Role of environmental changes in the spread of malaria in Europe during the Holocene

This article proposes the hypothesis that environmental changes altering mosquito breeding sites in coastal wetlands had a substantial influence on the history of malaria in many parts of Europe during the Holocene. The effects of both climatic and landscape changes on malaria itself and its vector mosquitoes are considered. It is argued that the forms of the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum that occurred in southern Europe in the past actually evolved in North Africa and the Near East and that its most important vectors in southern Europe in the past (Anopheles labranchiae and A. sacharovi) also came from North Africa and the Near East. It is suggested that the establishment of these mosquitoes in many parts of southern Europe was facilitated by substantial landscape changes which coincided with the spread of the disease as documented by written sources. The relationship of malaria to environmental change in northern Europe is also reviewed briefly.     

Evidence for Holocene Aeolian Activity at the Close of the Middle Bronze Age in the Eastern Carpathian Basin: Geoarchaeological Results from the Mureş River Valley,Romania

While extensive Pleistocene loess deposits have been identified across Eurasia, Holocene age loess (typically nonglaciogenic) is rarely recognized. We explore possible loess deposits in the Mureş River Valley of western Romania, providing a regional signal of increased aridity during the mid‐late Holocene. This proposed aridity may be responsible for the abandonment of Middle Bronze Age tell settlements along the major drainages of the eastern Carpathian Basin (Pannonian plain). This hypothesis centers on a proposed aeolian deposit (the “Pecica deposit”), a ca. 50–80 cm thick, relatively homogeneous, gray layer blanketing the top of the Bronze Age tell of Pecica—Şanţul Mare. Comparing the morphological, geochemical, and physical characteristics of this specific tell deposit with two representative profiles near the site containing glaciogenic calcareous loess and potential Holocene loess deposits developed in Chernozems, we find significant similarities to support this hypothesis. We then review various forms of proxy data published from elsewhere in Central and Eastern Europe suggesting a warming trend during this period. The temporal placement of the Pecica deposit is bracketed using diagnostic artifacts, radiocarbon dates, and the degree of soil development, suggesting a period of increased aridity likely occurring soon after the 17th century B.C.     

A first Holocene leaf wax isotope-based paleoclimate record from the semi-humid to semi-arid south-eastern Caucasian lowlands

The Holocene paleoclimate of the Caucasus region is rather complex and not yet well understood: while existing studies are mainly based on pollen records from high-altitude and humid lowland regions, no records are available from the semi-humid to semi-arid south-eastern Caucasian lowlands. Therefore, this study investigated compound-specific δ²H and δ¹³C isotopes of leaf wax biomarkers from Holocene floodplain soils in eastern Georgia. Our results show that the leaf wax δ²H signal from the paleosols mostly reflects changes in the moisture source and its isotopic composition. Depleted δ²H values before ~8 cal ka bp change towards enriched values after ~5 cal ka bp and become again depleted after ~1.6 cal ka bp. This trend could be caused by Holocene changes of the isotopic compositions of the Black and eastern Mediterranean Sea, and/or by varying contribution of both moisture sources linked with the North Atlantic Oscillation. The leaf wax δ¹³C signal from the paleosols directly indicates varying local water availability and drought stress. Depleted δ¹³C values before ~8 and after ~5 cal ka bp indicate wetter local conditions with higher water availability, whereas more enriched values during the middle Holocene (~8 until at least 5 cal ka bp ) indicate drier conditions with increased drought stress.     

