湘黔桂交界区富禄组与富禄间冰期的再划分

在中国南华系层型剖面优选区之一——湘黔桂交界区,富禄间冰期可再分为3个相对较暖热的气候阶段(间冰段)和2个相对寒冷的气候阶段(冰段),即(自老而新)：三江间冰段、龙家冰段、烂阳间冰段、两界河冰段、大塘坡间冰段。相应地,富禄间冰期沉积地层——富禄组可分5个段,即：三江段、龙家段、烂阳段、两界河段、大塘坡段。另外,对古城组和铁丝坳组层型的湖北长阳古城剖面、贵州松桃大塘坡剖面和相关资料的再研究揭示,“古城组”和“铁丝坳组”都是富禄间冰期晚冰段(即两界河冰段)的沉积,均不宜替代长安组作为南华纪早冰期沉积的代表。     

Vegetation and climate variability during the Last Interglacial evidenced in the pollen record from Lake Baikal

A pollen record from the core sediments collected in the northern part of Lake Baikal represents the latest stage of the Taz (Saale) Glaciation, Kazantsevo (Eemian) Interglacial (namely the Last Interglacial), and the earliest stage of the Zyryanka (Weichselian) Glaciation. According to the palaeomagnetic-based age model applied to the core, the Last Interglacial in the Lake Baikal record lasted about 10.6 ky from 128 to 117.4 ky BP, being more or less synchronous with the Marine Isotope Stage 5e. The reconstructed changes in the south Siberian vegetation and climate are summarised as follows: a major spread of shrub alder (Alnus fruticosa) and shrub birches (Betula sect. Nanae/Fruticosae) in the study area was a characteristic feature during the late glacial phase of the Taz Glaciation. Boreal trees e.g. spruce (Picea obovata) and birch (Betula sect. Albae) started to play an important role in the regional vegetation with the onset of the interglacial conditions. Optimal conditions for Abies sibirica–P. obovata taiga development occurred ca. 126.3 ky BP. The maximum spread of birch forest-steppe communities took place at the low altitudes ca. 126.5–125.5 ky BP and Pinus sylvestris started to form forests in the northern Baikal area after ca. 124.4 ky BP. Re-expansion of the steppe communities, as well as shrubby alder and willow communities and the disappearance of forest vegetation occurred at about 117.4 ky BP, suggesting the end of the interglacial succession. The changes in the pollen assemblages recorded in the sediments from northern Baikal point to a certain instability of the interglacial climate. Three phases of climate deterioration have been distinguished: 126–125.5, 121.5–120, and 119.5–119 ky BP. The penultimate cooling signal may be correlated with the cool oscillation recorded in European pollen records. However, such far distant correlation requires more careful investigation.     

Late middle pleistocene interglacial deposits at upper strensham,worcestershire, england

Pleistocene deposits containing the disarticulated skeleton of a mammoth, and associated faunal and floral remains, were discovered in July 1990 at Upper Strensham, Worcestershire. The environmental evidence from the fauna and flora together with limited geological evidence, indicates that the deposits accumulated within a low energy fluvial environment with a surrounding marsh and restricted tree cover on, or close to, the floodplain. The patchy occurrence of trees in a species-rich grassland is discussed, and the climatic significance of the fauna and flora is considered. The Strensham site lies within the valley of the River Avon, which is known to contain at least five altitudinally distinct river terraces. The deposits at Strensham lie beneath a terraced surface that cannot be accommodated within the existing framework of terrace development in the valley, and evidence is presented which may suggest that these deposits form a previously unrecognised fluvial unit, the Strensham Member of the Avon Valley Formation. Amino-acid age estimates from shells taken from the fossiliferous sediments of the Strensham Member suggest a correlation with Oxygen Isotope Stage 7. This correlation suggests that the temperate deposits at this site should be correlated with the temperate phase recorded at Marsworth, Buckinghamshire and Stoke Goldington in the valley of the Great Ouse.     

Marine evidence for climatic instability during the last interglacial in shelf records from northwest Europe

Data from the Greenland ice sheet and continental records from Europe have indicated climatic fluctuations during the last interglacial (Eemian: Oxygen Isotope Substage 5e). Similar fluctuations have not, however, been documented previously from marine environments. Here, we show the existence of two cold events during substage 5e in two marine, benthic foraminiferal, shelf records from northwest Europe and suggest that these cooling events are a result of fluctuations in the strength of the North Atlantic surface-water circulation.     

