Late Cenozoic magnetostratigraphy (11 – 0 Ma) of the Dongshanding and Wangjiashan sections in the Longzhong Basin,western China

A paleomagnetic study of the 510-m-thick Wangjiashan section of Late Miocene and Pliocene terrestrial sediments reveals a fairly complete reversal record with ages from 11 to 1.8 Ma. The magnetostratigraphy of the Dongshanding section, located nearby, reveals a partially overlapping reversal record with ages from 2.2 to 0 Ma, and facilitates correlation of the Wangjiashan section with the global polarity time scale. A new stratigraphic division of the Wangjiashan section replaces the name Linxia formation by five new formation names, based on lithologic variation and mammalian fossil finds. The new formations and their magnetostratigraphically determined ages are: Dongshan Formation (c. 1.75–2.6 Ma), Jishi Fm. (c. 2.6–3.6 Ma), Hewangjia Fm. (4.5–6.0 Ma), Liushu Fm. (6.0–7.6 Ma), and Dongxiang Fm. (7.6–c. 12 Ma). The Neogene stratigraphy and fossil mammals suggest that the nearby part of the Tibetan Plateau experienced a persistent denudation during the Late Miocene and Early Pliocene, but that it was uplifted more rapidly at about 3.6 Ma.     

ESR,U-series and paleomagnetic dating of Gigantopithecus fauna from Chuifeng Cave,Guangxi, southern China

Several Gigantopithecus faunas associated with taxonomically undetermined hominoid fossils and/or stone artifacts are known from southern China. These faunas are particularly important for the study of the evolution of humans and other mammals in Asia. However, the geochronology of the Gigantopithecus faunas remains uncertain. In order to solve this problem, a program of geochronological studies of Gigantopithecus faunas in Guangxi Province was recently initiated. Chuifeng Cave is the first studied site, which yielded 92 Gigantopithecus blacki teeth associated with numerous other mammalian fossils. We carried out combined ESR/U-series dating of fossil teeth and sediment paleomagnetic studies. Our ESR results suggest that the lower layers at this cave can be dated to 1.92 ± 0.14 Ma and the upper layers can be dated to older than 1.38 ± 0.17 Ma. Correlation of the recognized magnetozones to the geomagnetic polarity timescale was achieved by combining magnetostratigraphic, biostratigraphic and ESR data. The combined chronologies establish an Olduvai subchron (1.945–1.778 Ma) for the lowermost Chuifeng Cave sediments. We also analyzed the enamel δ¹³C values of the Gigantopithecus faunas. Our results show that southern China was dominated by C₃ plants during the early Pleistocene and that the Gigantopithecus faunas lived in a woodland-forest ecosystem.     

Application of sedimentary and chronological analyses to refine the depositional context of a Late Pleistocene vertebrate deposit,Naracoorte, South Australia

Cave deposits of infill sediments and associated vertebrate fossils provide a valuable source of information on terrestrial palaeoenvironments, climatic conditions and palaeocommunities. In the deposits of the Naracoorte Caves World Heritage Area, such records span the last 500 ka and are renowned for their rich, diverse vertebrate assemblages. Previous research into the Grant Hall deposit of Victoria Fossil Cave suggested that it may preserve the only peak last interglacial (ca. 125 ka) faunal community within the World Heritage Area. The current work tested this existing model for the age of faunal remains from Grant Hall using multiple techniques. Physical and geochemical properties of the visually homogeneous sediments were analysed at regular intervals through the sequence to establish meaningful stratigraphic divisions and sediment provenance. Optically stimulated luminescence dating of individual quartz grains indicates that sediments accumulated in Grant Hall from 93 ± 8 to 70 ± 5 ka. Minimum ages provided by U/Th dating of fossil teeth (72.3 ± 2.2 to 38.2 ± 0.8 ka) are consistent with the luminescence chronology, and show that the deposit represents a more recent faunal accumulation than previously modelled for the site. U/Th ages on calcite straws within the deposit are significantly older than the sediments and fossil teeth (>500 to 186.4 ± 1 ka). As such they provide no further constraint on the chronology of the deposit but do indicate that speleothem deposition was active over much of the Middle Pleistocene. Sedimentary analyses resulted in the identification of five depositional units, contrasting with previous divisions which were based only on visual observation of the sedimentary sequence. Sediments within each unit are broadly classified as sandy silts with soil structures and may be indirectly derived from the lunettes of nearby Bool Lagoon, although their ultimate provenance is unknown. As a result of this work, palaeoenvironmental reconstruction based on fossil remains in the deposit may be more accurately related to prevailing climatic and environmental conditions at the time of accumulation. It also contributes to an understanding of the temporal occurrence of regional vertebrate faunas through the Late Pleistocene, reinforcing the value of developing stratigraphically constrained chronologies for cave deposits based on multiple techniques.     

