Late Quaternary dietary shifts of the Cape grysbok (Raphicerus melanotis) in southern Africa

The Cape grysbok is endemic to southern Africa's Cape Floral Region where it selectively browses various species of dicotyledonous vegetation. Fossil evidence indicates that the grysbok persisted under glacial and interglacial conditions throughout the late Quaternary and inhabited a range of environments. This study employs mesowear analysis to reconstruct grysbok diets over time and in response to changing environments at Nelson Bay Cave, Die Kelders Cave 1, Klasies River Mouth, and Swartklip 1. Results indicate that the amount of grasses (monocots) versus leafy vegetation (dicots) included in the diet fluctuated over time and largely in agreement with changes in faunal community structure. The case for dietary flexibility is particularly clear at Nelson Bay Cave, where there is a significant trend from mixed feeding towards increased browsing from the late Pleistocene (~ 18,500 ¹⁴C yr BP) through the Holocene. Dietary shifts at Nelson Bay Cave are consistent with the hypothesis that declining grassland productivity is responsible for the terminal Pleistocene extinction of several large ungulates in southern Africa. Furthermore, the short-term dietary shifts demonstrated here (100s to 1000s of years) provide an important caution against relying on taxonomic uniformitarianism when reconstructing the dietary preferences of fossil ungulates, both extant and extinct.     

Stratigraphy,sedimentary development and palaeoenvironmental context of a naturally accumulated pitfall cave deposit from southeastern Australia

McEachern's Deathtrap Cave (G—49/50) is located in the Lower Glenelg region of southeastern Australia and records a Late Pleistocene to Holocene sedimentary record that has been directly influenced by surface processes during its formation. The sedimentary sequence contained within the cave is divided into lower, middle and upper sequences consisting of eight facies. The lower sequence represents the earliest phase of sedimentation, and groundwater fluctuations during the Last Interglacial period resulted in its erosion and redistribution deeper into the cave system. A decrease in the magnitude and frequency of flood events in the cave during the formation of the middle sequence indicates increasingly drier surface conditions prior to the Last Glacial Maximum. The middle sequence has a minimum age of 9840 ± 290 a BP. Moving sand sheets during the Last Glacial blocked the entrance to the cave allowing flowstones to develop on the cave floor. The surface environment surrounding the cave was probably not as dry as contemporaneous inland sites because sedimentation continued to be dominated by flowing water during this period. Holocene sedimentation is represented by the upper sequence and reflects wetter cave conditions between 7680 ± 160 a BP and 5700 ± 110 a BP. A major phase of sediment accretion occurs after 5700 a BP and correlates to a phase of dune instability in the Lower Glenelg region. Flowing water remodelled the sediment cone sometime after 2240 ± 100 a BP, which represents a period of increased surface runoff, although it is not clear whether this is due to climatic or anthropogenic influences.     

Precise dating of abrupt shifts in the Asian Monsoon during the last deglaciation based on stalagmite data from Yamen Cave, Guizhou Province, China

Based on 33 U/Th dates and 1020 oxygen isotopic data from stalagmite Y1 from Yamen Cave, Guizhou Province, China, a record of the Asian Summer Monsoon (ASM) was established. The record covers the last deglaciation and the early Holocene (from 16.2 to 7.3 ka BP) with an average oxygen isotope resolution of 9 years. The main millennial-scale deglacial events first identified in Greenland (Greenland Interstadial Events: GIS 1e through GIS 1a) and later in China are clearly present in the Y1 record. By analogy to earlier work, we refer to these as Chinese Interstadials (CIS): CIS A.1e to CIS A.1a. The onset of these events in Y1 δ18O records are nominally dated at: 14750±50, 14100±60, 13870±80, 13370±80, and 12990±80 a BP. The end of CIS A.1a or the beginning of the Younger Dryas (YD) event is nominally at 12850±50 a BP and the end of the YD dates to 11500±40 a BP. The δ18O values shift by close to 3‰ during the transition into the Bφlling-Allerφd (BA, the onset of CIS A.1e) and at the end of the YD. Comparisons of Y1 to previously published early Holocene records show no significant phase differences. Thus, the East Asia Monsoon and the Indian Monsoon do not appear to have been out of phase during this interval. The Y1 record confirms earlier work that suggested that solar insolation and North Atlantic climate both affect the Asian Monsoon.     

