Cratonic sedimentation regimes in the ca. 2450–2000 Ma period: Relationship to a possible widespread magmatic slowdown on Earth?

The ca. 2.45–2.0 Ga supracratonic record of six cratonic terranes (Superior Province, Hearne Domain, Fennoscandian crustal segment, and São Francisco, Pilbara and Kaapvaal cratons) is investigated. A <~2415–2420 basal unconformity appears pervasive, floored by basement lithologies for the three “Kenorland-related” terranes (Superior, Hearne and Fennoscandian) and by passive margin chemical sedimentary platform deposits for the apparently “non-amalgamated” cratons. Palaeosols are locally associated with this unconformity, and glacigenic lithologies, for all of the “non-amalgamated” cratons as well as for Superior. A relatively complete sedimentary record is recorded for the three Kenorland supercontinent terranes, including at least two glacial events, whereas hiatuses characterise the Pilbara and São Francisco cratons, with an incomplete record for Kaapvaal. Evidence for geodynamic reactivation at ca. 2.2 Ga includes widespread mafic dykes and volcanics, orogenies in Pilbara and São Francisco, glaciation in Kaapvaal and Pilbara, and significant transgressions thereafter on many of the cratonic terranes. While the overall ca. 2.45–2.2 Ga records studied here are at least compatible with the postulated global magmatic slowdown of Condie et al. (2009), distinct differences between the records associated with “Kenorland-related” and “non-amalgamated” cratons might reflect thermal subsidence and associated sedimentation accompanying the slowdown for the former group (where thermal blanketing likely played a role), while elevated freeboard and concomitant erosive regimes accompanied the inferred slowdown for the latter group.     

Late Pleistocene stratigraphy, sedimentology and paleoenvironmental evolution of the Tarija-Padcaya basin (Bolivian Andes)

We illustrate the results of geomorphological, stratigraphical and sedimentological analysis of the Tarija-Padcaya basin, a wide depression in the eastern side of the Bolivian Cordillera. The basin is well known for the rich mammal fauna discovered since the beginning of the 19th century. The sedimentary infilling belongs to the Tolomosa Formation, corresponding to a major synthem subdivided into three main sub-synthems, mostly made of fluvial and alluvial fan sediments locally weathered by paleoalfisols (Ancon Grande sub-synthem), glacial and fluvio-glacial sediments (Puente Phayo sub-synthem) and finally alluvial fan and alluvial plain sediments (San Jacinto sub-synthem). Radiocarbon dating provides a chronology for the last sub-synthem and testifies that the sequence encompasses the Last Interglacial-Glacial cycle and constitutes a good proxy record for Late Pleistocene climatic changes. The occurrence of glacial deposits in the deeper part of the sedimentary filling suggests a major ice advance during MIS 4 and, together with glacial geomorphological evidence, points to further glacial erosion during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). The importance of glacial deposition and erosion opens the question of correlation with the events reported in the nearby Altiplano, where glacial deposits have been recognized only along the slopes of the higher volcanoes. In the Altiplano the LGM has been claimed to be characterized by an absence of deposition or deep erosion, due to extreme dryness, but the Tarija record suggests an erosional event of a scale that would imply the occurrence of a large ice cap.     

最后4个冰期旋回中国黄土记录的东亚冬季风变化

开展高分辨率的黄土记录研究, 是揭示过去气候变迁和变率的主要途径.选择黄土高原中部的灵台和赵家川剖面, 对L5以上的黄土-古土壤序列进行了石英颗粒的提取和粒度分析.结果表明, 石英粗颗粒(> 43μm) 体积分数变化揭示了最后4个冰期旋回东亚冬季风存有的快速变化特征, 并同深海氧同位素记录具有良好的对应关系; 然而, 在每一个冰期时段, 石英粗颗粒体积分数的变化幅度和频率存有较大差异, 可能意味着对应的冰期下垫面状况和气候系统内部的非线性响应机制并不相同.值得注意的是由石英粗颗粒体积分数反映的东亚冬季风变化, 在某些时段不仅同磁化率记录的夏季风变化不协调, 而且同深海氧同位素记录存有明显差异.深入研究这种由不同代用指标反映的古气候变化间的差异, 对理解黄土记录的全球性意义显得尤为重要.      

