陕西黄土高原晚更新世环境变化

岐山剖面孢粉分析表明,黄土高原东南部晚更新世植被与气候变化可分为７个阶段和１３个小阶段。其中末次冰期的３个冷干阶段和２个温湿阶段被分别命名为秦家寨,岐山,坡头冰阶和尚家坡,杨家湾间冰阶。冰阶的植被以温带森林草原为主,间冰阶的植被以落叶阔叶林为主。     

The late Cenozoic diatom stratigraphy and paleolimnology of Tule Lake,Siskiyou Co. California

Lacustrine diatoms are diverse, well preserved and abundant in cores of lake sediment to 334 m depth near the town of Tulelake, Siskiyou County, northern California. The cores have been dated by radiometric, tephrochronologic and paleomagnetic techniques, which indicate a basal age of about 3 million years (Ma) and a nearly continuous depositional record for the Tule Lake basin for the last 3 million years (My). Fossil diatoms document the late Cenozoic paleolimnologic and paleoclimatic history for the northwestern edge of the Basin and Range Province. During the last 3 My, Tule Lake was typically a relatively deep, extensive lake. The Pliocene is characterized by a diatom flora dominated by Aulacoseira solida suggesting more abundant summer precipitation and warmer winters. Increases in Fragilaria at 2.4 Ma and between 2.0 and 1.7 Ma imply cooler summers that correlate to glacial environments recorded elsewhere in the world. Stephanodiscus niagarae and Fragilaria species dominate the Pleistocene. Benthic diatoms of alkalineenriched, saline waters occur with S. niagarae between 100 and 40 m depth (0.90–0.14 Ma). Tephrochronology indicates slow deposition and possible hiatuses between about 0.6 and 0.2 Ma. Overall, the Pleistocene diatom flora reflects cooler and sometimes drier climates, especially after major glaciations began 0.85 Ma. The chronology of even-numbered oxygen isotope stages approximately matches fluctuations in the abundance in Fragilaria species since 1 Ma, suggesting that glacial periods at Tule Lake were expressed by relatively cool summers with enhanced effective moisture. Interglacial periods are represented by variable mixtures of freshwater planktonic and benthic alkaline diatom assemblages that suggest seasonal environments with winter-spring precipitation and summer moisture deficits.Glacial-interglacial environments since 150 ka were distinct from, and more variable than, those occurring earlier. The last full glacial period was very dry. Aulacoseira ambigua characterizes the late glacial and early Holocene record of Tule Lake. Its distribution indicates that warmer and wetter climates began about 15 ka in this part of the Great Basin.Fluctuations in diatom concentration suggests a 41000-yr. cycle between 3.0 and 2.5 Ma and 100000-yr. cycles after 1.0 Ma. In the late Pliocene and early Pleistocene, Aulacoseira solida percentages wax and wane in an approximately 400000-yr. cycle. The apparent response of Tule Lake diatom communities to orbitally induced insolation cycles underscores the importance of this record for the study of late Cenozoic paleoclimate change.The diatom stratigraphy records the evolution and local extinction of several species that may be biochronologically important. Stephanodiscus niagarae first appeared and became common in the Tule Lake record shortly after 1.8 Ma. Stephanodiscus carconensis disappeared about 1.8 Ma, while Aulacoseira solida is rare in the core after about 1.35 Ma. Cyclotella elgeri, a diatom characteristic of some outcrops referred to the Yonna Formation (Pliocene), is common only near the base of the core at an age of about 3 Ma. Detection of local extinctions is complicated by reworking of distinctive species from Pliocene diatomites surrounding Tule Lake.A new species, Aulacoseira paucistriata, is described from Pliocene lake deposits in the Klamath Basin.     