青藏高原东北缘武威盆地内部全新世伸展构造特征及其成因机制

武威盆地位于青藏高原东北缘北祁连山与龙首山之间的河西走廊东端,全新世期间处于北东向挤压环境中。野外地质调查发现,武威盆地内部发育有两组走向近于垂直的正断层,即北西西走向和北东走向的正断层。光释光测年结果表明,两组正断层在0.70 ka、0.49~0.18 ka发生了两期构造活动。分析结果认为,北西西走向正断层是由武威盆地内部坟门山隆起持续隆升所产生的垂直于地层层面的差异应力作用所形成;北东走向正断层可能是盆地两侧近东西走向左旋走滑断裂控制下形成的张性破裂（T破裂）,也不排除是由在青藏高原北东向挤压作用下,与挤压应力相垂直方向上的伸展作用形成。因此,晚全新世期间武威盆地的构造变形受到青藏高原东北缘构造的控制。      

Patterns of human occupation during the early Holocene in the Central Ebro Basin (NE Spain) in response to the 8.2 ka climatic event

The Central Ebro River Basin (NE Spain) is the most northern area of truly semi-arid Mediterranean climate in Europe and prehistoric human occupation there has been strongly influenced by this extreme environmental condition. Modern climate conditions single out this region due to the harsh environment, characterised by the highest absolute summer temperatures of the Ebro River Basin. The Bajo Aragón region (SE Ebro River Basin) was intensively populated during the Early Holocene (9400-8200 cal yr BP) but the settlements were abandoned abruptly at around 8200 cal yr BP. We propose that this “archaeological silence” was caused by the regional impact of the global abrupt 8.2 ka cold event. Available regional paleoclimate archives demonstrate the existence of an aridity crisis then that interrupted the humid Early Holocene. That environmental crisis would have forced hunter-gatherer groups from the Bajo Aragón to migrate to regions with more favourable conditions (i.e. more humid mountainous areas) and only return in the Neolithic. Coherently, archaeological sites persist during this crisis in the nearby Iberian Range (Maestrazgo) and the North Ebro River area (Pre-Pyrenean mountains and along the northwestern Ebro Basin).     

Third-order Middle Miocene-Early Pliocene depositional sequences in the prograding delta complex of the Pannonian Basin

Few studies exist in the geologic literature that show the distribution of seismic facies and depositional sequences within a lacustrine basin. The Pannonian Basin of Central Europe offers a unique opportunity to evaluate the influence of the eustatic signal on lacustrine deposition.

Seismic stratigraphie and sedimentological studies indicate that the Middle Miocene-Early Pliocene infill of the transtensional Pannonian Basin was formed by large delta systems. Systematic sequence stratigraphie analysis of 6000 km of reflection seismic data and more than 100 hydrocarbon exploration wells in Hungary allowed the identification of twelve third-order sequence boundaries in the late Neogene sedimentary fill. This number of depositional sequences corresponds to that of the published global eustatic curve for this time period. Furthermore, based on magnetostratigraphic and radiometric data, the ages of these depositional sequences can be tentatively correlated with the global eustatic curve.

The Pannonian Basin became isolated from the world sea at the Sarmatian/Pannonian (11.5 Ma) boundary and formed a large lake. The stratal patterns and sedimentary facies of individual systems tracts within the lacustrine sequences display the same characteristics as marine depositional sequences. The relatively low rate of thermal subsidence and the high rate of sediment supply resulted in a good sequence resolution. Within the third-order sequences higher-order sequences can be recognized with an average duration of about 0.1–0.5 Ma.     

Contemporary state of stress and neotectonic deformation in the Carpathian-Pannonian region

The Carpathian-Pannonian region has been characterized by a two-stage tectonic evolution since the beginning of the Neogene. During early and mid-Miocene the lateral eastward escape of the Pannonian Fragment caused thrusting and folding in the Outer Carpathian Mountains, south- and westward directed subduction of the Eurasian lithosphere, calc-alkaline volcanism along the Inner Carpathian bend, and localized fault-controlled subsidence of basins in the Pannonian region. This style of tectonic deformation ceased by the end of the mid-Miocene. The neotectonic stage began in the late Miocene. It is characterized by differential regional subsidence with maximum rates in the west and east and minimum rates in the centre of the Pannonian Basin. Further characteristics of the central Pannonian Basin are the anomalous high heat flow values, the thin crust and lithosphere. The neotectonic stress field has been determined by in situ stress measurements, the analyses of borehole breakouts and fault-plane solutions of earthquakes. In situ stress measurements by the doorstopper and triaxial strain cell methods indicate high compressional stresses in the western Pannonian Basin with its maximum in WNW-ESE to NW-SE direction. In contrast to its western part, the central Pannonian Basin shows tensional stresses near the Earth's surface with maximum tension in the same WNW-ESE direction. Borehole breakout data indicate a general WNW-ESE orientation of maximum horizontal stress in the western part of the Pannonian Basin and in the eastern part as well, whereas in the central Pannonian Basin this direction is the preferred azimuth of minimum horizontal stress. It is suggested that the neotectonic deformations and stresses in the Carpathian-Pannonian region have a sublithospheric origin. Asthenospheric convection with an upwelling mantle flow below the centre of the Pannonian Basin and downwelling flows along the cold lithospheric roots below the eastern Carpathians and the Alps seems to be most plausible. Accordingly, the relative uplift of the central Pannonian Basin, the high heat flow and also the tensional stresses are explained as the surface expression of an upstreaming branch of a localized convection cell below the Pannonian Basin.     

