Holocene environmental reconstruction from deltaic deposits in northeast Greenland

Terraces of different age in the Zackenberg delta, located at 74°N in northeast Greenland, have provided the opportunity for an interdisciplinary approach to the investigation of Holocene glacial, periglacial, pedological, biological and archaeological conditions that existed during and after delta deposition. The raised Zackenberg delta accumulated mainly during the Holocene Climatic Optimum, starting slightly prior to 9500 cal. yr BP (30 m a.s.l.) and continued until at least 6300 cal. yr BP (0.5 m a.s.l.). Evidence of sea‐level change is based on conventional ¹⁴C dates of shells from the marine delta bottomsets, ¹⁴C AMS dating of macroscopic plant material from the foresets and of fluvial deposits. Arthropod and plant remains from 7960 cal. yr BP in the delta foresets include the oldest evidence of the arctic hare in Greenland and evidence of a rich herb flora slightly different from the modern flora. Empetrum nigrum and Salix herbacea remains indicate a summer temperature at least as high as today during delta deposition. Post‐depositional nivation activity, dated by luminescence, lichenometry and Schmidt Hammer measurements indicate mainly late Holocene activity, at least since 2900 yr BP, including Little Ice Age (LIA) avalanche activity. Pedological analyses of fossil podsols in the Zackenberg delta, including ¹⁴C AMS dating of selected organic rich B‐horizons, show continued podsol development during the Holocene Climatic Optimum and into the subsequent colder period of the late Holocene, until 3000–2400 yr BP. A Neo‐Eskimo house ruin found on the lower part of the delta, presently being eroded by the sea, is dated to AD 1800. It presumably was abandoned prior to AD 1869, and suggests that some of the last Eskimos that lived in northeast Greenland might have occupied the Zackenberg delta. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Testing a proposed new chronology for the Jasmund Glacitectonic Complex (SW Baltic Sea): No indication of incipient deformation during MIS 3

Weichselian advances of the Scandinavian Ice Sheet have generated several glacitectonically deformed structures in the southwestern Baltic Sea area. One example is the 100 km² large Jasmund Glacitectonic Complex (JGC), which was formed proglacially and consists of two subparallel-orientated sets of composite ridges that represent a northern and southern structural complex. The two-part morphological structure of the JGC suggests a formation by two ice advances, one approaching from NE and one from SE direction. So far, this divided structure has been assumed to have been formed by short-time ice-front oscillations during an MIS 2 ice advance. However, based on their recently published ice dynamic model for MIS 3 and the available age data from Jasmund, lüthgens et al. (2020) propose a chronological reinterpretation of the JGC development, according to which two distinct ice advances during early and late MIS 3 formed the JGC. In order to test this novel stratigraphical model for the JGC formation, five OSL samples were taken from fluvial and lacustrine deposits at a key section near Glowe (NW Jasmund). The investigated succession is divided into pre-kinematic sediments, deposited before the glacitectonic deformation, and post-kinematic sediments, deposited after the deformation. Our results show that the youngest dated pre-tectonic sediment has a burial age between ∼40 and 34 ka, which rules out a glacitectonic deformation during an early MIS 3 ice advance (∼60–50 ka). In addition, by reviewing the existing age data set, a development of the JGC during an early and late MIS 3 advance of the SIS must be rejected. Instead, our data confirm the genesis of the JGC during MIS 2.     

Late Quaternary glaciation of the Cordillera Real,Bolivia

Glacial geological studies in tropical mountain areas of the Southern Hemisphere can be used to address two issues of late Pleistocene climate change: the global synchroneity of deglaciation and the magnitude of temperature reduction in the tropics. Radiocarbon dates from the Cordillera Real and from other areas in Perú and Bolivia suggest that late Pleistocene glaciation culminated between 14 000 and 12 000 yr BP, followed by rapid deglaciation. Because deglaciation was apparently synchronous with that in Northern Hemisphere regions, insolation change at high latitudes may not have been the only factor that produced global deglaciation at this time. Late Pleistocene glaciation in the Cordillera Real culminated when precipitation was 200 mm yr^?1 higher and temperatures were 3.5° ±1.6°C lower than today; this produced an equilibrium-line altitude depression of about 300 ± 100 m on the western side of the cordillera. Prior to this, conditions were drier and probably at least as cold. However, the lack of moraines in the Cordillera Real dated to the Last Glacial Maximum (ca. 18000 yr BP) precludes using the equilibrium-line altitude method to quantitatively evaluate the discrepancy between warm sea-surface temperatures and cold terrestrial conditions reconstructed with other proxies for this time period.     