Spatial and temporal characteristics of Neogene palynoflora in China and its implication for the spread of steppe vegetation

This study reviews 17 published Neogene pollen records with independent age control to provide a better understanding of the vegetation evolution and climate change in China, especially of the past shifts of the arid–semiarid steppe. During the late Early Miocene to early Middle-Miocene period, most of East and South China was covered by woodland vegetation (e.g., Quercus, Carya, Alnus, and Juglans) while Northwest China was mainly steppe (e.g., Artemisia), generally indicating a warm and humid climate influenced by a strong East-Asian summer monsoon. Since the Early Miocene the vegetation boundary between both regions has moved through time as the climate has changed. During the late Middle to Late Miocene cooling, herbs and shrubs increased significantly in the vast region north to the Yangtze River of South China and major woodland vegetation retreated to south of the Yangtze River. In the context of this cooling, a drier season probably became established north to the Yangtze River, as is evident from the late Middle Miocene to Pliocene compiled palynoflora data. Nevertheless, a little resumption for woodland vegetation occurred during the Early Pliocene in North China, presumably corresponding to global climate amelioration. Thus, the stepwise declining pattern of modern vegetation distribution from southeast to northwest in China can be traced back to at least the late Middle Miocene. In the meanwhile, the Neogene vegetation and its inferred climate history in China indicated a general declining trend of East-Asian summer monsoon.     

昆仑山北坡晚新生代含植物化石石灰华的孢粉组合及其古环境

本文根据孢粉分析,推测古石灰华沉积时期的植被,是以蒿、藜为主的山地草原,散布有柳、栎、榆、桦等组成的落叶阔叶林块;古气候比现今温暖湿润,年平均气温约10—13℃,属暖温带半干旱气候,当时的海拔高度约1500—2000m。     

Relations between denudation,glaciation, and sediment deposition: implications from the Plio‐Pleistocene Central Alps

Despite abundant data on the early evolution of the Central Alps, the latest stage exhumation history, potentially related to relief formation, is still poorly constrained. We aim for a better understanding of the relation between glaciation, erosion and sediment deposition. Addressing both topics, we analysed late Pliocene to recent deposits from the Upper Rhine Graben and two modern river sands by apatite fission‐track and (U‐Th‐Sm)/He thermochronology. From the observed age patterns we extracted the sediment provenance and paleo‐erosion history of the Alpine‐derived detritus. Due to their pollen and fossil record, the Rhine Graben deposits also provide information on climatic evolution, so that the erosion history can be related to glacial evolution during the Plio‐Pleistocene. Our data show that Rhine Graben deposits were derived from Variscan basement, Hegau volcanics, Swiss Molasse Basin, and the Central Alps. The relations between glaciation, Alpine erosion, and thermochronological age signals in sedimentary rocks are more complex than assumed. The first Alpine glaciation during the early Pleistocene did not disturb the long‐term exhumational equilibrium of the Alps. Recent findings indicate that main Alpine glaciation occurred at ca. 1 Ma. If true, then main Alpine glaciation was coeval with an apparent decrease of hinterland erosion rates, contrary to the expected trend. We suggest that glaciers effectively sealed the landscape, thus reducing the surface exposed to erosion and shifting the area of main erosion north toward the Molasse basin, causing sediment recycling. At around 0.4 Ma, erosion rates increased again, which seems to be a delayed response to main glaciation. The present‐day erosion regime seems to be dominated by mass‐wasting processes. Generally, glacial erosion rates did not exceed the pre‐glacial long‐term erosion rates of the Central Alps.     

Tectonic vs. climate forcing in the Cenozoic sedimentary evolution of a foreland basin (Eastern Southalpine system, Italy)

