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.     

A parallel algorithm for coverage optimization on multi-core architectures

Location siting is an important part of service provision, with much potential to impact operational efficiency, safety, security, system reliability, etc. A class of location models seeks to optimize coverage of demand for service that is continuously distributed across space. Decision-making and planning contexts include police/fire resource allocation for a community, siting cellular towers to support cell phone signal transmission, locating emergency warning sirens to alert the public of severe weather and other related dangers, and many others as well. When facilities can be sited anywhere in continuous space to provide coverage to an entire region, this is a very computationally challenging problem to solve because potential demand for service is everywhere and there are an infinite number of potential facility sites to consider. This article develops a new parallel solution approach for this location coverage optimization problem through an iterative bounding scheme on multi-core architectures. The developed approach is applied to site emergency warning sirens in Dublin, Ohio, and fire stations in Elk Grove, California. Results demonstrate the effectiveness and efficiency of the proposed approach, enabling real-time analysis and planning. This work illustrates that the integration of cyberinfrastructure can significantly improve computational efficiency in solving challenging spatial optimization problems, fitting the themes of this special issue: cyberinfrastructure, GIS, and spatial optimization.     

Sensitivity of crop yields and land resource potential to climatic change in Ontario,Canada

Increasing concentrations of atmospheric CO₂ and other greenhouse gases are expected to contribute to a global warming. This paper examines the potential implications of a climatic change corresponding to a doubling of atmospheric concentrations of CO₂ on crop production opportunities throughout Ontario, a major food producing region in Canada. The climate is projected to become warmer and drier, but the extent of these shifts are expected to vary from region to region within Ontario. The effect of this altered climate on crop yields and the area of land capable of supporting specific crops varies according to region, soil quality and crop type. Most notable are the enhanced opportunities for grains and oilseeds in the northern regions, and the diminished production prospects for most crops in the most southerly parts of Ontario.     

Luminescence dating of old (>70 ka) Chinese loess: A comparison of single-aliquot OSL and IRSL techniques

The applicability of two different approaches in the luminescence dating of old (>70 ka) Chinese loess is investigated. Both SAR-OSL ages obtained on 63–90 μm quartz grains and SAR-IRSL ages obtained on 4–11 μm polymineral grains, for samples collected from two sites in the Chinese Loess Plateau (Luochuan and Dongchuan) are presented. The characteristics of the luminescence signals stimulated by blue and infrared light are investigated in terms of dose response and dose recovery, and as a function of age. Additionally, anomalous fading measurements from the 410 nm IRSL emission in polymineral fine-grains are reported. An average value of g_2days amounting to 3% per decade was measured and seems to be independent of site location and age. For the samples from Luochuan, independent age control (pedostratigraphy and palaeomagnetism) is available. At both sites, the SAR-OSL ages are always lower than the SAR-IRSL ages after they have been corrected for anomalous fading. It seems that the quartz-based SAR-OSL ages are accurate for the younger ages, but that they underestimate the true age of deposition for loess that was deposited about 60–70 ka ago. The fading-corrected SAR-IRSL ages are in better agreement with the pedostratigraphic age control (75 and 130 ka) and allow dating beyond the quartz OSL range. Based on our results, we suggest that conventional SAR-OSL and SAR-IRSL protocols at these sites should be restricted to samples of ages not exceeding 40–50  and 100–120 ka, respectively.     

Modelling of oxygen and nitrogen cycling as a function of macrophyte community in the Thau lagoon

A three-dimensional model coupling physical and biological processes for the whole Thau lagoon (Mediterranean coast of France) was developed in order to assess the relationships between macrophytes and the oxygen and nitrogen cycles. Ten species have been inserted as forcing variables in the model. Plankton dynamics, shellfish cultivation impact and mineralization of organic matter are also considered, as well as nutrient and oxygen exchanges between the sediment and the water column.Simulations with and without the macrophytes have shown that the system can be characterized as having a highly structured pattern involving lagoon nitrogen and oxygen cycles. This pattern is created by the combined influence of macrophytes, watershed and oyster farming.The model has been also used to assess the total annual macrophyte production at the whole lagoon scale. Comparisons with phytoplankton production and with results from other temperate lagoons have underlined the high productivity of the Thau lagoon supported by active nutrient regeneration.     

Hydrological evaluation of the LPX dynamic global vegetation model for small river catchments in the UK

Assessments of water resources by using macro‐scale models tend to be conducted at the continental or large catchment scale. However, security of freshwater supplies is a local issue and thus necessitates study at such a scale. This research aims to evaluate the suitability of the Land Processes and eXchanges dynamic global vegetation model (LPX‐DGVM) for simulating runoff for small catchments in the UK. Simulated annual and monthly runoff is compared against the National River Flow Archive streamflow observations from 12 catchments of varying size (500–10 000 km²) and climate regimes. Results show that LPX reproduces observed inter‐annual and intra‐annual runoff variability successfully in terms of both flow timings and magnitudes. Inter‐annual variability in flow timings is simulated particularly well (as indicated by Willmott's index of agreement values of ≥0.7 for the majority of catchments), whereas runoff magnitudes are generally slightly overestimated. In the densely populated Thames catchment, these overestimations are partly accounted for by water consumption. Seasonal variability in runoff is also modelled well, as shown by Willmott's index of agreement values of ≥0.9 for all but one catchment. Absence of river routing and storage from the model, in addition to precipitation uncertainties, is also suggested as contributing to simulated runoff discrepancies. Overall, the results show that the LPX‐DGVM can successfully simulate runoff processes for small catchments in the UK. This study offers promising insights into the use of global‐scale models and datasets for local‐scale studies of water resources, with the eventual aim of providing local‐scale projections of future water distributions. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The termination of the last major phase of aeolian sand movement,coastal dunefields,Denmark

Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating of sand samples from stabilized (or inactive) coastal dunes in Denmark provides information on the age of the termination phase of the last major aeolian activity period. A total of 26 sand samples were taken from four different coastal dunefields around the North Sea, Skagerrak and Kattegat coasts of Denmark. The OSL dates indicate that the last major phase of aeolian activity terminated between ad 1860 and 1905. Most of the dunes examined in this study were active around 1820, during a period documented to have been very stormy. A dune management scheme started around 1792, and this no doubt was a major cause of dunefield stabilization, but an overall decline of storminess, particularly spring and summer storminess, around the end of the 19th century must also have contributed to the increasing inactivity of coastal dunes. The new OSL dates on aeolian sand movement agree well with historical data and data from topographic maps on dune movement. This agreement supports the observation from earlier work that OSL dating of recent aeolian sand movement is accurate over the last few decades to centuries. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.