Influence of a glacial buzzsaw on the height and morphology of the Cascade Range in central Washington State, USA

Analysis of climatic and topographic evidence from the Cascade Range of Washington State indicates that glacial erosion limits the height and controls the morphology of this range. Glacial erosion linked to long-term spatial gradients in the ELA created a tilted, planar zone of 373 cirques across the central part of the range; peaks and ridges now rise ≤600 m above this zone. Hypsometric analysis of the region shows that the proportion of land area above the cirques drops sharply, and mean slopes >30° indicate that the areas above the cirques may be at or near threshold steepness. The mean plus 1σ relief of individual cirque basins (570 m) corresponds to the ∼600-m envelope above which peaks rarely rise. The summit altitudes are set by a combination of higher rates of glacial and paraglacial erosion above the ELA and enhanced hillslope processes due to the creation of steep topography. On the high-precipitation western flank of the Cascades, the dominance of glacial and hillslope erosion at altitudes at and above the ELA may explain the lack of a correspondence between stream-power erosion models and measured exhumation rates from apatite (U-Th/He) thermochronometry.     

山地冰川冰消后（paraglacial）沉积的粒度与石英颗粒表面特征——以贡嘎山东坡为例

冰期向间冰期转换或现代全球气候变暖等背景下,冰川一旦退缩就会引发基岩和冰碛边坡失稳,甚至冰川泥石流等冰消后（paraglacial）地表过程;因此,该过程成为驱动原冰川作用区及其下游谷地地貌演化的重要因子。然而,冰消后过程时空变化特征及其驱动因子等相关研究,目前仍面临两方面问题：其一,各种冰消后沉积、冰碛等混杂堆积间判别的手段缺乏;其二,冰消后过程对下游谷地演化影响的关注不足。为此,本文以典型海洋型冰川作用区——贡嘎山东坡的冰碛和冰消后沉积为研究对象,并结合两处大陆型冰川冰碛,探讨了粒度和石英颗粒表面形态特征两个指标区分上述混杂堆积的有效性。结果表明,各种冰消后沉积物继承了源区冰碛的很多特征,但也呈现出一定独特性,指示出这两个指标综合对比的方法能实现各类冰消后沉积、冰碛的有效判别;同时,鉴于冰川性质、冰川作用期次和岩性等因素都可能影响源区冰碛的粒度和石英颗粒表面形态,以这两个指标判别时应限于同区域,避免选用沉积物的共性特征。基于贡嘎山东坡冰碛、各种冰消后沉积物与磨西台地不同层位粒度与石英颗粒表面形态的对比和聚类分析,确认台地底部和中部可能分别为MIS3冰碛与MIS3以来的泥石流沉积,上...     

Last Glacial loess in the conterminous USA

The conterminous United States contains an extensive and generally well-studied record of Last Glacial loess. The loess occurs in diverse physiographic provinces, and under a wide range of climatic and ecological conditions. Both glacial and non-glacial loess sources are present, and many properties of the loess vary systematically with distance from loess sources. United States’ mid-continent Last Glacial loess is probably the thickest in the world, and our calculated mass accumulation rates (MARs) are as high as 17,500 g/m²/yr at the Bignell Hill locality in Nebraska, and many near-source localities have MARs greater than 1500 g/m²/yr. These MARs are high relative to rates calculated in other loess provinces around the world. Recent models of Last Glacial dust sources fail to predict the extent and magnitude of dust flux from the mid-continent of the United States. A better understanding of linkages between climate, ice sheet behaviour, routing of glacial meltwater, land surface processes beyond the ice margin, and vegetation is needed to improve the predictive capabilities of models simulating dust flux from this region.     