This paper discusses the Cenozoic interaction of regional tectonics and climate changes. These processes were responsible for mass flux from mountain belts to depositional basins in the eastern Alpine retro‐foreland basin (Venetian–Friulian Basin). Our discussion is based on the depositional architecture and basin‐scale depositional rate curves obtained from the decompacted thicknesses of stratigraphic units. We compare these data with the timing of tectonic deformation in the surrounding mountain ranges and the chronology of both long‐term trends and short‐term high‐magnitude (‘aberrant’) episodes of climate change. Our results confirm that climate forcing (and especially aberrant episodes) impacted the depositional evolution of the basin, but that tectonics was the main factor driving sediment flux in the basin up to the Late Miocene. The depositional rate remained below 0.1 mm year^?1 on average from the Eocene to the Miocene, peaking at around 0.36 mm year^?1, during periods of maximum tectonic activity in the eastern Southern Alps. This dynamic strongly changed during the Pliocene–Pleistocene, when the basin‐scale depositional rate increased to an average of 0.26 mm year^?1 (Pliocene) and 0.73 mm year^?1 (Pleistocene). This result fits nicely with the long‐term global cooling trend recorded during this time interval. Nevertheless, we note that the timing of the observed increase may be connected with the presumed onset of major glaciations in the southern flank of the Alps (0.7–0.9 Ma), the acceleration of the global cooling trend (since 3–4 Ma) and climate variability (in terms of magnitude and frequency). All these factors suggest that combined high‐frequency and high‐magnitude cooling–warming cycles are particularly powerful in promoting erosion in mid‐latitude mountain belts and therefore in increasing the sediment flux in foreland basins.     

Numerical modelling of Quaternary terrace staircase formation in the Ebro foreland basin,southern Pyrenees,NE Iberia

The southern foreland basin of the Pyrenees (Ebro basin) is an exorheic drainage basin since Late Miocene times. Remnants of an early exorheic Ebro drainage system are not preserved, but morphology provides evidence for the Pliocene–Quaternary drainage development. The incision history of the Ebro system is denoted by (i) extensive, low gradient pedimentation surfaces which are associated with the denudation of the southern Pyrenean piedmont around the Pliocene–Quaternary transition and (ii) deeply entrenched Quaternary river valleys. Presumably since the Middle Pleistocene fluvial incision intensified involving the formation of extensive terrace staircase in the Ebro basin. Terrace exposure dating in major Ebro tributary rivers indicates climate‐triggered terrace formation in response to glacial–interglacial climate and glacier fluctuations in the Pyrenean headwaters. The overall (semi)parallel longitudinal terrace profiles argue for progressive base level lowering for the whole Ebro drainage network. The landscape evolution model, TISC, is used to evaluate climatic, tectonic and base level scenarios for terrace staircase formation in the Ebro drainage system. Model simulations are compared with morpho‐climatic, tectonic and chronologic data. Results show that climatic fluctuations cause terrace formation, but the incision magnitudes and convergent terrace profiles predicted by this climate model scenario are not consistent with the (semi)parallel terraces in the Ebro basin. A model including previous (late Pliocene) uplift of the lower Ebro basin results in rapid base‐level lowering and erosion along the drainage network, small late stage incision magnitudes and terrace convergence, which are not in agreement with observations. Instead, continuous Quaternary uplift of both the Pyrenees and the Ebro foreland basin triggers (semi)parallel terrace staircase formation in southern Pyrenean tributary rivers in consistency with the observed longitudinal terrace profiles and Middle–Late Pleistocene incision magnitudes. Forward model simulations indicate that the present Ebro drainage system is actively incising, providing further evidence for uplift.     

Geochronology of detrital muscovite and zircon constrains the sediment provenance changes in the Yangtze River during the late Cenozoic

The geometry and evolution of rivers originating from the Tibetan plateau are influenced by topography and climate change during the India‐Asia collision. The Yangtze River is the longest among these rivers and formed due to capturing many rivers on the eastern Tibetan Plateau by the middle Yangtze. The timing of these capture events is still controversial. Here, we use detrital muscovite ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar and zircon U–Pb ages to constrain the provenance of late Cenozoic sediments in the Jianghan Basin in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River. The combined data suggest that late Pliocene sediments were mainly derived from a local source in the Jianghan Basin including the Dabie Shan. The middle Pleistocene sediments were derived from the Min River west of the Three Gorges. This implies that at least one river, perhaps the palaeo‐Han River, originating from the Dabie Shan region, flowed through the centre of the Jianghan Basin during the late Pliocene. The appearance of sediment from the Min River in the Jianghan Basin somewhere between late Pliocene and middle Pleistocene suggests that the Three Gorges section of the Yangtze River was formed somewhere between late Pliocene and middle Pleistocene (N₂– Q₂).     

