evolution of the western amazon lowland relief impact of andean foreland dynamics the congruency in the depositional origin and age of the uppermost sedimentary strata forming non flooded rainforest ground terra firme in the western and central amazon lowlands is a much debated subject here we conclude from the study of remote sensing imagery that active andean foreland dynamics have played a major role in the evolution of the plio pleistocene fluvial landscape in the western amazon foreland dynamics have resulted in a terra firme composed of late tertiary alluvium and younger alluvial terraces and plains in peru thermoluminescence and 14c dating show local aggradation of this younger alluvium between 180 and 30 ka the documented high age heterogeneity of the terra firme has implications for considerations of the biogeography of the amazon forest

hydrological modelling of a pleistocene landslide dammed lake in the santa maria basin nw argentina abstract around 30 000 14 c yr bp multiple landslides in the quebrada de cafayate 26 s 66 w dammed the rio de las conchas and caused a lake in the santa maria basin nw argentina since climate could have played a major role in landslide generation we used a lake balance model to compare the present day climate with the conditions during landsliding this model reveals that a hypothetical present day lake would stabilize around 70 m below the reconstructed paleolake level the volume of the water body would be one third of the corresponding paleolake volume however a minimum 10 15 increase in mean annual precipitation accompanied by at least a 3 4 c drop in temperature would result in a stable lake level at the reconstructed elevation this result implies wetter and cooler conditions at 30 000 14 c yr bp as compared to the present wetter climate in turn could help to explain enhanced landsliding in the quebrada de cafayate during this time

climate change and mass movements in the nw argentine andes abstract the chronology of multiple landslide deposits and related lake sediments in the eastern argentine cordillera suggests that major mass movements cluster in two time periods during the quaternary between 35 000 and 25 000 14 c yr bp and after 5000 14 c yr bp the older cluster may correspond to the minchin wet period 40 000 and 25 000 14 c yr bp identified in tropical and subtropical south america suggesting a causal relation between enhanced landslide activity and climate change the younger cluster predates the titicaca wet period that began at about 3900 14 c yr bp which also affected other regions in the andes and the amazon basin no landslide and associated lake sediments are documented during the tauca wet period between 16 000 and 8000 14 c yr bp however the two clusters correspond to periods where it assumed that the el nino southern oscillation enso and tropical atlantic sea surface temperature dipole tad were active the analysis of the present day precipitation patterns in nw argentina indicates significant spatial and temporal differences between the intra andean part of the study area and the andean foreland whereas the tad seems to consistently increase rainfall the intensity of precipitation during the el nino phase of the enso is reduced to only 25 of the mean annual average in the intra andean basins whereas the regions east of the andes receive more than 125 similar results but with an opposite sign characterize la nina events the comparison of this pattern with paleo precipitation data as inferred from varved lake sediments suggests that increased interannual climate variability and therefore increased fluctuations in rainfall and river discharge in narrow valleys may reduce landsliding thresholds

esr dating of pleistocene mammals and marine shells from the coastal plain of rio grande do sul state southern brazil abstract the coastal plain of rio grande do sul state cprs in southern brazil encompasses four barrier lagoon depositional systems formed by marine highstands during the quaternary but the ages of the pleistocene systems older than 125 ka are not precisely known due to the lack of numerical dates in order to refine the chronology of these deposits several fossils of terrestrial mammals collected in the fluvial facies of the lagoon system iii and fossil shells from the marine facies of the barrier system ii exposed in the southern sector of the cprs were subject to dating by electron spin resonance esr the ages of the mammalian remains range from 90 10 to 43 3 ka thus representing the last glacial cycle mis 4 and 3 the mean eu age of the shells is 224 24 6 ka but this value is considered younger than the real age because of excessive uranium uptake observed among the younger shells an estimated mean age of some 235 238 ka would agree with other esr and tl ages obtained for fossils and sediments collected from beds overlying the shells and would be consistent with the sea level highstand at the early mis 7 substage 7e the presence of bivalves and foraminifers that indicate ocean temperatures higher than at present seems to corroborate this estimate given that mis 7e was characterized by hypsithermal conditions

tephrochronologic constraints on temporal distribution of large landslides in northwest argentina abstract two morphologic settings in the northwestern argentine prone to giant mountain front collapse deeply incised narrow valleys and steep range fronts bordering broad piedmonts were analyzed through detailed investigations of fossil landslides and related fluvio lacustrine sediments nine different rhyodactic tephra layers were defined by geochemical fingerprinting of glass morphology of pumice stratigraphic relationships and mineralogy the age of three tephra could be determined either directly by 40ar 39ar dating or relatively by 14c dating of associated sediments paranilla ash documentclass aastex usepackage amsbsy usepackage amsfonts usepackage amssymb usepackage bm usepackage mathrsfs usepackage pifont usepackage stmaryrd usepackage textcomp usepackage portland xspace usepackage amsmath amsxtra usepackage ot2 ot1 fontenc newcommand cyr renewcommand rmdefault wncyr renewcommand sfdefault wncyss renewcommand encodingdefault ot2 normalfont selectfont decl

