Biostratigraphic and aminostratigraphic constraints on the age of the Middle Pleistocene glacial succession in north Norfolk,UK

Considerable debate surrounds the age of the Middle Pleistocene glacial succession in East Anglia following some recent stratigraphical reinterpretations. Resolution of the stratigraphy here is important since it not only concerns the glacial history of the region but also has a bearing on our understanding of the earliest human occupation of north‐western Europe. The orthodox consensus that all the tills were emplaced during the Anglian (Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 12) has recently been challenged by a view assigning each major till to a different glacial stage, before, during and after MIS 12. Between Trimingham and Sidestrand on the north Norfolk coast, datable organic sediments occur immediately below and above the glacial succession. The oldest glacial deposit (Happisburgh Till) directly overlies the ‘Sidestrand Unio‐bed’, here defined as the Sidestrand Hall Member of the Cromer Forest‐bed Formation. Dating of these sediments therefore has a bearing on the maximum age of the glacial sequence. This paper reviews the palaeobotany and describes the faunal assemblages recovered from the Sidestrand Unio‐bed, which accumulated in a fluvial environment in a fully temperate climate with regional deciduous woodland. There are indications from the ostracods for weakly brackish conditions. Significant differences are apparent between the Sidestrand assemblages and those from West Runton, the type site of the Cromerian Stage. These differences do not result from contrasting facies or taphonomy but reflect warmer palaeotemperatures at Sidestrand and a much younger age. This conclusion is suggested by the higher proportion of thermophiles at Sidestrand and the occurrence of a water vole with unrooted molars (Arvicola) rather than its ancestor Mimomys savini with rooted molars. Amino acid racemisation data also indicate that Sidestrand is significantly younger than West Runton. These data further highlight the stratigraphical complexity of the ‘Cromerian Complex’ and support the conventional view that the Happisburgh Till was emplaced during the Anglian rather than the recently advanced view that it dates from MIS 16. Moreover, new evidence from the Trimingham lake bed (Sidestrand Cliff Formation) above the youngest glacial outwash sediments (Briton's Lane Formation) indicates that they also accumulated during a Middle Pleistocene interglacial – probably MIS 11. All of this evidence is consistent with a short chronology placing the glacial deposits within MIS 12, rather than invoking multiple episodes of glaciation envisaged in the ‘new glacial stratigraphy’ during MIS 16, 12, 10 and 6. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Joint patterns and their relationship to regional trends

An analysis of joint patterns in the Grampians Group rocks o£ Western Victoria has established that the dominant directions are north‐north‐west, east‐north‐east, west‐north‐west, north‐north‐east and north. The master joints are steeply‐dipping structures which formed after the sediments were lithified and folded. The joint‐formation is not genetically related to the folding and post‐dates the emplacement of the igneous intrusions. Joint orientation is independent of lithology and the sediments have reacted as a uniform mass to an applied stress.

The joint pattern conforms with the regional tectonic pattern of faults and lineaments which includes directions of the regmatic shear pattern of Sonder (1947). The jointing and major faulting took place during the Kanimblan Orogeny. The faulting and joint‐formation may have been contemporaneous, the faults being directions along which displacement occurred; conversely the actual movements along faults may have induced the jointing into the sediments.     

100 global bright spots of green growth: Co-occurrence of nighttime light gain and forest gain, 1990–2015

Economic growth commonly occurs at the expense of environmental quality, but there are exceptions. Here we use satellite data to identify places where exceptional economic growth and exceptional environmental improvement co-occurred between 1990 and 2015. We term as “bright spots of green growth” those spatial clusters with the most cells above the 95th percentile within their world region in both economic growth (as proxied by increase in nighttime lights) and one aspect of environmental improvement (forest area). Because the locations of bright spots are sensitive to methodological choices, we applied two different approaches to identifying bright spots. The two approaches differed in their choice of nighttime lights data (DSMP-OLS in Approach A vs. DSMP-VIIRS composite in Approach B); choice of forest area data (forest cover vs. forest land-use); time period (2000–2010 vs. 1990–2015); and clustering technique (visual inspection vs. HDBSCAN algorithm). We identified the top five bright spots in each of ten world regions using each of two approaches, for a total of 100 global bright spots of green growth. We then tested the extent to which the attributes of bright spots were consistent with four non-mutually exclusive theories of green growth. Of the bright spots we identified, around two-thirds (65% using Approach A; 71% using Approach B) had significantly higher-than-regional-average growth in the share of labor employed in services, consistent with sectoral shift and “tertiarization.” Fewer than half (38%; 46%) had significantly higher growth in income, consistent with the “Environmental Kuznets Curve” theory. Some (54%; 29%) had significantly higher growth in timber plantation area, consistent with “eco-industry”-driven rural development. Few (0%; 10%) had significantly higher growth in protected area coverage, consistent with public policy-induced forest conservation. Our findings suggest sectoral shift toward services, rather than rising income per se, may be a promising pathway for other regions seeking to combine economic growth and environmental improvement.     

