Probability Density Functions as Botanical-Climatological Transfer Functions for Climate Reconstruction

We present a new procedure, the pdf method (pdf=probability density function), for reconstructing Quaternary climate utilizing botanical data. The procedure includes the advantages of the indicator species method by considering the fossil and modern presence and absence of taxa rather than their frequencies, thus avoiding the need for modern analog plant communities. Overcoming the problematic use of absolute limits to describe climate response ranges is the main progress of the pdf method in comparison to the indicator species method. This advantage results from estimating probability density functions (pdfs) for monthly mean January and July temperature conditional on the present day occurrence of single taxa. Gaussian distributions sufficiently approximate pdfs of many, although not all, studied taxa. On the assumption of statistical independence, the procedure calculates a joint pdf as the product of the pdfs of the individual taxa. This algorithm weights each taxon according to the extent of its climate response range expressed by its covariance structure. We interpret the maximum of the resulting pdf as the most likely climate and its confidence interval as the uncertainty range. To avoid an artificial reduction of uncertainty arising from the use of numerous similar pdfs, a preselection method is proposed based on the Mahalanobis distance between pdfs. The pdf method was applied to the Carpinus phase of a profile from Gröbern, Germany, that spans the last interglaciation (Eemian). The reconstructed most probable January and July temperatures of about 0.0°C and 18.4°C barely differ from the modern values of −0.5°C and 18.3°C.     

深海岩芯高分辨率的古环境记录-以南海北部陆坡17940-2柱状样为例

本文将深海岩芯高分辩率记录的替代性指标分为沉积型和生物型两类。沉积型替代性指标主要包括沉积物的粒度，沉积速率，粘土矿物；生物型替代性指标主要包括有孔虫，氧同位素，古水温，有机碳通量。对比研究发现，17940—2柱状样沉积物的粒度、沉积速率、有孔虫，氧同位素，古水温，有机碳通量等指标记录海洋环境变化信息程度优于其它替代性指标；沉积型替代性指标与生物型替代性指标记录海洋环境变化信息不同步；海洋环境变化的突变与渐变影响替代性指标记录的同步性。     

A multi‐proxy record of changing environments from ca. 30 000 to 9000 cal. a BP: Onepoto maar palaeolake,Auckland, New Zealand

We present a high‐resolution record of lacustrine sedimentation spanning ca. 30 000 to 9000 cal. a BP from Onepoto maar, northern North Island, New Zealand. The multi‐proxy record of environmental change is constrained by tephrochronology and accelerator mass spectrometric ¹⁴C ages and provides evidence for episodes of rapid environmental change during the Last Glacial Coldest Period (LGCP) and Last Glacial–Interglacial Transition (LGIT) from northern New Zealand. The multi‐proxy palaeoenvironmental record from Onepoto indicates that the LGCP was cold, dry and windy in the Auckland region, with vegetation dominated by herb and grass in a beech forest mosaic between ca. 28 500 and 18 000 cal. a BP. The LGCP was accompanied by more frequent fires and influx of clastic sediment indicating increased erosion during the LGCP, with a mid‐LGCP interstadial identified between ca. 25 000 and 23 000 cal. a BP. Rapid climate amelioration at ca. 18 000 cal. a BP was accompanied by increased terrestrial biomass exemplified by the expansion of lowland podocarp forest, especially Dacrydium cupressinum. Increasing biomass production is reversed briefly by LGIT perturbations which are apparent in many of the proxies that span ca. 14 000–10 500 cal. a BP, suggesting generally increased wetness and higher in situ aquatic plant productivity with reduced terrestrial organic matter and terrigenous detrital influx. Furthermore, conditions at that time were probably warmer and frosts rare based on the increasing importance of Ascarina. The subsequent early Holocene is characterised by podocarp conifer forest and moist mild conditions. Postglacial sea‐level rise breached the crater rim and deposited 36 m of estuarine mud after ca. 9000 cal. a BP. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

东海内陆架沉积物敏感粒级构成及其地质意义

沉积物粒级包含了大量的沉积环境信息,在古环境恢复和重建中被广泛应用。基于采自东海内陆架的三根沉积物岩芯,作者利用激光粒度分析方法研究了沉积物的粒度组成,确定了敏感性粒级,探讨了搬运机制及其环境意义。研究表明:东海内陆架现代沉积物含有大致相同的三个敏感性粒级,分别是粒级1(12μm)、粒级2(12—225μm)和粒级3(225μm)。从北到南敏感粒级具有逐渐细化的趋势,该趋势与长江入海沉积物向南搬运过程中发生的沉积分异作用有关。粒级1和粒级2分别由均匀悬浮次总体和递变悬浮次总体构成,而粒级3则由生物过程产生。结合该区的海洋动力特征,作者认为,粒级2可较好地用来指示冬季海洋动力强度,并具有揭示东亚冬季风强度的潜在意义。     

The past in dust: current trends and future directions in Pleistocene geoarcheology of European loess

Loess is a main archive of Pleistocene landscapes and environments and therefore has an important connection to the preservation and interpretation of Paleolithic sites. In Europe, anthropogenic sites have been found in loess because of past local occupation. At one extreme, sites are well preserved with minimal disturbance often accompanied by embedded proxies to estimate ecological parameters. On the other hand, loess deposits have undergone post-depositional alterations such as weathering, pedogenesis or bioturbation due to changing environmental conditions or other disturbances that obscure anthropogenic sites. We outline the current state of research and connections between Paleolithic archeology and loess research while introducing a series of subsequent regional case studies as part of a special issue. We also make recommendations for future work to incorporate a wider variety of methods to create more robust inferences on hominin and environmental evolution and their connections.     