co2 record between 40 and 8 kyr b p from the greenland ice core project ice core co2 ice core records show an increase in the atmospheric concentration of 80 100 parts per million by volume ppmv from the last glacial maximum lgm to the early holocene we present co2 measurements performed on an ice core from central greenland drilled during the greenland ice core project grip this co2 profile from grip confirms the most prominent co2 increase from the lgm with a mean concentration of 200 ppmv to the early holocene with concentrations between 290 and 310 ppmv some structures of the new co2 record are similar to those previously obtained from the dye 3 ice core greenland which indicated a dilemma between greenland and antarctic co2 records oeschger et al 1988 both greenland cores show high co2 values for rather mild climatic periods during the last glaciation whereas co2 records from antarctica do not show such high co2 variations during the glaciation and furthermore the co2 values in the early holocene are about 20 30 ppmv higher in the grip record than in antarctic records there is some evidence that the difference could be due to chemical reactions between impurities in the ice leading to an increase of the co2 concentration under certain conditions if in situ processes can change the co2 concentration in the air bubbles the question arises about how reliably do co2 records from ice cores reflect the atmospheric composition at the time of ice formation the discrepancies between the co2 profiles from greenland and antarctica can be explained by in situ production of excess co2 due to interactions between carbonate and acidic species since the carbonate concentration in antarctic ice is much lower than in greenland ice co2 records from antarctica are much less affected by such in situ produced co2

late quaternary vegetation dynamics in a biodiversity hotspot the uluguru mountains of tanzania abstract late quaternary vegetation history and environmental changes in a biodiverse tropical ecosystem are inferred from pollen charcoal and carbon isotope evidence derived from a 48 000 yr sedimentary record from the uluguru mountains a component of the eastern arc mountains of kenya and tanzania results indicate that eastern arc forest composition has remained relatively stable during the past 48 000 yr long term environmental stability of the eastern arc forests has been proposed as a mechanism for the accumulation and persistence of species during glacial periods thus resulting in the diverse forests observed today the pollen and isotope data presented here indicate some marked changes in abundance but no significant loss in moist forest taxa through the last glacial maximum thereby providing support for the long term environmental stability of the eastern arc anthropogenic activities including burning and forest clearance were found to play a moderate role in shaping the mosaic of forest patches and high altitude grasslands that characterise the site today however this influence was tempered by the inaccessibility of the mountain

effect of vegetation on an ice age climate model simulation a growing number of studies suggest that vegetation changes can significantly influence regional climate variations herein we utilize a climate model genesis with a land surface vegetation package to evaluate the potential role of the very large vegetation changes that occurred during the last glacial maximum lgm in particular we focus on the potential response to a significant reduction in the area of tropical rainforest simulations employed a global vegetation reconstruction for the lgm and climate long range investigation mapping and prediction climap sea surface temperature sst estimates results indicate that expansion of dryland vegetation causes a 15 30 additional lgm cooling for australia 0 4 c and africa 0 9 c respectively turnover from conifer to tundra also causes cooling of 2 4 c or more in western europe and siberia however for the largest rainforest area amazon basin inclusion of realistic vegetation increased modeled temperatures 2 4 c and decreased precipitation by 10 35 these latter results are similar to those obtained with sensitivity experiments of the effects of future amazon deforestation initial assessment of the potential effect of decreased stomatal resistance due to lower ice age co2 levels indicates little significant response to this effect comparison of model predicted low elevation lgm temperature changes with estimates from proxy data indicate that inclusion of realistic vegetation estimates for the lgm results in slightly more than 50 agreement between models and data for low elevation sites in low mid latitudes data at variance with model predictions would appear to be explainable by considering additional changes in vegetation ice age dust or a 1 2 c cooling below climap values this conclusion is at variance with a 3 4 c tropical cooling suggested by some studies for explaining estimated land temperature changes during the lgm in some western european sites model temperatures are colder than proxy data by 2 8 c this model data discrepancy may be explained by less sea ice in the subpolar north atlantic than stipulated by climap a conclusion consistent with new marine data from that region

holocene precipitation and atmospheric changes inferred from river paleowetlands in the bolivian andes abstract in the southern tropical andes previous studies performed on lacustrine basins display large water level fluctuations due to changes in the precipitation minus evaporation balance during the holocene significant changes in groundwater levels were also inferred from river paleowetland deposits in northern chile and the northern bolivian altiplano but the discrepancies which appeared in the data from paleolakes and paleowetlands are still not understood in this paper we present stratigraphy and diatom analyses in new paleowetland records from non glacial valleys these data compared with previous results show that non stormy precipitation recorded by fine and or organic sedimentation dominated continuously from 11 200 to 1500 cal yr bp and that convective rainfall recorded by strong erosion occurred only episodically in the northern altiplano convective rainfall was similar to the type of precipitation which nowadays occurs during the rainy season austral summer when the tropical easterlies from the atlantic reach the bolivian andes non stormy precipitation is interpreted as a result of an intensification of cold air incursions from southern polar regions in good agreement with data from brazil the maximum intensity in cold air incursions occurred during the early holocene and coincided with a climatic optimum in antarctica and a considerably reduced el nino southern oscillation enso during the middle and late holocene cold air incursions decreased and the enso frequency increased we suggest that the interactions between the southern high and low latitudes by means of cold air incursions and associated changes in the west wind flow have been the main mechanisms involved in climatic changes at the latitudes of bolivia