Distribution of relict permafrost features in the Pannonian Basin,Hungary

Wedge structures and involutions suggest that Late Pleistocene frozen ground, either permafrost or deep seasonal frost, extended at least as far south as latitude 47°N in central Europe (the Pannonian Basin). Optically stimulated luminescence dating of the sand infill from a number of wedges indicates that emplacement of the sand infill occurred during the Late Pleistocene (22.2–15.7 ka). This suggests that during this time the mean annual air temperature was depressed by at least ～15°C relative to the present. Either continuous or discontinuous permafrost was probably present in the north and NW of the Pannonian Basin. The subsequent thaw of frozen ground is indicated by the widespread occurrence of deformed sediments. The presence of soil (ground) wedges suggests conditions of deep seasonal frost probably existed during the period when climate ameliorated following the Last Permafrost Maximum (LPM).     

Consistent long-term Holocene warming trend at different elevations in the Altai Mountains in arid central Asia

Recent results indicate contrasting Holocene moisture histories at different elevations in arid central Asia (ACA). However, relatively little is known about Holocene temperature changes at different elevations. Here we report an independently dated peat brGDGTs-based MBT'_5ME record from the Narenxia peatland (NRX) in the southern Altai Mountains. The record suggests a long-term warming trend since ~7.7 cal. kyr bp , with a warmer stage during ~7–5.5 cal. kyr bp , a cold stage during ~5.5–4 cal. kyr bp , and a warming trend over the last ~4 kyr. The long-term warming trend indicated by the NRX MBT'_5ME record is largely consistent with Holocene temperature records from nearby sites covering an altitudinal range of ~1700–4100 m above sea level. This consistent long-term warming trend at different elevations differs from the long-term Holocene drying/wetting trends at high/low elevations of the Altai Mountains. We propose that the warming trend and consequent permafrost thawing at high elevations could have resulted in increased meltwater runoff, which would have contributed to the long-term wetting trend at low elevations. Our findings potentially provide an improved understanding of regional climate change and associated water resource availability, with implications for their possible future status.     

Origin and significance of poikilitic and mosaic peridotite xenoliths in the western Pannonian Basin: geochemical and petrological evidences

Peridotite xenoliths erupted by alkali basaltic volcanoes in the western Pannonian Basin can be divided into two fundamentally contrasting groups. Geochemical characteristics of the abundant protogranular, porphyroclastic and equigranular nodules suggest that these samples originate from an old consolidated and moderately depleted lithospheric mantle domain. In contrast, the geochemical features of the worldwide rare, but in the Pannonian Basin relatively abundant, poikilitic xenoliths attest to a more complex evolution. It has been argued that the origin of the peculiar texture and chemistry may be intimately linked to melt/rock reactions at successively decreasing liquid volumes in a porous melt flow system. The most likely site where such reactions can take place is the asthenosphere–lithosphere boundary. In this context, poikilitic xenoliths may provide petrological and geochemical evidence for reactions between magmatic liquids issued from the uprising asthenosphere and the solid mantle rocks of the lithosphere. These reactions are important agents of the thermal erosion of the lithosphere; thus, they could have considerably contributed to the thinning of the lithosphere in the Pannonian region. We suggest that in the Pannonian Basin, there could be a strong relation between the unusual abundance of poikilitic mantle xenoliths and the strongly eroded lithosphere.     