Glacial and palaeoenvironmental history of the Cape Chelyuskin area, Arctic Russia

Quaternary glacial stratigraphy and relative sea-level changes reveal at least two glacial expansions over the Chelyuskin Peninsula, bordering the Kara Sea at about 77°N in the Russian Arctic, as indicated from tills interbedded with marine sediments, exposed in stratigraphic superposition, and from raised-beach sequences mapped to altitudes of at least up to ca. 80 m a.s.l. Chronological control is provided by accelerator mass spectrometry ¹⁴C dating, electron-spin resonance and optically stimulated luminescence geochronology. Major glaciations, followed by deglaciation and marine inundation, occurred during marine oxygen isotope stages 6–5e (MIS 6–5e) and stages MIS 5d–5c. These glacial sediments overlie marine sediments of Pliocene age, which are draped by fluvial sediment of a pre-Saalian age, thereby forming palaeovalley/basin fills in the post-Cretaceous topography. Till fabrics and glacial tectonics record expansions of local ice caps exclusively, suggesting wet-based ice cap advance, followed by cold-based regional ice-sheet expansion. Local ice caps over highland sites along the perimeter of the shallow Kara Sea, including the Byrranga Mountains and the Severnaya Zemlya archipelago, appear to have repeatedly fostered initiation of a large Kara Sea ice sheet, with the exception of the Last Glacial Maximum (MIS 2), when Kara Sea ice neither impacted the Chelyuskin Peninsula nor Severnaya Zemlya, and barely touched the northern coastal areas of the Taymyr Peninsula.     

Late Quaternary multiple incised valley systems: An unusually well‐preserved stratigraphic record of two interglacial valley‐fill successions from the Arno Plain (northern Tuscany,Italy)

Un‐fragmented stratigraphic records of late Quaternary multiple incised valley systems are rarely preserved in the subsurface of alluvial‐delta plains due to older valley reoccupation. The identification of a well‐preserved incised valley fill succession beneath the southern interfluve of the Last Glacial Maximum Arno palaeovalley (northern Italy) represents an exceptional opportunity to examine in detail evolutionary trends of a Mediterranean system over multiple glacial–interglacial cycles. Through sedimentological and quantitative meiofauna (benthic foraminifera and ostracods) analyses of two reference cores (80 m and 100 m long) and stratigraphic correlations, a mid‐Pleistocene palaeovalley, 5 km wide and 50 m deep, was reconstructed. Whereas valley filling is chronologically constrained to the penultimate interglacial (Marine Isotope Stage 7) by four electron spin resonance ages on bivalve shells (Cerastoderma glaucum), its incision is tentatively correlated with the Marine Isotope Stage 8 sea‐level fall. Above basal fluvial‐channel gravels, the incised valley fill is formed by a mud‐prone succession, up to 44 m thick, formed by a lower floodplain unit and an upper unit with brackish meiofauna that reflects the development of a wave‐dominated estuary. Subtle meiofauna changes towards less confined conditions record two marine flooding episodes, chronologically linked to the internal Marine Isotope Stage 7 climate‐eustatic variability. After the maximum transgressive phase, recorded by coastal sands, the interfluves were flooded around 200 ka (latest Marine Isotope Stage 7). The subsequent shift in river incision patterns, possibly driven by neotectonic activity, prevented valley reoccupation guiding the northward formation of the Last Glacial Maximum palaeovalley. The applied multivariate approach allowed the sedimentological characterization of the Marine Isotope Stage 7 and Marine Isotope Stage 1 palaeovalley fills, including shape, size and facies architecture, which revealed a consistent river‐coastal system response over two non‐consecutive glacial–interglacial cycles (Marine Isotope Stages 8 to 7 and Marine Isotope Stages 2 to 1). The recurring stacking pattern of facies documents a predominant control exerted on stratigraphy by Milankovitch and sub‐Milankovitch glacio‐eustatic oscillations across the late Quaternary period.     

末次间冰期以来洛川黄土天然剩磁记录的可靠性

地磁倒转和漂移不仅是研究地球动力学的重要手段之一,也能使地磁年代框架更加准确。通过对洛川黄土剖面L1、S1进行详细的岩石磁学、古地磁研究,结果表明:L1、S1中主要的载磁矿物是磁铁矿,但赤铁矿也可能携带稳定的特征剩磁;洛川黄土剖面能够记录Blake漂移,并发生于(123±2)ka。通过S1中1 092~1 240cm处6套平行样品的古地磁结果,表明洛川黄土难以记录Blake漂移的形态学特征;L1未记录到Mono Lake和Laschamp漂移,但是在175cm处识别出1次明显的地磁异常事件,年代约17.9ka。我们认为该地磁异常事件应为Hilina Pali/Tianchi漂移。此外,导致同一极性事件在不同地区记录产生差异的可能原因有中国黄土存在千年尺度的沉积间断、较低的沉积速率及黄土剖面所处地理位置的不同。同一剖面平行样品间地磁漂移形态学存在差异,可能是由于极性漂移期间较低的古地磁场强度抑制了黄土剩磁记录能力所致。     