mid holocene sub blanket peat alluvia and sediment sources in the upper liffey valley co wicklow ireland a recently exposed section across a rst order valley buried beneath the regional blanket peat on hillside slopes in the upper liffey valley co wicklow is described the section shows two alluvia within a shallow valley form underlain by an extensive boulder and stone line over regional till and weathered granite 14c dates from wood in the alluvia indicate the older alluvium to have formed between 4324 53 bp and 4126 45 bp and the younger between 3217 53 bp and 2975 53 bp the basal layer of the overlying peat yielded a date of 2208 61 bp the younger alluvium shows the effects of soil paludi cation prior to the peat expansion dated pollen analyses elsewhere in the upper catchment con rm the spread of blanket peat over most areas above 350 m after 4000 3600 bp the buried valley was contributing sediments to the mid holocene oodplains in the upper liffey valley prior to the extension of blanket peat over the catchment after which sediment yields from it and the other catchment slopes declined copyright 2003 john wiley sons ltd

late quaternary palaeoenvironments in the lake barombi mbo west cameroon deduced from pollen and carbon isotopes of organic matter abstract a sediment core 23 5 m long was recovered from a water depth of ca 110 m in lake barombi mbo a maar crater of the cameroon volcanic chain this paper presents a carbon isotopic curve of organic matter linked to the main results of the pollen analysis interpretation of this carbon isotopic curve is simplified 1 because of the weak role played by the phytoplankton in the balance of the organic particle flux and 2 because of the presumed absence of diagenetic alteration of the isotopic composition the carbon isotopic curve exhibits an almost linear correlation with that of total grass pollen which form the main part of the c4 biomass the major fluctuations of isotopic and pollen curves allow four main phases to be distinguished from ca 25 000 to 20 000 yr b p 13c values of 25 to 30 pdb are related to a forest environment associated with a montane floral element from 20 000 to 13 000 yr b p the 13c values are between 23 and 28 and are linked to openings of landscape with a mosaic of forest and savanna and a fall of lake level with colonization of the shores by cyperaceae and other aquatic plants from 13 000 to 10 000 yr b p the forest extended again reaching a maximum density during the period from 9500 until 3000 yr b p and with an average 13c value of 32 a new dry phase at around 2500 2000 yr b p with temporary openings in the forest marked by a 13c excursion above 30 but during the last 2 millennia the forest developed again with 13c values of 32

bioclimatic analysis of rodent palaeofaunas reveals severe climatic changes in southwestern europe during the plio pleistocene abstract a recently developed method in palaeoclimatology bioclimatic analysis which makes it possible to extract a maximum of information from the available mammal proxy data is applied to a succession of fossil rodent assemblages recorded from the pliocene and pleistocene in the iberian peninsula it consists of both qualitative and quantitative models with the capacity to produce a detailed palaeoclimate reconstruction which is consistent with palaeobotanical and isotopic proxy data and the physics of atmospheric models using this method the palaeoclimate of the iberian plio pleistocene is reconstructed with high resolution from 44 fossil rodent assemblages comprising more than a hundred identified species analysis of these assemblages shows that the climatic evolution of the iberian peninsula during the plio pleistocene can be divided into four distinct climatic phases first a long phase of subtropical climate with summer rainfall and winter drought occurred during the ruscinian second between 3 4 and 2 5 my b p there was a cooling phase coincident with the development of the northern hemisphere ice sheets following this cooling a temperate interlude occurred between 2 5 and 1 8 my b p during this phase the mediterranean climate was established permanently in southwestern europe finally during the pleistocene temperate and colder stages were succeeding in relationship with the northern hemisphere glaciations this sequence of climatic changes is linked with the tectonic rising of the central asian and east african plateaus variations in the atmospheric circulation pattern and changes in the mediterranean sea surface temperatures all these factors led to associated changes in the precipitation regime and a latitudinal displacement of the zonal climatic belts

