Lake Floor Morphology and Sediment Architecture of Lake Torneträsk,Northern Sweden

Here we present datasets from a hydroacoustic survey in July 2011 at Lake Torneträsk, northern Sweden. Our hydroacoustic data exhibit lake floor morphologies formed by glacial erosion and accumulation processes, insights into lacustrine sediment accumulation since the beginning of deglaciation, and information on seismic activity along the Pärvie Fault. Features of glacial scouring with a high‐energy relief, steep slopes, and relative reliefs of more than 50 m are observed in the large W‐basin. The remainder of the lacustrine subsurface appears to host a broad variety of well preserved formations from glacial accumulation related to the last retreat of the Fennoscandian ice sheet. Deposition of glaciolacustrine and lacustrine sediments is focused in areas situated in proximity to major inlets. Sediment accumulation in distal areas of the lake seldom exceeds 2 m or is not observable. We assume that lack of sediment deposition in the lake is a result of different factors, including low rates of erosion in the catchment, a previously high lake level leading to deposition of sediments in higher elevated paleodeltas, tributaries carrying low suspension loads as a result of sedimentation in upstream lakes, and an overall low productivity in the lake. A clear off‐shore trace of the Pärvie Fault could not be detected from our hydroacoustic data. However, an absence of sediment disturbance in close proximity to the presumed fault trace implies minimal seismic activity since deposition of the glaciolacustrine and lacustrine sediments.     

青藏高原东北部共和盆地风成沉积地球化学特征及其揭示的气候变化

通过对共和盆地东部风成沉积的地球化学分析,并结合14C和OSL年代,重建了区域末次盛冰期以来气候变化过程。21 ka BP之前气候寒冷偏湿,21～15.82 ka BP为末次盛冰期(LastGlacial Maximum,LGM),气候极为寒冷干燥;15.82～9.5 ka BP气候转暖且偏干,其中14.5～13.6ka BP和11.9～9.5 ka BP气候明显冷干,分别为老仙女木时期(Oldest Dryas,OD)和新仙女木时期(Younger Dryas,YD),而15.82～14.5 ka BP和13.6～11.9 ka BP(BФlling-AllerФd暖期,B/A)相对温暖;9.5～7.2 ka BP暖湿程度明显提高,7.2～5.1 ka BP气候波动频繁,相对冷干和相对暖湿多次更替。5.1～2.7 ka BP暖湿程度基本稳定,之后气候趋于寒冷但湿度明显较大。这些气候变化过程与青藏高原大量的古气候信息记录具有良好的一致性,表明共和盆地气候变化与青藏高原气候变化的高度一致性。     

中国泥炭记录末次冰消期以来古气候研究进展

泥炭记录的环境演变是过去全球变化（PAGES）研究的重要领域之一,分析了中国泥炭记录的古气候演化研究的区域范围,当前主要以东北哈尼、青藏高原的红原、神农架大九湖以及华南定南大湖四个位于东部季风区的研究工作最为集中。泥炭沉积高分辨率综合信息揭示了末次冰消期以来中国气候变化的时空特征：冷暖干湿变化既有一致性又表现出区域差异,末次冰消期东北地区、东部山地、华南地区都表现出冷偏湿的气候特点,而青藏高原却为冷偏干或凉偏干;Younger Dryas（YD）事件之后,全新世早期和中期青藏高原、东部山地、华南地区气候总体以温湿为主要特征,而东北地区有效降水减少,到全新世晚期,呈现出干旱的变化趋势。并对B~A事件,YD事件,8.2 ka 以及4.2 ka等重大气候突变事件研究工作进行了综述。最后指出今后应拓展与重建更多区域古气候环境变化序列的对比,加强泥炭沉积及环境指标的基础理论,重视和提高大气沉降泥炭档案以及气候变化背景下泥炭地碳循环机制等研究工作。     