Landscape evolution and origin of Lake Fúquene (Colombia): Tectonics, erosion and sedimentation processes during the Pleistocene

The Basin of Ubaté–Chichinquirá (5°28′N, 73°45′ W, c. 2580 m altitude) includes the Fúquene Valley and is located in the central part of the Eastern Cordillera of Colombia. Rocks and sediments were folded and faulted during the Miocene, uplifted during the (late) Pliocene, and affected by glaciers during the Pleistocene. Successive glacial and interglacial periods left significant marks in the landscape which were used to reconstruct six stages in the development of the landscape along a relative chronology. During early Pleistocene episode 1 glaciers formed U-shape valleys. Evidence of the impact of ice sheets has been found as far downslope as ca. 2900 m elevation. During episode 2 moraines developed which were cut by the present San José River. During episode 3 abundant sediment was produced by glacial erosion. It accentuated the sculpturing of hard rock and deepening of the drainage basin. The ancestral Ubaté–Suarez River constituted a dynamic erosive system that gave rise to deep V-shaped valleys and progressively formed a set of intricate valleys with a high sediment production. Finally, intense glacial and fluvio-glacial erosion led to a geomorphological system with high energy levels and intensive sediment transport leading to wide valleys. During episode 4 the Ubaté–Suarez River eroded and deepened its valley until it captured the old El Hato–San José Valley. It caused intense erosion of the moraine and the fluvio-glacial gravels. Deep V-shaped valleys stabilized in the high areas of the main drainage system and these valleys form the present-day fluvial sub-basins. During episode 5 the deep valley in the northern part of the Basin of Ubaté–Chichinquirá developed. During middle Pleistocene episode 6 colluvial sediments formed the Saboya dam and a lake was formed in the river valley of which the present Lake Fúquene is only a small remnant. Lithological changes indicate fluctuating water levels and Lake Fúquene must have expanded periodically up to an area 5 to 10 times the present-day surface.     

Pliocene to Holocene geomorphic evolution and paleogeography of the El’gygytgyn Lake region,NE Russia

Geomorphic, lithologhic, and stratigraphic field studies as well as pollen data and mineralogical study have been used to propose Pliocene and Pleistocene paleogeographic reconstructions of the El’gygytgyn meteorite crater area. The moment of impact is recorded above the early Pliocene hill denudation plain as a “chaotic horizon” consisting of fragments of impactite rocks. This chaotic horizon lies between layers of late Pliocene alluvial sediments. During the second half of the late Pliocene, the region was tectonically active, when the Anadyr lowland was uplifted causing alluvial sediments to accumulate in the basins to the south of the crater. Regional climatic cooling, which supported the spread of tundra and the formation of permafrost is characteristically to late Pliocene. The 35–40 m high terrace that roughly follows the 530 m contour interval along the Enmyvaam River formed during the middle Pleistocene. This terrace represents the maximum lake level. Erosion and incision of the upper Enmyvaam River increased due to another wave of uplift. Additionally, El’gygytgyn Lake discharge increased causing lake level to begin to drop in the Middle Pleistocene. Cooling continued, which led to the development of herb-dominated arctic tundra. middle and late Pleistocene glaciations did not reach the El’gygytgyn lake region. The 9–11 m high lacustrine terrace was formed around the lake during the late Pleistocene and the 2–3 m high lacustrine terrace formed later during the Holocene. During the last 5000 years, the lake level has continued to drop as the modern coastline developed. This is the third in a series of eleven papers published in this special issue dedicated to initial studies of El’gygytgyn Crater Lake and its catchment in NE Russia. Julie Brigham-Grette, Martin Melles, Pavel Minyuk were guest editors of this special issue.     