Insights into Holocene relative sea-level changes in the southern North Sea using an improved microfauna-based transfer function

In light of global warming and rising relative sea level (RSL), detailed reconstructions of RSL histories and their controlling processes are essential in order to manage coastal-protection challenges. This study contributes to unravelling Holocene RSL change on the East Frisian North Sea coast in high resolution and with a new approach for the German Bight. For the first time, a transfer function (vertical error: 29.7 cm ? ~11% of the mean tidal range) for RSL change based on a combined training set of benthic foraminifers and ostracods from the back-barrier tidal basin of Spiekeroog is applied to the Holocene record of the back-barrier tidal basin of Norderney. The resulting RSL curve for the Norderney tidal basin is corrected for decompaction and shows a deceleration in RSL rise between 6000 and 5000 cal bp. The smallest possible error envelope (~1 m) results from the good suitability of salt-marsh layers between 5000 and 4000 cal bp. The RSL curve provides an approach towards the closure of the common data gap of peat-based curves for the southern North Sea related to a lack of basal peats in the youngest age range, and verifies regional differences in glacial isostatic adjustment.     

A Holocene high-resolution record of aquatic productivity,seasonal anoxia and meromixis from varved sediments of Lake Łazduny,North-Eastern Poland: insight from a novel multi-proxy approach

Anthropogenic eutrophication and spreading anoxia in freshwater systems is a global concern. Little is known about anoxia in earlier historic times under weaker human impact, or under prehistoric natural conditions with different trophic, land cover and climatic regimes. We use a novel approach that combines high-resolution hyperspectral imaging with µ-XRF and HPLC-pigment data, which allows us to assess chloropigments (productivity) and bacteriopigments (anoxia) at seasonal subvarve-scale resolution. Our ~9700 cal a bp varved sediment record from NE Poland suggests that productivity increased stepwise from oligotrophic Early Holocene conditions (until ~9200 cal a bp ) to mesotrophic conditions in the Mid- and Late Holocene. Natural eutrophication was mainly a function of progressing landscape evolution with intense weathering under dense forest and warm-moist climatic conditions. Generally, anoxia increased with increasing productivity. Seasonal anoxia and some multi-decadal periods of meromixis were the common mixing patterns throughout the Holocene except for a period of persisting meromixis between ~5200 and 2000 cal a bp. Anthropogenic deforestation around 400 cal a bp resulted in substantially better lake oxygenation despite high productivity. In this small lake, aquatic productivity and lakeshore forest cover (wind shield) were more important factors controlling oxic/anoxic conditions than Holocene temperature variability.     

Additive effects of climate change and human hunting explain population decline and extinction in cave bears

Cave bears (Ursus spelaeus) are an iconic component of the European late Quaternary Ice Age megafauna. Recent demographic analyses based on cave bear mtDNA sequences and refined radiocarbon dating indicate that cave bear population size and genetic diversity started to decline some 50 kilo years ago (kya). Hence, neither the coldest phase of the last glaciation (started some 24 kya), nor the colonization of Europe by Palaeolithic hunters (started some 45 kya) coincides with the beginning of population decline. Here, we reconstructed cave bear climatic niche evolution through time. Then, we performed spatially explicit population viability analyses to assess cave bear demographics through time in response to climatic changes, human effects on bear survival and their combination. We found that climate change was responsible for a 10‐fold decrease in cave bear population size after 40 kya. However, climate change on its own could not explain U. spelaeus extinction at 24 kya. Additional negative effects consistent with human population expansion are required to explain both U. spelaeus' retreat from eastern Europe since 40 kya and its final extinction.     