The potential of contribution of mangrove-derived organic matter in intertidal sediments as a proxy of mangrove development in the northern Beibu Gulf

Located between terrestrial and marine ecosystems, mangrove forests are sensitive to changes in climate. The responses of mangrove ecosystems to climate change in the future can be understood by reconstructing past mangrove dynamics using proxies preserved in the intertidal sediments. Considering the complexity of the proxies commonly used, it is necessary to develop a relatively simple, inexpensive proxy. In this study, available chemical tracers (δ13C_org and C:N) of the four cores (YLW02, YLW03, O18, and Q37) from the intertidal zone of the northern Beibu Gulf (NBG) and a three-end-member (mangrove, sea grass, and suspended particulate matter) model was utilized to determine the contribution of mangrove-derived organic matter (CMOM) in carbonate-free sediments. Compared with the summed concentration of mangrove pollen (SCMP), a significant positive correlation between CMOM and SCMP is displayed. The calculated CMOM for an additional 210Pb-dated sediment core from the Yingluo Bay, NBG (YLW01) clearly indicates a mangrove development going through degradation, flourishing, relative degradation, and relative flourishing, which are separately in correspondence with the lowest, highest, lower, and higher air temperature and rainfall in the time intervals of 1890–1918 AD, 1919–1956 AD, 1957–1990 AD, and 1991–2010 AD. This suggests that CMOM preserved in intertidal sediments has a potential to reconstruct historical mangrove development in high resolution, at the very least, along the coasts of the NBG.     

松山-布容地磁极性倒转在黄土高原东南缘记录的可靠性探讨

中国黄土的剩磁获得机理和Lock-in深度问题是目前黄土古地磁研究的焦点和核心问题之一,它直接关系到黄土时间标尺的精确度和海陆古气候对比的可靠性.文章以黄土高原东南缘三门峡曹村剖面获得的高分辨率古地磁极性界线作为年代控制点,通过黄土-古土壤序列1.1Ma以来的磁气候记录与近年来中、高纬度大西洋ODP/DSDP钻孔中获得的具有高分辨率古地磁年代约束的深海氧同位素记录进行了详细对比分析,提出与传统的海陆对比不同的基于古地磁界线的海陆对比方案:松山/布容地磁极性转换界线记录在曹村剖面S8的顶部,可对应深海沉积的MIS 19,而不是前人认为的MIS 21.黄土高原不同地区记录东亚冬、夏季风的差异性和变化性可能是全球具同时性的松山/布容地磁极性转换在黄土高原不同地区产出层位不一致性的主要原因,而基于Lock-in模型的天文年代标尺则可能高估了黄土/古土壤的年龄.     

North Atlantic climate impact on early late‐glacial climate oscillations in the south‐eastern Alps inferred from a multi‐proxy lake sediment record

High‐resolution multi‐proxy analyses of a sediment core section from Lake Jeserzersee (Saissersee) in the piedmont lobe of the Würmian Drau glacier (Carinthia, Austria) reveal pronounced climatic oscillations during the early late glacial (ca. 18.5–16.0k cal a BP). Diatom‐inferred epilimnetic summer water temperatures show a close correspondence with temperature reconstructions from the adjacent Lake Längsee record and, on a hemispheric scale, with fluctuations of ice‐rafted debris in the North Atlantic. This suggests that North Atlantic climate triggered summer climate variability in the Alps during the early late glacial. The expansion of pine (mainly dwarf pine) between ca. 18.5 and 18.1k cal a BP indicates warming during the so‐called ‘Längsee oscillation’. The subsequent stepwise climate deterioration between ca. 18.1 and 17.6k cal a BP culminated in a tripartite cold period between ca. 17.6 and 16.9k cal a BP with diatom‐inferred summer water temperatures 8.5–10 °C below modern values and a shift from wet to dry conditions. This period probably coincides with a major Alpine glacier advance termed the Gschnitz stadial. A warmer interval between ca. 16.9 and 16.4k cal a BP separates this cold phase from a second, shorter and less pronounced cold phase between ca. 16.4 and 16.0k cal a BP, which is thought to correlate with the Clavadel/Senders glacier advance in the Alps. The following temperature increase, coupled with wet (probably snow‐rich) conditions, caused the expansion of birch during the transition period to the late glacial interstadial. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Glaciolacustrine varved sediment as an alpine hydroclimatic proxy

The physical significance of a negative correlation between a varve record from Mud Lake, British Columbia, and temperature is discussed in the context of a process-network. The process-network is defined as the system of temporally and spatially connected processes involved in the transfer of a signal from climate to varved glaciolacustrine sediment. The six systems defining the network include climate, glacier, fluvial, geomorphic, terrestrial biologic and lacustrine systems to which each process belongs. A literature review outlines significant variation in the strength and character of correlations between components of the process-network and highlights that more comprehensive interpretations of varves as a hydroclimatic proxy require an improved understanding of the process-network. Documenting each process in the network is integral to informing a more complete model of this system, identifying processes that constitute signal transfer and assessing hydroclimatic proxies based on linear correlation. Such documentation is of growing importance as varved lacustrine sediments are increasingly used as a hydroclimatic proxy. The complex nature of the process-network requires greater emphasis on interdisciplinary cooperation and alternative methods to the linear statistical model.