Pollen-based reconstructions of Holocene vegetation and climatic change of Tibetan Plateau

A synthesis of Holocene pollen records from the Tibetan Plateau shows the history of vegetation and climatic changes during the Holocene. Palynological evidences from 24 cores/sections have been compiled and show that the vegetation shifted from subalpine/alpine conifer forest to subalpine/alpine evergreen sclerophyllous forest in the southeastern part of the plateau; from alpine steppe to alpine desert in the central, western and northern part; and from alpine meadow to alpine steppe in the eastern and southern plateau regions during the Holocene. These records show that increases in precipitation began about 9 ka from the southeast, and a wide ranging level of increased humidity developed over the entire of the plateau around 8-7 ka, followed by aridity from 6 ka and a continuous drying over the plateau after 4-3 ka. The changes in Holocene climates of the plateau can be interpreted qualitatively as a response to orbital forcing and its secondary effects on the Indian Monsoon which expanded northwards     

A high resolution,multiproxy Late‐glacial record of climate change and intrasystem responses in northwest England

A lacustrine carbonate sequence from Hawes Water, Lancashire, UK, has been studied using stable isotopic, lithological, pollen and mineral magnetic analysis. The data reveal four abrupt climatic oscillations in the Late‐glacial Interstadial leading up to the onset of the Loch Lomond Stadial. The data also point to climatic warming relatively early within the stadial, ca. 12 500 GRIP yr, prior to the onset of the Holocene. The oxygen isotope record is taken as a signature of climate forcing against which the response of the lake‐system can be monitored. By adopting this approach it is revealed that the response of the biological system to the rapid climatic oscillations is non‐linear and primarily a function of the antecedent conditions. A significant end‐Devensian isotopic excursion (A) is matched by only minor changes in the cold‐adapted floras and faunas. During the warmer interstadial, the response of the biological ecosystem (events B–D) is clearly influenced by thresholds: major changes in the catchment vegetation associated with relatively minor oscillations in the isotopic signature. The stratigraphical patterns reveal significant lag effects between the onset of climate deterioration and resulting changes in vegetation. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

浅析宁波盆地膏盐地层的时代──兼对“宁波盆地北部的长河群”之时代质疑

宁波盆地地下揭示的一套包含暗色膏硝质泥岩、泥质白云岩在内的紫红、灰紫色泥岩、棕褐色砂砾岩、细砂岩和玻屑凝灰岩的地层，均称方岩组，内含膏盐并具油色显示。对其时代有早、晚白垩世和早第三纪之认识，笔者从70～90年代地质工作中所获化石分析认为，虽然宁波盆地这一层位含化石不丰，但从分布及数量上比较，相对占优势的应该是孢粉和植物化石，其时代意见也较为一致，指示为早白垩世。     

Postglacial history of a cedar swamp in southeastern Connecticut

Stratigraphic and palynologic analyses of sediment cores from a large mire, combined with geologic and hydrologic studies of its watershed, provide a late Quaternary record of environmental change at Cedar Swamp in southeastern Connecticut. Since deglaciation of the area, the basin has evolved from an open lake characterized by the rapid accumulation of allochthonous inorganic sediments to an ombrotrophic mire with peat accumulation keeping pace with the gradual rise in the water table. Lithostratigraphic, pollen, and chronologic evidence suggest that the long-term trend of basin infilling and paludification was interrupted by two intervals (14 000–13 000 and 8000–4700 yr B.P.) when the water table elevation dropped at least 1 m.     

A high‐resolution pollen and geochemical analysis of late Holocene human impact and vegetation history in southern Cumbria,England

The historic era, which in Cumbria begins with the Roman invasion of AD 71, is a frequently neglected period in palaeoecological research, but its study can bring benefits in improving knowledge of landscape history and in understanding the significance and limitations of palaeoecological records. Pollen and geochemical data are presented for late Holocene records from Deer Dyke and Hulleter Mosses in southern Cumbria. The records show initially low levels of anthropogenic impact, followed by a phase of forest clearance and mixed agriculture from the 7th to 11th centuries AD. The timing of these clearances suggests that they were initially Anglo‐Saxon in origin, rather than Norse. Further clearances in the 16th century AD are interpreted as a response to monastic dissolution and late Tudor population pressures; the landscapes reached their contemporary form following extensive clearances in the 17th century AD. Silicon and titanium concentrations at Deer Dyke Moss were used to reconstruct past levels of atmospheric dust loading, which is broadly related to soil erosion. Geochemical influx was found to peak during periods of landscape transition rather than from established land use. This relationship with pollen data is thought to reflect the predominantly low levels of anthropogenic impact in the region, which changes as substantial woodland clearances during the 16th century AD and continuous land use pressure since then have greatly increased the supply of airborne dust. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Lower Permian Wasp Head Formation,Sydney Basin: high‐latitude,shallow marine sedimentation following the late Asselian to early Sakmarian glacial event in eastern Australia