The Fennoscandian uplift and late cenozoic geodynamics: geological evidence

The history of the recording and interpretation of the Fennoscandian uplift illustrates the main history of Earth sciences because the results obtained had (and still have) immediate impact of the interpretation of a large number of fundamental problems in Earth sciences. Thanks to a paper of De Geer in 1888, the glacial isostatic origin was established. Fennoscandia became the classic area of glacial isostasy, and its sea level records were used for geophysical calculations of the properties and dynamics of the mantle and crust. The varve dated sea level curve of Lidén (1938) from the center of uplift provided an exceptionally well dated record. With the radiocarbon method, the records of shorelines and shorelevel displacement curves were drastically improved providing a totally new basis for the understanding of the geodynamics of the Fennoscandian uplift and for the geophysical interpretation of the data obtained. This is especially true in combination with the repeated levelling data obtained during the last decades for Finland and Sweden.The Late Cenozoic long term movements of the Fennoscandian Shield are characterized by a considerable subsidence. The postglacial uplift of Fennoscandia is complex (an exponential and a linear factor) and caused by two different mechanisms. The total absolute movement in relation to the last glaciation is an elliptic uplift cone of 830 m height surrounded by a subsidence through of 170 m height. The mass in the uplift cone and in the subsidence through is as 1:1 with a volume 0.7 × 10⁶km³. The disappearence/appearance of mass give evidence of a mass transfer in a low viscosity asthenosphere. The properties and conditions of the asthenosphere are found to be: 1–10 × 10²⁰ Poises in viscosity, 3 × 10^–14 – 3 × 10^–16 sec^–1 in strain rates, 0.7% of the melting temperature, 3 mm in grain size, and 5–0.4 bar in stress. The main isostatic uplift (the exponential factor) originates from an asthenospheric dislocation glide process which in early-mid Holocene time changed over into a diffusion creep process. The present linear uplift factor (identified through the last 8000 yrs) seems to originate from mesospheric motions under the following approximate conditions: 0.6% of the melting temperature, 2 × 10²² Poises in viscosity, 3 × 10^–16 sec^–1 in strain rates and 8 bars in stress. Uplift irregularities and neotectonism are frequently established and often reveal an old geodynamic inheritance (e.g. the Pre-Baikalian/Gothian bedrock seam of high geodynamic activity). The peak rates of glacial isostasy are associated with intensive fracturing, faulting and seismic activity.     

Quaternary denudation of southern Fennoscandia – evidence from the marine realm

Throughout the last 1.1 million years repeated glaciations have modified the southern Fennoscandian landscape and the neighbouring continental shelf into their present form. The glacigenic erosion products derived from the Fennoscandian landmasses were transported to the northern North Sea and the SE Nordic Seas continental margin. The prominent sub‐marine Norwegian Channel trough, along the south coast of Norway, was the main transport route for the erosion products between 1.1 and 0.0 Ma. Most of these erosion products were deposited in the North Sea Fan, which reaches a maximum thickness of 1500 m and has nearly 40 000 km³ of sediments. About 90% of the North Sea Fan sediments have been deposited during the last 500 000 years, in a time period when fast‐moving ice streams occupied the Norwegian Channel during each glacial stage. Back‐stripping the sediment volumes in the northern North Sea and SE Nordic Seas sink areas, including the North Sea Fan, to their assumed Fennoscandian source area gives an average vertical erosion of 164 m for the 1.1–0.0 Ma time period. The average 1.1–0.0 Ma erosion rate in the Fennoscandian source area is estimated to be 0.15 mm a^?1. We suggest, however, that large variations in erosion rates have existed through time and that the most intense Fennoscandian landscape denudation occurred during the time period of repeated shelf edge ice advances, namely from Marine Isotope Stage 12 (c. 0.5 Ma) onwards.     