阿尔泰山喀纳斯河流域末次冰期OSL年代学新证

布尔津河支流喀纳斯河源于中俄蒙三国交界处友谊峰的南坡,为额尔齐斯河的重要源区.友谊峰连同奎屯峰等高峰形成了阿尔泰山最大的现代冰川作用中心.在第四纪期间,这些冰川都发生了规模较大的进退,在河谷中留下了形态较为清晰的冰川地形.应用OSL单片再生剂量测定技术对采自主U型谷两侧的高大侧碛垄进行了定年,测年结果分别为(27.2±2.0)ka(K-1)与(16.1±1.5)ka(K-2).基于地貌地层学原理、并结合已有的年代学资料(OSL与14 C)与古气候研究资料,末次冰期以来喀纳斯河流域共有5次规模较大的冰进,分别为小冰期、新冰期、末次冰期晚冰阶(MIS 2)、末次冰期中冰阶(MIS 3中期)与末次冰期早冰阶(MIS 4).     

New zircon U-Pb ages of the pre-Sturtian rift successions from the western Yangtze Block,South China and their geological significance

ABSTRACT

The Neoproterozoic Kaijianqiao Formation is one of the most important pre-Sturtian rift successions in South China and there has long been a lack of reliable geochronological constraints for its minimum depositional age. In this study, new zircon U-Pb ages of volcaniclastic rocks from the topmost Kaijianqiao Formation are presented. The youngest SHRIMP and LA-ICP-MS zircon ²⁰⁶Pb/²³⁸U weighted mean ages of the tuff sample are 715.0 ± 9.8 and 718.8 ± 9.4 Ma, respectively. The youngest LA-ICP-MS zircon ²⁰⁶Pb/²³⁸U weighted mean age of the tuffaceous siltstone sample is 720.8 ± 7.4 Ma and represents the maximum depositional age of the topmost Kaijianqiao Formation. The results show that the minimum depositional age of the Kaijianqiao Formation in the western Yangtze Block should be ca. 715 Ma, consistent with other pre-Sturtian rift successions in South China, such as the Banxi Group, Chengjiang, and Liantuo formations. Together with the published zircon U-Pb ages, it is demonstrated that the Sturtian glaciation in South China (Jiangkou glaciation) most likely initiated around 715 Ma. In other Rodinia blocks, like Laurentia and Arabia, the Sturtian glaciation probably started between 712 and 717 Ma, thus our new results further support that the Sturtian glaciation was a rapid and globally synchronous event. Other ²⁰⁶Pb/²³⁸U zircon ages display five distinct peaks at ca. 751, 780, 799, 819, and 848 Ma, which corresponded to the tectonic-magmatic events related to the break-up of Rodinia.     

Age of the MGS5 segment of the Milanggouwan stratigraphical section and evolution of the desert environment on a kiloyear scale during the Last Interglacial in China's Salawusu River Valley: Evidence from Rb and Sr contents and ratios

The MGS5 segment of the Milanggouwan stratigraphical section in China's Salawusu River Valley records 8.5 sedimentary cycles consisting of dune sands alternating with fluviolacustrine facies or/and paleosols. Based on a comprehensive analysis of the distribution of Rb and Sr within the segment and paleoecological evidence (fossils), it appears that the observed sedimentation cycles mainly resulted from fluctuations between dry-cold and warm-humid climates, which indicates that the MGS5 segment experienced at least eight cold-dry and nine warm-humid climatic fluctuations. Of these, 12 cold–warm climate fluctuations correspond to DO20–DO25 and stadia 21–26 recorded by the NGRIP ice cores. Another five cold–warm climatic fluctuations that occurred during MGS5e correspond to five substages (5e1–5e5) recorded by the GRIP ice cores from Greenland. This kind of high-frequency climatic fluctuation on a kiloyear scale was mainly subject to variations in the strength of the East Asian winter and summer monsoons.     

