Øvre Æråsvatn - palynostratigraphy of a 22,000 to 10,000 BP lacustrine record on Andøya, northern Norway

Radiocarbon datings of a 4.10 m long lacustrine sequence from Lake Øvre Æråsvatn reveal continuous sediment accumulation during most of the Late Weichselian. starting before 21.800 ± 410 BP. The pollen record for the period 21,800 to 12,800 RP is uniform and is strongly dominated by Poaceae. Pollen influx variations suggest a succession of climatic ameliorations and deteriorations. Low to Middle Arctic. interstadial conditions prevailed from 21.000 to 19.650 (19.000) BP. A pronounced climatic deterioration followed. culminating at c. 18,85018,500 BP. synchronous with a glacial advance over the nearby Endletvatn and Nedre Æråsvatn basins At c 18.300 BP. a climatic amelioration triggered important changes in the lacustrine environment. Organogenic gyttja (2.56 m) accumulated from 18,300 to 15,000 BP. indicating a eutrophic lacustrine environment. Sparsity of minerogenic material suggests an arid climate with low surface runoff. Further ameliorations occurred from c. 17,400 to 16,800 BP and 16,000 to 15,000 BP. From c. 15.000 BP onwards. a climatic deterioration is indicated. The 17,800 to 10,500 BP record is fragmentary. At c. 10,500 BP. an improving climate induced establishment of Betula nana –Empetrum heaths. rapidly succeeded by mesic Betula pubescens Filipendula woodlands.     

THE ROLE OF ATMOSPHERIC CIRCULATION PATTERNS IN AGROCLIMATE VARIABILITY IN FINLAND, 1961–2011

This study evaluates interannual variations and trends in growing season daily temperature sum and daily precipitation sum in Finland during 1961–2011, and their connections to well known atmospheric circulation patterns. Changes in summer (June–August) climate partially explain changes in growing season daily temperature sum and daily precipitation sum over Finland, which naturally decreased from south to north. On a national scale, growing season warmed and became wetter during 1961–2011, as growing season daily temperature sum and daily precipitation sum significantly (p < 0.05) increased by 5.01 ± 3.17°C year^–1 and 1.39 ± 0.91 mm year^–1, respectively. The East Atlantic pattern was the most influential atmospheric circulation pattern for variations in growing season daily temperature sum (rho = 0.40) across Finland and the East Atlantic/West Russia pattern was most influential for growing season daily precipitation sum variability (rho = –0.54). There were significant (p < 0.05) increasing trends in growing season daily temperature sum and daily precipitation sum throughout Finland during 1961–2011. Increased growing season daily temperature sum was mainly observed in northern, central, western, eastern and coastal areas of south‐western Finland. This warming was positively associated with the East Atlantic pattern in the north, centre and south, but negatively associated with the East Atlantic/West Russia pattern in eastern Finland. Increased GSP mostly occurred in southern, eastern, western, central, northern and north‐western Finland. These wetting trends were positively correlated with the East Atlantic pattern in the north and negatively correlated with the Polar pattern in the south and the East Atlantic/West Russia pattern in the east, west, centre and north‐east of Finland. The overall agroclimatic year‐to‐year variability in Finland between 1961 and 2011 was mostly linked to variations in the East Atlantic and East Atlantic/West Russia patterns.     

Dating recent floodplain sediments in the Hawkesbury‐Nepean River system,eastern Australia using single‐grain quartz OSL

Two fluvial sediment cores taken from a floodplain of the Hawkesbury‐Nepean River system in the Sydney region, eastern Australia are dated using Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) to provide a reliable chronology essential for the management and planning of water resources. Nine charcoal ¹⁴C (AMS) dates constrain these OSL ages. Quartz extracted from seven OSL samples from each of the cores was measured using both single‐grain and multi‐grain OSL techniques. Three of the single‐grain natural dose distributions appear to be well bleached, but the others appear to be incompletely bleached to various degrees. Three minimum‐age models (MAM, MAM_UL and IEU) are applied to the single‐grain dose distributions. We conclude that these models give consistent age estimates. For one of the cores it appears to be necessary to use a minimum‐age model to obtain accurate ages, but in the other core incomplete bleaching is probably less important than postdepositional mixing and mixing during sampling. As a result, the burial age is probably best estimated using the weighted average of the individual single‐grain dose estimates. The application of multi‐grain OSL techniques to these samples results in an average apparent age overestimation of ～200 years, which is significant for these samples, but negligible for sediments older than a few thousand years. The intention is that the chronology obtained in this study will be used in conjunction with a proxy flood record, derived from floodplain sediments, to gain an understanding of the long‐term variability in periods of high and low rainfall in eastern Australia.     