Late Quaternary fire regimes of Australasia

We have compiled 223 sedimentary charcoal records from Australasia in order to examine the temporal and spatial variability of fire regimes during the Late Quaternary. While some of these records cover more than a full glacial cycle, here we focus on the last 70,000 years when the number of individual records in the compilation allows more robust conclusions. On orbital time scales, fire in Australasia predominantly reflects climate, with colder periods characterized by less and warmer intervals by more biomass burning. The composite record for the region also shows considerable millennial-scale variability during the last glacial interval (73.5–14.7 ka). Within the limits of the dating uncertainties of individual records, the variability shown by the composite charcoal record is more similar to the form, number and timing of Dansgaard–Oeschger cycles as observed in Greenland ice cores than to the variability expressed in the Antarctic ice-core record. The composite charcoal record suggests increased biomass burning in the Australasian region during Greenland Interstadials and reduced burning during Greenland Stadials. Millennial-scale variability is characteristic of the composite record of the sub-tropical high pressure belt during the past 21 ka, but the tropics show a somewhat simpler pattern of variability with major peaks in biomass burning around 15 ka and 8 ka. There is no distinct change in fire regime corresponding to the arrival of humans in Australia at 50 ± 10 ka and no correlation between archaeological evidence of increased human activity during the past 40 ka and the history of biomass burning. However, changes in biomass burning in the last 200 years may have been exacerbated or influenced by humans.     

A long Upper Pleistocene pollen record from Les Echets, near Lyon, France

Analysis of 732 samples through 39 m of sediments from the ancient lake of Les Echets, 15 km northeast of Lyon, France, resulted in a long, continuous pollen diagram covering the interval from the Late Rissian to the Holocene. Above a complete Ecmian sequence, there are two Early Wiirmian temperate cycles (the older one including two climatic optima separated by a brief deterioration) with forest successions characterized by the spread of Carpinus at the end of the early temperate phase. These episodes, whose exact equivalents are found at Grande Pile in the Vosges area, are correlated with the Early Wiirmian trilogy Amersfoort-Brorup-Odderade of northern Europe. The absolute dates proposed for the Grande Pile sequence arc accepted, whereas those for the three northern European stratotypes are rejected. The Early Wiirmian is thus placed between 115,000 and 70,000 years B.P. In the Middle Wiirm, three undated intcrstadials arc characterized by a sparse forest cover. The long Late Wiirmian section is a characteristic feature of the sediment history at Les Echets. Very cold and arid conditions prevailed during this interval, without any unequivocal indications of intcrstadial episodes. A rise in Artemisia around 15,000 B.P. marks the transition from the Pleniglacial to the Oldest Dryas.     

Palaeoenvironmental record of glacial lake evolution during the early Holocene at Sokli,NE Finland

The development of a glacial lake impounded along the retreating, northeastern ice margin of the Fennoscandian Ice Sheet during the last deglaciation and environmental conditions directly following the early Holocene deglaciation have been studied in NE Finland. This so‐called Sokli Ice Lake has been reconstructed previously using topographic and geomorphologic evidence. In this paper a multiproxy approach is employed to study a 3‐m‐thick sediment succession consisting of laminated silts grading into gyttja cored in Lake Loitsana, a remnant of the Sokli Ice Lake. Variations in the sediment and siliceous microfossil records indicate distinct changes in water depth and lake size in the Loitsana basin as the Sokli Ice Lake was drained through various spillways opening up along the retreating ice front. Geochemical data (XRF core‐scanning) show changes in the influence of regional catchment geochemistry (Precambrian crystalline rocks) in the glacial lake drainage area versus local catchment geochemistry (Sokli Carbonatite Massif) within the Lake Loitsana drainage area during the lake evolution. Principal component analysis on the geochemical data further suggests that grain‐size is an additional factor responsible for the variability of the sediment geochemistry record. The trophic state of the lake changed drastically as a result of morphometric eutrophication once the glacial lake developed into Lake Loitsana. The AMS radiocarbon dating on tree birch seeds found in the glaciolacustrine sediment indicates that Lake Loitsana was deglaciated sometime prior to 10 700 cal. a BP showing that tree Betula was present on the deglaciated land surrounding the glacial lake. Although glacial lakes covered large areas of northern Finland during the last deglaciation, only few glaciolacustrine sediment successions have been studied in any detail. Our study shows the potential of these sediments for multiproxy analysis and contributes to the reconstruction of environmental conditions in NE Finland directly following deglaciation in the early Holocene.     

