An Early Pleistocene hippopotamus from Westbury Cave,Somerset, England: support for a previously unrecognized temperate interval in the British Quaternary record

Although fossil assemblages from the late Early Pleistocene are very rare in Britain, the site of Westbury Cave in Somerset, England, has the potential to address this gap. The mammal fossils recovered previously from the Siliceous Member in Westbury Cave, though few in number, have hinted at an age for the deposits that is as yet unparalleled in Britain. Here, we describe the first bona fide occurrence of Hippopotamus in the British Early Pleistocene, discovered during recent reinvestigation of the Siliceous Member. The hippo fossil indicates a refined biochronological age of ca. 1.5–1.07 Ma for the Siliceous Member and a palaeoclimate that was warm and humid, which accords well with previous palaeoenvironmental inferences. A synthesis of late Early Pleistocene hippo occurrences suggests that the Siliceous Member hippo may have been part of an early colonization of north-west Europe by these megaherbivores, possibly during MIS (Marine Oxygen Isotope Stage) 31. Alternatively, it evidences a currently cryptic northward migration during an even earlier temperate phase. In either case, the Siliceous Member is likely to represent a warm period that has not been recognized previously in the British Quaternary record.     

Legal protection for caves in the United States

This study reviews significant state and federal laws that can be used to protect karst, caves, and associated unique minerals and biota. The first state cave protection act was passed in Colorado in 1883; unfortunately it was repealed in 1971. From that modest beginning there are now a total of 22 states, Puerto Rico, and the Cherokee Nation that have specific cave protection acts. Most of these have been legislated during the last 20 years. There are a number of laws on the federal level that can be used for cave protection. The most important of these is the Federal Cave Resources Protection Act of 1988, which mandates cave conservation for many federal land management agencies. The Endangered Species Act of 1973 and the Federal Archaeological Resources Protection Act of 1976 can also be of significant use in the conservation of caves on federal land. The effects of these acts are variable. One factor is how important agency officials and law enforcement officers regard caves. It has not been unusual that little was done in the way of protection or prosecution even when the perpetrators have been apprehended. This attitude is changing rapidly primarily because those involved in enforcing the laws have been educated to the uniqueness and values of caves and their contents.     

河南栾川旧石器时代晚期龙泉洞遗址石制品初步研究

龙泉洞位于河南省栾川县的龙泉山公园内,是一处旧石器时代晚期洞穴遗址,年代为33～31kaB.P.,地理坐标为33°47′24″N,111°36′28″E.2011年2～4月,由北京师范大学、洛阳文物工作队和栾川县文管所共同发掘。 出土了512件石制品(有编号),其中包括石核96件,石片60件,工具73件,断片58件,断块225件。另外,淘洗时出土了大量的碎块和碎屑。石制品的主要原料为脉石英,使用锤击法和砸击法打片;锤击石片中,长宽相当的石片占多数,有近30%的似石叶石片;工具以刮削器为主,也有少量的尖状器、锥、钻、雕刻器等。龙泉山遗址是伏牛山区第一次经过科学发掘和研究的旧石器晚期遗址,它的发现为我们全面认识中国旧石器晚期文化的面貌和现代人行为特征提供了重要资料。     

New chronological constraints on the Plio-Pleistocene uplift of the Guizhou Plateau,SE margin of the Tibetan Plateau

The Guizhou Plateau represents a geomorphic transition between the Tibetan Plateau and the Yangtze River Plain. It likely formed in response to the propagation of surface uplift in southeastern Tibet during India-Eurasia continental collision. However, the uplift history of the region is unclear largely due to a lack of datable material. The bedrock geology is dominated by carbonate rocks, which contains numerous multi-level caves in the main river valleys that are linked to the river incision history. Cosmogenic ²⁶Al and ¹⁰Be burial dating of sediments in caves and river terraces from the northwestern and southern plateau reveals the fluvial chronology and provides the first direct determination of long-term river incision rates. The caves and terraces on the Liuchong River in NW Guizhou yield burial ages of between 0.41 ± 0.12 Ma and 2.85 ± 0.21 Ma, indicating an average incision rate of 57 ± 3 m/Ma. Four level caves at Libo in southern Guizhou yield burial ages of between 0.56 ± 0.16 Ma and 3.54 (+0.25/-0.22) Ma, indicating slightly slower incision rate (47 ± 5 m/Ma). These new results imply that the high elevation of the Guizhou Plateau had developed before the Late Pliocene, and that surface uplift during the Late Cenozoic was largely uniform across the region.     

