Two paleoecological histories spanning the period of human settlement in southeastern Brazil

The absence of human occupation sites in southeastern Brazil during the mid Holocene has been referred to as the 'Archaic Gap' (8970–1940 cal. a BP) and is predicted to have resulted from increased aridity. A ca. 14 000 cal. a pollen history from two well‐dated lake sediment cores located within the archeological district of Lagoa Santa, in the State of Minas Gerais, southeastern Brazil, was used to test this hypothesis. Our analyses indicated that the present cerrado and tropical semi‐deciduous forest mosaic persisted throughout the mid Holocene, until ca. 5500 cal. a BP, and the Lagoa Santa region did not experience especially dry conditions during the Holocene period. The early Holocene pollen spectra contained an assemblage of cold‐adapted taxa such as Podocarpus, Myrsine and Araucaria, co‐occurring with taxa from cerrado, e.g. Caryocar. A replacement of cold taxa by the modern cerrado–semi‐deciduous forest vegetation took place progressively, but appears to have been completed by the mid Holocene. No evidence of sustained drought was found in sedimentation or forest composition, nor any prolonged dry event in the study region. Holocene dryness as an explanation for the abandonment of Lagoa Santa region is not supported by the palynological analyses conducted in this study. Rather it is suggested that unpredictable climate may have underlain that abandonment. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Vegetation in western Central Mexico during the last 50 000 years: modern analogs and climate in the Zacapu Basin

The late glacial and the transition towards the Holocene marked a period of significant environmental change at a global scale. In western Central Mexico, few records span beyond the Holocene, and little is known about Pleistocene climatic and environmental variability. Here we report on the pollen record of a composite sequence made of three cores that cover the last 50 ka (thousands of calibrated radiocarbon years before present) in the Zacapu Basin, western Central Mexico (～1970 m asl). The conjunction of modern pollen rain from the area with the composite fossil pollen sequence from cores Cantabria, Cantabria 1 and CEMCA Point‐1 provided a detailed history of the vegetation of the area. Recognition of modern environmental patterns through individual modern pollen taxa proved difficult, but multivariate analysis separated different vegetation types. No‐modern‐analog communities relative to the modern vegetation cover of the area were evident, especially during periods of drought. Apparently, summer precipitation was significant before 40 ka and after the deglaciation. However, this moisture source declined from ～40 to 10 ka because tradewinds from the Gulf of Mexico were blocked by the eastern mountains of Central Mexico as a result of lower temperatures. By contrast, westerly and northerly winds were enhanced by maximum ice cover from ～19 to 17 ka, providing abundant winter precipitation and therefore preventing extreme drought in the area. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

140OΜα前的后生动物实体化石?

本文首次报道了在我国豫西晚前寒武系白草坪组中发现的一种可能的蠕虫状后生动物实体化石:Ruyangia Cylindrica Hu et Meng,1989。化石产于砂岩表面浪成波痕之波谷中,圆筒状,已压扁,中空,可见长度4.5～9.5cm,直径4mm左右,虫体外壁具体环,环背间距1.5～2mm,虫体一端较大,具平行纵向边缘的纵纹,可能为头部;另一端渐尖,可能为尾部。与该实体化石伴生的有大量遗迹化石。已知白草坪组的时代超过1400Ma,因此,该实体化石的发现对研究地球上后生动物起源与早期演化等具重要意义。     

Ginkgo from Lower Cretaceous Changcai Formation in Helong of Jilin, NE China

Based on gross morphological and cuticular study, two species of Ginkgo From the Lower Cretaceous Changcai Formation in Helong of Jilin. were identified from this area for the first time, including Ginkgo coriacea Florin and G. sibirica Heer. The study is significant for better understanding the paleophytogeographic, paleoecologic and stratigraphic characters of the Early Cretaceous Changcai flora.     

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.     

