxidation followed by stepped combustion), has previously been used to secure radiocarbon dates of >40 ka for the antiquity of human occupation of Australia and South Africa, and now has been applied to charcoal from the previously dated oldest occupation layer of the Pedra Furada site. Previous radiocarbon dating had obtained only lower limits of 40–45 ka BP for the Pedra Furada basal layer. Nine charcoal samples from well-structured hearths were subjected to the ABOX-SC procedure and their radiocarbon content determined by accelerator mass spectrometry. Measurements on five of the samples returned ages of greater than 56 ka BP, from graphites produced from ABOX pre-treated charcoal combusted at 910°C. Two other samples were greater than 50 ka BP. The remaining two samples were essentially completely combusted at 650°C, with no material surviving to make a 910°C CO₂ fraction. Their ages were 41.3 and 47.2 ka BP. Ages obtained from graphites generated from the 650°C combusted fraction are considered minimum ages.     

Chronology of the impact of Quaternary climate change on continental environments in the Arabian Peninsula

The remains of former lakes show that in the past the Arabian Peninsula experienced much wetter conditions than today. The last of these humid periods dates to about 10 to 5.5 ka ago. The chronological framework for an earlier humid phase, radiocarbon dated to some 35–20 ka, is inconsistent with evidence from other records from the region. Possibly, these ages are significantly underestimating the true depositional age due to methodological problems. The earliest phase of dune accumulation known so far is dated to the penultimate glaciation maximum of the mid latitudes (ca. 150 ka). Subsequently, dune accumulation occurred around 110 ka, 65 ka and 20 ka ago. All these phases concur with rapid drops in global sea level that caused a drying out of the Persian Gulf basin and of the shelf of the Oman coast. In contrast to some previous interpretations, it is concluded here that aeolian deposition has been limited by sediment supply and not by preservation potential.     

Holocene aeolian development in Central Spain; chronology,regional correlations and causal processes

Extensive areas in the southern part of the Duero Tertiary Basin (Central Spain) are covered by aeolian sands. Presently, the aeolian system is relict but in its origin and development it can be described as a “wet aeolian system”. Climatic and environmental changes during the Holocene are typified by alternating humid and arid periods. These are recorded in the sedimentary record as either organic-rich sandy palaeosols or clean aeolian sand, respectively. Palaeosol dating (12 radiocarbon dated samples) and stratigraphical and sedimentological analysis of several dunefields in quarries and boreholes allow the distinction of four periods of palaeosol development since the Allerød.Aeolian sediments commonly rest on fluvial deposits, which were themselves the major source area for aeolian sands. These fluvial deposits have an age of about 14,000 cal yr BP. The first phase of aeolian activity postdates these fluvial sediments and has an upper age of about 12,000–11,700 cal yr BP, probably corresponding to the last cold oscillation of the Lateglacial (Younger Dryas). The second phase ranges from about 11,500 to 9500 cal yr BP, during which period the majority of dunes in the Tierra de Pinares area formed. This is also a major phase of aeolian activity in other areas of the Iberian Peninsula. A third and probably discontinuous phase of aeolian activity took place between 6800 and about 3000 cal yr BP. The age for this phase is supported by the presence of Visigothic burial sites covered by aeolian sands. The presence of charred material and degraded slipfaces clearly indicate stabilisation by vegetation and the final degradation of the aeolian system at the end of the fourth aeolian phase (990–540 cal yr BP). Minor aeolian activity has also occurred subsequently in this area, since aeolian sand movement was even reported in the 20th century.The aeolian phases can be tentatively correlated with aeolian phases in Europe. Aeolian activity tends to occur regionally during specific time-intervals, especially in dunefields with little human disturbance. This argues for a broad climatic forcing in Holocene aeolian accumulation, such has been previously suggested for the little ice age. The precise timing of these phases, however, is not strictly coincident, probably due to the delayed responses of aeolian environments to climatic and subsequent vegetation change.     