The detrital record of late‐Miocene to Pliocene surface uplift and exhumation of the Venezuelan Andes in the Maracaibo and Barinas foreland basins

A multidisciplinary approach, combining sediment petrographic, palynological and thermochronological techniques, has been used to study the Miocene‐Pliocene sedimentary record of the evolution of the Venezuelan Andes. Samples from the Maracaibo (pro‐wedge) and Barinas (retro‐wedge) foreland basins, proximal to this doubly vergent mountain belt, indicate that fluvial and alluvial‐fan sediments of similar composition were shed to both sides of the Venezuelan Andes. Granitic and gneissic detritus was derived from the core of the mountain belt, whereas sedimentary cover rocks and uplifted foreland basin sediments were recycled from its flanks. Palynological evidence from the Maracaibo and Barinas basins constrains depositional ages of the studied sections from late Miocene to Pliocene. The pollen assemblages from the Maracaibo Basin are indicative of mountain vegetation, implying surface elevations of up to 3500–4000 m in the Venezuelan Andes at this time. Detrital apatite fission‐track (AFT) data were obtained from both stratigraphic sections. In samples from the Maracaibo basin, the youngest AFT grain‐age population has relatively static minimum ages of 5 ± 2 Ma, whereas for the Barinas basin samples AFT minimum ages are 7 ± 2 Ma. With exception of two samples collected from the Eocene Pagüey Formation and from the very base of the Miocene Parángula Formation, no evidence for resetting and track annealing in apatite due to burial heating in the basins was found. This is supported by rock‐eval analyses on organic matter and thermal modelling results. Therefore, for all other samples the detrital AFT ages reflect source area cooling and impose minimum age constraints on sediment deposition. The main phase of surface uplift, topography and relief generation, and erosional exhumation in the Venezuelan Andes occurred during the late Miocene to Pliocene. The Neogene evolution of the Venezuelan Andes bears certain similarities with the evolution of the Eastern Cordillera in Colombia, although they are not driven by exactly the same underlying geodynamic processes. The progressive development of the two mountain belts is seen in the context of collision of the Panama arc with northwestern South America and the closure of the Panama seaway in Miocene times, as well as contemporaneous movement of the Caribbean plate to the east and clock‐wise rotation of the Maracaibo block.     

Late glacial and Holocene vegetation history at Poets hill lake,western Tasmania

Pollen analysis of 3.25 m of late glacial and Holocene sediments gives a mid‐altitude (600 m) record of vegetation development after the last or Margaret Glaciation. Alpine herbfield, coniferous heath and Nothofagus gunnli scrub developed on the moraines until 11,400 BP. Wet montane forest and heath then developed with Phyllocladus aspleniifolius, Nothofagus cunninghamii and Eucalyptus until c. 10,000 BP. After 10,000 BP a mosaic of N. cunninghamii rainforest, Myrtaceae and Proteaceae scrub and Sprengelia incarnata heath occurred. The development of the vegetation from alpine communities to temperate rainforest, which is near its limit at 600 m, occurred under the influence of improving climatic conditions with rapid upslope migration or local expansion of taxa during the late glacial. Temperatures were warm enough for the development of rainforest at 600 m by 10,000 BP, if not earlier. The development of a mosaic of rainforest, scrub and heath vegetation rather than extensive rainforest after 10,000 BP reflects the influence of poor soils, bad drainage and fires. Comparison with similar pollen diagrams from western Tasmania suggests that the development of pollen/vegetation associations was time transgressive with altitude during the late glacial when climatic influences and migration rates were important, and that the mosaic of vegetation communities became more complex during the Holocene because of adjustment to or control by local ecological factors.     