OBSERVATIONS ON THE QUATERNARY GEOLOGY OF THE LADAKH RANGE, NORTHWEST INDIAN HIMALAYA

OBSERVATIONS ON THE QUATERNARY GEOLOGY OF THE LADAKH RANGE, NORTHWEST INDIAN HIMALAYA     

岭南东江流域晚更新世哺乳动物化石的新发现

近年在南岭以南的广东东江流域河源地区东源县上莞镇的碧寿洞中发现较丰富的古哺乳动物牙齿化石。经鉴定为6个目5属5种,称之为碧寿动物群。根据碧寿动物群指示的古生态、化石层位、热释光测试结果和生物地层对比初步认为,该动物群与西江流域的罗沙岩动物群一样,都属于晚更新世时期的大熊猫—剑齿象动物群,生活在MIS5a时的间冰期,但罗沙岩动物群的时代略早,为(79.0±15)kaBP,而碧寿动物群则存在于末次冰期/末次间冰期之交的MIS5a之末叶。此动物群为广东东江流域历年首现,代表了当时的热带北缘森林草原的自然环境。     

Fast-flowing outlet glaciers of the Last Glacial Maximum Patagonian Icefield

Glacial geomorphology around the Northern Patagonian Icefield indicates that a number of fast-flowing outlet glaciers (the continuation of ice streams further upglacier) drained the icefield during the Last Glacial Maximum. These topographically controlled fast-flowing glaciers may have dictated the overall pattern of Last Glacial Maximum ice discharge, lowered the ice-surface profile, and forced the ice-divide westward. The influence of the fast-flowing outlet glaciers on icefield behavior also helps to explain why the configuration of the Patagonian Icefield at the Last Glacial Maximum is not accurately represented in existing numerical ice-sheet models. Fast-flowing outlet glaciers would have strongly influenced ice discharge patterns and therefore partially decoupled the icefield from climatically induced changes in thickness and extent.     

新疆阿尔泰山哈纳斯河流域及其邻域第四纪冰川作用

根据新疆阿尔泰山哈纳斯河流域及其邻域第四纪冰川遗迹的类型和特征,哈纳斯河流域第四纪时期至少发生过5次明显的冰川事件,即倒数第三冰期,倒数第二冰期,倒数第一冰期(末次冰期),新冰期和小冰期。其中,更新世的3次冰川作用规模巨大,倒数第三冰期的冰川呈半覆盖式,倒数第二冰期和倒数第一冰期时发育了长达96km以上的大型山谷冰川。古冰川属于冰温高、活动性大和侵蚀能力强的温冰川。从新到老,每次冰期的雪线下降幅度一次比一次大。     

Stratigraphy,sedimentary development and palaeoenvironmental context of a naturally accumulated pitfall cave deposit from southeastern Australia

McEachern's Deathtrap Cave (G—49/50) is located in the Lower Glenelg region of southeastern Australia and records a Late Pleistocene to Holocene sedimentary record that has been directly influenced by surface processes during its formation. The sedimentary sequence contained within the cave is divided into lower, middle and upper sequences consisting of eight facies. The lower sequence represents the earliest phase of sedimentation, and groundwater fluctuations during the Last Interglacial period resulted in its erosion and redistribution deeper into the cave system. A decrease in the magnitude and frequency of flood events in the cave during the formation of the middle sequence indicates increasingly drier surface conditions prior to the Last Glacial Maximum. The middle sequence has a minimum age of 9840 ± 290 a BP. Moving sand sheets during the Last Glacial blocked the entrance to the cave allowing flowstones to develop on the cave floor. The surface environment surrounding the cave was probably not as dry as contemporaneous inland sites because sedimentation continued to be dominated by flowing water during this period. Holocene sedimentation is represented by the upper sequence and reflects wetter cave conditions between 7680 ± 160 a BP and 5700 ± 110 a BP. A major phase of sediment accretion occurs after 5700 a BP and correlates to a phase of dune instability in the Lower Glenelg region. Flowing water remodelled the sediment cone sometime after 2240 ± 100 a BP, which represents a period of increased surface runoff, although it is not clear whether this is due to climatic or anthropogenic influences.     

