Palaeoecological evidence of changes in vegetation and climate during the Holocene in the pre‐Polar Urals,northeast European Russia

This study investigated Holocene tree‐line history and climatic change in the pre‐Polar Urals, northeast European Russia. A sediment core from Mezhgornoe Lake situated at the present‐day alpine tree‐line was studied for pollen, plant macrofossils, Cladocera and diatoms. A peat section from Vangyr Mire in the nearby mixed mountain taiga zone was analysed for pollen. The results suggest that the study area experienced a climatic optimum in the early Holocene and that summer temperatures were at least 2°C warmer than today. Tree birch immigrated to the Mezhgornoe Lake area at the onset of the Holocene. Mixed spruce forests followed at ca. 9500–9000 ¹⁴C yr BP. Climate was moist and the water level of Mezhgornoe Lake rose rapidly. The hypsithermal phase lasted until ca. 5500–4500 ¹⁴C yr BP, after which the mixed forest withdrew from the Mezhgornoe catchment as a result of the climate cooling. The gradual altitudinal downward shift of vegetation zones resulted in the present situation, with larch forming the tree‐line. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Palaeoecology of a late Allerød peat bed at Godøy,western Norway

A peat bed found under solifluction deposits on Godøya island, western Norway, accumulated during a few decades around 11 000 yr BP, at the end of the Allerød period of the Late Weichselian. Palaeoecological investigations showed a local vegetation succession on wet sand culminating in a mire community dominated by Carex nigra. Periodic flooding brought in sand and silt, which decreased as drainage was impeded sufficiently for standing water to develop. The surrounding terrestrial vegetation was dominated by Salix scrub, with some open heath and alpine habitats nearby. Apart from two aquatic species, the 29 insect taxa recorded are characteristic of alpine heaths, plant litter (under Salix scrub) and stream-sides. Their remains, together with the terrestrial plant macrofossils, were washed into the mire from nearby. Because the fossils are locally derived, the environmental reconstructions are of the actual conditions at Godøy at ca. 11 000 yr BP. Palaeotemperature estimates from beetles and plants are in agreement. The coleopteran estimates (Mutual Climatic Range Method) suggest mean July temperatures of 10–13°C, slightly cooler than today (13.5°), and January temperatures between +1 and ?10°C, similar to or much colder than today. Summer temperature estimates from individual plant taxa indicate that temperatures during the Allerød period were similar to today's, but estimates from the reconstructed vegetation and timber-line positions give estimates up to 3.5° cooler. Temperatures fell 2.5–7.5°C at the Younger Dryas. This abrupt and severe cooling initiated the solifluction processes on Godøya that buried the peat. The Godøy peat bed and its contained fossils provide a rare glimpse of Allerød biota and environments at the local (site) scale.     

对“中白垩世(Albian-Santonian)热带大西洋表层海水温度记录”的评述

Forster等依据与δ18O无关的TEX86值来推算古温度的方法,获得了中白垩世(阿尔布期—三冬期)的表层海水温度(SST)记录。中白垩世期间,南美Demerara海隆位于热带大西洋西部,从赛诺曼期SST逐步升高(达31℃—35℃),至赛诺曼期-土仑期界线附近,SST的最高值明显高过35℃;土仑期内出现两次变凉事件(降温约2℃—3℃),打断了中白垩世稳定变暖的趋势;康尼亚克期,SST逐步下降,至三冬期降到了最低值(约32℃—33℃)。这一研究结果表明,在地质时期内,尽管中白垩世代表了典型的温室气候,但仍然很不稳定。驱动气候变化的因素是综合的,主要受地轴与地球赤道间的夹角变化、太阳辐射程度,及地球深部物质和构造运动等因素的影响,其他孤立的事件则很难影响全球性气候变化。气候的变化影响着生物的演化,古气候是研究重大地质事件的重要参数,古生物为研究古气候的最主要的标志之一。     

用黄土地球化学参数进行古气候定量估算的初步尝试

尝试了用表土地球化学转换函数恢复渭南剖面最近１３万ａ米的古温度,古降水。结果显示：（１）全新世适宜期及末次间冰期时,降水量显著增加,渭南地区的年降水量可大于７００ｍｍ（２）末次冰期时降水量明显低于全新世适宜期及末次间冰期,但是这一时期有一些次一级的变化;特别与深海Ｏ同位素阶段４对应的时期不仅降水量显著降低,而且还有更次一级的变化;（３０全新世适宜期时,渭南地区的年平均温度在１２－１４℃左右,末次冰     

Decline of the mid‐ to late Holocene forests in China: climatic change or human impact?