Deglaciation of the southeastern Norwegian Sea towards the end of the last glacial age

In a region of generally thin Holocene sediment cover along the outer Norwegian continental margin, a 565 cm long piston core was taken, which contained more than 4 m of Holocene clayey silty sediments. A several decimetres thick sandy horizon separated the glacial marine clays with ice-dropped components and the fine-grained Holocene sediments which have bulk sedimentation rates of more than 40 cm/1000 years. The scarcity of biogenous sediment components in the glacial sediments and the increasing frequency of benthonic as well as planktonic fossils in the Holocene deposits points to important changes in the Norwegian Sea hydrography during the time of the Scandinavian deglaciation.     

The 14C age of the Toten' mammoth, eastern Norway

A mammoth tusk find from Toten in Oppland, eastern Norway, has been re-dated by the EDTA method. On examining the tusk for heavy metals, the porous parts were found to have the highest concentration. This fact, together with earlier experience from selecting bone samples for ¹⁴C dating, favour the choice of the hard non-porous parts. The influence of possible minor contaminants remaining after pretreatment is discussed. Because of high cosmic-ray intensity the background deviated from the normal stable value. The variations were studied carefully. The final result is that the net activity of the bone is so close to zero that it is questionable whether the age is 'finite'. It is concluded that the tusk is older than 28,000 years.     

The stilt-legged deer Sangamona of the North-American Pleistocene

Material of the cervid Sangamona fugitiva Hay 1920, including a partial skeleton from Frankstown Cave, Pennsylvania, is described. The species is known from Wisconsinan deposits in the central and eastern United States, with a terminal date of about 9440 B.P. It is a stilt-legged form differing widely from its contemporary in the West, Navahoceros , in which the limbs are short and plump.     

The last deglaciation (20,000 to 11,000 B. P.) on Andoya, northern Norway

Cores representing a 5.5m long sequence recovered from lake Æråsvatnet have been investigated for lithostratigraphy, micro- and macrofossils and radiocarbon chronology. For the first time in Fennoscandia the maximum Weichselian advance has been closely bracketed with radiocarbon datings (19,000–18,500 B.P.). A continuous stratigraphy from 18,500 B.P. and onwards, partly marine and partly lacustrine, discloses the local shoreline displacement, the palaeovegetation, the palaeoclimate and, together with other data, the deglaciation history. Two phases with a prevailing High Arctic climate have occurred: 18,000 to 16,000 B.P. and 13,700 to 12,800 B.P. Important climatic amelioration accelerating the deglacial recession occurred 16,000, 12,800 and 12,000 B.P. The continental ice sheet was situated close to its maximum position until about 16,000 B.P. The following deglaciation was interrupted by (a minor ?) readvance/halt about 15,000 B.P. (the Flesen event), 13,700-13,000 B.P. (the D-event), 12,500 B.P. (the Skarpnes event) and 11,000–10,000 B.P. (the TromsØ-Lyngen event). The deglaciation chronology and pattern can be correlated with the suggested deep-sea-stratigraphy-based stepwise pattern relying on the old age alternative for termination IA.     

四川黄龙沟景区钙华的起源和形成机理研究

对四川黄龙沟钙华景区的水化学测试发现，形成黄龙沟钙华的泉水具有很高的Ca^2 和HC03^-离子浓度，相应地，泉水的C02分压显著高于大气和土壤生物成因所能产生的C02分压。结合泉水出露的地质条件和泉口C02气体碳稳定同位素组成(δ^13C＝—6．8‰)的分析，进一步发现，高C02分压与深部成因的C02有关。可见，黄龙沟钙华属于热成因类钙华，而非原来普遍认为的“是气候岩溶作用的产物”。此外，黄龙沟钙华的大量出现与水中方解石的迅速沉积、Ca^2 和HC03^-浓度的大量降低有关。随着地下水自泉口出露，由于水的C02分压远高于大气，水中C02大量释放于大气，结果水的pH值迅速升高，方解石饱和指数由泉口的负值很快转变为高的正值，为方解石的沉积奠定了必要的物理化学基础。放置于水中的大理岩石片观测表明，流速较快的边石坝处的方解石沉积速率是其附近水池内的2—5倍，这清楚地显示了水动力条件对沉积速率的控制。进一步根据DBL理论模型分析发现，水动力条件对方解石沉积速率的控制在于其对固液界面间扩散边界层(DBL)厚度的影响，流速愈快，DBL厚度愈薄。且DBL厚度最终制约着沉积表面的化学组成浓度，即厚度愈小，表面H^ 浓度愈低(或pH愈高)、方解石饱和指数愈高，进而方解石沉积愈快。