provenance change coupled with increased clay flux during deglacial times in the western equatorial atlantic abstract in the western tropical atlantic decreases in the percentage of calcium carbonate in marine sediments are concurrent with increases in clay accumulation rates in cores with records of percent carbonate extending well back into the pleistocene a series of low calcium carbonate events can be seen existing 14c geochronology allows the timing of the uppermost low carbonate event to be constrained to the last deglacial interval and suggests a relatively short duration between about 16 and 14 ka bp 14c although more dating is needed to confirm the time limits the bulk compositional changes of the upper low calcium carbonate zones correspond to changes in clay mineralogy and in sr isotope composition of the detrital clay fractions in four cores the kaolinite chlorite ratio varies systematically along a 1800 km nw se transect starting with low kaolinite chlorite and low 87sr 86sr ratios at the west end of the vema fracture zone core rc16 55 and ending with high kaolinite chlorite and high 87sr 86sr ratios at the west end of the romanche fracture zone core v26 99 the kaolinite chlorite ratio and sr isotopic compositions from several samples in these cores also show a positive co variation the changes in composition within the low carbonate interval correspond to changes in contributions of young relatively unweathered amazon and old highly weathered rio sao francisco sources the provenance pattern allows that this pulse of clay deposition is reasonably interpreted to be a climate signal that could represent increased rainfall in tropical south america during the deglaciation consistent with published oxygen isotope data from the amazon fan however there are published carbonate records from near africa that appear to show a correlative clay rich layer thus an alternative hypothesis is that the gray clay layer could reflect a plume of sediment stirred up from the shelf break during sea level rise associated with deglaciation

comparison of changes in vegetation in northeast greece with records of climate variability on orbital and suborbital frequencies over the last 450 000 years abstract a new direct pollen orbital tuning procedure based on a correspondence between changes in certain vegetation elements and march and june perihelion configurations is applied to the tenaghi philippon record northeast greece the development of a refined chronological scheme allows comparisons to be made with records of climate variability from the north atlantic as well as of global sea level ice volume and atmospheric co2 content on orbital frequencies the comparison reveals a close correspondence between relative ice volume extent and tree population size during glacial intervals during interglacial and interstadial periods the degree of forest development is more closely associated with high latitude insolation and related climate regimes rather than extent of residual ice volume on suborbital frequencies the greek record shows similar repeat times in peaks of steppe vegetation with north atlantic ice rafting events but the amplitude of this variability in the two records is not always proportional overall what emerges is that the major shifts in the relative abundance of forest v open vegetation communities at tenaghi philippon on orbital and suborbital frequencies over the last 450 000 years are coherent with high latitude changes affecting atmospheric and oceanic circulation glacial decreases in atmospheric co2 content contributed to the elimination of tree populations by exacerbating water stress conditions during arid intervals but do not appear to be the primary driver of the observed vegetation changes at this latitude variations in co2 levels in the order of 40 ppmv between different interglacial interstadials periods with adequate moisture availability appear to have had a limited effect on the nature and size of tree populations

palaeoclimates in central and south america since 18 000 bp based on pollen and lake level records abstract the last 18 ka of palaeoclimates are discussed at 3 ka intervals based on palaeoenvironmental changes shown in pollen and lake level records from central and south america a total of 61 pollen records fulfill the requirements of continuity and chronology to be used in this synthesis 8 records from tropical and subtropical lowlands in central and south america 7 records from the central american highlands 26 records from the high andes north and south of the equator 2 records from the southern subtropics and 18 from the southern andes and subantarctic islands palaeoclimatic interpretation of the pollen records is semiquantitative based on bioclimatic parameters such as e g elevational temperature gradients or latitudinal precipitation gradients that can be related to vegetation zonation additional palaeoclimatic information is obtained from lake level records derived either from dated shorelines or from the limnological history of lake sediment sections large scale palaeoclimatic comparison of the proxy data records indicates that full and late glacial climates throughout central and south america were cooler than today by about 4 to 5 c but that moisture patterns showed regional differentiation thus in both the southern subtropics and high latitudes in southern chile conditions were substantially moister than today during full and late glacial times whereas everywhere else conditions were far drier than today in terms of palaeocirculation this scenario can be interpreted as a poleward shift of the subtropical as well as the westerly circulation a scenario that has been suggested by palaeoclimatic simulations from general circulation models gcm another major palaeoclimatic aspect predicted by the gcm simulations is the suppressed early holocene summer monsoon in the southern subtropics although proxy records are few from this zone their palaeoenvironmental history during that time shows a period of aridity that would support the model one of the most controversial aspects of south american palaeoclimates concerns the existence of a younger dryas equivalent a cold period between 11 and 10 ka bp based on the existing data from south america that show a great diversity of palaeoclimatic trends the concept of an interval that is characterized by the same climatic signal as documented for the north atlantic seems too simplistic moreover at this point only very few records have been analysed in sufficient detail to yield unambiguous climatic information for the interval in question the principal outcome of this palaeoenvironmental and palaeoclimatic synthesis is the better understanding of the type and quality of data available at present and the realization of regions and periods where much more and concerted effort is needed to address problems of intra and interhemispheric palaeoclimatic correlations only then can questions concerning the mechanism of climatic change be tackled successfully