新疆阿尔泰山大罗坝盆地全新世植被与环境

阿尔泰山中部大罗坝盆地3.2m厚沉积中的孢粉化石可以划分出2个孢粉组合和8个亚组合。晚更新世晚期—早全新世属荒漠草原—草原植被,中晚全新世属森林草原植被。7000a.BP以来,盆地中针叶林一直发育较好。森林发育的最好阶段是中全新世早期,此后曾有两次衰落时期,但森林并未退出本区。从全新世阿尔泰山喀纳斯湖地区与大罗坝盆地的孢粉对比发现,森林的分布从西向东有减少趋势,温度逐渐降低,推测阿尔泰山东部的青河县气候比较干旱。     

Impact of Pleistocene–Holocene climate shifts on vegetation and fire dynamics and its implications for Prearchaic humans in the central Great Basin,USA

The effects of climate change during the Terminal Pleistocene–Early Holocene transition on ecosystems and early Prearchaic hunter-gatherers in the central Great Basin of North America are not well understood. We present a palynological reconstruction of regional vegetation and fire history in Grass Valley, central Nevada, from ~14 to ~7.5k cal a BP showing that Pinus-dominated woodlands were replaced by dry-adapted steppe and desert vegetation accompanied by an increase in regional fire activity at the beginning of the Holocene, in response to summer warming and a drying climate. Following a severe drought period peaking ~10.2–9.3k cal a BP, Pinus woodlands partially recovered contemporaneously with the 8.2k cal a BP climate anomaly. Local wetlands provided important resource patches for human foraging societies, and periodic declines of wetlands in response to changing local hydrological conditions may have necessitated adjustments in subsistence and settlement practices and technology.     

Evidence for centennial-scale Lateglacial and early Holocene climatic complexity from Quoyloo Meadow,Orkney, Scotland

The influence of the North Atlantic on the margins of Europe means the region is particularly sensitive to changes in the ocean–atmospheric system. During the Last Glacial–Interglacial Transition (16–8 cal ka bp ) this system was repeatedly disrupted, leading to a series of abrupt and short-lived shifts in climate. Despite much research, the number and magnitude of these ‘centennial-scale’ events is not well understood. To address this, we expand upon investigations at Quoyloo Meadow, Orkney, Scotland, one of the best chronologically constrained palaeoclimate records in northern Britain. By coupling stable isotope and chironomid fossil analyses with existing data, this study identifies multiple phases of centennial-scale disturbance at: c. 14.0, 11.1, 10.8, 10.5, 10.45 and 10.3 cal ka bp , with the events at 14.0 and 10.3 exhibiting a particularly pronounced cold-climate signature. During the Holocene, the strongest response to climate forcing was at c. 10.3–10.0 cal ka bp , expressed as a two-stage drop in mean July temperatures, a shift in pollen spectra indicative of ‘less-stable’ climatic regimes, and a depletion in δ¹⁸O values. We interpret this as the first reliably dated incidence of the ‘10.3-ka event’ in the British Isles and consider the wider impact of this climatic reversal in other Holocene records.     

Modelling the vegetation response to the 8.2 ka bp cooling event in Europe and Northern Africa

The 8.2 ka bp cooling event is assumed to be the most clearly marked abrupt climate event in the Holocene at northern mid‐ to high latitudes. In this study, we simulate the vegetation responses to the 8.2 ka bp climate change event over Europe and Northern Africa. Our results show that all dominant plant functional types (PFTs) over Europe and North Africa respond to these climate changes, but the magnitude, timing and impact factor of their responses are different. Compared with pollen‐based vegetation reconstructions, our simulation generally captures the main features of vegetation responses to the 8.2 ka bp event. Interestingly, in Western Europe, the simulated vegetation after perturbation is different from its initial state, which is consistent with two high‐resolution pollen records. This different vegetation composition indicates the long‐lasting impact of abrupt climate change on vegetation through eco‐physiological and ecosystem demographic processes, such as plant competition. Moreover, our simulations suggest a latitudinal gradient in the magnitude of the event, with more pronounced vegetation responses to the severe cooling in the north and weaker responses to less severe cooling in the south. This effect is not seen in pollen records. © 2019 The Authors. Journal of Quaternary Science Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Holocene bipolar climate seesaw: possible subtle evidence from the deep North East Atlantic Ocean?