Holocene climate change inferred from stratigraphy and OSL chronology of aeolian sediments in the Qaidam Basin,northeastern Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau

Paleoclimatic reconstruction based on aeolian sediments in the eastern Qaidam Basin (QB) has been hindered by the limited chronological data. Here we present 61 Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) ages. On the basis of these OSL ages and the lithologic stratigraphy, we propose the ‘effective moisture index (EMI)’ for aeolian sediments to reconstruct the effective moisture change. Based on the EMI from twelve sections, the effective moisture change, moisture sources and relevant mechanisms for paleoclimatic change in the eastern QB are discussed. The results indicate that (1) aeolian deposition started at least before 12.4 ± 0.7 ka during the deglaciation, the paleosols developed at the early and mid-Holocene, and aeolian sand and loess accumulated at mid- and late Holocene; (2) effective moisture history was: hyper-arid at 12.8–11.6 ka, humid and variable at 11.6–8.3 ka, moderately humid and stable at 8.3–3.5 ka, and increasingly arid at 3.5–0 ka; (3) the effective moisture change was mainly controlled by the Asian summer monsoon (ASM), which mainly followed the change of Northern Hemispheric summer insolation, and the westerlies strengthened and increased the aridity in the QB when the ASM shrank.     

Chronologies for Late Quaternary barchan dune reactivation in the southeastern Arabian Peninsula

The Liwa region of the United Arab Emirates contains some of the largest and most areally extensive megabarchanoid sand dunes on a global scale. Here we present optical dating results on samples of aeolian sediment from deep drill cores extracted from the largest dune field of the Liwa area. Optical dating of these core sediments using the single aliquot regeneration protocol indicates Mid–Late Holocene phases of rapid dune deposition, the most recent period of reactivation began at ca 2.8 ka. This event was preceded by a period of deposition at ca 5 ka. These results suggest that the dune systems of the southeastern Arabian Peninsula are closely linked to changes in Late Quaternary global climate, particularly linked to the intensity and spatial extent of palaeomonsoon rainfall. Since the last precessional maxima at ca 9 ka, at which time a peak in monsoonal rainfall has been recognised, a significant environmental transition to widespread desert conditions occurred in an apparently abrupt fashion. During the initial period of aridification, large quantities of sand were transported and deposited in the form of large and very large (up to 160 m high) scale aeolian bedforms. Following the initial phase of aeolian accumulation, the system appears to have remained in stasis.     

Middle Pleistocene magnetostratigraphy and susceptibility stratigraphy: data from a carbonate aeolian system,Mallorca, Western Mediterranean

This study shows that successions of Pleistocene carbonate aeolian deposits can be placed successfully in a geochronologic framework using magnetostratigraphic and susceptibility stratigraphic analysis supplemented by luminescence dating, studies of wave-cut platforms, and biostratigraphic evidence. The investigated aeolian system covers a significant part of southernmost Mallorca and is exposed in impressive coastal cliff sections.At the study site at Els Bancals the aeolian system has a maximum thickness of 16 m and is composed of alternating dark red colluvial deposits and greyish red aeolian dune and sand-sheet deposits forming seven cyclostratigraphic units. Each cyclostratigraphic unit represents landscape stabilisation, colluviation, and soil formation followed by dunefield development, when marine carbonate sand was transported far inland by westerly or north-westerly winds. The aeolian system is located on top of a wave-cut marine platform 12–14 m a.s.l. This platform probably formed during a sea-level highstand in Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 11 (427–364 ka), and renewed marine activity probably later in MIS 11 is indicated by the formation of beach deposits.Two sections at Els Bancals were sampled for a paleomagnetic study; additional samples were taken to detect variations in magnetic susceptibility (MS). The characteristic remanent magnetisation has been recovered for the most part of the succession in spite of diagenetic overprinting. There is evidence for two probably three reversal polarity excursions, possible connected to the Levantine, CR1 and CR0/Biwa III episodes. If this correlation is correct, the sampled succession represents a time interval in the Middle Pleistocene between ca 410 and ca 260 ka. This age estimate is supported by the MS study and by luminescence dates of 333±70 ka (aeolianite from lower part of the succession) and 275±23 ka (aeolianite from the top of the succession).The nature of the succession suggests deposition during alternating warm and moist (colluvial deposition; soil formation) and cold, dry and windy conditions (dunefield formation). The susceptibility signal can be correlated with the insolation signal at 65°N suggesting that environmental variation on Mallorca was linked to orbitally forced climate change, and it seems that aeolian activity and dunefield formation were linked to glacial or stadial periods.     