Late Quaternary (30.7–9.0 cal ka BP) vegetation history in Central Asia inferred from pollen records of Lake Balikun, northwest China

Surface and fossil pollen samples were collected to reconstruct the vegetation and environment since 30.7 cal ka BP in the Lake Balikun Basin, northwest China. This record demonstrates that the region was occupied by four vegetation communities during the interval 30.7–9.0 cal ka BP, including desert steppe (30.7–25.1 cal ka BP), Amaranthaceae-Asteraceae desert (25.1–17.7 cal ka BP), Amaranthaceae-Artemisia-Asteraceae desert (17.7–12.8 cal ka BP) and Amaranthaceae desert (12.8–9.0 cal ka BP), corresponding to relatively humid, the coldest and driest, cold and dry, and colder and drier conditions, respectively. The reconstructions of vegetation and environmental changes around Lake Balikun do not support the interpretation of an extremely humid LGM in Central Asia, challenging the cold-moist (glacial), warm-dry (interglacial) pattern of late Quaternary environmental change in Central Asia. The Last Glacial Maximum was cold and dry, and similarly harsh conditions continued into the early Holocene.     

Mechanisms of late Quaternary fault throw‐rate variability along the north central Gulf of Mexico coast: implications for coastal subsidence

Quaternary sea‐level cycles have caused dramatic depocentre shifts near the mouths of major rivers. The effects of these shifts on fault activity in passive margin settings is poorly known, as no studies have constrained passive margin fault throw‐rate variability over 10³ to 10⁵ year time scales. Here we present 11 mean throw rates for the Tepetate–Baton Rouge fault zone along the northern Gulf of Mexico coast in southern Louisiana. These data were obtained by optically stimulated luminescence dating over time scales spanning the last interglacial to the late Holocene. The mean throw rate is ca. 0.22 mm year^?1 during the late Holocene, ca. 0.03 mm year^?1 during the last glacial and at least 0.07 mm year^?1 during the last interglacial. Throw rates averaged over the late Pleistocene to present are spatially uniform within our study area. The temporal variability in throw rates suggests that shifts of the Mississippi River depocentre relative to this fault zone, driven by Quaternary sea‐level cycles, may have imposed a significant control on fault activity. The late Holocene throw rate is at least in the order of magnitude smaller than the rates of land‐surface subsidence in the Mississippi Delta, indicating that this fault zone is not a dominant contributor to subsidence in this region.     

Quaternary geomorphological evolution of the Kunlun Pass area and uplift of the Qinghai-Xizang (Tibet) Plateau

There is a set of Late Cenozoic sediments in the Kunlun Pass area, Tibetan Plateau, China. Paleomagnetic, ESR and TL dating suggest that they date from the Late Pliocene to the Early Pleistocene. Analyses of stratigraphy, sedimentary characteristic, and evolution of the fauna and flora indicate that, from the Pliocene to the early Quaternary (about 5–1.1 Ma BP), there was a relatively warm and humid environment, and a paleolake occurred around the Kunlun Pass. The elevation of the Kunlun Pass area was no more than 1500 m, and only one low topographic divide existed between the Qaidam Basin and the Kunlun Pass Basin. The geomorphic pattern in the Kunlun Pass area was influenced by the Kunlun–Yellow River Tectonic Movement 1.1–0.6 Ma BP. The Wangkun Glaciation (0.7–0.5 Ma) is the maximum Quaternary glaciation in the Pass and in other areas of the Plateau. During the glaciation, the area of the glaciers was 3–5 times larger than that of the present glacier in the Pass area. There was no Xidatan Valley that time. The extreme geomorphic changes in the Kunlun Pass area reflect an abrupt uplift of the Tibet Plateau during the Early and Middle Pleistocene. This uplift of the Plateau has significance on both the Plateau itself and the surrounding area.     