Taphonomy of a South African cave: geological and hydrological influences on the GD 1 fossil assemblage at Gondolin,a Plio-Pleistocene paleocave system in the Northwest Province,South Africa

Occasional excavation of in situ and ex situ deposits at the formerly mined Gondolin paleocave system has yielded large and diverse samples of Plio-Pleistocene faunas, including isolated hominin and non-hominin primate remains. In 2003, new excavations into naturally decalcified, in situ sediments near the GD 1 datum point near the northwest corner of the cave system were undertaken. This paper describes the recovered faunal remains, taphonomy of the assemblage, and the geological and paleomagnetic context of the GD 1 deposits. The deposits represent a series of inter-stratified speleothem, in-washed sediments and talus deposits we suggest date to a time period prior to, and just after, the Olduvai normal-polarity event at around 1.7–1.8 Ma. Surface sediments and clasts were introduced into the cave by rain water runoff entering a vertically-oriented entrance that had formed along a rift in the area of GD 1. The faunal assemblage consists primarily of fragmentary diaphyseal fragments and isolated teeth. Taxonomically, the small collection of specifically identifiable bovid and equid fossils is generally consistent with remains previously excavated from in situ deposits in the Gondolin paleocave system (GD 2) and dated to around 1.8 Ma; however, the depositional histories of these two assemblages from Gondolin are remarkably different. The preservation and relative proportions of recovered skeletal elements at GD 1 is consistent with these materials having been initially accumulated outside the karstic system near the vertical cave entrance, and then later hydrologically sorted and deposited inside the cave. The sporadic to continuous water flow into the northwest corner of the cave system during the Pleistocene gradually decalcified the excavated fossilbearing breccias and further modified the composition and spatial distribution of the fossil assemblage by introducing potentially younger deposits and skeletal materials. This study highlights the variation in taphonomic processes that can occur within a single cave system, and the complex pre- and postdepositional geological and hydrological processes that can influence the taphonomic history of South African Plio-Pleistocene karstic fossil assemblages.     

Huanglong Cave: A Late Pleistocene human fossil site in Hubei Province,China

This contribution discusses recent paleoanthropological findings from Huanglong Cave, a Late Pleistocene human fossil site from Yunxi County, Hubei Province, China. Three excavations in the Huanglong Cave from 2004 to 2006 yielded seven human teeth, some stone and bone tools, possible burnt sediment and other evidence possibly related to hominin activities. Based on the presence of extinct faunas (20% of total taxa identified), the deposits dated to the Late Pleistocene. Electron spin resonance (ESR) and uranium-series (U-series) dating analyses on associated teeth and speleothems have resulted in divergent chronometric ages (ESR: 44–34 ka; U-series: 103–79 ka). Analysis indicates: (1) most of the morphological and metric features of the human teeth from Huanglong Cave fall within the range of variation of modern Chinese, but a few characters may still link them to more archaic hominins; (2) some activity-induced abrasion and other tooth use-marks were identified, including pronounced tooth chipping and interproximal grooves on the anterior teeth; (3) the sample of blackened deposit has a high carbon content (over 70%), experienced high temperatures, and likely was of cultural origin and not natural; (4) the mammal fossils represent the “Ailuropoda-Stegodon” faunal unit which lived in southern China throughout the Pleistocene. Synthesizing all of these findings, especially the human teeth that display modern human characteristics, Huanglong Cave will offer some new insights into various issues currently being debated in Late Pleistocene human evolutionary research.     

On the limits of using combined U-series/ESR method to date fossil teeth from two Early Pleistocene archaeological sites of the Orce area (Guadix-Baza basin,Spain)

The combined U-series/electron spin resonance (ESR) dating method was applied to nine teeth from two Early Pleistocene archaeological sites located in the Orce area (Guadix-Baza Basin, Southern Spain): Fuente Nueva-3 (FN-3) and Barranco León (BL). The combination of biostratigraphy and magnetostratigraphy places both sites between the Olduvai and Jaramillo subchrons (1.78–1.07 Ma).Our results highlight the difficulty of dating such old sites and point out the limits of the combined U-series/ESR dating method based on the US model. We identified several sources of uncertainties that may lead to inaccurate age estimates. Seven samples could not be dated because the dental tissues had (²³⁰Th/²³⁴U) activity ratios higher than equilibrium, indicating that uranium had probably leached from these tissues. It was however possible to calculate numerical estimates for two of the teeth, both from FN-3. One yielded a Middle Pleistocene age that seems to be strongly underestimated; the other provided an age of 1.19 ± 0.21 Ma, in agreement with data obtained from independent methods. The latter result gives encouragement that there are samples that can be used for routine dating of old sites.     