Evidence for Late Pleistocene ice stream activity in the Witch Ground Basin,central North Sea,from 3D seismic reflection data

Buried submarine landforms mapped on 3D reflection seismic data sets provide the first glacial geomorphic evidence for glacial occupation of the central North Sea by two palaeo-ice-streams, between 58–59°N and 0–1°E. Streamlined subglacial bedforms (mega-scale glacial lineations) and iceberg plough marks, within the top 80 m of the Quaternary sequence, record the presence and subsequent break-up of fast-flowing grounded ice sheets in the region during the late Pleistocene. The lengths of individual mega-scale glacial lineations vary from ∼5 to ∼20 km and the distance between lineations typically ranges from 100 to 1000 m. The lineations incise to a depth of 10–12 m, with trough widths of ∼100 m. The most extensive and best-preserved set of lineations, is attributed to the action of a late Weichselian ice stream which either drained the NE sector of the British–Irish ice sheet or was sourced from the SW within the Fennoscandian ice sheet. The 30–50 km wide palaeo ice-stream is imaged along its flow direction for 90 km, trending NW–SE. An older set of less well-preserved lineations is interpreted as an earlier Weichselian or Saalian ice-stream, and records ice flow in an SW–NE orientation. Cored sedimentary records, tied to 3D seismic observations, support grounded ice sheet coverage in the central North Sea during the last glaciation and indicate that ice flowed over a muddy substrate that is interpreted as a deformation till. The identification of a late Weichselian ice stream in the Witch Ground area of the North Sea basin provides independent geomorphic evidence in support of ice-sheet reconstructions that favour complete ice coverage of the North Sea between Scotland and Norway during the Last Glacial Maximum.     

Basin fill evolution and paleotectonic patterns along the Samfrau geosyncline: the Sauce Grande basin–Ventana foldbelt (Argentina) and Karoo basin–Cape foldbelt (South Africa) revisited

As integral parts of du Toit’s (1927) “Samfrau Geosyncline”, the Sauce Grande basin–Ventana foldbelt (Argentina) and Karoo basin–Cape foldbelt (South Africa) share similar paleoclimatic, paleogeographic, and paleotectonic aspects related to the Late Paleozoic tectono-magmatic activity along the Panthalassan continental margin of Gondwanaland. Late Carboniferou-earliest Permian glacial deposits were deposited in the Sauce Grande (Sauce Grande Formation) and Karoo (Dwyka Formation) basins and Falkland–Malvinas Islands (Lafonia Formation) during an initial (sag) phase of extension. The pre-breakup position of the Falkland (Malvinas) Islands on the easternmost part of the Karoo basin (immediately east of the coast of South Africa) is supported by recent paleomagnetic data, lithofacies associations, paleoice flow directions and age similarities between the Dwyka and the Lafonia glacial sequences. The desintegration of the Gondwanan Ice Sheet (GIS) triggered widespread transgressions, reflected in the stratigraphic record by the presence of inter-basinally correlatable, open marine, fine-grained deposits (Piedra Azul Formation in the Sauce Grande basin, Prince Albert Formation in the Karoo basin and Port Sussex Formation in the Falkland Islands) capping glacial marine sediments. These early postglacial transgressive deposits, characterised by fossils of the Eurydesma fauna and Glossopteris flora, represent the maximum flooding of the basins. Cratonward foreland subsidence was triggered by the San Rafael orogeny (ca. 270 Ma) in Argentina and propogated along the Gondwanan margin. This subsidence phase generated sufficient space to accommodate thick synorogenic sequences derived from the orogenic flanks of the Sauce Grande and Karoo basins. Compositionally, the initial extensional phase of these basins was characterized by quartz-rich, craton-derived detritus and was followed by a compressional (foreland) phase characterized by a paleocurrent reversal and dominance of arc/foldbelt-derived material. In the Sauce Grande basin, tuffs are interbedded in the upper half of the synorogenic, foldbelt-derived Tunas Formation (Early–early Late? Permian). Likewise, the first widespread appearance of tuffs in the Karoo basin is in the Whitehill Formation, of late Early Permian (260?Ma) age. Silicic volcanism along the Andes and Patagonia (Choiyoi magmatic province) peaked between the late Early Permian and Late Permian. A link between these volcanics and the consanguineous airborne tuffs present in the Sauce Grande and Karoo basins is suggested on the basis of their similar compositions and ages.     