Quantifying the contribution of tectonics vs. differential compaction in the development of domes along the Mid-Norwegian Atlantic margin

A sequential restoration based on combined backstripping and unfolding methods affords the opportunity to study the Cenozoic evolution of two low amplitude domes in the Mid‐Norwegian extensional margin, the Helland Hansen Arch and the Vema Dome. The integration of growth strata geometries observed in both flanks of the domes demonstrate that the structures grew by a variable combination of tectonics and differential compaction mechanisms. Sequential restoration shows that the Helland Hansen Arch grew between Early Oligocene and earliest Late Pliocene times (33–1.9 Ma). During the first phase of growth (33–9 Ma), the tectonic compression accounted for a minimum of 27% of the total dome amplitude. During Late Miocene to Pliocene times (9–1.9 Ma), differential compaction was the mechanism for dome growth. During Late Pliocene times, the Helland Hansen Arch grew with the highest rates coinciding with initial deposition of prograding wedges (3.6–1.9 Ma). In contrast, the Vema Dome started to develop in Early Eocene times and grew at a fairly constant rate up to Early Pliocene times at 3.6 Ma. The amplification of the Vema Dome took place through both differential compaction and tectonics between Early Eocene and Late Miocene times (54.8–7 Ma). The tectonic contribution accounted for a minimum of a 37% of the total dome amplitude. During Pleistocene times, the progradation of clastic wedges led to a decrease of the amplitudes of both the Helland Hansen Arch and the Vema Dome. The different timing of tectonic growth for analysed domes and arches suggest that a small and protracted phase of compression affected the Mid‐Norwegian Margin. This agrees with well‐known widespread contractional deformation affecting the Atlantic Margin of the European Plate during the Tertiary.     

松嫩平原晚第三纪—更新世孢粉组合及古植被与古气候的研究

本文通过大庆、乾安、长春、哈尔滨等地所揭示孢粉资料,试将松嫩平原晚第三纪到更新世时期划出13个孢粉带。根据孢粉组合系列变化和磁性地层测定,论述古植被与古气候演化过程,为研究东北平原第四纪自然环境变迁提供科学依据。     

珠江口万顷沙晚第四纪沉积及古环境重建

选取位于珠江口万顷沙ZK316-2钻孔进行孢粉、硅藻和岩性等分析,重建了珠江口晚更新世以来的海侵海退旋回和古环境特征。孢粉和硅藻分析表明：晚更新世期间该区域主要经历了一次大的海侵海退,期间有2次小的海平面波动。晚更新世地层海相特征明显,孢粉组合指示了温暖湿润的气候环境,其植被以南亚热带常绿林为主,孢粉组合以青冈属、蕈树属、金缕梅科等亚热带种属为主,期间出现的海桑属推测为滨海相沉积,指示了当时海平面的位置。晚更新世的海相沉积尽管14C测年结果为老于30 ka左右,但经过区域孢粉组合、硅藻特征、海平面高度等因素的综合对比分析后认为：下部海相层的年代更可能属于MIS 5期,而期间2次短暂的低海面记录可能与5b和5d海平面波动有关。钻孔上部13.9 m以上为全新世2 232 cal. a B.P.以来的沉积,孢粉分析表明植被仍以亚热带常绿林为主,但人类干扰因素的禾本科、松属、芒箕和火灾记录（炭屑）大量增加,指示了沿海人类活动增强和大规模农业的发展,这与全新世晚期海平面下降和三角洲的快速加积作用基本同步进行。     

Quaternary changes in delivery and accumulation of organic matter in sediments of Lake Biwa, Japan

A 911-m-long sediment core from Lake Biwa, Japan, provides a record of organic matter delivery and accumulation in this large lake during a succession of tectonic and climatic changes dating back to the latest Pliocene. Sediments deposited since 430 ky are profundal; older sediments vary in setting between shallow-water and fluviodeltaic conditions, with occasional deep-water intervals. C/N ratios identify algal production as the dominant source of organic matter throughout the core, although the proportion of land-derived contributions episodically increases in the fluviodeltaic and shallow-water sediments. Rates of organic matter delivery and burial in lake sediments change in response to glacial-interglacial climate changes over the past 430 ky. Sediments deposited during interglacial intervals have organic carbon mass accumulation rates up to 9 times greater than those from glacial intervals, reflecting interglacial climates that were wetter than glacial climates. Algal production of organic matter increased during interglacial times because of greater wash-in of soil nutrients, and organic matter preservation was enhanced because of faster sedimentation rates.