Stable carbon isotope ratios in lake and swamp sediments as a proxy for prehistoric forest clearance and crop cultivation in the Neotropics

Close correspondence between stable carbon isotope ratios ( ¹³ C), pollen, and charcoal profiles in sediment cores from Laguna Zoncho and Machita swamp, Costa Rica, shows that prehistoric forest clearance and crop cultivation can be detected in the stable carbon isotope ratios of total organic carbon ( ¹3C _TOC ). Analyses of δ 13C _TOC complement evidence from pollen, charcoal, and phytoliths and provide a proxy that is sensitive to the intensity and/or proximity to core sites of prehistoric forest clearance and agriculture in watersheds. Stable carbon isotope analyses are particularly useful in situations in which other evidence of forest clearance and agriculture is limited.     

PTrees: A point-based approach to forest tree extraction from lidar data

This paper introduces PTrees, a multi-scale dynamic point cloud segmentation dedicated to forest tree extraction from lidar point clouds. The method process the point data using the raw elevation values (Z) and compute height (H = Z − ground elevation) during post-processing using an innovative procedure allowing to preserve the geometry of crown points. Multiple segmentations are done at different scales. Segmentation criteria are then applied to dynamically select the best set of apices from the tree segments extracted at the various scales. The selected set of apices is then used to generate a final segmentation. PTrees has been tested in 3 different forest types, allowing to detect 82% of the trees with under 10% of false detection rate. Future development will integrate crown profile estimation during the segmentation process in order to both maximize the detection of suppressed trees and minimize false detections.     

Characterization of aboveground biomass in an unmanaged boreal forest using Landsat temporal segmentation metrics

Canada is dominated by forested ecosystems which are subject to various inventory and management practices, with more northern boreal forests subject to neither. Our objectives were to measure the capacity of temporal trajectory metrics for estimating selected forest attributes in a northern Canadian boreal forest context using Landsat imagery and investigate the importance of different types of temporal trajectory metrics. Results indicated that Wetness was the best Tasseled Cap (TC) component for aboveground biomass estimation (R² = 50%, RMSE% = 56%), and the combination of simple and complex metrics from all TC components produced the highest R² (62%) and lowest RMSE% (49%). Using a similar combination of variables, other forest attributes were estimated equally reliably with lower RMSE% values. The most important temporal trajectory metrics were simple and described TC component values at each point of change in the temporal trajectory, however the most important variables overall were environmental variables.     

Soil respiration mapped by exclusively use of MODIS data for forest landscapes of Saskatchewan,Canada

Soil respiration (R_s) is of great importance to the global carbon balance. Remote sensing of R_s is challenging because of (1) the lack of long-term R_s data for model development and (2) limited knowledge of using satellite-based products to estimate R_s. Using 8-years (2002–2009) of continuous R_s measurements with nonsteady-state automated chamber systems at a Canadian boreal black spruce stand (SK-OBS), we found that R_s was strongly correlated with the product of the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and the nighttime land surface temperature (LSTn) derived from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) imagery. The coefficients of the linear regression equation of this correlation between R_s and NDVI × LSTn could be further calibrated using the MODIS leaf area index (LAI) product, resulting in an algorithm that is driven solely by remote sensing observations. Modeled R_s closely tracked the seasonal patterns of measured R_s and explained 74–92% of the variance in R_s with a root mean square error (RMSE) less than 1.0 g C/m²/d. Further validation of the model from SK-OBS site at another two independent sites (SK-OA and SK-OJP, old aspen and old jack pine, respectively) showed that the algorithm can produce good estimates of R_s with an overall R² of 0.78 (p < 0.001) for data of these two sites. Consequently, we mapped R_s of forest landscapes of Saskatchewan using entirely MODIS observations for 2003 and spatial and temporal patterns of R_s were well modeled. These results point to a strong relationship between the soil respiratory process and canopy photosynthesis as indicated from the greenness index (i.e., NDVI), thereby implying the potential of remote sensing data for detecting variations in R_s. A combination of both biological and environmental variables estimated from remote sensing in this analysis may be valuable in future investigations of spatial and temporal characteristics of R_s.     

