The Blake Event recorded near the Eemian type locality – A diachronic onset of the Eemian in Europe

Multidisciplinary analysis including paleomagnetic, sedimentologic, sea-level change, luminescence dating and palynologic research was performed on a 25 m long orientated core taken at Rutten, close to Eemian key localities in the Netherlands. The main goal of our research was to test a possible delayed onset of temperate conditions in this region compared to Southern Europe, occurring within the Last Interglacial. The sediments revealed the presence of the paleomagnetic Blake Event in ca. 10 m of lower-deltaic floodbasin sediments that contain a pollen record covering the Eemian. The position of the Blake Event in relation to the pollen stratigraphy concurs with the earlier studied Neumark Nord 2 site. Paleomagnetic correlation to core MD95-2042 off SW Iberia indicates ca. 5 kyr diachroneity between the pollen-based onset of temperate interglacial conditions between northern and southern Europe. The onset of the Eemian in north-western and central Europe (ca. 121.0 ka) post-dates the Marine Isotope Stage 6/5e transition by ca. 10 kyr. In addition, the Rutten data provide evidence for a relatively long duration of the Blake Event of at least 8 kyr. The late onset of the temperate conditions that define the base of the Eemian, imply that NW Europe with the Eemian type area is not the most suited region to define the beginning of the Last Interglacial and Late Pleistocene for global chronostratigraphic use.     

Revisiting the abandoned shorelines of Lake George,Australia: a refined optical dating framework

Abandoned shorelines are an important archive used to constrain past fluctuations in the hydrological balance of lakes around the globe. Within Australia, the shorelines preserved at Lake George, NSW, form one of the few shoreline archives in the south-east of the continent that record palaeoenvironmental conditions throughout the late Quaternary. Here, we examined and tested the lake-level record for Lake George constructed in the 1970s by dating a well-preserved shoreline sequence at Luckdale, on the lake's eastern shore, using single-grain optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating. Ten stratigraphic units were identified, and these suggest a late Quaternary highstand for Lake George in MIS 3, with fluctuations superimposed upon an overall drying trend throughout MIS 2 and into the present. At Luckdale, the highest four shoreline-associated units were deposited ~13 to 19 m above lake base and date to between 39 ± 2 and 29 ± 1 ka ago. Our study pushes back the timing of maximum lake depth at Lake George to at least MIS 3, rather than MIS 2. The overall drying trend is supported by similar reductions in both Riverine Plain fluvial activity and other associated lake-level records from within the Murray basin.     

The Carrancas Formation,Bambuí Group: A record of pre-Marinoan sedimentation on the southern São Francisco craton,Brazil

The Carrancas Formation outcrops in east-central Brazil on the southern margin of the São Francisco craton where it comprises the base of the late Neoproterozoic Bambuí Group. It is overlain by the basal Ediacaran cap carbonate Sete Lagoas Formation and was for a long time considered to be glacially influenced and correlative with the glaciogenic Jequitaí Formation. New stratigraphic, isotopic and geochronologic data imply that the Carrancas Formation was instead formed by the shedding of debris from basement highs uplifted during an episode of minor continental rifting. Reddish dolostones in the upper Carrancas Formation have δ¹³C values ranging from +7.1 to +9.6‰, which is a unique C isotopic composition for the lowermost Bambuí Group but similar to values found in the Tijucuçu sequence, a pre-glacial unit in the Araçuaí fold belt on the eastern margin of the São Francisco craton. The stratigraphic position below basal Ediacaran cap carbonates and the highly positive δ¹³C values together indicate a Cryogenian interglacial age for the Carrancas Formation, with the high δ¹³C values representing the so-called Keele peak, which precedes the pre-Marinoan Trezona negative δ¹³C excursion in other well characterized Cryogenian sequences. Hence, The Carrancas Formation pre-dates de Marinoan Jequitaí Formation and represents an interval of Cryogenian stratigraphy not previously known to occur on the southern margin of São Francicso craton. Documentation of Cryogenian interglacial strata on the São Francisco craton reinforces recent revisions to the age of Bambuí Group strata and has implications for the development of the Bambuí basin.     

An Overview of Paleo-AO/NAO Studies

The discovery of decadal variability of North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and the introduction of Arctic oscillation (AO) concept have initiated a series of paleo-AO/NAO related studies since the mid-to-late 1990s. The progress and new findings of paleo-AO/NAO works after that time were comprehensively reviewed. The new results from the observations and modelings at four key timescales were summarized in detail: ①the reconstructions of the AO/NAO annual index over the past millennium; ②the debate on AO/NAO’s trend since early Holocene; ③the weakening of AO/NAO’s amplitude during the Last Glacial Maximum; and ④the anomalous positive phase of AO/NAO during the Last Interglacial. In addition, the possible mechanism for different timescales of AO/NAO is also summarized. Furthermore, the distinction between AO/NAO’ was mean state and amplitude, which were not explicitly separated in previous studies, were comprehensively discussed. Considering the current uncertainties related to paleo-AO/NAO studies, we encourage the community to search for more proxies having longer-than-10,000-year length with annual resolution around AO/NAO highly correlated regions. Another, we encourage long-term transient modeling on AO/NAO can be performed in order to improve our understanding of the dynamics and interaction between AO/NAO’s high-frequency variability and the climatological background, so as to further improve AO/NAO’s predictability on global warming context.     