New paleomagnetic data from the hominin bearing Dmanisi paleo-anthropologic site (southern Georgia, Caucasus)

The Dmanisi site has yielded human remains and lithic industry associated with Late Pliocene-early Pleistocene fauna. The site is composed of volcanogenic sediments overlying basaltic lava flows. The lithostratigraphic sequence comprises two basic depositional units: Unit A, overlying the basalt flows, and Unit B on top. A paleomagnetic and rock-magnetic study has been carried out on 106 specimens from Units A and B and the uppermost basalt flow. The lava and Unit A provide normal polarities, while reversed polarities and anomalous directions are observed in Unit B, the latter probably due to overlapping of a secondary and a primary reversed polarity component. The lower part of the section shows a clear correlation with the Olduvai subchron, and the upper levels could be as young as 1.07 Ma. As human remains were found both in units with normal and reversed polarity, different non-contemporaneous human occupations might have been possible.     

西藏札达盆地上新统古格组和托林组的厘定与层序地层划分

根据札达盆地剖面中地层的接触关系、沉积旋回、沉积体系和岩相岩性特征,可将上新统河湖相地层划分为2个组、5个沉积相、8个岩段。古格组(N22g)一岩段为砾岩,属河流相沉积;二、三、五岩段以细碎屑岩为主,属浅湖相沉积;四岩段以含粘土质细碎屑岩为主,属深湖相沉积。托林组(N21t)一、二、三岩段为一套砾岩、含砾中粗粒钙质长石岩屑砂岩和中细粒砂岩的碎屑岩,为典型冲(洪)积扇沉积物。ESR法和古地磁法测年结果表明,古格组形成时代为上新世晚期(4.40～2.47Ma);托林组形成时代为上新世早期(5.44～4.40Ma)。札达盆地为一同生断陷盆地,在上新世时期的构造运动过程中,盆地演化经历了水进体系域—湖泊扩张体系域—湖泊收缩体系域3个发展阶段。     

Interstadial proboscidean from south-central Alaska: Implications for biogeography, geology, and archeology

In 1980 a large proboscidean femur, probably Mammuthus sp., was found in situ in a bluff exposure at the mouth of the Tyone River in the northwestern part of the Copper River Basin, Alaska. The regional setting, stratigraphy, radiocarbon chronology, flora, and implications of the fossil locality, which represents the first documented occurrence of Pleistocene terrestrial mammalian fauna in southern Alaska, are described. Radiocarbon dates and stratigraphic relations at the site indicate that the sediments containing the fossil accumulated during the transition from interstadial to glacial conditions during terminal middle Wisconsin time. During this interval the immediate vicinity was unforested and large areas of south-central Alaska may have been available for faunal and possibly human habitation. This documented find, dated at 29,450 ± 610 ¹⁴C yr B.P., extends the known range for Pleistocene mammals and possibly steppe-tundra conditions south-ward at least 150 km, and suggests that mountain passes through the Alaska Range to the north were ice free during the last part of the middle Wisconsin interstadial.     

Stratigraphy, palaeomagnetism and age of volcanics in the upper regions of ÞJórsárdalur valley, central southern Iceland

The 'Hreppar Formation' of southern Iceland is a succession mostly composed of basalt lavas and clastic material, with a slight anticlinal structure. It may represent a crustal fragment left in place by eastwards movement of the active spreading zone during the past 2–3 Ma. Evidence of several cycles of alternating glacial-interglacial conditions is seen in this succession. The first systematic stratigraphic study within the succession which is combined with K-Ar age determinations and laboratory palaeomagnetic measurements on oriented cores has yielded encouraging results. The age determinations confirm earlier estimates by Icelandic geologists on the age range spanned by the Hreppar succession. Units from the Jaramillo geomagnetic subchron are present in its upper part, and at least one polarity reversal event in the lower Matuyama chron is also recorded.     

