220ka BP来萨拉乌苏河流域地质剖面地球化学特征及其对全球气候变化的响应

萨拉乌苏河流域位于我国北方沙漠/黄土过渡带和生态脆弱带,它对全球气候变化反映非常敏感,是研究全球气候变化响应的理想区域.对该区域滴哨沟湾剖面地球化学元素氧化物及其比值变化进行了分析,结果表明:约220 ka BP以来我国北方气候变化极不稳定,存在着不同时间尺度的频繁变化,这种不稳定性无论是在冰期还是间冰期都有很好的反映.其中倒数第二次间冰期存在3次气候波动;倒数第二次冰期存在7个气候旋回;末次间冰期存在7个气候旋回;末次冰期存在9个气候旋回.这些气候变化与深海氧同位素、极地冰芯反映的全球变化具有良好的对应关系,反映了该区气候变化与全球变化的高度一致性.     

末次间冰期以来沙漠-黄土边界带移动与气候变化

位于现代季风区边缘的沙漠－黄土边界带，具有高度不稳定性。末次间冰期以来历经多次北进南退移动和暖湿、冷干变化。依据古风成砂－黄土－古土壤叠覆更替的沉积序列和磁化率等气候代用指标分析，对末次间冰期以来，尤其是特征时期边界带的位置进行了讨论。其中，盛冰期时移动幅度最大，南界可能达３０°Ｎ左右；末次间冰期和全新世气候鼎盛期最靠西北，南界在古长城以北。全球冰期－间冰期波动导致的气候变化以及东亚冬夏季风强弱变化是控制边界带移动和气候变化的根本因素。     

When did the Last Interglacial end?

Disagreement on the time of the end of the Last Interglacial stems from lack of an agreed definition of an Interglacial. Although strictly a climatic episode, “Interglacial” as commonly used is essentially a chronologic unit equivalent to an Age, corresponding in time range to the chronostratigraphic unit Stage.The name “Last Interglacial” has gained a global connotation so that its definition must take into account global rather than local effects of temperature fluctuations. An Interglacial begins with a warming to full interglacial warmth (as warm as the present day). It continues until a cooling of full glacial severity occurs, and includes any lesser coolings within a period of fluctuating climate. Such lesser coolings are recorded, particularly in deep-sea cores, following a period of warmth about 125,000 y.a. The cooling that led to the next full glacial cold began about 50,000 yr later. The Last Interglacial lasted from about 128,000 to 73,000 yr BP, equivalent to stage 5 of Shackleton and Opdyke.     

过去气候演化的阶段性和突变

地球系统的历史信息是评估全球变化的一项重要因素。前些年，过去气候研究中发现了气候的突然变化的现象，突变证据大多出现在冰期，或由冰期向间冰期的过渡时期，并认为这是冰盖的成冰与溶解过程造成海水铅直运动的结果。近些年，过去气候研究还发现在间冰期中也出现突变。我国的历史文献、冰芯和沉积的高分辨率的古气候恢复工作发现近２０００年来中国气候明显存在着突变事件。因此，这给我们带来了新的问题，即间冰期气候的稳定性问题。如果气候突变的证据增多，那意味着气候系统很可能按两种方式运行     

距今220 ka以来大同盆地沉积物磁化率反映的气候变化

大同盆地地处我国季风影响的北部边缘, 第四纪以来盆地内发育厚层的河湖相地层, 其上覆盖马兰黄土或全新世沉积, 蕴含着丰富的气候环境变迁信息, 是研究气候环境变化的理想场所. 在对盆地内地层考察的基础上, 对晚近地质时期河湖相与风成相互层沉积剖面的磁化率、粒度变化进行了分析. 结果表明: 220 ka BP以来大同盆地气候变化经历了中更新世(220~199 ka BP)暖湿期、中更新世(199~138 ka BP)干冷期、末次间冰期(138~71 ka BP)暖湿期、末次冰期(71~11 ka BP)干冷期、全新世(11 ka BP至今)频繁的干冷暖湿波动变化过程, 每个阶段仍有次一级的气候波动. 大同盆地这种气候变化与深海氧同位素以及我国北方萨拉乌苏河地区、岱海等地揭示的气候变化有很好的对应, 反映出本区气候变化是对全球冰期-间冰期气候波动的响应.     