Was the Younger Dryas (Loch Lomond Stadial) icefield on Rannoch Moor,western Scotland,deglaciated as early as c.12.5 cal ka BP?

The concept that Rannoch Moor, the centre of the Younger Dryas (YD), West Highland Icefield, was deglaciated as early as 12.5 cal ka BP is discussed in the light of radiocarbon dates and varve sequences from outlet glaciers of this icefield, and climate change during the YD. The maximum positions of three YD glaciers were reached after 11.6–11.8 cal ka BP (Lomond), and after 11.8–11.9 cal ka BP (Spean and Treig) indicating that ice remained on Rannoch Moor until long after c.12.5 cal ka BP, and possibly until the YD/Holocene transition at c.11.7 cal ka BP. Further, the Spean glacier dammed a proglacial lake in Lochaber for at least 495 varve years over a period that included the deposition of the Vedde Ash (c.12.1 cal ka BP) and a late YD ash layer (c. 11.7–11.2 cal ka BP), a thesis at variance with supposed early YD deglaciation. Recent examination of this issue using ¹⁰Be exposure age determinations from Rannoch Moor is equivocal. In view of the presence of hard water algae at the sampling site on Rannoch Moor it is recommended that the ‘early’ ¹⁴C dates from Rannoch Moor need to be further reassessed using chronological constraints provided by dated microtephra, and a collaborative radiocarbon dating programme.     

Revised 14C dating of ice wedge growth in interior Alaska (USA) to MIS 2 reveals cold paleoclimate and carbon recycling in ancient permafrost terrain

Establishing firm radiocarbon chronologies for Quaternary permafrost sequences remains a challenge because of the persistence of old carbon in younger deposits. To investigate carbon dynamics and establish ice wedge formation ages in Interior Alaska, we dated a late Pleistocene ice wedge, formerly assigned to Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 3, and host sediments near Fairbanks, Alaska, with 24 radiocarbon analyses on wood, particulate organic carbon (POC), air-bubble CO₂, and dissolved organic carbon (DOC). Our new CO₂ and DOC ages are up to 11,170 yr younger than ice wedge POC ages, indicating that POC is detrital in origin. We conclude an ice wedge formation age between 28 and 22 cal ka BP during cold stadial conditions of MIS 2 and solar insolation minimum, possibly associated with Heinrich event 2 or the last glacial maximum. A DOC age for an ice lens in a thaw unconformity above the ice wedge returned a maximum age of 21,470 ± 200 cal yr BP. Our variable ¹⁴C data indicate recycling of older carbon in ancient permafrost terrain, resulting in radiocarbon ages significantly older than the period of ice-wedge activity. Release of ancient carbon with climatic warming will therefore affect the global ¹⁴C budget.     

Revised radiocarbon ages on woolly rhinoceros (Coelodonta antiquitatis) from western central Scotland: significance for timing the extinction of woolly rhinoceros in Britain and the onset of the LGM in central Scotland

Woolly rhinoceros bones, from a number of sites in Britain, have been AMS radiocarbon dated following ultrafiltration pre-treatment. These determinations give a coherent set of ages between >50 and c. 35 cal ka BP. The youngest (35,864–34,765 cal BP) come from the area around Bishopbriggs in western central Scotland and are derived from glaciofluvial sand and gravel overlain by till, both deposited during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) glaciation. A previous radiocarbon date from the site suggested that woolly rhinoceros lived c. 27 ¹⁴C ka BP and the region was ice-free at the time. This date has had significant influence on the timing of extinction of woolly rhinoceros and the onset of glaciation over Britain during the LGM. The new dates revise this earlier determination and confirm that woolly rhinoceros became extinct in Britain after c. 35 cal ka BP, that central Scotland was ice-free at this time, and glaciation extended across this region sometime after 35 cal ka BP.     