雅鲁藏布江流域古堰塞湖群的发育及其地质意义初探

展布于青藏高原东南部的雅鲁藏布江流域河谷中广泛分布有古堰塞湖沉积,古堰塞湖发育与构造活动、气候变化和地表过程等因素关系密切。在广泛地质调查的基础上,识别出雅鲁藏布江流域的十余个古堰塞湖,通过对其开展沉积学、地貌学和年代学工作,结合前人工作结果,初步建立了古堰塞湖群的地层年代框架。地表残留的古堰塞湖沉积多集中于末次冰期冰盛期和全新世早期,持续时间可达千年—万年。对大竹卡古湖、格嘎古湖和易贡湖的研究结果进行了介绍,归纳出古堰塞湖群发育的基本特征,初步讨论了构造、气候和侵蚀相互作用下古堰塞湖研究的意义、存在的问题以及研究的方向。提出末次冰期以来的冰川(泥石流)堵江-堰塞-溃决洪水所构建的极端气候-灾害事件,对雅鲁藏布江河谷地貌和古地理环境等有重要影响。     

末次冰期毛乌素沙地湖泊消涨过程:沉积证据

毛乌素沙地位于东亚季风边缘区,对于气候变化响应敏感.基于沙地的侵蚀-堆积关系,在侵蚀作用为主的沙地西北部和中部很难找到沉积相对连续且分辨率较高的地层剖面,因此已有的末次冰期古气候环境研究多集中于堆积作用为主的沙地东南缘的萨拉乌苏河河谷地区.本文选取位于沙地腹地,厚度为3.5 m的风成砂-河湖相沉积序列——神水台(SSTG)剖面为研究对象,基于AMS 14C和OSL年代数据,推测得出剖面中湖相层的上界和下界分别为约24.2 ka B.P .和42.7ka B.P.,依据沉积地层和环境代用指标分析结果,针对末次冰期毛乌素沙地湖泊消涨的一般过程进行了探讨.结果表明,自约5万年以来,由神水台(SSTG)剖面指示了两次明显的湖泊主要发育期,时间分别约为42.7~34.3 ka B.P.和31.1~24.2 ka B.P.,期间粘土含量、有机质、红度均表现为低值,为含淡水螺壳化石的典型湖泊相沉积,且与毛乌素沙地已有湖泊发育的年代结果基本一致.在两期湖相层之间的砂层,平均粒径、砂含量表现为峰值,指示了一次明显的湖泊消退的过程,其时间约为34.3~31.1 ka B.P.;在湖相层上下可能均为风力作用为主导的风沙沉积.通过区域对比并初步探讨其可能的驱动机制,结果表明SSTG剖面记录的湖泊消涨过程主要受控于东亚季风强度的变化.     

Sedimentary biomarkers reaffirm human impacts on northern Beringian ecosystems during the Last Glacial period

Our understanding of the timing of human arrival to the Americas remains fragmented, despite decades of active research and debate. Genetic research has recently led to the ‘Beringian standstill hypothesis’ (BSH), which suggests an isolated group of humans lived somewhere in Beringia for millennia during the Last Glacial, before a subgroup migrated southward into the American continents about 14 ka. Recently published organic geochemical data suggest human presence around Lake E5 on the Alaskan North Slope during the Last Glacial; however, these biomarker proxies, namely faecal sterols and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), are relatively novel and require replication to bolster their support of the BSH. We present new analyses of these biomarkers in the sediment archive of Burial Lake (latitude 68°26′N, longitude 159°10′W m a.s.l.) in northwestern Alaska. Our analyses corroborate that humans were present in Beringia during the Last Glacial and that they likely promoted fire activity. Our data also suggest that humans coexisted with Ice Age megafauna for millennia prior to their eventual extinction at the end of the Last Glacial. Lastly, we identify fire as an overlooked ecological component of the mammoth steppe ecosystem.     