the effects of late quaternary climate and pco2 change on c4 plant abundance in the south central united states the late quaternary was a time of substantial environmental change with the past 70 000 years exhibiting global changes in climate atmospheric composition and terrestrial floral and faunal assemblages we use isotopic data and couple climate and vegetation models to assess the balance between c3 and c4 vegetation in texas during this period the carbon isotope composition of fossil bison mammoth and horse tooth enamel is used as a proxy for c3 versus c4 plant consumption and indicates that c4 plant biomass remained above 55 through most of texas from prior to the last glacial maximum lgm into the holocene these data also reveal that horses did not feed exclusively on herbaceous plants consequently isotopic data from horses are not reliable indicators of the c3 c4 balance in grassland biomes estimates of c4 percentages from coupled climate vegetation models illuminate the relative roles of climate and atmospheric carbon dioxide co2 concentrations in shaping the regional c4 signal c4 percentages estimated using observed modern climate vegetation relationships and late quaternary climate variables simulated by a global climate model are much lower than those indicated by carbon isotope values from fossils when the effect of atmospheric co2 concentration on the competitive balance between c3 and c4 plants is included in the numerical experiment however estimated c4 percentages show better agreement with isotopic estimates from late quaternary mammals and soils this result suggests that low atmospheric co2 levels played a role in the observed persistence of c4 plants throughout the late quaternary

amazonian paleoecological histories one hill three watersheds abstract data from the hill of six lakes in the northwestern brazilian amazon region provide three records of paleoclimatic and vegetation change in lowland amazonia that span the last 170 000 years three lakes verde pata and dragao which occupy separate watersheds on the hill provide the most detailed image yet obtained of ice age conditions in lowland amazonia well dated sedimentary records for fossil palynological charcoal cation and pigment data are presented the data indicate the continuous presence of mesic forest throughout the last ice age oscillations of lake level are recorded and the lowstands are attributed to reduced precipitation inputs to systems delicately balanced between water loss leakage through the floor of the basin and gain precipitation gross stratigraphy algal remains and paleochemistry suggest that the stands of high and low lake level were cyclic apparently correlating precessional orbital variation times of lake lowstand coincide with wet season december january february djf insolation minima the strongest of eight lowstand cycles occurred ca 35 000 to 27 000 cal bp even during lowstand episodes pollen is well preserved and provides a clear signal of uninterrupted forest cover the principal lowland elements are continuously present in the record suggesting the long term quaternary availability of the lowland forest biome in this region however during the late pleistocene the forest changed in composition with the expansion or invasion of montane floral elements creating communities of the mesic forest biome without modern analogs while precipitation cycles were causing lake levels to rise and fall the principal influence on vegetation appears to have been cooling in the late pleistocene the population expansion of montane elements at lower elevations is consistent with a cooling of 4 5 c

paleohydrology and paleoclimate of the past 33 000 years at the tamandua river central brazil abstract deposits of the tamandua river contain evidence for four major paleohydrologic stages in the last 33 000 years a wet period between 33 000 and 20 000 14 c yr b p produced a high water table that allowed organic rich deposition in the tamandua valley a dry interval 17 000 10 000 14 c yr b p produced sandy deposits of braided channels and alluvial fans river aggradation during this period probably resulted from a high sediment load promoted by intense slope erosion and from flash floods a wet period after 10 000 and before 6000 14 c yr b p was marked by reduced slope erosion and by high discharge that led to erosion of the valley fill during that time forests developed widely in brazil a drier climate after 6000 14 c yr b p caused a reduction of discharge but allowed a high water table to be maintained

responses of floods to holocene climatic change in the upper mississippi valley abstract dimensions of holocene relict channels and sedimentological characteristics of point bars associated with these relict channels were used to reconstruct a holocene history of long term changes in magnitudes of 1 58 yr floods in upper mississippi valley watersheds of southwestern wisconsin the reconstructed record of floods shows relatively large and persistent nonrandom departures from contemporary long term average flood magnitudes the flood history indicates climatic changes that are broadly similar to climatic changes indicated from fossil pollen in the same region the holocene floods ranged from about 10 15 larger to 20 30 smaller than contemporary floods of the same recurrence frequency large floods were characteristic between about 6000 4500 and 3000 2000 yr b p and during a brief interval after 1200 yr b p small floods were common between about 8000 6500 4500 3000 and 2000 1200 yr b p these fluvial responses were found to be closely associated with a long term episodic mobility and storage of sediments in the wisconsin watersheds during periods of relatively large floods relatively rapid lateral channel migration either reworked or removed extensive tracts of valley bottom alluvium in contrast during periods of relatively small floods relatively slow lateral channel migration is apparent and the channel and floodplain system appear to have been relatively stable

late pleistocene mollusc assemblages and inferred paleoenvironments from the andean piedmont of mendoza argentina abstract this paper is focused on the paleoecological analysis of a mollusc succession cropping out on the right margin of la estacada stream in the andean piedmont of mendoza argentina 33 28 s 69 03 w the stratigraphic section mainly composed of fine sands interbedded with levels of silty clays and organic matter records the interval between 35 2 35 5 14c ka b p and 31 5 31 6 14c ka b p the mollusc succession is represented by freshwater and land snails biomphalaria peregrina planorbidae lymnaea viator lymnaeidae succinea meridionalis succineidae rotadiscus amancaezensis charopidae and radiodiscus sp aff radiodiscus quillajicola charopidae the dominance of semi aquatic and hygrophilous land snails suggests the development of a vegetated shallow water body probably a damp habitat occasionally submerged with four main stages of evolution related to fluctuating water levels the abundance of shells together with the stable isotope composition of carbonate shells of l viator 13c and 18o and the presence of radiodiscus sp aff radiodiscus quillajicola and r amancaezensis suggest relatively warm and wet conditions based on its radiocarbon chronology and the paleoecological reconstruction the studied section is recording a mild interval corresponding to an interstadial marine isotope stage 3 of the last glacial cycle