10Be ages from central east Greenland constrain the extent of the Greenland ice sheet during the Last Glacial Maximum

Traditional ice sheet reconstructions have suggested two distinctly different ice sheet regimes along the East Greenland continental margin during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM): ice to the shelf break south of Scoresby Sund and ice extending no further than to the inner shelf at and north of Scoresby Sund. We report new ¹⁰Be ages from erratic boulders perched at 250 m a.s.l. on the Kap Brewster peninsula at the mouth of Scoresby Sund. The average ¹⁰Be ages, calculated with an assumed maximum erosion rate of 1 cm/ka and no erosion (respectively, 17.3±2.3 ka and 15.1±1.7 ka) overlap with a period of increased sediment input to the Scoresby Sund fan (19–15 ka). The results presented here suggest that ice reached at least 250 m a.s.l. at the mouth of Scoresby Sund during the LGM and add to a growing body of evidence indicating that LGM ice extended onto the outer shelf in northeast Greenland.     

Late Pleistocene glaciation of the Kleiner Arbersee area in the Bavarian Forest,south Germany

During Pleistocene mountain glaciation of the Bavarian Forest, south Germany, the Wurmian Kleiner Arbersee glacier left behind glacial landforms and sediments which are described, classified and interpreted using a combination of geomorphological, sedimentological, pedological, surveying and absolute dating methods. The latest Kleiner Arbersee glacier with a maximum length of 2600 m, a minimum width of 800 m and a thickness of 115 m formed an elongated cirque, four lateral moraines, one divided end moraine, one recessional moraine, a proglacial lake and a basin in which lake Kleiner Arbersee was established after deglaciation. Beyond the glacial limit the landscape is denuded by periglacial slope deposits which are differentiated from the glacigenic sediments based upon clast fabrics, clast shapes and sediment consolidation. Within the glacial limit sandy–gravelly to silty–gravelly tills are widely distributed, whereas glaciolacustrine sediments are restricted to a small area north of the lake. Small variations in the sand and silt fraction of the tills are explained by melt-out processes. Quartz, mica and chlorite derived from gneiss bedrock are dominant in the clay mineral spectrum of tills, but also gibbsite as a product of pre-Pleistocene weathering is present giving evidence of glacially entrained saprolites. An IRSL-date of glaciolacustrine sediments (32.4±9.4 ka BP) confirms the Wurmian age for the glaciation and radiocarbon ages of the basal sediments (12.3±0.4 and 12.5±0.2 ka BP uncalibrated) in the lake Kleiner Arbersee prove that the basin was ice-free before the Younger Dryas.     

Late Quaternary highstands at Lake Chilwa,Malawi: Frequency,timing and possible forcing mechanisms in the last 44 ka

The extensive shoreline deposits of Lake Chilwa, southern Malawi, a shallow water body today covering 600 km² of a basin of 7500 km², are investigated for their record of late Quaternary highstands. OSL dating, applied to 36 samples from five sediment cores from the northern and western marginal sand ridges, reveal a highstand record spanning 44 ka. Using two different grouping methods, highstand phases are identified at 43.7–33.3 ka, 26.2–21.0 ka and 17.9–12.0 ka (total error method) or 38.4–35.5 ka, 24.3–22.3 ka, 16.2–15.1 ka and 13.5–12.7 ka (Finite Mixture Model age components) with two further discrete events recorded at 11.01 ± 0.76 ka and 8.52 ± 0.56 ka. Highstands are comparable to the timing of wet phases from other basins in East and southern Africa, demonstrating wet conditions in the region before the LGM, which was dry, and a wet Lateglacial, which commenced earlier in the southern compared to northern hemisphere in East Africa. We find no evidence that wet phases are insolation driven, but analysis of the dataset and GCM modelling experiments suggest that Heinrich events may be associated with enhanced monsoon activity in East Africa in both timing and as a possible causal mechanism.     