A multi‐technique study of the glacial stratigraphy of Co. Clare and Co. Kerry,southwest Ireland

A multi‐technique approach has been adopted in a study of the lithostratigraphy of glacial deposits in southwestern Ireland, including clast lithological analysis, fine sand geochemistry, low frequency mass specific susceptibility and fine sand calcium carbonate (equivalent) content. A revised lithostratigraphical scheme is suggested for the Quaternary glacial deposits of the region, together with a simple strategy that may be adopted for stratigraphical studies in other regions of southern Ireland. It appears that geochemical determinations via inductively coupled plasma–atomic absorption spectrometry are particularly useful in characterising and discriminating between till units within local stratigraphical studies and may be used to inform the applicability of other utilitarian techniques for use on a regional scale. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Implications of new Quaternary uplift models for correlation between the Middle and Upper Thames terrace sequences, UK

Modelling of uplift histories in the Upper and Middle Thames valleys has revealed an important difference, in the form of additional early post-Anglian uplift in the Middle Thames, attributed to an Anglian (~ 440 ka) glacio-isostatic effect. Terraces in the Upper Thames around Oxford seem unaffected by glacio-isostasy and their heights show regional uplift of ~ 35–40 m since the Anglian. The result of the glacio-isostasy is that Anglian terraces are significantly higher above the valley floor in the Middle Thames (up to 55 m) than in the Upper Thames. Recognition of this displacement of Middle Thames terraces has solved long-standing problems of correlation between this area and the Upper Thames: the pre-Anglian (Cromerian Complex) age of the Sugworth Channel deposits, indicated by biostratigraphy, is no longer a difficulty, whereas the Hanborough Terrace is now thought to be of Anglian age, albeit incorporating pre-Anglian faunal remains and perhaps with a significant early post-Anglian component. These findings have implications for the understanding of the effects of Middle Pleistocene glacio-isostasy and of landscape evolution on the periphery of glaciated regions.     

Paleoclimatic changes in southern Africa during the intensification of Northern Hemisphere glaciation: evidence from ODP Leg 175 Site 1085

Pliocene age sediments from Ocean Drilling Program Leg 175, Site 1085-A and B in the Cape Basin were analyzed to investigate the impact of the intensification of Northern Hemisphere glaciation (INHG) on the South Atlantic Benguela Current system from 4 to 2 Ma. Proxies for productivity (concentrations and mass accumulation rates of total organic carbon, carbon to nitrogen ratios, percent calcium carbonate, and percent biogenic silica) as well as weight percent sand (a proxy for preservation or winnowing) peak at 3.2, 3.0, 2.4, and 2.25 Ma. Normative calculations of allied trace and major elemental determinations indicate synchronous increases in productivity peaks, as well as high concentrations and accumulations of terrigenous sediments. Coeval increases in hemipelagic sedimentation and productivity indicators could be the result of enhanced eolian sedimentation resulting from strengthened winds, leading to elevated rates of upwelling and enhanced productivity. However, rapid burial, as indicated by high sedimentation rates, could also enhance preservation. The very high concentrations (>30%) and accumulations (up to 60 g/cm²/kyr) limit the likelihood that eolian sedimentation was the only transport mechanism, invoking an additional fluvial source. Rapid burial by either eolian or fluvial transport links these intervals of enhanced preservation and productivity with continental climate changes resulting from (1) increased winds and/or dust availability due to higher aridity in the Namibia/northern South Africa region; (2) lowered sea-level related to increased ice volume; (3) increased sediment load due to wetter conditions in the continental interior; or (4) some combination. Peaks at 3.2, 2.4 and 2.25 Ma are coincident with maximum precession, suggesting a link between hemipelagic sedimentation and enhanced monsoonal circulation over southern Africa. The Site 1085 sedimentary record during the INHG seems to be controlled by low-latitude processes linked to precession rather than hig-latitude processes.     