Forest–savanna–morichal dynamics in relation to fire and human occupation in the southern Gran Sabana (SE Venezuela) during the last millennia

The southern Gran Sabana (SE Venezuela) holds a particular type of neotropical savanna characterized by the local occurrence of morichales (Mauritia palm swamps), in a climate apparently more suitable for rain forests. We present a paleoecological analysis of the last millennia of Lake Chonita (4°39′N–61°0′W, 884 m elevation), based on biological and physico-chemical proxies. Savannas dominated the region during the last millennia, but a significant vegetation replacement occurred in recent times. The site was covered by a treeless savanna with nearby rainforests from 3640 to 2180 cal yr BP. Water levels were higher than today until about 2800 cal yr BP. Forests retreated since about 2180 cal yr BP onwards, likely influenced by a higher fire incidence that facilitated a dramatic expansion of morichales. The simultaneous appearance of charcoal particles and Mauritia pollen around 2000 cal yr BP supports the potential pyrophilous nature of this palm and the importance of fire for its recent expansion. The whole picture suggests human settlements similar to today – in which fire is an essential element – since around 2000 yr ago. Therefore, present-day southern Gran Sabana landscapes seem to have been the result of the synergy between biogeographical, climatic and anthropogenic factors, mostly fire.     

Chronostratigraphy and lake-level changes of Laguna Cari-Laufquén, Río Negro, Argentina

Evidence from shoreline and deep-lake sediments show Laguna Cari-Laufquén, located at 41°S in central Argentina, rose and fell repeatedly during the late Quaternary. Our results show that a deep (> 38 m above modern lake level) lake persisted from no later than 28 ka to 19 ka, with the deepest lake phase from 27 to 22 ka. No evidence of highstands is found after 19 ka until the lake rose briefly in the last millennia to 12 m above the modern lake, before regressing to present levels. Laguna Cari-Laufquén broadly matches other regional records in showing last glacial maximum (LGM) highstands, but contrasts with sub-tropical lake records in South America where the hydrologic maximum occurred during deglaciation (17–10 ka). Our lake record from Cari-Laufquén mimics that of high-latitude records from the Northern Hemisphere. This points to a common cause for lake expansions, likely involving some combination of temperature depression and intensification of storminess in the westerlies belt of both hemispheres during the LGM.     

Late glacial and holocene landscapes of central Beringia

New palynological and sedimentological data from St. Lawrence Island present a rare view into late-glacial and Holocene environments of the central Bering Land Bridge. The late glaciation was a time of dynamic landscape changes in south-central Beringia, with active thermokarst processes, including the formation and drainage of thaw lakes. The presence of such a wet, unstable substrate, if widespread, probably would have had an adverse impact on food sources and mobility for many of the large mammal populations. The establishment of Betula shrub tundra on the island suggests late-glacial summers that were warmer than present, consistent with regional paleoclimatic interpretations. However, the increasing proximity to the Bering Sea, as postglacial sea levels rose, modified the intensity of warming and prevented the establishment of deciduous forest as found in other areas of Beringia at this time. The mid- to late Holocene is marked by more stable land surfaces and development of Sphagnum and Cyperaceae peat deposits. The accumulation of organic deposits, decline of shrub Betula, and decrease in thermokarst disturbance suggest that conditions were cooler than the previous. A recent decline in peat accumulation at the study sites may relate to local geomorphology, but similar decreases have been noted for other arctic regions.     

Direct terrestrial-marine correlation demonstrates surprisingly late onset of the last interglacial in central Europe

An interdisciplinary study of a small sedimentary basin at Neumark Nord 2 (NN2), Germany, has yielded a high-resolution record of the palaeomagnetic Blake Event, which we are able to place at the early part of the last interglacial pollen sequence documented from the same section. We use this data to calculate the duration of this stratigraphically important event at 3400 ± 350 yr. More importantly, the Neumark Nord 2 data enables precise terrestrial-marine correlation for the Eemian stage in central Europe. This shows a remarkably large time lag of ca. 5000 yr between the MIS 5e ‘peak’ in the marine record and the start of the last interglacial in this region.