Using a maximum simplicity paleoclimate model to simulate millennial variability during the last four glacial periods

Many studies have documented the existence of millennial-scale variability in the Earth system during the last glacial period. An increasing number of studies document the occurrence of similar millennial variability during glacial periods previous to the last one. Here we use the simplest possible thermal-bipolar seesaw model to consider this variability for the last four glacial periods. We invert this model and use the high-pass filtered Vostok stable isotope records to make a first, tentative, attempt to estimate high-latitude N. Hemisphere temperature variability over the last four glacial periods, beyond the reach of Greenland ice-core records. The model result is compared against the Vostok methane record, which shows rapid variations in parallel to Greenland temperature records during the last glacial period. A further comparison is carried out against the planktonic oxygen isotope of north Atlantic core ODP 980. There is agreement between the records on the existence of similar millennial-scale variability during the last three glacial periods with very similar characteristics to the variability during the last glacial cycle.     

The Bothnian Sea ice stream: early Holocene retreat dynamics of the south‐central Fennoscandian Ice Sheet

The Gulf of Bothnia hosted a variety of palaeo‐glaciodynamic environments throughout the growth and decay of the last Fennoscandian Ice Sheet, from the main ice‐sheet divide to a major corridor of marine‐ and lacustrine‐based deglaciation. Ice streaming through the Bothnian and Baltic basins has been widely assumed, and the damming and drainage of the huge proglacial Baltic Ice Lake has been implicated in major regional and hemispheric climate changes. However, the dynamics of palaeo‐ice flow and retreat in this large marine sector have until now been inferred only indirectly, from terrestrial, peripheral evidence. Recent acquisition of high‐resolution multibeam bathymetry opens these basins up, for the first time, to direct investigation of their glacial footprint and palaeo‐ice sheet behaviour. Here we report on a rich glacial landform record: in particular, a palaeo‐ice stream pathway, abundant traces of high subglacial meltwater volumes, and widespread basal crevasse squeeze ridges. The Bothnian Sea ice stream is a narrow flow corridor that was directed southward through the basin to a terminal zone in the south‐central Bothnian Sea. It was activated after initial margin retreat across the Åland sill and into the Bothnian basin, and the exclusive association of the ice‐stream pathway with crevasse squeeze ridges leads us to interpret a short‐lived stream event, under high extension, followed by rapid crevasse‐triggered break‐up. We link this event with a c. 150‐year ice‐rafted debris signal in peripheral varved records, at c. 10.67 cal. ka BP. Furthermore, the extensive glacifluvial system throughout the Bothnian Sea calls for considerable input of surface meltwater. We interpret strongly atmospherically driven retreat of this marine‐based ice‐sheet sector.     

Pleistocene glaciations of northern Russia – a modern view

The size, age and dynamics of Pleistocene glaciers, especially ice sheets that periodically covered the northern seaboard of Eurasia, are crucial for understanding the evolution of arctic climates, sea‐level changes, the biota and tectonism. General ideas on the glacial history of the vast areas of northern Russia between 48° and 148°E, beyond the limits of the Fennoscandian glaciation, have considerably changed during the last two decades. The change towards modern views may even be considered as a paradigm shift from the conventional wisdom of the previous half‐century. The transformation of the main landmarks of late Quaternary glacial history started in the 1970s and accelerated after 1993 as a result of international collaboration in the Russian Arctic. A wealth of new sedimentological, geomorphic and stratigraphic data has recently accumulated for the sedimentary record of the last 200 ka. This information, together with data collected from native geological surveys, has been synthesized in the form of digital maps of ice limits based on key stratigraphic sites. The results have been published as contributions to the international programs QUEEN and APEX and also as parts of global compilations. These publications give general overviews of the Eurasian glacial history, but some important modern data are reported only in the Russian literature and therefore are hardly known to the international community. In this paper I will first consider the background material on the non‐Scandinavian glaciations and then follow this with a review of the modern results obtained in the course of international cooperation. The outcome is inevitably influenced (or biased) by my long‐term experience in studying the Pleistocene of northern Russia. I will not discuss here the extreme northeast of Siberia (western Beringia), as this is a distinct topic partly overviewed in recent publications.     