走廊南山河流纵剖面高海拔裂点的成因

河流水力侵蚀物理模型表明基岩河道纵剖面在均衡状态时表现为平滑上凹的形态,其特征反映了构造、基岩抗侵蚀能力和气候的作用;然而自然界河道纵剖面多呈现以裂点为特征的不均衡形态,不均衡的剖面形态以及裂点的研究同样可以对外力作用的变化起到很好的指示作用。位于北祁连的走廊南山高海拔河道纵剖面普遍呈现不均衡形式且发育海拔较高的裂点。通过对裂点成因分析发现,这些裂点并不主要受控于岩性、气候、构造等因素,而反映了冰川作用遗留地形与河流地形的分界。这一结果说明在对河道纵剖面高海拔裂点进行分析时要考虑到古冰川遗留地形也会对现代河道纵剖面产生重要影响,为进一步认识和理解造山带地貌演化以及控制因素提供了思路。     

A quantitative assessment of snow shielding effects on surface exposure dating from a western North American 10Be data compilation

To better assess the spatiotemporal variations of the snow shielding effect on surface exposure dating, we compiled a dataset of 1341 ¹⁰Be ages from alpine moraines and glacially eroded valleys across western North America, and conducted a sensitivity test with both modern and time-integrated snow data covering the same region. Our analyses reveal significant differences in snow shielding both across our geographic domain and through time. In our time-integrated experiments we find snow-based exposure age corrections as low as 3.5% in the Great Basin region and high as 28.4% in the Pacific Northwest for samples dating to the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) when no wind-sweeping is assumed. As demonstrated with our time-varying snow conditions with a global climate model and a positive degree day model, modern snow conditions across western North America cannot account for the varying snow patterns under large scale climate shifts since the LGM. The snow-based exposure age corrections from the modern data differ from those calculated by our time-varying model by up to 17% across our model domain. In addition, we find that the ¹⁰Be ages calculated under two end-member scenarios regarding wind-sweeping effects, specifically whether boulders were shielded only when the total snow accumulation exceeded boulder heights or were always shielded when the snow was present, can differ by ∼7.6% on average for LGM aged samples. Our analyses provide a model-based estimates of the spatiotemporal variability and complexity of snow shielding effects on surface exposure dates across western North America and highlight the need to consider snow depth variations both spatially and temporally when conducting surface exposure dating in terrains where snowfall accumulation is significant.     

Re-evaluation of the Middle Pleistocene stratigraphy of Herefordshire,England

Lithostratigraphical analysis of remnants of high-level, poorly sorted gravel remnants in northeast Herefordshire has allowed the revision and expansion of the existing regional Middle Pleistocene stratigraphical sequence to incorporate two new formations. The oldest Pleistocene sediments in the region, the Humber Formation, represents part of a major, northerly derived, cold-stage fluvial system, which incorporated the ancestors of the rivers Lugg and Wye and tributaries of the Severn. The Risbury Formation consists of glacigenic sediments, which were deposited by a large ice-lobe emanating from a Welsh ice-cap. The Risbury Formation is correlated with glacigenic deposits in the Cradley Brook Valley on the west side of the Malvern Hills, which were formerly ascribed to a pre-Hoxnian, Severn Valley ice-sheet. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

晚第四纪MIS6以来柴达木盆地成盐作用对冰期气候的响应

气候是控制柴达木盆地盐类沉积的主要因素之一,但是其作用机制尚待明确。作者以柴达木盆地察汗斯拉图盐湖的3个含盐剖面为研究对象,采用多接收电感耦合等离子质谱(MC-ICP-MS)铀系测年测定其沉积时代,并通过X射线粉晶衍射(XRD)分析测定其盐类矿物种类。铀系测年显示D18剖面石盐和芒硝层的沉积时代为13.1±2.0 ka BP～15.9±2.5 ka BP,其中芒硝沉积年代属于末次冰期MIS2晚期;MXK2剖面芒硝层的沉积时代分别为131.7±39.5 ka BP和158.3±10.8 ka BP,D12剖面芒硝层的沉积时代分别为166.6±20.2 ka BP和198.0±20.6 ka BP,可以对应于倒数第二次冰期MIS6。XRD分析确定了3个剖面的盐类矿物主要为芒硝、石盐和石膏。综合多个盐湖晚第四纪成盐数据,本文认为倒数第二次冰期MIS6和末次冰期MIS2是柴达木盆地晚第四纪重要的成盐期,冰期的冷干气候有利于石盐和芒硝等盐类沉积。柴达木盆地"冰期成盐"的根本原因,是由于冰期环境下盆地周边山体冰川规模的扩张以及干冷的冰期气候,共同造成了盐湖补给水量的减少。此外,晚第四纪MIS6和MIS2的冰期降温也是导致盆地中冷相盐类沉积的直接原因。