浑善达克沙地南缘晚更新世黄土-古土壤序列的高分辨率磁性气候记录

浑善达克沙地处于季风边缘区,目前对该区域末次间冰期以来的古气候演化历史及其动力学机制尚不清楚。文章以浑善达克沙地南缘山间低洼地带北沟剖面总厚度4.72 m(未见底)的黄土-古土壤序列为研究对象,开展了光释光测年和精细的岩石磁学、环境磁学、地球化学和漫反射光谱分析。结果表明:1)该剖面记录了末次间冰期以来完整的风成堆积历史,并通过东亚夏季风指标(Rb/Sr及χARM/χ)与深海氧同位素曲线的对比建立了13万年来该黄土-古土壤序列精细的年龄模式;2)在黄土高原上常规的用来指示成壤强度和夏季风强度的磁参数并不完全适用于干旱-半干旱地区(400 mm等降水线附近)的风成黄土,而地球化学指标在指示季风边缘区的地球化学风化过程上表现出一定的合理性,北沟剖面复杂的磁信号可能是对末次冰期季风边缘区显著减弱的夏季风的阈值响应;3)在末次间冰期东亚夏季风可以延伸到内蒙古中东部,北沟剖面记录了浑善达克沙地南缘末次间冰期以来区域古季风的演化历史。     

Distribution and provenance of the Baginton Sand and Gravel in the Wreake Valley,northern Leicestershire,England: Implications for inter-regional correlation

The Baginton Sand and Gravel is traced along the lower Wreake Valley as a continuous water-laid stratum at the base of the drift succession. Its properties closely resemble those previously described from the proto-Soar valley, namely an upward fining sequence and a composition dominated by pebbles of Triassic and Carboniferous origin. Such a provenance is consistent with the idea that the proto-Soar once followed a route eastwards past Melton Mowbray, and that the drainage along the lower Wreake Valley has been reversed in the course of Pleistocene times. However, the slope of the sand and gravel train appears to be to the west rather than the east, and the rockhead relief is also inconsistent with an eastward-flowing proto-Soar. Until this enigma is resolved, it would be imprudent to use the Baginton Sand and Gravel as the basis for inter-regional correlations. The issue is further complicated by the preservation at Brooksby of earlier interglacial or interstadial deposits whose temporal affinities remain unclear.     

The Last Interglacial sea level change: new evidence from the Abrolhos islands,West Australia

U-series ages measured by thermal ionisation mass spectrometry (TIMS) are reported for a Last Interglacial (LI) fossil coral core from the Turtle Bay, Houtman Abrolhos islands, western Australia. The core is 33.4 m long the top of which is approximately 5 m a.p.s.l. (above present sea level). From the²³²Th concentrations and the reliability of the U-series ages, two sections in the core can be distinguished. Calculated U/Th ages in core section I (3.3 m a.p.s.l to 11 m b.p.s.l) vary between 124±1.7 ka BP (3.3 m a.p.s.l.) and 132.5±1.8 ka (4 m b.p.s.l., i.e. below present sea level), and those of section II (11–23 m b.p.s.l.) between 140±3 and 214±5 ka BP, respectively. The ages of core section I are in almost perfect chronological order, whereas for section II no clear age-depth relationship of the samples can be recognised. Further assessments based on the ϖ²³⁴U_(T) criteria reveal that none of the samples of core section II give reliable ages, whereas for core section I several samples can be considered to be moderately reliable within 2 ka. The data of the Turtle Bay core complement and extend our previous work from the Houtman Abrolhos showing that the sea level reached a height of approximately 4 m b.p.s.l at approximately 134 ka BP and a sea level highstand of at least 3.3 m a.p.s.l. at approximately 124 ka BP. Sea level dropped below its present position at approximately 116 ka BP. Although the new data are in general accord with the Milankovitch theory of climate change, a detailed comparison reveals considerable differences between the Holocene and LI sea level rise as monitored relative to the Houtman Abrolhos islands. These observation apparently add further evidence to the growing set of data that the LI sea level rise started earlier than recognised by SPECMAP chronology. A reconciliation of these contradictionary observations following the line of arguments presented by Crowley (1994) are discussed with respect to the Milankovitch theory.