The occurrence of a millennial‐scale bipolar climate seesaw has been documented in detail for the last glacial period and Termination. There is, however, debate whether it occurs during interglacials and if it does what influence it could have on future climate. We present here new evidence from a North East Atlantic Ocean deep‐sea core which supports the hypothesis for a Holocene bipolar climate seesaw. BENGAL Site 13078#16, from the Porcupine Abyssal Plain, is 4844 m deep and situated at the North Atlantic Deep Water and Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW) interface. Planktic foraminiferal fragment accumulation rate data at this site is an indicator of coarse carbonate dissolution, which is highly sensitive to the incursion of under‐saturated AABW. Five dissolution peaks have been identified, which seem to occur approximately 500 a after each of the North Atlantic 'Bond' ice rafting pulses, suggesting a subsequent subtle shallowing of AABW. This indicates a possible lagged climatic link between North East Atlantic surface water conditions and AABW production in the Southern Ocean during the Holocene. This provides the first tentative evidence that there was a Holocene bipolar climate seesaw and that the deep ocean was involved. This study also suggests that extremely sensitive locations need to be sought as the Holocene bipolar climate seesaw seems to be very subtle compared with its glacial counterparts. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Local ice caps in Finderup Land,North Greenland,survived the Holocene Thermal Maximum

Local glaciers and ice caps (GICs) comprise only ~5.4% of the total ice volume, but account for ~14–20% of the current ice loss in Greenland. The glacial history of GICs is not well constrained, however, and little is known about how they reacted to Holocene climate changes. Specifically, in North Greenland, there is limited knowledge about past GIC fluctuations and whether they survived the Holocene Thermal Maximum (HTM, ~8 to 5 ka). In this study, we use proglacial lake records to constrain the ice‐marginal fluctuations of three local ice caps in North Greenland including Flade Isblink, the largest ice cap in Greenland. Additionally, we have radiocarbon dated reworked marine molluscs in Little Ice Age (LIA) moraines adjacent to the Flade Isblink, which reveal when the ice cap was smaller than present. We found that outlet glaciers from Flade Isblink retreated inland of their present extent from ~9.4 to 0.2 cal. ka BP. The proglacial lake records, however, demonstrate that the lakes continued to receive glacial meltwater throughout the entire Holocene. This implies that GICs in Finderup Land survived the HTM. Our results are consistent with other observations from North Greenland but differ from locations in southern Greenland where all records show that the local ice caps at low and intermediate elevations disappeared completely during the HTM. We explain the north–south gradient in glacier response as a result of sensitivity to increased temperature and precipitation. While the increased temperatures during the HTM led to a complete melting of GICs in southern Greenland, GICs remained in North Greenland probably because the melting was counterbalanced by increased precipitation due to a reduction in Arctic sea‐ice extent and/or increased poleward moisture transport.     

Human‐affected disturbances in vegetation cover and peatland development in the late Holocene recorded in shallow mountain peatlands (Central Sudetes,SW Poland)

The aim of this study is to assess the impact of biotic and abiotic factors on peatland formation in the Central Sudetes (central Europe) during the late Holocene. The research methodology adopted allowed us to determine whether vegetation development and shallow peatland formation were affected by human activity. Knowledge of past changes might be useful in evaluating recent and future changes, and to avoid pitfalls in the present management of peatland ecosystems. A palaeoecological research study of four peatlands was conducted in the Sto?owe Mountains (Central Sudetes, SW Poland). The results showed that these shallow peatlands originated in the middle to late Holocene (from 3301 BC to AD 1137). Palaeoecological records reflect continuous human impact on vegetation development and peat accumulation from the Middle Ages to the present (late Holocene). The strongest agrarian settler activity is observed in the High Middle Ages (AD 1200–1500). The human‐induced or wildfires observed in the late Holocene were an integral component of peatland ecosystems in the Central Sudetes. Moreover, palaeoecological analysis (sphagnum spores decline) and radiocarbon dating (AD 1870) confirmed drainage of the study area in the 19th century, which greatly affected the vegetation communities.