enormous ganges brahmaputra sediment discharge during strengthened early holocene monsoon rivers are the main source of terrigenous sediment delivered to continental margins and thus exert a major control on coastal evolution and sequence development however little is known about past changes in fluvial sediment loads despite the recognition of significant variation under changing climatic regimes in this study we present the first quantified estimate of sediment discharge for a major river system under conditions of an intensified early holocene monsoon development of the ganges brahmaputra river delta began ca 11000 yr b p when rising sea level flooded the bengal basin thereby trapping most of the river s discharge on the inner margin chronostratigraphic data from these deltaic deposits are used to calculate the rates of sediment storage on the margin which provide a minimum estimate of the river s past sediment load results reveal that 5 1012 m3 of sediment was stored in the bengal basin from ca 11000 to 7000 yr b p which corresponds to a mean load of 2 3 109 t yr in comparison modern sediment load of the ganges brahmaputra is 1 109 t yr ranking it first among the world s rivers and underscoring the significance of a two fold increase sustained over 4 k y furthermore the timing of immense discharge in the early holocene strongly suggests its relation to a stronger than present southwest monsoon in south asia similar patterns of high monsoon related sediment discharge have been noted throughout the tropics and subtropics suggesting a widespread fluviosedimentary response the potential magnitude of which is showcased by the ganges brahmaputra system

late quaternary sediment fluxes from tropical watersheds abstract inherited saprolite stores and continued weathering in quaternary time juxtapose abundant clay and fresh rock in tropical landscapes this influences sediment fluxes and affects the interpretation of sediment sequences derived from tropical watersheds detrital kaolinites derive from inherited saprolite sources as well as from soil clays and appear in delta and ocean sediments these sediments appear to correspond with sub milankovitch millennial scale cycles of climate change but may also record century scale episodes of rapid warming dansgaard oeschger events destabilisation of sediment sources and increased sediment fluxes in the late quaternary followed millennia of climatic deterioration cooling aridity and vegetation change and led to altered patterns of sedimentation during the last glacial maximum lgm sediment yield from slopes increased 10 around the lgm when rainfall was reduced by 30 60 and led to fan building and braided channels rainfall increased 40 80 from the lgm to the early holocene maximum and this led to channel cutting and major sediment fluxes to delta and ocean sinks vegetation recovery lagged the rapid warming by several millennia and was interrupted by younger dryas yd aridity influencing slope and stream behaviour holocene sedimentation has been by both vertical and lateral accretion increasing floodplain sediment stores

co2 and temperature controlled altitudinal shifts of c4 and c3 dominated grasslands allow reconstruction of palaeoatmospheric pco2 abstract during the pleistocene the vegetation changes in the high colombian andes included changes from c3 to c4 plants this is inferred from 13c values of the c31 n alkane from the funza 2 sedimentary record taken from the high plain of bogota at 2550 m elevation the environmental factors thought to be responsible for these changes were investigated using a single point simulation of the biome3 vegetation model including changes in precipitation temperature and atmospheric co2 concentrations the model shows that changes are for a major part caused by these latter two factors the isotopic signature of the n alkanes of several extant c3 and c4 grasses from the area were determined to calibrate the interpretation of the isotopic record from the geochemical record we estimated the altitudinal distribution of c3 and c4 plants using present grass distribution patterns based on floristic data as a template this information in combination with palaeotemperature estimates enabled the reconstruction of atmospheric co2 concentrations the reconstructed co2 concentrations follow the trends of the vostok antarctic ice core through three glacial and two interglacial stages the lowest calculated co2 concentration is ca 210 ppmv for the glacial maxima and within the range of lowest values from vostok our highest value 310 ppmv is for interglacial mis 7 this represents a new method to reconstruct palaeoatmospheric pco2 it is less accurate than measurements from ice cores but has potential to be used for sediments that are much older than the ice cores

simulating the formation of hurricane katrina 2005 1 the formation of hurricane katrina 2005 is simulated using coamps with high resolution 27 km 9 km and 3 km grid spacing whereas most atlantic hurricanes form in conjunction with easterly waves no clear synoptic scale tropical disturbance was evident as a precursor for katrina the triply nested simulation initialized 66 h before katrina was identified as a tropical depression successfully predicts the location and timing of katrina s formation in the 3 km domain the organization of the cyclone is associated with concentrated precipitation resolved with microphysics in the southeast part of the circulation the storm does not form in the 9 km domain when the kain fritsch cumulus scheme and the microphysics are used however a separate simulation using microphysics alone in the 9 km domain captures katrina s formation though with less organized structure this study suggests that explicitly resolving clouds in high resolution models holds promise for predicting tropical cyclone tc formation