The youngest volcanic eruptions in East‐Central Europe—new findings from the Ciomadul lava dome complex,East Carpathians,Romania

Violent explosive eruptions occurred between c. 51 and 29 thousand years ago—during the Last Glacial Maximum in East‐Central Europe—at the picturesque volcano of Ciomadul, located at the southernmost tip of the Inner Carpathian Volcanic Range in Romania. Field volcanology, glass geochemistry of tephra, radiocarbon and optically stimulated luminescene dating, along with coring the lacustrine infill of the two explosive craters of Ciomadul (St Ana and Mohos), constrain the last volcanic activity to three subsequent eruptive stages. The explosivity was due to the silicic composition of the magma producing Plinian‐style eruptions, and the interaction of magma with the underlying, water‐rich rocks resulting in violent phreatomagmatic outbursts. Tephra (volcanic ash) from these eruptions are interbedded with contemporaneous loess deposits, which form thick sequences in the vicinity of the volcano. Moreover, tephra layers are also preserved in the older Mohos crater infill, providing an important archive for palaeoclimate studies. Identifying the final phreatomagmatic eruption of Ciomadul at c. 29.6 ka, which shaped the present‐day landform of the 1600‐m‐wide St Ana explosion crater, we were able to correlate related tephra deposits as far as 350 km from the source within a thick loess‐palaeosol sequence at the Dniester Delta in Roxolany, Ukraine. A refined tephrostratigraphy, based on a number of newly found exposures in the Ciomadul surrounding region as well as correlation with the distal terrestrial and marine (e.g. Black Sea) volcano‐sedimentary record, is expected from ongoing studies.     

唐古拉山地区第四纪冰川作用与冰川特征

自中更新世以来,唐古拉山地区发生过3次更新世冰川作用(即昆仑冰期、倒数第二次冰期和末次错冰期)和2次全新世晚期冰进(即新冰期和小冰期冰进).昆仑冰期(最大冰期)发生在中更新世早期(0.80～0.60MaBP),不仅是本区最早的一次冰期,而且也是冰川规模最大的一次冰期,当时的冰川规模比现代冰川大16～18倍;倒数第二次冰期发生在中更新世晚期(0.30～0.135MaBP),比现代冰川大13～15倍;末次冰期发生在晚更新世晚期,应分为末次冰期早冰阶(75.0～58.0kaBP)和晚冰阶(32.0～15.0kaBP,23.0kaBP时达到极盛),但在唐古拉山地区截止目前还未找到早冰阶的冰川遗迹,因此,只对末次冰期的晚冰阶(LMG)进行了探讨.LMG时,冰川规模比现代冰川大10倍;新冰期发生在全新世高温期后,冰碛物的¹⁴C测年为(3540±160)aBP,冰川规模略大于现代冰川;小冰期发生在15～1世纪,冰川规模已接近于现代冰川.由于青藏高原的上升,对高原腹部地区引起的干旱化过程和水分严重不足,使唐古拉山地区的冰川自昆仑冰期以来,冰川规模一次比一次明显的减小.     

A REVIEW OF THE PALEO-HYDROLOGICAL AND GEOMORPHOLOGICAL CHARACTER OF LAKE NAM CO,SOUTH-CENTRAL TIBET

The endorheic Lake Nam Co,south Eastern Tibetan Plateau,was selected to investigate the interrelation between drainage basin processes,especially post-glacial glacier decay,and lake level fluctuations.Landforms of the drainage basin are highly influenced by tectonics,superimposed by fluvial and periglacial processes,and locally by glacial and eolian processes.Thus,geomorphological features and hydrological characteristics were compiled for the lake-basin to provide an overview of the landscape character.Data show that during the Last Glacial Maximum melt water from the mountains accumulated fluvial deposits in the foreland.Concurrently,an increase of the lake level occurred which is presently shown by a cliff line all around Nam Co with its base approximately 29m above the present lake level.The Holocene decrease of the lake level is traced by beach ridges.As Nam Co is an endorheic lake post-glacial water loss has to be primarily explained by evaporation and moisture conditions.However,more detailed conclusions on quantitative and chronological patterns of both factors,melt-water input and evaporation output,still remain to be drawn.     