青田芝溪头鹤溪群浅变质岩系中发现动物化石

作者于1993年4月在浙江青田芝溪头鹤溪群剖面上采集了白云质大理岩标本样品，送南京地质古生物研究所进行标本浸泡处理。首次获得鱼骨、管状化石及土菱子介等海相化石，经鉴定认为其时代可能属石岩—二叠纪。本文根据以往的同位素资料、沉积环境分析和区域对比，认为这套变质岩系的原岩为二叠纪含煤沉积岩，可与福建的童子岩组中上部层位对比。     

海相遗迹化石对显生宙生物大辐射事件的响应*

通过系统梳理前寒武纪和显生宙海相遗迹化石记录及笔者自己的研究,发现在寒武纪生命大爆发、奥陶纪生物大辐射、中生代海洋革命共3次里程碑式的生物大辐射过程中,海相遗迹化石的属级多样性变化和歧异度增减均与生物多样性呈正相关,生物扰动强度和深度明显增加,造迹生物的觅食策略和行为习性多样化明显增多。寒武纪生命大爆发时期,最有代表性的生物行为变化是出现了具有垂向分量的潜穴; 奥陶纪生物大辐射期间,海相遗迹化石的分布逐渐从滨、浅海扩展至半深海和深海,表现为造迹生物群落栖息地的扩张; 中生代海洋革命时期,海相和陆相遗迹化石同步增加,生物对生态空间利用的深度、广度和集约性同步增强,遗迹化石面貌表现为深海雕画迹的多样性和歧异度大幅增加、形态类型多样、多种觅食策略共存。地史时期的海相遗迹化石面貌受环境外因和生物内因控制,表现出形态由简到繁、分布范围由小到大的变化趋势,对生态空间的利用表现为由沉积物表层至浅层再到深层、由二维到三维、由局域(浅水)到广域(浅水和深水以及陆地)的发展,印证了生物获取生态机会的过程。     

A New Species of Tsuga (Pinaceae) based on Lignified Wood from the Late Miocene of Central Yunnan, China, and Its Paleoenvironmental Implications

A new species, Tsuga nanfengensis sp. nov. (Pinaceae), is described on the basis of lignified fossil wood from the late Miocene of the Xianfeng Basin, central Yunnan, southwestern China. Detailed observation of the fossil wood specimens show the following characteristics: distinct growth rings, absence of resin canals, uniseriate bordered pits in the radial wall of tracheids, ray tracheids and piceoid and cupressoid cross-field pits. These features indicate similarities to the wood of extant Tsuga canadensis, T. chinensis, and T. dumosa. According to the fossil record, Tsuga was present in Xundian County during the Miocene. Today Tsuga is drought intolerant, preferring wet conditions with no extant species growing naturally in Xundian County. The presence of Tsuga in the Miocene of Xundian County indicates a humid climate consistent with previous palaeoclimatic reconstructions showing a wetter and probably shorter dry season in the Miocene, relative to the present day. Therefore, the change in the local climate such as increasing aridity through the Miocene might explain the local extinction of Tsuga from central Yunnan.     

华南伊迪卡拉(震旦)系顶部建阶层型和界线层型新资料

新元古代与寒武纪之交,即伊迪卡拉纪—寒武纪过渡期,是地球历史上一个重大的地质突变期,出现了一系列地质环境变化事件和生物快速演化事件。云南东部位于扬子地区西南缘,在前寒武纪—寒武纪过渡期属于开放式浅水台地至台缘斜坡环境,是中国伊迪卡拉(震旦)系顶部与底寒武统基本连续沉积的典型地区,也曾是中国震旦系与寒武系界线层型候选剖面所在地。近年来,在此新发现了更为丰富的宏体藻类化石、遗迹化石和伊迪卡拉生物群的疑似后生动物化石等(江川生物群),以及大量以条带状Shaanxilithes为代表的宏体化石层。相关剖面自下而上从灯影组至磷矿沉积层(中谊村段)出露有连续的宏体化石记录,研究后可以细分伊迪卡拉系顶部灯影峡阶的化石带,并与底寒武统晋宁阶、梅树村阶对接,具有作为标准层型剖面的较大潜力,为伊迪卡拉纪末期年代地层单位的建阶分层、对比及确立层型剖面,以及与寒武纪最早期年代地层的界线划分提供了更为理想的标准。