Climate change at the monsoon/Westerly boundary in Northern Mexico

Northern Mexico lies close to the present day boundary between mid-latitude (Westerly) and tropical (monsoonal) sources of moisture. Studies from the adjacent southwest USA have shown major changes in lake levels and vegetation distributions over the late Quaternary which have been interpreted in terms of significant variations in the relative strengths and positions of these climate systems. Palaeoclimatic data from this area have, however, left a number of unresolved questions which can only be answered by extending work into northern Mexico, closer to the major source of summer (monsoonal) rain, the Gulf of Mexico. Studies of palaeolake sediments from a series of hydrologically closed lake basins across a range of altitudes (1280 to 2200 m a.s.l.) in northern Chihuahua are in progress using geochemical, mineral magnetic, diatom and plant microfossil analyses. Preliminary results are presented from the Alta Babícora and Encinillas basins. The sites provide records of lacustrine deposition between >11000 and about 2500 yr BP. The diatom record from Babíora provides clear evidence for a deep water lake in this basin in the late glacial which persisted into the early Holocene. A dry episode coinciding with the timing of the Younger Dryas is recorded in Alta Babícora. Conditions wetter than present are indicated up to at least 7000 yr BP.     

Deciphering signals of late Holocene fluvial and aeolian supply from a shelf sediment depocentre off Senegal (north‐west Africa)

High‐resolution climatic records of the late Holocene along the north‐west African continental margin are scarce. Here we combine sediment grain size, elemental distribution and mineral assemblage data to trace dust and riverine sources at a shallow‐marine sediment depocentre in the vicinity of the Senegal River mouth. The aim is to understand how these terrigenous components reflect climate variability during the late Holocene. Major element contents were measured and mineral identification was performed on three sub‐fractions of our sediment core: (i) fluvial material < 2 µm, (ii) aeolian material of 18–63 µm and (iii) a sub‐fraction of dual‐origin material of 2–18 µm. Results show that more than 80% of the total Al and Fe terrigenous bulk content is present in the fluviogenic fraction. In contrast, Ti, K and Si cannot be considered as proxies for one specific source off Senegal. The Al/Ca ratio, recording the continental river runoff, reveals two dry periods from 3010 to 2750 cal a BP and from 1900 to 1000 cal a BP, and two main humid periods from 2750 to 1900 cal a BP and from 1000 to 700 cal a BP. The match between (i) intervals of low river runoff inferred by low Al/Ca values, (ii) reduced river discharge inferred by integrated palynological data from offshore Senegal and (iii) periods of enhanced dune reactivation in Mali confirms this interpretation. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Climate drying and associated forest decline in the lowlands of northern Guatemala during the late Holocene

Palynological studies document forest disappearance during the late Holocene in the tropical Maya lowlands of northern Guatemala. The question remains as to whether this vegetation change was driven exclusively by anthropogenic deforestation, as previously suggested, or whether it was partly attributable to climate changes. We report multiple palaeoclimate and palaeoenvironment proxies (pollen, geochemical, sedimentological) from sediment cores collected in Lake Petén Itzá, northern Guatemala. Our data indicate that the earliest phase of late Holocene tropical forest reduction in this area started at ∼ 4500 cal yr BP, simultaneous with the onset of a circum-Caribbean drying trend that lasted for ∼ 1500 yr. This forest decline preceded the appearance of anthropogenically associated Zea mays pollen. We conclude that vegetation changes in Petén during the period from ∼ 4500 to ∼ 3000 cal yr BP were largely a consequence of dry climate conditions. Furthermore, palaeoclimate data from low latitudes in North Africa point to teleconnective linkages of this drying trend on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean.     

Glacier reconstruction and mass‐balance modelling as a geomorphic and palaeoclimatic tool

The reconstruction of former mountain glaciers has long been used to examine the implications of rapid climate shifts, for example at the last glacial–interglacial transition, and for evaluating asynchronous behaviour of mountain glaciers compared with mid‐latitude ice sheets during the Late Quaternary. Glacier reconstruction has also been used as a source of palaeoclimatic information, based on the recognition of empirical relationships between glaciers and climate. This paper reviews the application and implications of a recently revised method of glacier reconstruction (Carr and Coleman, 2007 ), based around glaciological principles of mass‐balance. This study examines how this approach can be used to test geomorphological interpretations of former mountain glaciation and also to infer precipitation fields at sites of former glaciation. Sites of Younger Dryas niche and icefield glaciation in the British Isles demonstrate how this method can verify interpretations of marginal glaciation and begin to understand the different behaviour of outlet glaciers within the same environmental regime. Examination of a site of former niche glaciation in Southern Africa demonstrates how glacier reconstruction may be used to infer annual and seasonal precipitation values and strongly supports the idea that winter precipitation in Lesotho and SE South Africa was substantially greater than present‐day values during the last glacial cycle. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A mid to late Holocene record of palaeoclimatic changes from Nal Sarovar: a palaeodesert margin lake in western India

With a view to obtain palaeoclimatic data from a climatically sensitive region we have studied core samples from Nal Sarovar, a large shallow lake lying within the palaeodesert margin of Thar in western India. A combination of C/N ratios and δ¹³C on a radiocarbon-dated core section have been used as climatic proxies. A high-resolution record extending back to ca. 6.6 ka BP has been reconstructed. The data indicate that, in the past, climate has varied from drier to wetter than present on time-scales of few hundreds to few thousands of years. There are, however, significant differences on the timing of these wet and dry periods, when compared with the available data from lakes farther north, in Rajasthan. Further, it looks unlikely that during the 6.6 ka the catchment areas of Nal Sarovar experienced such a significant increase in rainfall as has been suggested for the Rajasthan lakes. Interestingly, drier periods in Nal Sarovar data appear to correlate well with periods of glacier expansion in Eurasia indicating that the palaeoclimatic variations recorded in Nal Sarovar are a regional feature. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