Volume of Antarctic Ice at the Last Glacial Maximum, and its impact on global sea level change

The volume of Antarctic ice at the Last Glacial Maximum is a key factor for calculating the past contribution of melting ice sheets to Late Pleistocene global sea level change. At present, there are large uncertainties in our knowledge of the extent and thickness of the formerly expanded Antarctic ice sheets, and in the timing of their release as meltwater into the world’s oceans. This paper reviews the four main approaches to determining former Antarctic ice volume, namely glacial geology, glacio-isostatic studies, glaciological modelling, and ice core analysis and attempts to reconcile these to give a ‘best estimate’ for ice volume. In the Ross Sea there was a major expansion of grounded ice at the Last Glacial Maximum, accounting for 2.3–3.2 m of global sea level. At some time in the Weddell Sea a large grounded ice sheet corresponding to c. 2.7 m of global sea level extended to the shelf break. However, this ice expansion has not yet been confidently dated and may not relate to the Last Glacial Maximum. Around East Antarctica there was thickening and advance offshore of ice in coastal regions. Ice core evidence suggests that the interior of East Antarctica was either close to its present elevation or thinner during the last glacial so the effect of East Antarctica on sea level depends on the net balance between marginal thickening and interior thinning. Suggested East Antarctic contributions vary from a 3–5.5 m lowering to a 0.64 m rise in global sea level. The Antarctic Peninsula ice sheet thickened and extended offshore at the Last Glacial Maximum, with a sea level equivalent contribution of c. 1.7 m. Thus, the Antarctic ice sheets accounted for between 6.1 and 13.1 m of global sea level fall at the Last Glacial Maximum. This is substantially less than has been suggested by most previous studies but the maximum figure matches well with one modelling estimate. The timing of Antarctic deglaciation is not well known. In the Ross Sea, terrestrial evidence suggests deglaciation may have begun at c. 13,000 yr BP¹ but that grounded ice persisted until c. 6,500 yr BP. Marine evidence suggests the western Ross Sea was deglaciated by c. 11,500 yr BP. Deglaciation of the Weddell Sea is poorly constrained. Grounded ice in the northern Antarctic Peninsula had retreated by c. 13,000 yr BP, and further south deglaciation occurred sometime prior to c. 6,000 yr BP. Many parts of coastal East Antarctica apparently escaped glaciation at the LGM, but in those areas that were ice-covered deglaciation was underway by 10,000 yr BP. With existing data, the timing of deglaciation shows no firm relation to northern hemisphere-driven sea level rise. This is probably due partly to lack of Antarctic dating evidence but also to the combined influence of several forcing mechanisms acting during deglaciation.     

Quaternary glaciation in the Nubra and Shyok valley confluence, northernmost Ladakh, India

Three glacial stages (Deshkit 1, Deshkit 2 and Dishkit 3 glacial stages) are identified in the Nubra and Shyok valleys in northernmost Ladakh, northwest India, on the basis of geomorphic field mapping, remote sensing, and ¹⁰Be terrestrial cosmogenic nuclide surface exposure dating. The glacial stages date to ∼ 45 ka (Deshkit 1 glacial stage), ∼ 81 ka (Deshkit 2 glacial stage) and ∼ 144 ka (Deshkit 3 glacial stage). A mean equilibrium line altitude depression of ∼ 290 m for the Deshkit 1 glacial stage was calculated using the area accumulation ratio, toe-to-headwall ratio, area-altitude, and area-altitude balance ratio methods. Comparison of glaciation in the Nubra and Shyok valleys with glaciations in the adjacent Central Karakoram of northern Pakistan and northern side of the Ladakh Range of northern India indicates that glaciation was synchronous on Milankovitch timescales across the region during MIS-6, but differed greatly in extent, with more extensive glaciation in the Karakoram than the morphostratigraphically equivalent glaciation on the northern slopes of the Ladakh Range. This highlights the strong contrast in the extent of glaciation across ranges in the Himalaya-Tibetan orogen, necessitating caution when correlating glacial successions within and between mountain ranges.     