Mass spectrometric U-series dating of the Chaoxian hominin site at Yinshan,eastern China

The fossils of Chaoxian hominin, widely accepted as representing archaic Homo sapiens in eastern China, were recovered from the middle or slightly higher levels of Layer 2 deposits of a collapsed cave at Yinshan, Anhui Province. Results of mass spectrometric U-series dating of intercalated speleothem calcites are presented. Based mainly on four broadly coeval calcite samples, the hominin fossils should be bracketed in the range of 310–360 ka or somewhat older. These ages are much older than the previous estimate at 160–200 ka based on the U-series dating of fossil teeth and bones, and may be cited as supporting evidence for an earlier H. erectus–archaic H. sapiens interface in China.     

Holocene fluctuations of Lake Ngami,Middle Kalahari: chronology and responses to climatic change

Lake Ngami, a 3000 km² basin at the distal end of the Okavango Delta, Botswana, has a complex suite of shorelines ranging from the lake sump at 919 m asl up to 945 m asl, linked to topographic thresholds and inflows, current and fossil, in the Okavango system. The lake has been ephemeral throughout the 20th century and completely dry since 1982, yet held a substantial body of water up to a level of 930 m asl when visited by European travellers in the mid-nineteenth century. The historical decline in the lake has been well documented and used as evidence for regional desiccation, but the Holocene record, based on archaeological studies and radiocarbon dating of inorganic carbonates, is more speculative.A study of a 30 km² diatomite at the eastern end of the basin indicates that a substantial freshwater lake at a level of at least 932 m asl was present throughout the Holocene, linked to a now abandoned inflow of the Kunyere River. A programme of 18 luminescence age determinations of the peripheral Dautsa and Magotlwanen shoreline sequences suggests that they are old features that have been constructed on a lacustrine substrate dating back to 90–100 ka or earlier, and have been modified by Holocene fluctuations in lake level and subsequent aeolian reworking. The water level peaked at 936 m asl between 4 and 3 ka, returned to 934 m at 2.8–2 ka, ponding water into the Phatane Gap, and fell rapidly thereafter to 932 m and thence to historical levels. The 936 m level can be correlated with increased throughflow in the Okavango Delta, hence increased rainfall in the catchment. The subsequent decline can be attributed to episodic closure and rerouting of Okavango distributaries, in particular the Thaoghe, perhaps aided by anthropogenic activities. As such the desiccation of the lake is not indicative of regional climatic change.     

Re–Os isochron ages for arsenopyrite from Carlin-like gold deposits in the Yunnan–Guizhou–Guangxi “golden triangle”, southwestern China

The Yunnan–Guizhou–Guangxi “golden triangle” is considered to be one of the regions hosting Carlin-like gold deposits in China. Gold deposits in this region can be grouped into lode type that are controlled by faults and layer-like type controlled by stratigraphy. Arsenopyrite is one of the major gold-bearing minerals in these deposits. Rhenium–Os isotopic dating of arsenopyrite from the lode type Lannigou and Jinya and the layer-like type Shuiyindong gold deposits yields isochron ages of 204 ± 19 Ma, 206 ± 22 Ma, and 235 ± 33 Ma, respectively. The data suggest that the Carlin-like gold deposits formed in Late Triassic to Early Jurassic, which is clearly earlier than the ca. 100–80 Ma acid to ultra-basic magmatism in this part of southwestern China. The ages are consistent with ore formation during a period of post-collisional lateral transpression, which is similar to that of the Carlin-like gold deposits in western Qinling of China, but quite different from Carlin-type gold deposits in Nevada, U.S.A.     