河套盆地古气候演化与生物气勘探

河套盆地呼和坳陷第四系具有浅层生物气形成的基本地质条件,而更新统孢粉化石的研究在该区相对薄弱.根据该区和1井第四系更新统孢粉化石资料的分析,讨论了孢粉组合特征,建立了6个孢粉组合带,即松-藜-石松孢粉带、松-蒿-藜科孢粉带、松-藜科-云杉孢粉带、松-菊科-藜科孢粉带、松-菊科-香蒲孢粉带及松-云杉-木犀孢粉带.河套盆地早更新世气候从干冷-温干-略温干-偏凉湿变化,中更新世气候从偏凉湿-偏暖湿-干冷变化,晚更新世又从略暖向干冷变化,其气候演化特征为生物气藏的形成奠定了基本条件.     

Environmental history of southern Patagonia unravelled by the seismic stratigraphy of Laguna Potrok Aike

Laguna Potrok Aike, located in southernmost Patagonia (Argentina, 52°S) is a 100 m deep hydrologically closed lake that probably provides the only continental southern Patagonian archive covering a long and continuous interval of several glacial to interglacial cycles. In the context of the planned ‘International Continental Scientific Drilling Program’ initiative ‘Potrok Aike Maar Lake Sediment Archive Drilling Project’, several seismic site surveys that characterize in detail the sedimentary subsurface of the lake have been undertaken. Long sediment cores recovered the material to date and calibrate these seismic data. Laguna Potrok Aike is rimmed steeply, circular in shape with a diameter of ∼3·5 km and is surrounded by a series of subaerial palaeoshorelines, reflecting varying lake-level highstands and lowstands. Seismic data indicate a basinwide erosional unconformity that occurs consistently on the shoulder of the lake down to a depth of −33 m (below 2003 ad lake level), marking the lowest lake level during Late Glacial to Holocene times. Cores that penetrate this unconformity comprise Marine Isotope Stage 3-dated sediments (45 kyr bp ) ∼3·5 m below, and post-6800 cal yr bp transgressional sediments above the unconformity. This Middle Holocene transgression following an unprecedented lake-level lowstand marks the onset of a stepwise change in moisture, as shown by a series of up to 11 buried palaeoshorelines that were formed during lake-level stillstands at depths between −30 and −12 m. Two series of regressive shorelines between ∼5800 to 5400 and ∼4700 to 4000 cal yr bp interrupt the overall transgressional trend. In the basin, mound-like drift sediments occur after ∼6000 cal yr bp, documenting the onset of lake currents triggered by a latitudinal shift or an increase in wind intensity of the Southern Hemispheric Westerlies over Laguna Potrok Aike at that time. Furthermore, several well-defined lateral slides can be recognized. The majority of these slides occurred during the mid-Holocene lake-level lowering when the slopes became rapidly sediment-charged because of erosion from the exposed shoulder sediments. Around 7800 and 4900 cal yr bp , several slides went down simultaneously, probably triggered by seismic shaking.     

陆域古全球变迁简介

“古全球变迁”计划 (ＰＡＧＥＳ ;ＰａｓｔＧｌｏｂａｌＣｈａｎｇｅｓ)乃是国际地圈—生物圈研究计划(ＩＧＢＰ ;ＩｎｔｅｒｎａｔｉｏｎａｌＧｅｏｓｐｈｅｒｅ -ＢｉｏｓｐｈｅｒｅＰｒｏ ｇｒａｍｍｅ)的五项核心计划之一 ,主旨在于透过各国及国际间组织 ,取得并解释有关古气候和古环境方面的纪录 ,以探究环境变迁的原因 ,并评估人为作用在地球的自然系统中的生物圈 ,地圈及大气圈中的角色。为了对全球古气候有深入且全面的认识 ,ＰＡＧＥＳ乃成立了三个贯通两极与赤道的研究组 ;第一组为美洲区 (ＰＥＰＩ -Ｐｏｌｅ -Ｅｑｕａｔｏｒ -…     

太湖平原碟形洼地沉积物记录的距今8 000年以来植被、气候与地貌演变

利用DGY孔沉积物的岩性、粒度及孢粉分析资料,探讨了太湖平原碟形洼地沉积物记录的8 000年以来植被演化、气候波动,流域地貌环境的演变及其对海平面波动的响应。孢粉记录表明：本区距今8 000～5 000年木本植被由以落叶阔叶乔木和针叶乔木为主变为落叶阔叶乔木和常绿阔叶乔木为主,气候由温和略干转为暖热湿润;距今5 000～4 000年森林退缩,气候温和偏干;距今4 000年左右出现低温事件;距今4000～3000年木本植被以常绿阔叶乔木为主,气候温暖湿润;距今3 000年以来木本植被主要为常绿阔叶乔木、落叶阔叶乔木和针叶乔木,气候总体温暖湿润,有波动变凉干趋势。岩性、粒度及孢粉记录综合显示本区距今8 000～5 000年发育潟湖相泥质粉砂,反映流域环境开放、与海连通;距今5 000～4 000年发育淡水沼泽,未受海水作用,反映水域缩小、流域环境封闭;距今4 000～3 000年水域扩大,并出现海水倒灌,反映内低外高的碟形洼地已经形成;距今3 000年以来,发育湖沼平原,发生数次海水倒灌,反映碟形洼地地貌的进一步发育。