Multi-proxy record of Holocene glacial history of the Spearhead and Fitzsimmons ranges,southern Coast Mountains,British Columbia

Evidence from glacier forefields and lakes is used to reconstruct Holocene glacier fluctuations in the Spearhead and Fitzsimmons ranges in southwest British Columbia. Radiocarbon ages on detrital wood and trees killed by advancing ice and changes in sediment delivery to downstream proglacial lakes indicate that glaciers expanded from minimum extents in the early Holocene to their maximum extents about two to three centuries ago during the Little Ice Age. The data indicate that glaciers advanced 8630–8020, 6950–6750, 3580–2990, and probably 4530–4090 cal yr BP, and repeatedly during the past millennium. Little Ice Age moraines dated using dendrochronology and lichenometry date to early in the 18th century and in the 1830s and 1890s. Limitations inherent in lacustrine and terrestrial-based methods of documenting Holocene glacier fluctuations are minimized by using the two records together.     

Carbonate mounds of the Moroccan Mediterranean margin: Facies and environmental controls

Sedimentological and geochemical studies of boxcores from the Brittlestar Ridge I and Cabliers carbonate mounds, along the Moroccan Mediterranean margin, show that sediments are composed of cold water scleratian corals and micritic mud, muddy micrite or muddy allochem limestone matrix, outlining seven different facies that can be attributed to “cluster reefs”. The mixed siliciclastic/carbonate sediments have been derived from both extra- and intrabasinal sources. Extra-basinal sources may be the geological formations outcropping in the Moroccan hinterland and Sahara, the latter including corals and associated bioclasts. Sediments were transported by wind and rivers and redistributed by bottom currents and local upwelling. Our results confirm the role of tectonics in the genesis of these carbonate mounds and reveal that their developments during the Holocene (10.34–0.91 ka BP) was controlled by climatic fluctuations (e.g. Holocene Climate Optimum and Little Ice Age), eustatic sea level change, and hydrodynamic regime.     

Reproducibility of Holocene atmospheric CO2 records based on stomatal frequency

The majority of the stomatal frequency-based estimates of CO₂ for the Holocene do not support the widely accepted concept of comparably stable CO₂ concentrations throughout the past 11,500 years. To address the critique that these stomatal frequency variations result from local environmental change or methodological insufficiencies, multiple stomatal frequency records were compared for three climatic key periods during the Holocene, namely the Preboreal oscillation, the 8.2 kyr cooling event and the Little Ice Age. The highly comparable fluctuations in the palaeo-atmospheric CO₂ records, which were obtained from different continents and plant species (deciduous angiosperms as well as conifers) using varying calibration approaches, provide strong evidence for the integrity of leaf-based CO₂ quantification.     

Holocene glacial variations in Sarek National Park, northern Sweden

Detailed mapping of well-preserved moraine systems fronting 17 small alpine glaciers in Sarek National Park in Swedish Lapland reveals two Holocene intervals of prolonged glacier expansion, each involving a complex of minor fluctuations. The younger interval, which corresponds to the Little Ice Age, experienced advances that culminated about A.D. 1916–1920, 1880–1890, 1850–1860, 1800–1810, 1780, 1700–1720, 1680, 1650, and 1590–1620. The older expansion interval, which probably centered around 2500 ¹⁴C yr B.P., experienced several minor fluctuations spread through about 600 years.
Lichen data collected on moraine systems in Sarek are internally consistent from glacier to glacier. Lichen measurements on surfaces of known age in Sarek and nearby Kebnekaise match closely, allowing moraine correlations between these areas. Several older expansion intervals are recorded in the Kebnekaise Mountains. Taken together, the two sequences suggest that a series of prolonged expansion intervals, each similar to the Little Ice Age, has characterized the Holocene in Lapland. Fluctuations of the Scandinavian Ice Sheet in Sweden suggest that this series of Little-Ice-Age events extends back into the late Weichsel in the form of the Younger Dryas and Oldest Dryas stadials.     