Fluvio–sedimentary response of the monsoon-fed Indian rivers to Late Pleistocene–Holocene changes in monsoon strength: reconstruction based on existing 14C dates

The primary objective of the present study is to identify major phases of alluviation in the Indian region since the abrupt Deglacial intensification of the monsoon (∼15 cal ka BP) on the basis of analysis of 68 radiocarbon dates from two major hydro-geomorphic regions of India: the Central Ganga Basin (CGB) and the Deccan Peninsula (DP). The recognition of main phases of alluviation and incision has been achieved by evaluating the temporal distribution and clustering of the radiocarbon dates from alluvial sequences. The clusters were detected on the basis of the interpretation of the summed probability distribution plots derived by using OxCal version 4.0.1 and CALPAL (version May 2006) software packages.The summed probability plots reveal that periods of alluviation in the CGB, represented by three clusters (13.9–12.3, 11.9–11.2 and 9.8–9.0 cal ka BP) occur roughly before the onset of Early Holocene monsoon optimum phase. Two other clusters occur in the intervals 3.6–2.8 and 1.1–0.9 cal ka BP. The peak monsoon period generally lacks clusters of radiocarbon dates implying fluvial erosion and channel incision. This period also shows clustering of radiocarbon dates of the abandoned channels. In comparison, ¹⁴C dates from DP alluvial units form clusters at 16.4–14, 12.8–11.2, 10.8–8.9, 8.1–6.7 and 5.1–3.9 cal ka BP, indicating an association with the Deglacial–Early Holocene humid phase. Alluviation in the DP appears to have continued, more or less, uninterrupted till the middle of the Holocene epoch. The beginning and end of the discernible gap in the radiocarbon dates of CGB (9.0–3.6 cal ka) broadly corresponds with the two well-established short-term events of the Holocene, 8.2 and 4.2 ka cal BP. In comparison, the prominent gap of DP radiocarbon dates (3.9–2.1 ka cal BP) approximately begins with the 4.2 ka cal BP short-term event (onset of aridity) and ends with the 2.0 ka cal BP enhanced monsoon event.Notwithstanding the inter-regional differences in the fluvio–sedimentary response in the India region, the clusters of radiocarbon dates indicate that the century to millennium scale variations in fluvial activity in the Indian subcontinent were intimately linked to long-term fluctuations in the monsoon strength during the Late Quaternary.     

Aeolian–fluvial interaction and climate change: source-bordering dune development over the past ∼100 ka on Cooper Creek,central Australia

This study provides an interpretation of interrelated Quaternary fluvial and aeolian activity related to climate change on Cooper Creek in the Lake Eyre Basin in southwestern Queensland, central Australia. The extensive muddy floodplain is characterised by buried sandy palaeochannels now almost entirely invisible but stratigraphically connected to source-bordering dunes that emerge as distinctive sandy islands through the floodplain surface. Luminescence dating has identified pronounced periods of fluvial activity represented by abundant sandy alluvium from Marine Isotope Stages (MIS) 8–3. While all these sandy fluvial episodes on Cooper Creek were much more powerful than anything subsequent, they appear to be ranked in order of declining activity. MIS 8–6 saw reworking of almost the entire floodplain whereas subsequent phases of reworking were far less extensive. Source-bordering dunes were derived from active sandy channels in late MIS 5 (∼85–80 ka) and mid MIS 3 (50–40 ka). After ∼40 ka sand-channel activity largely ceased and the floodplains and channels were inundated with mud, isolating the dunes as emergent features. Although aeolian reworking of the upper parts of some dunes has continued to the present, they show remarkable resilience, having survived without appreciable migration for at least 40 ka. Whilst the channels once determined the location of source-bordering dunes, in an interesting role reversal the remnant dunes now determine the position of many contemporary flood-channels and waterholes by deflection and confinement of overbank flows.     

An optical age chronology of Late Pleistocene fluvial deposits in the northern lower Mississippi valley

The lower Mississippi valley (LMV) contains many large braided channel belts that are preserved west of the Holocene floodplain. Previous efforts to establish geochronologic control on channel-belt construction have been hindered by the lack of organic material for radiocarbon dating. Luminescence techniques provide a burial date for the sediment itself and may prove useful in this context. Samples from three channel belts in the northern LMV were analyzed using the single aliquot-regenerative technique on 90–125 μm quartz. Optical ages (19.7–17.8, 16.1–15.0 and 12.5–12.1 ka) are consistent with geomorphic relationships and indicate that channel belts were formed in the late Pleistocene under glacial conditions. These optical ages provide the first detailed chronology of LMV channel-belt formation and are the first step towards developing a chronology for the entire LMV.