The Lower Permian Wasp Head Formation (early to middle Sakmarian) is a ～95 m thick unit that was deposited during the transition to a non‐glacial period following the late Asselian to early Sakmarian glacial event in eastern Australia. This shallow marine, sandstone‐dominated unit can be subdivided into six facies associations. (i) The marine sediment gravity flow facies association consists of breccias and conglomerates deposited in upper shoreface water depths. (ii) Upper shoreface deposits consist of cross‐stratified, conglomeratic sandstones with an impoverished expression of the Skolithos Ichnofacies. (iii) Middle shoreface deposits consist of hummocky cross‐stratified sandstones with a trace fossil assemblage that represents the Skolithos Ichnofacies. (iv) Lower shoreface deposits are similar to middle shoreface deposits, but contain more pervasive bioturbation and a distal expression of the Skolithos Ichnofacies to a proximal expression of the Cruziana Ichnofacies. (v) Delta‐influenced, lower shoreface‐offshore transition deposits are distinguished by sparsely bioturbated carbonaceous mudstone drapes within a variety of shoreface and offshore deposits. Trace fossil assemblages represent distal expressions of the Skolithos Ichnofacies to stressed, proximal expressions of the Cruziana Ichnofacies. Impoverished trace fossil assemblages record variable and episodic environmental stresses possibly caused by fluctuations in sedimentation rates, substrate consistencies, salinity, oxygen levels, turbidity and other physio‐chemical stresses characteristic of deltaic conditions. (vi) The offshore transition‐offshore facies association consists of mudstone and admixed sandstone and mudstone with pervasive bioturbation and an archetypal to distal expression of the Cruziana Ichnofacies. The lowermost ～50 m of the formation consists of a single deepening upward cycle formed as the basin transitioned from glacioisostatic rebound following the Asselian to early Sakmarian glacial to a regime dominated by regional extensional subsidence without significant glacial influence. The upper ～45 m of the formation can be subdivided into three shallowing upward cycles (parasequences) that formed in the aftermath of rapid, possibly glacioeustatic, rises in relative sea‐level or due to autocyclic progradation patterns. The shift to a parasequence‐dominated architecture and progressive decrease in ice‐rafted debris upwards through the succession records the release from glacioisostatic rebound and amelioration of climate that accompanied the transition to broadly non‐glacial conditions.     

近2600年神农架大九湖泥炭的气候变化记录

神农架大九湖沼泽泥炭柱状样提供了分辨率为25a的约2600a来的气候变化记录。对样品进行了环境磁学参数测量、X射线荧光分析(XRF)、孢粉鉴定和统计建模，结果表明，大九湖气温的变化曲线与竺可桢中国东部的物候温度曲线以及格陵兰氧同位素变化曲线大体一致，与青藏高原东部希门错湖泊沉积物温度代用指标的变化曲线也十分相似。特别是550—1300AD间的相对温暖期，与竺可桢首次提出来的中国东部隋唐温暖期(约600-1000AD)和欧洲的中世纪暖期(930-1240AD)在时间跨度上大致对应。可划分为4个阶段：(1)600BC—550AD，气候相对冷湿；(2)550—1300AD，气候相对凉干；(3)1300—1900AD，气候又转变为冷湿，其中最冷期1400—1900AD可与欧洲的小冰期对应；(4)1900AD至今，气候又开始转向相对凉干。同时发现低频磁化率χlf与铁元素含量之比(χlf／Fe)的变化曲线与利用孢粉分析数据恢复的大九湖气候变化曲线对应得很好，特别是二者都清晰地显示了500—1300AD为一相对暖期。这预示着χlf／Fe可能是泥炭剖面的一个更好的气候记录代用指标。     

艾比湖地区冰消期以来气候演化的植物学证据

本文根据植物生态学分析方法，通过对艾比湖ＺＫｏｏＢ孔中孢粉组合及植被生态的定量分析，阐述了北疆内陆干旱区冰消期以来的气候演化状况。孢粉组合特征及其植被生态的定量分析研究表明，受大气降水以及大气和土壤中相对湿度波动变化的影响，艾比湖地区的生态环境特征在最近１５０００ａ中至少经历了１０次比较明显的波动变化，并且与全球气候变化过程基本符合，表明中国西部干旱半干旱地区晚更新世以的气候环境演化过程是在全球变     

Biocorrosion by Bivalves

Abstract. A survey of the historical background of chemically boring bivalves and the proposed methods of boring, indications for biocorrosion, observations, and experimental results are provided. The regional impact to the ecosystem is discussed with examples from the N. Adriatic, Caribbean, and E. Pacific. The fossil record of the geologically oldest biocorroders extends back into the Mesozoic, i.e ., U. Triassic for Lithophaga and Jurassic for gastrochaenids.     

渤海湾盆地沙河街组钙质超微化石古生态及沉积环境

渤海湾盆地沙河街组中钙质超微化石的发现,表明这一时期渤海湾盆地与海水有过联系。对钙质超微化石古生态及沉积环境研究表明,化石主要产出时代为始新世晚期至渐新世早中期,属“间冰期”亚热带气候型。这一问题的深入研究,对于渤海湾盆地的石油勘探有重要意义。