Fossil pollen data from China indicate continued forest decline during the mid‐ to late Holocene in most regions north of the Yangtze River. The earliest forest decline can be detected ca. 5000 yr BP in the middle and lower Yellow River regions. North, northeast and northwest from this region, forest decline became progressively later, and almost no decline took place in the northernmost part of northeast China and in the remote areas of west China during the last 5000 yr. Climate changes could hardly account for the temporal and spatial patterns of the forest decline. Instead, anthropogenic disturbance may have been of overwhelming importance. Ancient agriculture and high‐density settlement expanded outward from the middle and lower Yellow River regions in similar patterns to those of forest change. This study also indicates that land‐use and land‐cover changes may have started in the early stage of Chinese civilization in an extensive area of the country. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Late quaternary palaeoclimate in the savannas of South America

The paper reviews Late Quaternary palynological evidence from eight sites in the savannas of northern South America. The sites reviewed are Lake Valencia (10°N), Carajas (6°S), Aguas Emendadas (15°S), Crominia (17°S), Salitre (19°S), Lagoa de Serra Negra (18°S), Lagoa Santa (20°S) and Lagoa dos Olhos (20°S). Four of the sites show evidence for a climate more humid than at present from ca. 36 ka BP to ca. 22–18 ka BP. Maximum dryness was reached at 14 ka to 10.5 ka BP at Lake Valencia. There was an increase in moisture from 8.8 ka BP at Lake Valencia and from 7 ka BP in Central Brazil. The presence of charcoal indicates human impact from ca. 8.6 ka BP. ©1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Palaeoclimate indicators (clay minerals,calcareous nannofossils,stable isotopes) compared from two successions in the late Jurassic of the Volga Basin (SE Russia)

A study of clay mineral and calcareous nannofossil abundances in late Jurassic–early Cretaceous sediments from the Volga Basin, SE Russia, is presented. From these results, we are able to compare some general patterns of mineralogical and palaeontological change for the Volga Basin to the palaeoclimate models developed for northern Europe and beyond. The two successions examined comprise calcareous mudstones with black organic‐rich shale horizons, overlain by a series of phosphatic silty sands. Clay mineralogical results show a progressive decrease in kaolinite and the concomitant increase of smectite and illite through the middle Volgian, followed by an abrupt increase in kaolinite in the late Volgian. The clay mineral evidence suggests increasing aridity at the end of the Jurassic, similar, in part, to many western European successions. Because of differential settling of clay minerals, superimposed upon this possible climatic signature is likely to be the effect of relative sea‐level change. Calcareous nannofossil analysis from a single section reveals a shift through the middle Volgian from low nutrient, warm water assemblages dominated by Watznaueria to cooler surface water and high nutrient assemblages dominated by Biscutum constans. These observations suggest that increased aridity is also associated with climatic cooling. Black shales are associated with increased productivity, higher sea levels and increases in smectite content. Hence, periods of low (chemical) hinterland weathering during semi‐arid conditions are paradoxically associated with relatively nutrient‐rich waters, and organic‐rich shales. Comparison of published carbon and oxygen stable isotope results from this and other sections to the clay mineral and nannofossil data confirms the palaeoclimatic interpretation. This study significantly improves the published biostratigraphically constrained clay mineral database for this time period, because other European and North American successions are either non‐marine (and thus poorly dated), absent (through penecontemporaneous erosion) or condensed. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Mid-Wisconsin seasonal temperatures reconstructed from fossil beetle assemblages in eastern North America: comparisons with other proxy records from the Northern Hemisphere

Mutual climatic range (MCR) analysis was applied to 15 North American beetle assemblages spanning the interval from > 52 000 to 17 200 yr BP, bracketing a Mid-Wisconsin interstadial interval. The analyses yielded estimates of mean July (TMAX) and mean January (TMIN) temperatures. The oldest assemblage (> 52 ka) yielded TMAX values 7.5–8°C lower than present and TMIN values 15–18°C lower than present. A Mid-Wisconsin interstadial warming dating from 43.5–39 ka was rapid and intense. At the peak of the warming event, about 42 ka, TMAX values were only 1–2°C lower than modern. This level of amelioration apparently lasted only about 2000–3000 yr. By 23.7 ka, TMAX values declined to 11.5–10°C lower than modern, but another, small-scale amelioration is indicated by assemblages dating from 20.5 to 19.7 ka. The interstadial event recorded from the site at Titusville, Pennsylvania closely matches the timing and intensity of the climate change estimated from British beetle faunas in the Upton Warren interstadial. Another warm interval (ca. 31–32.5 ka) has been documented from fossil beetle assemblages in Europe and North America. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

辽河小洼油田东营组沉积环境条件的研究

陆相盆地沉积作用主要受构造作用及古气候的控制,所以从区域构造背景出发,结合地层、古生物、沉积、地球化学等方面资料.对小洼油田东营组的沉积环境条件进行综合分析.确定了沉积物源来自北东方向的中央凸起,古气候属于半干旱一半潮湿的温带气候条件。水介质是弱还原性的淡水滨浅湖泊沉积环境.此时中央凸起上丰富的风化剥蚀产物经过河流的搬运和分异作用,进入湖盆中形成三角洲沉积体。