On the interest and the limits of using combined ESR/U-series model in the case of very late uranium uptake

Before ESR/U-series models were applied to ungulate teeth, it is generally assumed that calculated ages are close to the “real” ages when they range between the values obtained with the EU and LU models. When the samples show signs of uranium-leaching, a realistic mathematical modelling of the age is not possible. On the other hand, some samples have undergone a very late U-uptake “affecting” directly the U-series ages and rendering the calculated ages younger.

We present results obtained on two open-air sites, which show the limits of such combined models in the case of late uranium incorporation. For the Middle Pleistocene site of Isernia la Pineta (Italy), the ESR dates are expected to fall within the limits imposed by the Ar–Ar results. The other site, the Lower Palaeolithic deposits of Ambrona (Spain), yielded two sets of samples: some at the top of the sequence with uranium uptake ranging between EU and LU limits and thus giving a good idea of the “real” age of the site; others at the base displaying a very late U-uptake, which render an age determination difficult.     

Luminescence dating of a gigantic palaeolandslide in the Gobi-Altay mountains, Mongolia

In an attempt to date a palaeolandslide that took place along the Baga Bogd Massif, in Mongolia, the infrared stimulated luminescence (IRSL) method has been applied to lacustrine silty sediments directly overlying the landslide mass. The IRSL age estimates obtained on alkali feldspar grains (>40 μm) and polymineral fine grains (4–11 μm) provide a minimum age for the landslide event. The IRSL ages on alkali feldspars corrected for long-term fading using the protocol of Mejdahl (1988, 1989) suggest that the palaeolandslide occurred at the beginning of the Last Interglacial. These are in good agreement with the ¹⁰Be cosmogenic dates obtained on faulted and abandoned alluvial fans in the Gobi-Altay mountains. This study demonstrates for the first time that the IRSL dating method can successfully be applied for establishing landslide chronologies.     

东昆仑南部晚新生代逆冲推覆构造系统

通过对东大滩—东温泉地区的路线地质观测与构造填图,在东昆仑南部发现晚新生代大型逆冲推覆构造系统。沿低角度逆冲断层,早二叠世大理岩和早三叠世砂板岩自北向南逆冲推覆于古新统—始新统风火山群紫红色砾岩和渐新世砖红色砂砾岩之上,形成大量不同规模的飞来峰;沿主逆冲断层发育厚层断层角砾岩与断层泥,局部形成碳酸盐质糜棱岩。东昆仑南部逆冲推覆构造的发育时代为渐新世晚期—中新世早期,主要形成、活动时期为26～13.5Ma;估算最小逆冲推覆距离为30～35km,最小逆冲推覆运动速率为2.4～2.8mm/a。东昆仑南部晚新生代逆冲推覆构造运动与现今山脉快速隆升存在着动力学成因联系。     

浙东晚中生代壳幔相互作用的新例证——新昌儒岙辉绿岩-花岗岩复合岩体的年代学与地球化学

在浙东新昌地区,新发现了一个由辉绿岩和花岗岩组成的复合岩体。辉绿岩主要由斜长石(An=45～55,50%～60%)、普通辉石(20%～30%)、普通角闪石(10%～15%)等组成,全岩 Ar-Ar 同位素年龄为109.1±2.8Ma;花岗岩主要由石英(25%～30%),钾长石(50%～60%),斜长石(An=20±,10%～15%)及少量的黑云母(<5%)组成,锆石 SHRIMP U-Pb 年龄值为129～109Ma,其最小年龄值109Ma 与辉绿岩的相同,证明辉绿岩和花岗岩近同时冷凝固结。在岩石地球化学上,它们同属钙碱性岩石系列,具有轻稀土元素和大离子亲石元素富集、高场强元素亏损等特点,稀土元素、微量元素配分型式基本相同,(~(87)Sr/~(86)Sr)_i=0.7074～0.7079,ε_(Nd)(t)=-3.5～-4.4,指示它们的微量元素和同位素发生过充分的交换。这与浙东晚中生代玄武岩-流纹岩复合岩流的相似,也与福建沿海同时代复合火成岩的基本一致。它们是起源于受消减作用影响的岩石圈地幔部分熔融而产生的玄武岩浆底侵,并与深融的壳源花岗岩浆相互作用的结果,是壳幔作用的产物。新昌复合岩体的发现与研究,为研究浙东地区和浙闽沿海的壳幔作用和构造-岩浆作用提供了一个新的实例。     

青藏高原羌塘中部果干加年山上三叠统望湖岭组的建立及意义

在果干加年山的主脊及其以北识别出一套稳定的沉积岩系,角度不整合于蛇绿混杂岩之上,以细砂岩、硅质粉砂岩为主,其中夹有大小不等的古生代外来岩块,底砾岩成分因地而异并具有快速堆积的特点,底部夹有流纹岩。厚度大于1633m。流纹岩夹层获得的锆石SHRIMPU-Pb谐和年龄为214Ma±4Ma,时代为晚三叠世诺利期。在剖面测制和区域对比的基础上建立了上三叠统望湖岭组,代表龙木错-双湖缝合带闭合以后接受的最早的沉积盖层。望湖岭组之下的蛇绿混杂岩获得阳起石Ar-Ar年龄219.7Ma±6.5Ma。同位素定年确定构造转化事件发生在214～220Ma之间,为龙木错-双湖缝合带的闭合时间提供了确切的时间约束,望湖岭组是这一事件的沉积记录,是龙木错-双湖缝合带蛇绿混杂岩之上首次发现的沉积盖层。     