冰川底部富铁溶液氧化沉淀:塔里木北缘新元古界库鲁克赛铁矿床的成因

新元古代沉积变质铁矿床是继大氧化事件(GOE)后,沉积间断10亿年(~1800 Ma至~750 Ma)之后,再次大规模出现的一种沉积铁建造类型。这类铁建造与新元古代冰碛岩密切伴生,是新元古代雪球地球事件的重要证据。文章选择与新元古代雪球地球事件有关的沉积变质赤铁矿床—库鲁克赛铁矿进行研究,通过锆石U-Pb定年和区域地层对比工作限定其形成时代为新元古代青白口纪末期—南华纪早期。锆石年龄谱值对比和岩相学研究表明,铁矿床中的碎屑物质主要来自于青白口系下部独断山组石英砂岩地层。主、微量元素研究表明,库鲁克赛铁矿形成于相对富氧或者从贫氧向富氧变化的环境,其成矿元素应主要与陆源物质风化有关,可能有少量成矿元素来自于低温海底热液或海水。笔者认为,库鲁克赛铁矿的形成与成冰纪冰水沉积作用有关,来自冰下水体、从冰下通道中流出的富铁缺氧水溶液与富氧的表层海水混合时,成矿元素快速氧化沉淀,胶结冰水中的近源砾石,进而形成了此种富铁砾岩型铁矿。     

Chronology of the Mediterranean sea-level highstand during the Last Interglacial: a critical review of the U/Th-dated deposits

Relative sea-level (RSL) evolution during Marine Isotopic Stage (MIS) 5 in the Mediterranean basin is still not fully understood despite a plethora of morphological, stratigraphic and geochronological studies carried out on highstand deposits of this area. In this review we assembled a database of 323 U/Th-dated samples (e.g. corals, molluscs, speleothems) which were used to chronologically constrain RSL evolution within MIS 5. The application of strict geochemical criteria to the U/Th samples indicates that only ~33% of data available for the Mediterranean Sea can be considered ‘reliable’. Most of these data (~65%) refer to the MIS 5e highstand, while only ~17% could be related to the MIS 5a. No attribution to MIS 5c can be unequivocally supported. Nevertheless, the resulting framework does not allow us to define a satisfactory RSL trend during the MIS 5e highstand and subsequent MIS 5 substages. Overall, the proposed selection of reliable/unreliable data would be useful for detecting areas where MIS 5 substage attributions are not supported by confident U/Th chronological data and thus the related reconstructions need to be revised. In this regard, the resulting framework calls for a reappraisal and re-examination of the Mediterranean records with advanced geochronological methodologies.     

扬子地区江口冰期地层的划分对比与南华系层型剖面

我国南方扬子板块是国际上新元古代冰期地层最具代表性的地区之一,冰期记录出露广泛,研究程度较高,为国内外学者所关注。当前,国际上普遍认为新元古代主要有两次全球性大冰期,一般以澳大利亚的Sturtian和Marinoan冰期为代表,扬子地区的南沱冰期和江口冰期与之相对应。但是,围绕扬子地区冰期地层的划分对比一直存在较大争议。关于上冰期的对比,虽然曾出现过不同的意见,但随着南沱组年龄数据的获得看法已趋于一致。目前主要分歧来自对下冰期和间冰期的认识。我国目前通常使用的名称,如“长安冰期”、“富禄间冰期”和“古城冰期”等与国际上的认识有差异,对新建的“南华系”地层划分和对比产生了不同的理解。根据扬子地区地质工作的多年积累和研究的成果,以“江口群”取代原“江口组”,使之成为扬子地区代表下冰期沉积的统一地层单元,江口群涵盖了下冰期的长安组、富禄组及与之相关的地层单元;扬子地区的下冰期相应地称为“江口冰期”,与国际上的Sturtian冰期可以很好地对应,含义更完整。我国南方对应于Sturtian和Marinoan冰期的是江口冰期和南沱冰期。湘黔桂地区的新元古代冰期地层保存最完整连续,其中贵州黎平县的肇兴剖面可考虑作为新元古代冰期地层的候选层型剖面。     

东亚季风气候对Heinrich2事件的响应:来自石笋的高分辨率记录

据湖北省神农架天鹅洞一支石笋11个230Th年龄和254个δ18O数据,建立了28.5～22.0kaB.P.同位素分辨率平均约30a的东亚季风气候变化序列。该石笋δ18O曲线与南京葫芦洞石笋记录在重叠时段基本一致,说明本区石笋δ18O反映了区域性东亚季风经向环流特征。在24.3kaB.P.左右,石笋δ18O明显正偏,持续时间近1ka,指示一次显著的弱夏季风事件,与北大西洋倒数第二次冰漂碎屑事件(Heinrich2)同步发生,可视为东亚季风气候对H2事件的响应。高分辨率的δ18O序列揭示了H2事件的内部结构特征:(1)事件发生的突变性,石笋δ18O记录指示事件发生时在100a内δ18O从-8.59‰迅速正偏为-6.75‰,振幅达1.84‰;(2)事件结束的渐变性,δ18O正偏到-6.75‰后便以阶梯状缓慢负偏到-8.86‰至事件结束,持续时间近900a。这一过程与末次盛冰期东亚季风气候H1事件表现的季风强弱转换方式基本一致,说明末次盛冰期东亚季风气候H型事件具有共同的内部结构特征。研究表明,末次盛冰期东亚季风气候H事件的突变可能受北大西洋驱动并经青藏高原冰川变化放大。     

Geomorphological evidence from the Lleyn Peninsula constraining models of the magnitude and rate of isostatic rebound during deglaciation of the Irish Sea Basin

A stepped series of sand and gravel terraces on the Lleyn peninsula of North Wales is used to test the magnitude and rate of isostatic depression required by the recently proposed glacimarine model of deglaciation of the Irish Sea Basin. A relative sea-level fall of 70 m is required while the ice remained pinned at the north Lleyn coast. Even taking the maximum known rate of isostatic uplift, the margin would have to remain stationary for 1400 years. It seems more reasonable to interpret the Lleyn terraces, and similar features around the Irish Sea Basin, as glacifluvial and glacilacustrine.