Pleistocene succession of the central interior United States

The Quaternary of the continental interior of the United States is characterized by deposits from glacial ice, with associated outwash and eolian deposits, and by alluvial deposits produced by the same climatic pulses. Erosional incision of valleys occurred early in the glacial pulse, outwash deposition during the waning phase of the pulse, and soil formation during times of relative stability between the glacial pulses. These features of deposition, erosion, and soil formation are presented in a series of curves. One way the marine record could be correlated with that of the continental interior is to compare and match the physical records of both environments.     

Rethinking Late Weichselian ice-sheet dynamics in coastal NW Svalbard

New marine geological evidence provides a better understanding of ice-sheet dynamics along the western margin of the last Svalbard/Barents Sea Ice Sheet. A suite of glacial sediments in the Kongsfjordrenna cross-shelf trough can be traced southwards to the shelf west of Prins Karls Forland. A prominent moraine system on the shelf shows minimum Late Weichselian ice extent, indicating that glacial ice also covered the coastal lowlands of northwest Svalbard. Our results suggest that the cross-shelf trough was filled by a fast-flowing ice stream, with sharp boundaries to dynamically less active ice on the adjacent shelves and strandflats. The latter glacial mode favoured the preservation of older geological records adjacent to the main pathway of the Kongsfjorden glacial system. We suggest that the same model may apply to the Late Weichselian glacier drainage along other fjords of northwest Svalbard, as well as the western margin of the Barents Ice Sheet. Such differences in glacier regime may explain the apparent contradictions between the marine and land geological record, and may also serve as a model for glaciation dynamics in other fjord regions.     

Quaternary glacial records in mountain regions：A formal stratigraphical approach

Glacial deposits in locally-glaciated mountain regions are often expressed through their surface form and the study of these deposits constitutes a major branch of geomorphology. Studies of glacial depositional records in mountain areas have often neglected formal stratigraphical procedure resulting in an ad hoc development of quasi-stratigraphical nomenclature. Here, a formal stratigraphical procedure is recommended, since this enables a systematic approach to the subdivision of glacial deposits in mountain regions. Moreover, such an approach facilitates, in some instances, the development of a formal chronostratigraphy that can be compared to regional and global geological time scales. This is important in locally-glaciated mountain regions where glacial deposits represent one of the most important records of cold stage environments. Given that glacial landforms represent a key component of the Quaternary record, maintaining a formal link between geomorphological and geological stratigraphical procedure is a fundamental requirement of a consistent and comparable stratigraphical framework.     

Rodent paleofaunas as indicators of climatic change in Europe during the last 125,000 years

This paper presents a quantitative reconstruction of the European late Pleistocene paleoclimate based on 72 rodent assemblages of five sequences from France, Germany and Bulgaria, covering the last interglacial-glacial cycle. They show a pattern of severe changes in temperature, with reduced precipitation during the coldest periods. A tentative correlation between the isotopic and palynological records and the paleotemperature changes is shown. These changes are consistent with variations in atmospheric circulation patterns in response to an expanding-retracting Fennoscandian ice-sheet. They can be attributed to the enhancement-weakening of the Scandinavian-Polar anticyclone and its associated dry winds, the south-north shifting of the North Atlantic Polar Front, and the varying supply of moist air from the Atlantic. Qualitative paleoenvironmental analysis shows broadleaved-deciduous forests in France and Bulgaria during most of the studied period. Taiga and tundra appeared in eastern France during the lower Würm. The German sequence indicates the presence of coniferous forests. These results are broadly consistent with other paleobiological records (mammalian, avian and insect faunas, isotopic record in dental tissue, palynology). The main discrepancies with the paleoclimate inferred from the palynological record are found during the coldest periods and are probably due to the interaction between vegetation, climate, and atmospheric CO₂ levels.     