Geomorphic evidence for Holocene glacial advances and sea level fluctuations on eastern Vestfirðir, northwest Iceland

New geomorphic and chronological data of Holocene advances of the Drangajökull Ice Cap, located on eastern Vestfirðir, northwest Iceland, are presented. At least two glacial advances and two transgressions during the Holocene are interpreted from moraines and raised beach deposits, respectively. Geomorphic evidence is concentrated in the three valleys adjacent to the modern outlet glaciers of the Drangajökull Ice Cap: Kaldalónsjökull, Leirufjarðarjökull, and Reykjarfjarðarjökull. The valley surrounding Kaldalónsjökull contains a vegetated Holocene moraine with a minimum radiocarbon age of ∼2600 cal. yr BP, which provides geomorphic evidence for Neoglacial activity on eastern Vestfirðir. The second extensive Holocene glacial advance on eastern Vestfirðir occurred during the Little Ice Age, and moraines associated with this advance are present in all three outlet glacier valleys. The Neoglacial advance is the most extensive ice advance on eastern Vestfirðir. Raised beaches parallel to the coastlines of Ísafjarðardjúp and Jökulfirðir, at an elevation of approximately 5 m a.s.l., suggest a minor transgression at ∼3000 cal. yr BP based on radiocarbon ages of shells. A minor transgression of 0.3–0.5 m a.s.l. is associated with the timing of the Little Ice Age advance. Correlation of geomorphic events with sediment proxy records facilitates distinguishing local perturbations from regional North Atlantic climate signals. This study supports regional interpretations of climatic instability during the Holocene.     

A chronology for the long pollen record from Lake Wangoom,western Victoria (Australia) as derived from uranium/thorium disequilibrium dating

The chronology of a long pollen record from Lake Wangoom, one of the few long palaeoenvironmental records from southeastern Australia, is discussed in light of the acquisition of new uranium/thorium disequilibrium (UTD) dates. Of crucial importance has been the estimation of ages for two major pre‐Holocene phases of forest expansion recorded in the sequence, with implications for the timing of periods of high effective precipitation in the region. The new UTD ages indicate that the oldest forest phase falls within the Penultimate Interglacial whereas the later phase corresponds with the Last Interglacial. This is older than indicated by previously reported UTD and radiocarbon dates, but confirms a chronology based on direct correlation with the pollen record from marine core E55‐6. The new chronology of the Lake Wangoom sequence provides evidence that phases of sustained forest development in southeast Australia relate to interglacial periods. In comparison, interstadial periods appear to be characterised by only minor arboreal development. Marked differences in the pattern of vegetation development evident in each of the interglacials are thought to reflect varying climatic and anthropogenic influences. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Holocene glacial and tree-line variations in the White River Valley and Skolai Pass,Alaska and Yukon Territory

Complex glacier and tree-line fluctuations in the White River valley on the northern flank of the St. Elias and Wrangell Mountains in southern Alaska and Yukon Territory are recognized by detailed moraine maps and drift stratigraphy, and are dated by dendrochronology, lichenometry, ¹⁴C ages, and stratigraphic relations of drift to the eastern (1230 ¹⁴C yr BP) and northern (1980 ¹⁴C yr BP) lobes of the White River Ash. The results show two major intervals of expansion, one concurrent with the well-known and widespread Little Ice Age and the other dated between 2900 and 2100 ¹⁴C yr BP, with a culmination about 2600 and 2800 ¹⁴C yr BP. Here, the ages of Little Ice Age moraines suggest fluctuating glacier expansion between ad 1500 and the early 20th century. Much of the 20th century has experienced glacier recession, but probably it would be premature to declare the Little Ice Age over. The complex moraine systems of the older expansion interval lie immediately downvalley from Little Ice Age moraines, suggesting that the two expansion intervals represent similar events in the Holocene, and hence that the Little Ice Age is not unique. Another very short-lived advance occurred about 1230 to 1050 ¹⁴C yr BP. Spruce immigrated into the valley to a minimum altitude of 3500 ft (1067 m), about 600 ft (183 m) below the current spruce tree line of 4100 ft (1250 m), at least by 8020 ¹⁴C yr BP. Subsequent intervals of high tree line were in accord with glacier recession; in fact, several spruce-wood deposits above current tree line occur bedded between Holocene tills. High deposits of fossil wood range up to 76 m above present tree line and are dated at about 5250, 3600 to 3000, and 2100 to 1230 ¹⁴C yr BP. St. Elias glacial and tree-line fluctuations, which probably are controlled predominantly by summer temperature and by length of the growing and ablation seasons, correlate closely with a detailed Holocene tree-ring curve from California, suggesting a degree of synchronism of Holocene summer-temperature changes between the two areas. This synchronism is strengthened by comparison with the glacier record from British Columbia and Mt. Rainier, Likewise, broad synchronism of Holocene events exists across the Arctic between the St. Elias Mountains and Swedish Lappland. Finally, two sequences from the Southern Hemisphere show similar records, in so far as dating allows. Hence, we believe that a preliminary case can be made for broad synchronism of Holocene climatic fluctuations in several regions, although further data are needed and several areas, particularly Colorado and Baffin Island, show major differences in the regional pattern.     

