Palynofacies investigation of Callovian (Middle Jurassic) sediments from DSDP Site 534, Blake-Bahama Basin,Western Central Atlantic

During the extension of Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP) Leg 76 a new and previously unpenetrated lithological unit composed mainly of claystones was cored above basalt basement at Site 534 in the Blake-Bahama Basin. The Callovian part of the new unit contains interbedded ‘black shales’ which were hitherto unexpected in this part of the section. This Paper presents a brief palynological examination of lithofacies-kerogen relationships in these sediments and shows that their organic content is almost entirely a function of the re-deposition of terrestial and marine organic matter versus the ambient redox conditions of the depositional environment. Allochthonous organic matter inputs are highest in the interbedded turbidites and decline progressively toward the pelagic black shales in which marine organic matter is comparatively well preserved. The significance of various kerogen and palynomorph indices are discussed. The study emphasizes the absolute necessity for sedimentologically-aware sampling in all palynological and geochemical work on lithologically heterogeneous sequences.     

The recognition of glacial retreat from palynological data: A review of recent work in the British Isles

Recent publications have presented palynological data from the early postglacial period in the British Isles, which have been interpreted as reflecting sequential glacial retreat following the Loch Lomond Stadial, The methodologies and results of these studies were examined and were concluded to be insufficient to demonstrate glacial retreat. A more cautious methodology was adopted and tested at several pollen sites in the Awe valley, Scotland. The results differed from previous studies in not demonstrating the sequence of palynological changes predicted from the hypothesis. These results need to be replicated at other localities, however, before the deglacial chronology hypothesis can be dismissed. Proposals to test the hypothesis further are suggested.     

Paleoclimate changes during the last 100,000 yr from a record in the Brazilian Atlantic rainforest region and interhemispheric comparison

A long terrestrial record, Colônia CO-3, from the Atlantic rainforest region in Brazil (23°52′S, 46°42′20 W, 900 m a.s.l.) registrates variations in the forest expansion during the last 100,000 yr. The 780-cm depth core was analyzed at 2-cm intervals and arboreal pollen frequencies were compared to nearby speleothem stable isotope records and neighboring marine records from the tropical Atlantic. To evaluate regional versus global climate forcing, our record was compared with Greenland and Antarctic ice-core records. These comparisons suggest that changes in temperature seen in polar latitudes relate to moisture changes: e.g., to changes in the length of the dry season, in tropical and subtropical latitudes during glacial as well as interglacial times. These climatic changes result from changes in the frequency of polar air incursions to these latitudes inducing a permanent cloud cover and precipitation. This is an important result that should help define paleoclimatic features in the Southern Hemisphere for the last glaciation.     

Palynological and geochemical response to environmental changes in the Lower Cretaceous in the Outer Western Carpathians; a record from the Silesian unit, Czech Republic

Rich dinoflagellate cyst assemblages recorded from the Vendryne Formation, Tesin Limestone, and Hradiste Formation of the Silesian unit, Czech Republic are presented. The results of a qualitative and quantitative study of dinoflagellate cysts are presented and discussed. Age-assessment of the sediments based on 86 species suggests a Late Tithonian to Early Berriasian age for the Vendryne Formation and a Late Berriasian (Otopeta Ammonite Zone) to the basal part of the Late Valanginian (Verrucosum Ammonite Zone) age for the Tesin Limestone. Pelitic flyschoid sediments of the Hradiste Formation belong to the Late Valanginian - Early Hauterivian age. Quantitative palynological study and carbon isotope analysis were applied to understand the change from the grey clays to dark grey clays sedimentation. The dinoflagellate cyst assemblages show deposition in a shallow-sea environment. An increasing amount of sporomorphs towards the overlying layers (they are the most abundant in the Hradiste Formation) shows a growing supply of terrestrial material at the same time. The values of δ¹³C increased significantly from a level of 0.43 or 0.75-1.81‰ in the Late Valanginian. This change probably indicates an increase in organic matter storage and perturbation of the carbon cycle connected with the dark grey clays sedimentation.     