新疆拜城古近系磁性地层划分

通过对研究区387个可靠退磁数据的分析,确定其原生剩磁的极性及其变化。在此基础上根据古地磁测试资料,引入小波分析方法,对塔里木盆地拜城古近纪红层进行了磁性地层精确划分,确定了不同层段的地质时代,建立了克拉苏河剖面磁性地层柱。样品测试结果表明,绝大部分样品的磁性较强,退磁曲线质量较高,且分离出两个稳定分量:低温分量和高温分量,由此进行主分量分析并利用菲舍尔统计法求得最终结果,在小波分析方法的帮助下,参照国际标准磁性地层年表和综合地层划分方案,建立克拉苏河磁性地层柱。确定出吉迪克组/苏维依组,苏维依组/库姆格列木组以及库姆格列木组底界年代分别为27.7M a、38M a、60.5M a。其沉积速率在10130mm/m a。      

Magnetostratigraphic evidence from the Cold Creek bar for onset of ice-age cataclysmic floods in eastern Washington during the Early Pleistocene

This study provides a detailed magnetostratigraphy of sediments composing the Cold Creek cataclysmic flood bar in the Pasco Basin, Washington. Our interpretation suggests onset of Missoula floods or similar events prior to 1.1 myr, later than previously suggested by Bjornstad et al. [Bjornstad, B.N., Fecht, K.R., Pluhar, C.J., 2001. Long history of pre-Wisconsin, Ice Age cataclysmic floods: evidence from southeastern Washington State. Journal of Geology 109 (6), 695-713]. Nonetheless these data suggest that Channeled Scabland features formed over a much longer timespan than commonly cited, that continental ice sheets of the early Pleistocene reached as far south as those of the late Pleistocene, and that similar physiography existed in eastern Washington and perhaps Montana to both generate and route Missoula-flood-like events. This study adds paleomagnetic polarity results from 213 new samples of silts and sands derived from nine new drill cores penetrating the Cold Creek cataclysmic flood bar to our previous database of 53 samples from four boreholes, resulting in a much more robust and detailed magnetostratigraphy. Rock magnetic studies on these sediments show pure magnetite to be the predominant remanence-carrying magnetic mineral, ruling out widespread remagnetization by secondary mineralization. The magnetostratigraphy at eastern Cold Creek bar is characterized by a normal polarity interval bracketed by reversed polarities. Equating the normal zone with the Jaramillo subchron (0.99-1.07 myr) affords the simplest correlation to the magnetic polarity timescale. Western Cold Creek bar was likely deposited during the Brunhes chron (0-0.78 myr) since it exhibits mainly normal polarities with only two thin reversed-polarity horizons that we interpret as magnetic excursions during the Brunhes.     

Magnetostratigraphy of the Upper Jurassic–Lower Cretaceous from Argentina: Implications for the J-K boundary in the Neuquén Basin

A systematic sedimentologic and paleomagnetic study was carried out in the Vaca Muerta Formation, cropping out in the northern Neuquén Basin, west-central Argentina. The studied section is c. 280 m-thick and represents a carbonate ramp system bearing ammonites that indicate Late Jurassic–Early Cretaceous ages. The Vaca Muerta Formation is one of the most important unconventional hydrocarbon reservoirs in the world and its thorough study has become a relevant target in Argentina. The J-K boundary is comprised within this unit, and although it is well-dated through biostratigraphy (mainly ammonites), the position of particularly the boundary is yet a matter of hot debate. Therefore, the systematic paleomagnetic and cyclostratigraphic study in the Vaca Muerta Formation was considered relevant in order to obtain the first Upper Jurassic–Lower Cretaceous magnetostratigraphy of the southern hemisphere on the first place and to precise the position of the J-K boundary in the Neuquén Basin, on the other. Biostratigraphy is well studied in the area, so that paleomagnetic sampling horizons were reliably tied, particularly through ammonites. Almost 450 standard specimens have been processed for this study distributed along 56 paleomagnetic sampling horizons that were dated using ammonites. Paleomagnetic behaviours showed to be very stable, and their quality and primary origin have been proved through several paleomagnetic field tests The resultant magnetostratigraphic scale is made up of 11 reverse and 10 normal polarity zones, spanning the Andean Virgatosphinctes mendozanus (lower Tithonian) to Spiticeras damesi Zones (upper Berriasian). These polarity zones were correlated with those of the International Geomagnetic Polarity Time Scale 2012 and 2016 through the correlation between Andean and Tethyan ammonite zones. Cyclostratigraphy on the other hand, proved to be quite consistent with the magnetostratigraphy. Through the correlation of the resultant paleomagnetic and cyclostratigraphic data, it was possible to date the section with unprecedented precision, and therefore, to establish the position of the Jurassic-Cretaceous boundary. The paleomagnetic pole calculated from the primary magnetization is located at: Lon = 191.6°E, Lat = 76.2°S, A₉₅ = 3.5°, indicating a c. 24° clockwise rotation for the studied section, which is consistent with structural data of the region.     