Dansgaard–Oeschger climatic variability revealed by fire emissions in southwestern Iberia

Paleoenvironmental records in Europe describing paleofires extending back to the Last Interglacial have so far been unavailable. Here, we present paleofire results from the combined petrographic and automated image analysis of microcharcoal particles preserved in marine core MD95-2042 retrieved off southwestern Iberia and covering the last climatic cycle. The variability of microcharcoal concentrations reveals that the variability of fire emissions is mainly imprinted by the 23 000 yr precessional cycle. A focus on the Last Glacial Period further shows that paleofires follow the variability of Dansgaard–Oeschger oscillation and Heinrich events and, therefore, parallel the variability of atmospheric temperatures over Greenland detected in ice cores. There is no evidence for fire increase related to human activity. The variability of fire emission by-products for the Last Glacial Period is interpreted in terms of changes in biomass availability. Low fire activity is associated with periods of drought which saw the development of semi-desert vegetation that characterised stadial periods. Fire activity increased during wetter interstadials, related to the development of open Mediterranean forests with more woody fuel availability.     

Carbonate and organic carbon content changes over last 20 ka in the Southeastern Arabian Sea: Paleoceanographic implications

Two Gravity cores (AAS 38-4 and AAS 38-5) recovered from the eastern Arabian Sea were analyzed for calcium carbonate (CaCO₃), organic carbon, aluminium (Al) and titanium (Ti) in order to understand the calcium carbonate and terrigenous fluctuations during the Holocene and Last Glacial Period. High CaCO₃ and low Al and Ti during the Holocene, and low CaCO₃ and high Al and Ti during the Last Glacial Period suggest that CaCO₃ content in these two cores appears to be controlled by the dilution of terrigenous material. The supply of terrigenous material to the core sites was higher during the Last Glacial Period than in the Holocene. Organic carbon values were lower (<2%) during the Holocene and higher (>2%) during the Last Glacial Period in core AAS 38-4; but the opposite was found in core AAS 38-5. This inconsistent pattern of organic carbon changes in the two cores studied indicates that the distribution of organic carbon in the eastern Arabian Sea is controlled not only by the supply of organic matter from the water column but also by sediment texture and dilution of sediment components.     

松宗古湖——藏东南帕隆藏布江末次盛冰期 发育的一个冰川堰塞湖*

青藏高原东南部帕隆藏布江松宗地区晚更新世期间发生了一次可以识别的支谷冰川阻江形成冰川堰塞湖——松宗古湖的事件。松宗滑坡处的湖相沉积剖面厚度≥88m,其中厚达18.33m并具湖相沉积代表性的连续粉质粘土层底部和顶部的光释光年龄分别为22.5±3.3kaB.P.和16.1±1.7kaB.P. , 属末次盛冰期。松宗滑坡处河谷两侧冰碛台地与湖相沉积的接触关系和空间特征指示该湖相沉积与末次盛冰期董曲支谷冰川阻塞帕隆藏布江有关。湖相地层的剖面沉积特征揭示出这个冰川堰塞湖可能贯穿于整个末次盛冰期,但整个帕隆藏布并没有形成统一的山谷冰川。     

Pattern of abrupt climatic fluctuation in the East Asian Monsoon during the Last Glacial: Evidence from Chinese loess records

Records of two loess sections located in mid-eastern and western margins of the East Asian Monsoon area captured 20 Dansgaard-Oescher events and six Heinrich events. All these suggested that the climate in the East Asian Monsoon area fluctuated rapidly on millennial to century timescales during the whole Last Glacial. We found that these loess-based events of rapid climate fluctuations were generally synchronous with those of GRIP records, but that there were differences between the Shagou loess section in the west and the Wangguan loess section in the east: the former was more sensitive to climate change than the latter. Compared with earlier studies on loess records covering the Last Glacial from neighboring areas, we discovered that the magnitude of Dansgaard-Oeschger cycles decreased gradually from west to east and we suggest that it resulted from the combined effect of the Westerlies and the East Asian Monsoon.