pollen based continental climate reconstructions at 6 and 21 ka a global synthesis subfossil pollen and plant macrofossil data derived from 14c dated sediment profiles can provide quantitative information on glacial and interglacial climates the data allow climate variables related to growing season warmth winter cold and plant available moisture to be reconstructed continental scale reconstructions have been made for the mid holocene mh around 6 ka and last glacial maximum lgm around 21 ka allowing comparison with palaeoclimate simulations currently being carried out as part of the fifth assessment report ar5 of the intergovernmental panel on climate change the synthesis of the available mh and lgm climate reconstructions and their uncertainties obtained using modern analogue regression and model inversion techniques is presented for four temperature variables and two moisture variables reconstructions of the same variables based on surface pollen assemblages are shown to be accurate and unbiased reconstructed lgm and mh climate anomaly patterns are coherent consistent between variables and robust with respect to the choice of technique they support a conceptual model of the controls of late quaternary climate change whereby the first order effects of orbital variations and greenhouse forcing on the seasonal cycle of temperature are predictably modified by responses of the atmospheric circulation and surface energy balance

late quaternary of the middle caqueta river area colombian amazonia the late quaternary history of the middle caqueta river area in colombia northwestern amazonia is described based on observations of river bank sections radiocarbon dates and palynological analyses of organic layers in floodplain and low terrace sediments of the caqueta river it is shown that the late pleistocene and holocene climatic changes that took place in the andean cordilleras were related to the depositional and erosional history of the caqueta river in the colombian amazonian lowlands the low terrace sediments consist of sandy and gravelly deposits covered by clays that sometimes contain lenses of peaty material from these organic low terrace sediments seven finite radiocarbon dates were obtained of middle pleniglacial age between 56 000 and 30 000 yr bp the coarse textured basal deposits of the low terrace apparently stem from the early part of the middle pleniglaciai period during which the effective rainfall in the andes was relatively high and the andean glaciers had a considerable extension palynological data from silty sediments with organic remains at one site show an interval when drier and more open types of vegetation on poor soils must have covered a larger area than today but amazonian forest was still the dominating type of vegetation this interval might correspond to one of the middle pleniglacial savanna intervals from eastern amazonia carajas no organic sediments from the upper pleniglacial period were found and hence radiocarbon dates were not obtained in the andes this period had a very cold climate with low effective rainfall and in the east amazonian carajas area it is characterised by the relative extension of open savanna vegetation the river run off and sediment transport must have been much lower than in the middle pleniglacial and the caqueta river cut itself down in its own sediments two late glacial radiocarbon datings obtained at one site ca 12 500 yr bp indicate the existence of a late glacial sedimentation phase separated from the holocene sequence by a minor erosional phase organic layers in the holocene floodplain sediments yielded 28 radiocarbon dates between 10 000 and 355 yr bp holocene sedimentation started with the rapid deposition of sandy clay possibly in a partly permanently inundated caqueta valley during the major part of the holocene silty clays were deposited with a dominant seasonal inundation cycle

paleoenvironmental insights into the quaternary evolution of the southern brazilian coast based on fossil and modern diatom assemblages abstract diatom assemblages provide a strong basis for detailed interpretations of paleoceanography and diatom paleoecology of the southern brazilian coast nine cores obtained in the coastal plain shelf and continental slope and thirteen surface sediment samples of the patos lagoon provide an excellent opportunity to use a paleoecological approach to study detailed quaternary environmental changes in the southern coasts in the interval studied the basin sedimentation occurred in a marine dominated environment related to humid periods prior to 43 500 year bp abundant diatom taxa are highlighted as excellent indicators of environmental changes including salinity sediment composition and transport by incised valleys providing additional insights into coastal evolution paralia sulcata is dominant in all analyzed cores occurring continuously from late pleistocene to holocene but is rare in the modern sediments non marine diatom assemblages occurred continuously but in very low densities in periods before and after the last glacial maximum abrupt changes in sedimentation have been recorded related to shifts from marine dominated to shallow estuarine deposition during the holocene sea level rose rapidly which is responsible for the progressive coastal flooding prior to 8420 7930 year bp the holocene barrier system became more continuous and patos lagoon developed consequently the secondary former inlets from the jacui and camaqua rivers are closed and only one single inlet rio grande channel remains active the spatial distribution of modern assemblages is controlled by salinity gradient wind action and climate forcing the bottom sediments of patos lagoon are dominated by freshwater diatom aulacoseira veraluciae aulacoseira sp 2 and marine estuarine species of cyclotella litoralis