Pleistocene raised marine deposits on Wrangel Island, northeast Siberia and implications for the presence of an East Siberian ice sheet

Two previously undocumented Pleistocene marine transgressions on Wrangel Island, northeastern Siberia, question the presence of an East Siberian or Beringian ice sheet during the last glacial maximum (LGM). The Tundrovayan Transgression (459,000–780,000 yr B.P.) is represented by raised marine deposits and landforms 15–41 m asl located up to 18 km inland. The presence of high sea level 64,000–73,000 yr ago (the Krasny Flagian Transgression) is preserved in deposits and landforms 4–7 m asl in the Krasny Flag valley. These deposits and landforms were mapped, dated, and described using amino acid geochronology, radiocarbon, optically stimulated luminescence, electron spin resonance, oxygen isotopes, micropaleontology, paleomagnetism, and grain sizes. The marine deposits are eustatic and not isostatic in origin. All marine deposits on Wrangel Island predate the LGM, indicating that neither Wrangel Island nor the East Siberian or Chukchi Seas experienced extensive glaciation over the last 64,000 yr.     

Dating megafaunal extinction on the Pleistocene Darling Downs,eastern Australia: the promise and pitfalls of dating as a test of extinction hypotheses

A key to understanding Late Pleistocene megafaunal extinction dynamics is knowledge of megafaunal ecological response(s) to long-term environmental perturbations. Strategically, that requires targeting fossil deposits that accumulated during glacial and interglacial intervals both before and after human arrival, with subsequent palaeoecological models underpinned by robust and reliable chronologies. Late Pleistocene vertebrate fossil localities from the Darling Downs, eastern Australia, provide stratigraphically-intact, abundant megafaunal sequences, which allows for testing of anthropogenic versus climate change megafauna extinction hypotheses. Each stratigraphic unit at site QML796, Kings Creek Catchment, was previously shown to have had similar sampling potential, and the basal units contain both small-sized taxa (e.g., land snails, frogs, bandicoots, rodents) and megafauna. Importantly, sequential faunal horizons show stepwise decrease in taxonomic diversity with the loss of some, but not all, megafauna in the geographically-small palaeocatchment. The purpose of this paper is to present the results of our intensive, multidisciplinary dating study of the deposits (>40 dates). Dating by means of accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) ¹⁴C (targeting bone, freshwater molluscs, and charcoal) and thermal ionisation mass spectrometry U/Th (targeting teeth and freshwater molluscs) do not agree with each other and, in the case of AMS ¹⁴C dating, lack internal consistency. Scanning electron microscopy and rare earth element analyses demonstrate that the dated molluscs are diagenetically altered and contain aragonite cements that incorporated secondary young C, suggesting that such dates should be regarded as minimum ages. AMS ¹⁴C dated charcoals provide ages that occur out of stratigraphic order, and cluster in the upper chronological limits of the technique (～40–48 ka). Again, we suggest that such results should be regarded as suspicious and only minimum ages. Subsequent OSL and U/Th (teeth) dating provide complimentary results and demonstrate that the faunal sequences actually span ～120–83 ka, thus occurring beyond the AMS ¹⁴C dating window. Importantly, the dates suggest that the local decline in biological diversity was initiated ～75,000 years before the colonisation of humans on the continent. Collectively, the data are most parsimoniously consistent with a pre-human climate change model for local habitat change and megafauna extinction, but not with a nearly simultaneous extinction of megafauna as required by the human-induced blitzkrieg extinction hypothesis. This study demonstrates the problems inherent in dating deposits that lie near the chronological limits of the radiocarbon dating technique, and highlights the need to cross-check previously-dated archaeological and megafauna deposits within the timeframe of earliest human colonisation and latest megafaunal survival.     