岩溶洞穴内气候环境因子关系分析——以贵州省织金洞为例

织金洞为旅游洞穴,且洞内竖井以及裂隙较多,洞内封闭环境较差,因此随着洞外大气环境的变化和游客量的波动,存在夏秋两季洞内CO2浓度、湿度均高于冬春两季的现象。2015年1月至2016年1月经对织金洞内CO2浓度、气压、气温、湿度等气候环境数据进行相关性统计分析得出:夏秋两季气温与CO2浓度呈现负相关,相关系数r分别为-0.728 76和-0.656 16,冬春两季则呈正相关,两季CO2浓度与气温的相关系数r分别达0.854 52和0.938 46;洞内气候环境因子除湿度与温度的关系外,各环境因子间在SINE函数基础上拟合度较高,拟合度大部分处于0.6～0.8之间。洞内各气候环境因子的关系,经分析认为可能由于洞内外气流交换状况的季节性变化以及外界大气降水、洞内水量、上覆土壤CO2、游客量、照明设施等因素共同影响所致。      

密封措施对降低洞体形变观测气象类因素干扰的效果与分析

结合2010年5月初的一次密封措施,以天为单位统计各月内影响淮北地震台洞体形变观测的气象因素类型及其变化情况,分析造成干扰的主要气象因素类型及密封效果,结果表明:影响淮北台洞体形变观测的主要气象类型为大风、气压和降水,密封能有效降低大风和气压因素造成的干扰。     

Optical dating of flowstone and silty carbonate-rich sediments from Panxian Dadong Cave,Guizhou, southwestern China

Panxian Dadong Cave located in the western Guizhou is a very important Paleolithic site in China. At this site bone and stone artifacts, human teeth and mammalian fossils (known as Ailuropoda-Stegodon fauna) were found, and the site was previously dated to 120–300 ka using ESR/uranium-series methods. In this study, we successfully extracted fine quartz grains from flowstone and silty carbonate-rich sediments in the excavated area. The quartz extracts displayed excellent luminescence properties, and satisfied the SAR (single-aliquot regenerative dose method) acceptance criteria. The sensitivity-corrected OSL signals are not saturated at a dose up to about 1400 Gy. The cultural unit was OSL dated to 190–300 ka, corresponding to MISs 7–8. The flowstone deposits overlying the cultural unit were determined to be 13–190 ka and the silty carbonate-rich sediments underlying the cultural unit to be 300–360 ka. The optical ages are in general agreement with the coupled ESR/U-series and U-series ages.     

桂林地区水南洞14～25万年石笋的碳氧同位素记录和古气候重建

通过对桂林水南洞石笋进行高精度的热电离质谱(TIMS－U)测年和碳氧同位素分析,建立了桂林地区245.20 ka BP至147.90 ka BP间的古气候变化时间序列,确定了石笋记录的时段B与时段C分界的年龄为242.5±6.4 ka BP(相当于深海岩芯氧同位素标准曲线时段7与时段8分界的年龄)、时段A与时段B分界的年龄为 192.6±3.9 ka BP(相当于深海岩芯氧同位素标准曲线时段6与时段7分界的年龄)。桂林地区245.20～147.90 ka BP石笋记录的冷暖事件所反映出的古气候变化,大致可分为3个气候变化阶段:(1) 245.2～242.6 ka BP, 相当于深海岩芯氧同位素标准曲线阶段8的末期;(2) 242.5～192.6 ka BP,相当于深海岩芯氧同位素标准曲线时段7;(3)192.6～147.9 ka BP间的倒数第2次冰期, 相当于深海岩芯氧同位素标准曲线时段6的早中期。石笋的TIMS－U测年和碳氧同位素记录揭示,桂林地区245.2～147.9 ka BP的古气候演变历史与深海岩芯时段8末期、时段7和时段6的氧同位素,深海岩芯中记录的孢子花粉组合、CaCO3含量、海平面的升降变化以及与中国北方黄土、古土壤中记录的孢子花粉组合、成壤程度、全铁富集程度、磁化率变化、原生碎屑CaCO3含量和淋溶强度等所揭示的古气候和古季风变化具有极好的对应关系,表明桂林地区中更新世晚期以来的古气候演变既有全球性特征,又有着强烈的区域性特征。     

鄂西高坪龙骨洞地层形成环境的研究

鄂西龙骨洞保存有早更新世早期的地层,并产早期人类化石和巨猿化石以及石器。通过对这套地层的形成环境的研究表明:沉积物形成于水动力条件较弱的暗河环境,期间发生过几次水体干涸事件,形成钙板层。根据沉积环境的特点,龙骨洞的地层可划分为4部分:第一部分是剖面的底部,在洞穴沉积物的形成初期,沉积物粒度较粗,形成水动力较强的暗河环境;第二部分是钙板层或强钙质胶结层的形成,表明洞穴处于干涸或水很少的环境;第三部分是地层的主体部分,以粘土和亚粘土为主,形成于弱水流的暗河环境,化石主要产自这部分;第四部分是剖面的顶部,为钙板层,洞穴干涸。洞中的化石和石器部分是被水流带入洞中沉积形成的,部分为人类和巨猿在洞中生存时留下的。     

同位素古温度与海平面变化的关系初探

用稳定同位素地球化学古温度的测定方法对北京周口店石笋进行氧、碳同位素测定，获得的古温度与年龄值与同期的海平面变化进行比较，表明古温度的变化与海平面变化密切相关。     

浅谈韩国的溶洞保护与开发—— 以三陟市新基面大耳里地区幻仙洞为例

韩国的溶洞开发虽然起步较晚，但其对溶洞的保护却有许多值得学习和借鉴之处，本文以幻仙洞为例介绍了韩国的溶洞开发现状、管理问题、相关法律法规及保护措施，并提出了作者的建议。