临汾台洞体形变典型干扰与地震异常图像识别

文章分析了临汾台水平摆、垂直摆两套洞体形变观测仪记录曲线的正常变化形态,讨论了人为和自然因素引起干扰的图像特征,以及山西带南部3次中等地震前典型异常图像特征,分析结果为今后观测数据处理、异常识别及异常跟踪分析判定提供参考。     

川东北石笋记录的GIS4～5夏季风气候变化及与高纬气候的联系

对采自川东北仙人洞的石笋XR025进行了高精度230Th定年和高分辨率氧-碳同位素分析,重建了该地区33～ 28ka B.P.高分辨率夏季风气候变化历史.结果发现,XR025清晰地记录GIS4,GIS4.1和GIS5等温暖事件以及H3这一寒冷事件,这些事件的发生时间与格陵兰冰芯和我国其他石笋记录基本一致.但XR025记录的GIS4.1事件的强度明显比GIS4事件弱,这与格陵兰冰芯和葫芦洞石笋记录一致,但与我国其他一些石笋记录存在差异.在从H3向GIS4的转化中,XR025记录了夏季风逐渐增强的过程,这与格陵兰冰芯和我国其他石笋记录均存在明显差异,但与南极温度变化相似,可能受到了南极温度变化的影响.因此,南北半球高纬度地区温度变化可能在33～28ka B.P.对我国中部地区的夏季风气候变化产生了重要影响.     

重庆巫山玉米洞遗址MIS 2阶段的鼹科动物化石

重庆市巫山县玉米洞遗址第②-2层的时代为更新世最晚期,可与MIS 2阶段相对应。文章系统研究了这一层位中的鼹科动物化石,对其进行了详细的形态学描述和对比,依据齿式、齿冠结构和尺寸大小将之分别鉴定为长尾鼩鼹Scaptonyx fusicaudus、白尾鼹Parascaptor leucurus和宽齿鼹Euroscaptor grandis,均为现生的区域灭绝种。从这3个物种的现代分布范围和生境判断,玉米洞遗址在MIS 2阶段的古环境较现代更为寒凉,与横断山区或秦岭海拔2000~3000 m处相当。喜寒凉的鼹科动物在MIS 2阶段向低海拔处迁徙扩散,而当全新世暖期到来时,玉米洞周边并无供其生存的适宜环境,这些鼹科动物在此区域灭绝。

     

Condensation water in heritage touristic caves: Isotopic and hydrochemical data and a new approach for its quantification through image analysis

Condensation water is a major factor in the conservation of heritage caves. It can cause dissolution of the rock substrate (and the pigments of rock art drawn on it) or covering thereof with mineral components, depending on the chemical saturation degree of the condensation water. In show caves, visitors act as a source of CO₂ and thus modify the microclimate, favouring negative processes that affect the conservation of the caves. In spite of their interest, studies of the chemical composition of this type of water are scarce and not very detailed. In this work we present research on the condensation water in the Nerja Cave, one of the main heritage and tourist caves in Europe. The joint analysis of isotopic, hydrochemical, mineralogical and microbiological data and the use of image analysis have allowed us to advance in the knowledge of this risk factor for the conservation of heritage caves, and to demonstrate the usefulness of image analysis to quantify the scope of the possible corrosion condensation process that the condensation water could be producing on the bedrock, speleothem and rock art. To our knowledge, this application of image analysis (relative to the condensation water in caves) is the first one of this type that has been documented.     

The role of inherited Pb in controlling the quality of speleothem U-Pb ages

Over two decades of technical and application-based advances to the speleothem U-Pb chronometer have cemented this terrestrial archive at the forefront of landscape reconstruction, palaeoclimatology, and palaeoanthropology. The ability to access speleothem palaeoclimate records beyond the 650 ka limit of the U-Th system has opened many avenues to such ‘deep-time’ considerations. Yet still this chronometer remains a challenging analytical exercise, more-so as the technique becomes routinely applied to carbonates with less-than-ideal U/Pb ratios. In this contribution, we review the vadose speleothem U-Pb system, as revealed by 68 previously published isochrons produced from 474 solution-mode analyses across three separate geographical regions. We develop a new statistical parameter of ‘average distance’ to quantify the dispersion or ‘spread’ along the previously published isochrons and compare this with available U and Pb elemental concentrations. Our findings highlight the importance of regional geology and karst morphology in controlling the speleothem's overall U/Pb ratio. Furthermore, we show that variability in the amount of inherited Pb across the sampling layer (average variability of 63% relative to sample average) – not uranium (23% variability) or by extension radiogenic Pb – is a main factor controlling the resulting isochron's quality. This is demonstrated using Z-score distributions of the U and Pb concentrations and isochron average distance values. By making this distinction we hope to initiate further research into Pb-specific transportation vectors through the karst, in addition to physical/chemical processes that fractionate inherited Pb at the speleothem precipitation site. We go on to extend the use of Tera-Wasserburg common Pb anchors to the ‘classical’ U-Pb isochrons as an example of the utility gained by considering the role of inherited Pb within speleothems. Finally we argue that an improved theoretical understanding of inherited Pb distributions within speleothems would greatly benefit solution mode sampling strategies, especially for poor-to-moderate U/Pb speleothems.     

An exceptionally strengthened East Asian summer monsoon event between 19.9 and 17.1 ka BP recorded in a Hulu stalagmite

A stalagmite-based isotope record (No. H82) from Nanjing Hulu Cave, spanning from 16.5 to 10.3 ka BP, provided strong evidence for a coherence relation between the East Asian summer monsoon (EASM) and the North Atlantic climates on millennial time scales. Here we extend the high-resolution δ 18O time series back to 22.1 ka BP with additional 7 230Th dates and 573 stable isotope measurements on the lower part of that sample. The new record with a decadal resolution, piecing together with the previous data, p...