The Eltanin asteroid impact: possible South Pacific palaeomegatsunami footprint and potential implications for the Pliocene–Pleistocene transition

Large asteroid impacts are rare, and those into the deep ocean are rarer still. The Eltanin asteroid impact around 2.51 ± 0.07 Ma occurred at a time of great climatic and geological change associated with the Pliocene–Pleistocene boundary. Numerical models of the event indicate that a megatsunami was generated, although there is debate concerning its magnitude and the region‐wide extent of its influence. We summarise the existing evidence for possible Eltanin megatsunami deposits in Antarctica, Chile and New Zealand, while also examining other potential sites from several locations, mainly around the South Pacific region. In reviewing these data we note that these events were unfolding at the same time as those associated with the Pliocene–Pleistocene boundary and, as such, most of the geological evidence from that time has a climatic interpretation. The potential climatic and geological ramifications of the Eltanin asteroid impact, however, have failed to be considered by most researchers studying this time period. Although we are not advocating that all geological activity at that time is connected with the Eltanin asteroid impact, it raises interesting questions about the role potentially played by such catastrophic events in contributing to or even triggering epochal transitions. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Pliocene aridity and Neogene landscape evolution recorded by a fluvial sediment system (Campaspe Formation) in northeast Queensland

Campaspe Formation, a surficial, fluviatile, sand-dominated unit, is extensively developed in the Charters Towers region of north Queensland where it covers an area of 11 000 km², overlying Paleozoic basement and erosional remnants of Paleogene Southern Cross Formation. In the northern part of its distribution, it is interlayered with, and overlain by, flows of Nulla Basalt. It is dated as mid-Pliocene, based on the 3.48 Ma age of the Myrrilumbing Flow interlayered with its upper part, an antiquity consistent with thin ferricrete locally developed at its surface. The formation defines the Campaspe Surface at an elevation of 200–440 m in the present landscape, falling gently from upland to the west towards the current channel of the Burdekin River. This surface is a relict alluvial plain little incised by easterly flowing tributaries of the Burdekin River and has survived, essentially intact, from the early Pliocene. Geometry of the formation is established from some 2000 mineral exploration drill holes and seismic profiling. It has an average thickness of some 60 m, reaching a maximum of over 200 m. It blankets a pre-existing, low relief landscape in which a basement ridge divides it into two sub-basins that mirror the present drainage. The formation consists of poorly sorted sandstone with minor conglomerate and siltstone, and contains paleosol horizons with associated calcrete. Matrix supported sandstone in the succession, indicates deposition in part from hyperconcentrated flows. Sandstones generally show poorly defined planar layering as typical of ephemeral overbank and terminal splay sediment bodies but beds with cross-lamination, indicating fluvial channel bed forms, are also present. They are characterised by pore-filling silt and mud, largely emplaced by post-depositional infiltration, such that the unit produces essentially no groundwater. Facies attributes are consistent with fluvial deposition in ephemeral, dry climate, distributary system, with inefficient cross-drainage discharge that induced aggradation, resulting in a substantial sediment body perched in the landscape. Framework grain compositions show the formation to be mineralogically mature, representing erosional debris derived from intense weathering in an earlier climatic regime recorded, at least in part, by duricrust developed in the fluviatile–lacustrine Southern Cross Formation of Paleogene age. Such duricrust intervals are now upstanding in the landscape, representing erosional remnants from inverted relief developed in a mid-Cenozoic, pluvial, landscape cycle. Paleoclimatic signature of the Campaspe Formation extends the record of Pliocene aridity, widely recognised elsewhere in Australia, to northeast Queensland. In large part the landscape of the Charters Towers district is relict from the early Pliocene and is in the process of readjusting to more pluvial climatic regimes. By implication, Pliocene aridity has, on a small scale, exerted a strong influence on the present physiography of Australian landscapes.     

Two bioerosion ichnofacies produced by early and late burial associated with sea-level change

In bioerosion, as in trace fossils as a whole, deeply emplaced structures have greater survival value than shallow structures. That is to say, tiering (the relative depth to which rasping, etching and boring organisms penetrate their substrate) is of paramount importance for the preservation potential of individual trace fossils. An Entobia ichnofacies is established for trace fossil assemblages dominated by deep tier borings and arising from long-term bioerosion, such as occurs on sediment-free submarine cliffs or hardgrounds. A Gnathichnus ichnofacies comprises assemblages containing all tiers, including superficial sculptures produced by radulation that have very little preservation potential. Such assemblages occur in short-term bioerosion situations as on shell surfaces and hardgrounds buried early by sedimentation. Correspondence to: R. G. Bromley