敦德冰岩芯古气候环境记录的初步研究

中美合作首次研究了中国西部祁连山敦德冰帽的冰岩芯。研究说明该冰帽的冰岩芯对研究古气候及环境变化具有很好的代表性,能够反映中国西部乃至北半球的气候、环境变化的过程和量级。δ¹⁸O、冰晶尺寸的高值及微粒含量的低值与高温期对应,δ¹⁸O、冰晶尺寸的低值及微粒含量的高值与低温期相对应。冰岩芯上部所记录的本世纪以来的气候变化与其它气候记录所反映的情况一致。冰岩芯的下部（125m以下）反映了最后一次冰期的气候及环境。根据冰晶粒径增长速度计算,该冰川从末次冰期到全新世高温期的气温差值是7℃。     

Holocene climate variability in the Southern Ocean recorded in a deep-sea sediment core off South Australia

To understand Holocene climatic development and to determine drivers of climatic changes and climate variability, high-resolution marine proxy records are required from key oceanic locations. However, information on the Holocene climate development from the Southern Hemisphere is still rare and mainly based on terrestrial archives. Here, we present data with a high-resolution of circa 35 years from sediment cores taken east of the Great Australian Bight, where it is possible to determine Southern Ocean Holocene climate and the longer-term trends of the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) conditions. For this purpose, we used the oxygen-isotope records of two planktonic foraminifer species Globigerinoides ruber and Globigerina bulloides which inhabit different water masses as well as faunal counts of planktonic foraminifers. After the ocean frontal systems off southern Australia were pushed northward by orbitally-forced insolation changes during the early Holocene, the data indicate increasing ENSO variability during the mid to late Holocene when the fronts shifted polewards again. A strong circa 1550 year cycle is found in the Globigerina bulloides record which reflects the wider Southern Ocean signal with prominent cold phases centred at circa 9.2, 7.3, 5.8, 4.3, 2.7, 1.4 ka BP and, possibly the Little Ice Age, which have global counterparts.     

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.     

Sea level and shoreline reconstructions for the Red Sea: isostatic and tectonic considerations and implications for hominin migration out of Africa

The history of sea level within the Red Sea basin impinges on several areas of research. For archaeology and prehistory, past sea levels of the southern sector define possible pathways of human dispersal out of Africa. For tectonics, the interglacial sea levels provide estimates of rates for vertical tectonics. For global sea level studies, the Red Sea sediments contain a significant record of changing water chemistry with implications on the mass exchange between oceans and ice sheets during glacial cycles. And, because of its geometry and location, the Red Sea provides a test laboratory for models of glacio-hydro-isostasy. The Red Sea margins contain incomplete records of sea level for the Late Holocene, for the Last Glacial Maximum, for the Last Interglacial and for earlier interglacials. These are usually interpreted in terms of tectonics and ocean volume changes but it is shown here that the glacio-hydro-isostatic process is an additional important component with characteristic spatial variability. Through an iterative analysis of the Holocene and interglacial evidence a separation of the tectonic, isostatic and eustatic contributions is possible and we present a predictive model for palaeo-shorelines and water depths for a time interval encompassing the period proposed for migrations of modern humans out of Africa. Principal conclusions include the following. (i) Late Holocene sea level signals evolve along the length of the Red Sea, with characteristic mid-Holocene highstands not developing in the central part. (ii) Last Interglacial sea level signals are also location dependent and, in the absence of tectonics, are not predicted to occur more than 1–2 m above present sea level. (iii) For both periods, Red Sea levels at ‘expected far-field’ elevations are not necessarily indicative of tectonic stability and the evidence points to a long-wavelength tectonic uplift component along both the African and Arabian northern and central sides of the Red Sea. (iv) The observational evidence is consistent with tectonic and isostatic processes both operating over the past 300,000 years without requiring changes in the time averaged (over a few thousand years) tectonic rates. (v) Recent bathymetric data for the Bab al Mandab region have been compiled to confirm the location and depth of the sill controlling flow in and out of the Red Sea. Throughout the last 400,000 years the Red Sea has remained open to the Gulf of Aden with cross sectional areas at times of glacial maxima about 2% of that today. (vi) The minimum channel widths connecting the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden at times of lowstand occur south of the Hanish Sill. The channels are less than 4 km wide and remain narrow for as long as local sea levels are below ?50 m. This occurs for a number of sustained periods during the last two glacial cycles and earlier. (vii) Periods suitable for crossing between Africa and Arabia without requiring seaworthy boats or seafaring skills occurred periodically throughout the Pleistocene, particularly at times of favourable environmental climatic conditions that occurred during times of sea level lowstand.     