川西甘孜地区黄土的磁性地层学研究

川西高原位于青藏高原的东南边缘, 气候主要受印度洋季风、高原季风的影响。广泛分布于川西高原的黄土-古土壤序列是高原周缘地区连续的古气候记录类型之一, 记录了上述环流系统的演化过程及其与青藏高原阶段性演化的关系, 对探讨高原隆升的环境响应具有重要意义。对川西甘孜地区甘孜-A剖面进行了系统的磁性地层学研究。结果表明, B/M界线出现在L₇的底部, 并且在剖面下部出现了松山负向期的贾拉米洛正向极性亚带。以古地磁界限点作为时间控制点外推该剖面典型风尘沉积的底界年龄约为1.16 Ma BP。      

An Exceptionally Thick Middle Pleistocene Tephra Layer from Epirus, Greece

A newly recognized 2-m-thick trachytic volcanic ash deposit from northwestern Greece is dated at 374,000 ± 7000 yr and correlated with the Middle Pleistocene volcanic activity of central Italy. The deposit represents ash fallout from one of the largest volcanic eruptions in Europe of the past 400,000 yr and should provide an important stratigraphic marker within the poorly dated Middle Pleistocene deposits of Italy and Greece.     

NEW MAGNETOSTRATIGRAPHIC AND SEDIMENTOLOGIC RESULTS FROM TERTIARY SEDIMENTS OF THE HOH XIL BASIN, NORTHERN QINGHAI-TIBET PLATEAU: IMPLICATIONS FOR THE CENOZOIC TECTONIC HISTORY OF THE TIBET PLATEAU

NEW MAGNETOSTRATIGRAPHIC AND SEDIMENTOLOGIC RESULTS FROM TERTIARY SEDIMENTS OF THE HOH XIL BASIN, NORTHERN QINGHAI-TIBET PLATEAU: IMPLICATIONS FOR THE CENOZOIC TECTONIC HISTORY OF THE TIBET PLATEAU     

辽西新台门白垩纪火山岩~(40)Ar/~(39)Ar定年及其对蝾螈化石层时代的约束

富含热河生物群鸟类和恐龙化石的辽西白垩纪地层属于中生代陆相火山沉积,其不同区域之间的地层对比和时代归属一直存有较大争议。本文采用激光40Ar/39Ar年代学方法,对葫芦岛新台门地区一个实测剖面中蝾螈化石点下伏的两层火山岩夹层进行了年代学研究。通过地层中火山岩夹层及火山岩颈的年代学测定,获得6组激光40Ar/39Ar年代结果。其中,下部层位中的流纹岩和安山质玄武岩样品XTM-3、XTM-5年龄结果分别为94.2±1.3Ma、93.7±1.3Ma;作为这一期喷发晚期就位的火山岩颈样品XTM-7的年龄结果为92.8±0.4Ma;而上部层位的安山岩和安山玄武岩火山岩夹层样品XTM-6、XTM-8、XTM-9年龄分别为110.1±1.0Ma、110.9±0.5Ma、93.7±1.2Ma。随后我们又从XTM-9位置的化石点下部采集样品XTM-9-2,进行实验验证。得到的结果表明,新台门地区早白垩世地层记录了至少两期火山喷发事件,喷发时间分别为110Ma和93Ma。根据测年结果,新台门白垩系的蝾螈化石层应代表中国北方中生代地层中迄今所发现的有尾两栖类化石纪录的最高层位,可能与辽西地区的九佛堂组或甚至与阜新组相当。     

An Early Pleistocene hippopotamus from Westbury Cave,Somerset, England: support for a previously unrecognized temperate interval in the British Quaternary record

Although fossil assemblages from the late Early Pleistocene are very rare in Britain, the site of Westbury Cave in Somerset, England, has the potential to address this gap. The mammal fossils recovered previously from the Siliceous Member in Westbury Cave, though few in number, have hinted at an age for the deposits that is as yet unparalleled in Britain. Here, we describe the first bona fide occurrence of Hippopotamus in the British Early Pleistocene, discovered during recent reinvestigation of the Siliceous Member. The hippo fossil indicates a refined biochronological age of ca. 1.5–1.07 Ma for the Siliceous Member and a palaeoclimate that was warm and humid, which accords well with previous palaeoenvironmental inferences. A synthesis of late Early Pleistocene hippo occurrences suggests that the Siliceous Member hippo may have been part of an early colonization of north-west Europe by these megaherbivores, possibly during MIS (Marine Oxygen Isotope Stage) 31. Alternatively, it evidences a currently cryptic northward migration during an even earlier temperate phase. In either case, the Siliceous Member is likely to represent a warm period that has not been recognized previously in the British Quaternary record.