Late Pleistocene–Holocene environments in Valle Carbajal, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina

The authors discuss Late Pleistocene–Holocene depositional environments in one of the Fuegian Andes valleys on the basis of palynological, geomorphological, and sedimentological analyses from two sites located near the Beagle Channel. The results obtained at these localities reinforce and refine the Late Pleistocene–Holocene climatic pattern previously recorded there. A colder period, associated with the Younger Dryas stadial event, is suggested by low Nothofagus pollen frequency, and communities of grass, low scrub, and shrub heath expanded into the low/middle slopes (10,310 ¹⁴C yr BP). By ca. 9500 ¹⁴C yr BP, warmer and drier conditions occurred, as evidenced by the development of open-grown vegetation in the valley floors (pollen zone O-3), followed by the expansion of open Nothofagus woodland (pollen zone O-2) in the middle Holocene. The milder climate subsequently changed, as indicated by the spreading of the closed forest and mire (pollen zone O-1), to more humid and cooler conditions during the last ca. 5000 yr BP.     

Control of wind strength and frequency in the Aral Sea basin during the late Holocene

Changing content of detrital input in laminated sediments traced by XRF scanning and microfacies analyses reflect prominent variations in sedimentation processes in the Aral Sea. A high-resolution record of titanium from a core retrieved in the northwestern Large Aral Sea allows a continuous reconstruction of wind strength and frequency in western Central Asia for the past 1500 yr. During AD 450–700, AD 1210–1265, AD 1350–1750 and AD 1800–1975, detrital inputs (bearing titanium) are high, documenting an enhanced early spring atmospheric circulation associated with an increase in intensity of the Siberian High pressure system over Central Asia. In contrast, lower titanium content during AD 1750–1800 and AD 1980–1985 reflects a diminished influence of the Siberian High during early spring with a reduced atmospheric circulation. A moderate circulation characterizes the time period AD 700–1150. Unprecedented weakened atmospheric circulation over western Central Asia are inferred during ca. AD 1180–1210 and AD 1265–1310 with a considerable decrease in dust storm frequency, sedimentation rates, lamination thickness and detrital inputs (screened at 40-μm resolution). Our results are concurrent with changes in the intensity of the Siberian High during the past 1400 yr as reported in the GISP2 Ice Core from Greenland.     

The Würm in NW Iberia, a pollen record from Area Longa (Galicia)

The pollen record at Area Longa is the westernmost sequence available for investigation of the last glaciation in continental Europe. It is located in a region, NW Iberia, for which data from times earlier than the late glacial period are scarce. It comprises a series of exposed limnetic levels that lie above an Eemian (Oxygen Isotope Stage [OIS] 5e) beach and are separated by inorganic layers. The oldest limnetic level (Level I), attributed to the early glacial period (OIS 5a to OIS 5d), shows a dominance of woodland with high proportions of Fagus pollen and is tentatively identified with St. Germain I. The lower pleniglacial (OIS 4) Level II records a stadial landscape of grassland and shrub. Level III, from the pleniglacial interstade (OIS 3), reflects a complex period in which three warmer woodland phases alternated with periods of more open vegetation. This cyclical behavior correlates with the ice core isotope record and with the general tendencies observed in other Würmian pollen records, but the composition of our pollen profiles differs from those observed in these other records. In NW Iberia, the dominant trees were deciduous taxa, not conifers. Of particular note is the presence of lowland Fagus woodlands during the pre-Würm, and the occurrence of Carpinus considerably farther west than the boundary of its current distribution in the Iberian Peninsula.     

Morphology and paleoclimatic significance of Pleistocene Lake Bonneville spits

Pleistocene Lake Bonneville of western Utah contains a variety of spits associated with shorelines and other features that formed between 21,000 and 12,000 ¹⁴C yr BP. Field studies in the low-lying mountain ranges of the central portion of Lake Bonneville identified 17 spits of various types. The spits are connected to small mountain ranges and islands, vary in size from 0.02 to 0.5 km², and are composed of coarse-grained, well-rounded, poorly-sorted sedimentary material. Sixteen of the 17 spits have a northeasterly to southwesterly orientation implying that winds were from the northwest to northeast, approximately 180° out of phase with modern winds in the eastern Great Basin. Lake Bonneville spit orientation is best explained as the result of persistent northerly winds caused by the high atmospheric pressure cell of the continental ice sheet and passage of low pressure extratropical storms south of the lake. Similar, strong persistent winds are a common feature of modern continental ice sheets and passing low pressure systems. If so, the North American jet stream tracked south of Lake Bonneville as recently as 12,000 ¹⁴C yr BP, well past the height of the last glacial maximum.     

The Alleret maar (Massif Central, France): A new lacustrine sequence of the early Middle Pleistocene in western Europe

The Alleret maar (Massif Central, France) provides a long lacustrine sequence (40.6 m) attributed to the early Middle Pleistocene. Sediment, pollen and diatoms analysis of its upper part (AL2 core, 14.6 m) indicates two temperate phases marked by high lake levels, forest development and vegetation expansion. They are separated by a cold period during which lake level drops, coarse sediment input increases and steppic and xerophilous plants develop. Pollen data suggests that this sequence belongs to the upper part of the Cromerian complex. These results are in agreement with the 557 ± 3 ka (±12 ka, including all errors) ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar age obtained from an interbedded tephra layer emitted by the Mont-Dore/Sancy strato-volcano and establish that this sequence probably covers the MIS 15 substages.