Predicted relative sea-level changes (18,000 years B.P. to present) caused by late-glacial retreat of the Antarctic Ice Sheet

Predictions of global changes in relative sea level caused by retreat of the Antarctic Ice Sheet from its 18,000 yr B.P. maximum to its present size are calculated numerically. When combined with the global predictions of relative sea-level change resulting from retreat of the Northern Hemisphere ice sheets, the results may be compared directly to observations of sea-level change on the Antarctic continent as well as at distant localities. The comparison of predictions to the few observations of sea-level change on Antarctica supports the view that the Antarctic Ice Sheet was larger 18,000 years ago than at present. The contribution of the Antarctic Ice Sheet to the total eustatic sea-level rise is assumed to be 25 m (25% of the assumed total eustatic rise). If as little as 0.7 m of this 25-m rise occurred between 5000 yr B.P. and the present, few mid-oceanic islands would emerge. If the Antarctic Ice Sheet attained its present dimensions by 6000 yr B.P., however, and if the volume of the ocean has remained constant for the past 5000 years, numerous islands throughout the Southern Hemisphere would emerge. It is suggested that a thorough study of Pacific islands, believed by some to have slightly emerged shorelines of Holocene age, would yield useful information about ocean volume changes during the past 5000 years, and hence on the glacial history of the Antarctic Ice Sheet.     

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.     

Climatic Character of Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5e in the Representative Regions of the World: A Review

The Last Interglacial or Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5e, is of great interest because it serves as an analog for the Holocene. The climate change and duration during Marine isotope stage (MIS) 5e are considerably well understood for recent and future climate. Despite great interest in this subject over many years, a number of issues concerning the climate circumstances of MIS 5e are by no means resolved. We analyzed 35 published palaeoclimate records with reliable chronologies and robust proxies in typical region of the world to evaluate climate change during MIS 5e. These data indicate that: ① The duration of this warm phase is thought to range from (128±2) ka to (116±2) ka. The climate of MIS 5e was likely relatively stable with a number of abrupt, weak amplitude, cool and/or arid events. And the difference between regions is noticeable for the occurrence, amplitude, onset and duration of these events. For example, marine records from the North Atlantic indicate that the climate of MIS 5e was relatively stable, however the records from Norwegian sea show that the climate of MIS 5e had a significant changes at the beginning and cold event in the Mid-Eemian; The δ¹⁸O, δD and CH₄ in the ice cores from Greenland and Antarctica imply that climate was relatively stable during the last interglacial period, while in Europe from the north to the south the duration of this phase became shorter and the intensity of climatic events became stronger. In addition, the climatic conditions of MIS 5e reconstructed by climate proxy from China are various and have the subject of some controversy. ②The global climate response to the insolation forcing would have been uniform on suborbital timescale. Nevertheless, as a result of regional sundry climatic forcing factors, global millennial-scale/century-scale climate oscillations were marked by significant local features during stage 5e. ③ Based on the better chronological controls, the estimation of climate parameters, the high-resolution climate records, and precise knowledge of the phase relationship between climate changes in global, the earlier depiction for climate circumstances and environment change during Marine Isotope Stage 5e should be refined and our understanding of the climate dynamics and mechanism and climate modelling should be improved.