Atmospheric dust variability from Arabia and China over the last 500,000 years

Atmospheric mineral dust aerosols affect Earth’s radiative balance and are an important climate forcing and feedback mechanism. Dust is argued to have played an important role in past natural climate changes through glacial cycles, yet temporal and spatial dust variability remain poorly constrained, with scientific understanding of uncertainties associated with radiative perturbations due to mineral dust classified as “very low”. To advance understanding of the dust cycle, we present a high-resolution dust record from the Red Sea, sourced principally from Arabia, with a precise chronology relative to global sea level/ice volume variability. Our record correlates well with a high-resolution Asian dust record from the Chinese Loess Plateau. Importing our age model from the Red Sea to the Chinese Loess Plateau provides a first detailed millennial-scale age model for the Chinese loess, which has been notoriously difficult to date at this resolution and provides a basis for inter-regional correlation of Chinese dust records. We observe a high baseline of dust emissions from Arabia and China, even through interglacials, with strong superimposed millennial-scale variability. Conversely, the distal EPICA Dome C Antarctic ice core record, which is widely used to calculate the radiative impact of dust variations, appears biased to sharply delineated glacial/interglacial contrasts. Calculations based on this Antarctic dust record will therefore overestimate the radiative contrast of atmospheric dust loadings on glacial/interglacial timescales. Additional differences between Arabian/Asian and circum-Saharan records reveal that climate models could be improved by avoiding ‘global mean’ dust considerations and instead including large-scale regions with different dust source variability.     

鄂西走马地区大塘坡组顶部泥岩碎屑锆石LA-ICP-MS U-Pb 年龄及其地质意义

地球在新元古代经历了Rodinia超大陆的聚合和解体,并发生了Sturtian和Marinoan两期全球规模的冰川事件。华南地区南华系古城组和南沱组冰碛岩分别对应Sturtian冰期和Marinoan冰期沉积记录,大塘坡组属于其间冰期沉积。对鄂西走马地区大塘坡组顶部泥岩中的碎屑锆石进行了LA-ICP-MS U-Pb定年,锆石具有高Th/U比值(0.47～1.69),并显示明显的振荡环带,为岩浆成因;62颗锆石的62个数据点分析,获得的60个谐和年龄分布在651～2435Ma,主要峰值为～794Ma。最年轻单颗锆石U-Pb年龄651±7.7Ma,结合前人研究认为华南地区Marinoan冰期启动时间应晚于651Ma;碎屑锆石为亲扬子型,可能来自鄂中古陆和扬子北缘;分布最集中的751～851Ma年龄段内～850Ma峰值记录了扬子地台与华夏褶皱带碰撞拼合事件,而～820Ma、～800Ma、～760Ma等峰值则揭示了与Rodinia超大陆解体有关的幕式岩浆活动。     

Changes of Paleo-precipitation on the Sunda Shelf Since the Last Glacial Maximum Revealed by Hydrogen and Oxygen Isotopes

The Sunda Shelf, owing to its unique geographical location and roles, has attracted much attention on its changes during the glacial cycle. At present, there is a consensus about the change of temperature in the region, but the reconstruction of paleo precipitation has been disputed. The hydrogen and oxygen isotope records since the last glacial in the Sunda Shelf were collected, combining with other paleo climate record, we roughly divided the precipitation records in the region into the Northern and Southern areas. During the glacial, the precipitation changed little and climate remained moist in the northern area, while precipitation decreased greatly,and the climate became dry in the southern. Difference in the precipitation isotopes between the northern and southern areas might be related to the different controlling factors of the precipitation isotopes in the two areas and large-scale atmospheric circulation in the region. Limited by the collected hydrogen and oxygen records, the precise mechanism of division in regional hydrological changes of the region still needs more work to confirm.