Contribution of non-pollen palynomorphs to the paleolimnological study of a high-altitude Andean lake (Laguna Verde Alta,Venezuela)

This paper evaluates the potential usefulness of non-pollen palynomorphs or NPPs (microfossils other than pollen and spores present in palynological preparations) contained in lake sediments in the paleolimnological reconstruction of high altitude environments (>4,000 m) from the Venezuelan Andes. A synthetic, quantitative approach is employed, instead of the classical analytical and mostly qualitative approach commonly used so far for NPPs. The main sources of variation are the Pediastrum–Botryococcus alternation and the relationship between these two algae and animal remains such as Acari legs, postabdomina of Cladocera, mandibles of other invertebrates, and an unknown type called LVA-1. Other significant microfossils are remains of Rivularia-type and turbellarian oocytes, including Gyratrix. The sequence initiates around 15,000 calibrated years before present (cal BP) with the deglaciation of the lake catchment, high water levels and still cold climates. A phase of lower lake levels was recorded between about 12,000 and 6,000 cal BP. Temperatures increased by around 9,000 and 7,000 cal BP, and then decreased until 6,000 cal BP. Since that time, both lake levels and temperature increased again and stabilized at about 4,000 cal BP, when they reach modern-like values. These results show a good agreement with previous studies based on pollen, diatom and oxygen isotope analyses, and provide additional paleoecological information, as for example the possibility of a previously unrecorded Younger Dryas signal. The inclusion of quantitative NPP analysis in routine paleolimnological studies using synthetic methods is thus recommended. Possible future improvements are suggested, mainly those related with the development and use of NPP modern analogs.     

Late Pleistocene–Holocene environments in Valle Carbajal, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina

The authors discuss Late Pleistocene–Holocene depositional environments in one of the Fuegian Andes valleys on the basis of palynological, geomorphological, and sedimentological analyses from two sites located near the Beagle Channel. The results obtained at these localities reinforce and refine the Late Pleistocene–Holocene climatic pattern previously recorded there. A colder period, associated with the Younger Dryas stadial event, is suggested by low Nothofagus pollen frequency, and communities of grass, low scrub, and shrub heath expanded into the low/middle slopes (10,310 ¹⁴C yr BP). By ca. 9500 ¹⁴C yr BP, warmer and drier conditions occurred, as evidenced by the development of open-grown vegetation in the valley floors (pollen zone O-3), followed by the expansion of open Nothofagus woodland (pollen zone O-2) in the middle Holocene. The milder climate subsequently changed, as indicated by the spreading of the closed forest and mire (pollen zone O-1), to more humid and cooler conditions during the last ca. 5000 yr BP.     

Late Devensian environments in the Vale of Mowbray, North Yorkshire, UK: evidence from palynology

Two radiocarbon-dated Lateglacial pollen diagrams from the Vale of Mowbray (northern Vale of York) are presented from sites in the lowlands between the washlands courses of the rivers Swale and Ure in North Yorkshire, an area with little previous palynological research despite its proximity to the Devensian glacial advance limits in eastern England. The profiles, from Snape Mires and Nosterfield, include the Loch Lomond Stadial (Younger Dryas) and the Holocene transition, while that from Snape Mires also includes the period from the early part of the Lateglacial Interstadial. This profile differs from most published Interstadial diagrams from the Yorkshire region in having a long-delayed expansion of tree and shrub taxa. Juniperus (juniper) remains important after vegetation development takes place and the pollen record includes evidence of two cold climate oscillations before the maximum development of Betula (birch) woodland near the end of the Lateglacial Interstadial. At both profiles Artemisia (mugwort) frequencies are lower during the Loch Lomond Stadial than at many regional sites, probably due to edaphic factors in these lowland locations. The two sites provide valuable environmental data that enable comparison between the more wooded Lateglacial vegetation to the south in the Vale of York and Humberside and the more open contemporaneous vegetation to the north in the Durham and Northumberland lowlands.     

Sedimentology and palynology of the Calafate Formation (Maastrichtian), Austral Basin, Southern Patagonia, Argentina

The Calafate Formation crops out in south-western Santa Cruz Province, Argentina, and displays a stacking of asymmetrical coarsening–fining-upward cycles. These cycles are interpreted as the product of short-lived transgressive-regressive events in which the coarsening upward part represents sedimentary aggradation with a stable or decreasing sea level. Sedimentological and palynological analyses indicate nearshore marine conditions. Even though the existence of an estuary or incised valley cannot be determined, this is the most probable palaeogeographic model. Based on dinoflagellate cysts, the base of the section is considered to be not older than Maastrichtian. The presence of the oyster Ambigostrea clarae (Ihering) occurring together with the dinoflagellate cyst species Manumiella druggii (Stover) Bujak and Davies and Eisenackia circumtabulata Drugg in the middle part of the section indicates an age no older than late Maastrichtian. According to sedimentological data, deposits representing the Cretaceous–Palaeogene transition would have been eroded, which is confirmed by the presence of Grapnelispora loncochensis Papú. This megaspore is a consistent component of the Maastrichtian assemblages from Patagonia.