late pleistocene climate change and erosion in the santa maria basin nw argentina present erosion and sediment flux in the semiarid intra montane santa maria basin nw argentina are compared with con ditions during a period of wetter and more variable climate at about 30 000 14 c yr ago the results suggest that the influence of climate change on the overall erosional sediment budget is significant mainly because of a change in the erosion regime coupled with an increase in mass movements the most effective mechanism to increase landslide activity in this environment is a highly variable climate on interannual timescales in contrast quaternary changes in erosional budgets due to variations in moisture regimes is small in the santa maria basin because the magnitude of a potential increase in background erosion as well as enhanced landsliding is smaller than typical levels of uncer tainty of erosional budgets for such large basins it is not likely that climate driven erosional unloading can influence tectonic style and rates in this semiarid environment on time scales of several thousands to a few tens of thousands of years

formation of landslide dammed lakes during a wet period between 40 000 and 25 000 yr b p in northwestern argentina abstract new ams radiocarbon data from the deposits of landslide dammed lakes in the santa maria basin 26 s 66 w and the quebrada del toro 25 s 66 w in the eastern argentine cordillera show that important mass movements occurred during a wet period between 40 000 and 25 000 yr b p in addition to increased humidity during this time detailed analysis of annual layered lacustrine strata suggests enhanced inter and intra annual fluctuations in precipitation as compared to the present variations in sediment characteristics and diatom assemblages with mean periodicities of 2 to 5 and 10 to 14 years respectively suggest an influence of the el nino southern oscillation enso and the atlantic sea surface temperature dipole the atlantic dipole slightly increased rainfall every 10 14 years as at present in contrast the weak modern enso influence in this area differs from the past situation where rainfall increased significantly with enso type periodicities both increased humidity and seasonality are believed to have reduced thresholds for the generation of catastrophic mass movements in northwestern argentina

southern oscillation signal in south american palaeoclimatic data of the last 7000 years abstract during strong el nino events rainfall anomalies and changes in wind patterns are observed in different regions of south america along the central brazilian coast during the 1983 el nino year the frontal systems were blocked to the south provoking a reversal of the longshore sand transport long duration reversals of longshore transport were also recorded in holocene beach ridge terraces from the rio doce coastal plain this led to the formulation of a model relating these reversals of longshore transport to el nino like conditions el nino like conditions are past average climate situations that generate the same perturbations as the strong el nino events observed during the last decade they are likely to correspond to the long duration low phase of the southern oscillation to confirm this hypothesis we compared the holocene beach ridge record with other palaeoenvironmental records from regions where strong el nino events would have a substancial signal as well 1 water level fluctuations of lake titicaca 2 a pollen and sediment record in an eastern amazonian lake 3 changes of the rio xingu discharge in eastern amazonia and 4 variations of sand supply at the rio piura and rio chira outlets in the sechura desert the occurrences of el nino like conditions were numerous before 3900 3600 yr b p absent between 39003600 and 2800 2500 yr b p and infrequent after 2800 2500 yr b p

rodent paleofaunas as indicators of climatic change in europe during the last 125 000 years abstract this paper presents a quantitative reconstruction of the european late pleistocene paleoclimate based on 72 rodent assemblages of five sequences from france germany and bulgaria covering the last interglacial glacial cycle they show a pattern of severe changes in temperature with reduced precipitation during the coldest periods a tentative correlation between the isotopic and palynological records and the paleotemperature changes is shown these changes are consistent with variations in atmospheric circulation patterns in response to an expanding retracting fennoscandian ice sheet they can be attributed to the enhancement weakening of the scandinavian polar anticyclone and its associated dry winds the south north shifting of the north atlantic polar front and the varying supply of moist air from the atlantic qualitative paleoenvironmental analysis shows broadleaved deciduous forests in france and bulgaria during most of the studied period taiga and tundra appeared in eastern france during the lower wurm the german sequence indicates the presence of coniferous forests these results are broadly consistent with other paleobiological records mammalian avian and insect faunas isotopic record in dental tissue palynology the main discrepancies with the paleoclimate inferred from the palynological record are found during the coldest periods and are probably due to the interaction between vegetation climate and atmospheric co2 levels

paleoenvironmental reconstruction of the lower mogi guacu river basin sao paulo state brazil morphopedosedimentary records and fluvial processes abstract the mogi guacu river rises in bom repouso minas gerais state brazil in the mantiqueira ridge and flows into the rio pardo river at an elevation of 483 m in pontal sao paulo state brazil after running a 530 km long course especially along the lower mogi guacu basin the river morphology is extremely sinuous characterized by intense processes of channel migration avulsion abandonment and reactivation of the channel producing an extensive alluvial plain composed of a series of associated relief forms and sedimentary facies among these forms point bar deposits by lateral accretion abandoned meanders paleo channels and fluvial terraces are notable features in this sense the objective of this work was to investigate whether these features could be linked to environmental changes to reach this goal soil properties of a catena of the jatai ecological station luiz antonio sao paulo state were analyzed in four sectors slope terrace i terrace ii and alluvial plain the results from grain size determination geochemical and isotopic studies dating paleopalynology coal fragments and micromorphology are presented in this paper from these analyses a paleo environmental evolution divided in three stages is proposed for the area 130 000 ybp upper pleistocene when the mogi guacu river base level was approximately 6 m above the present one a drier second phase 10 250 years bp lower holocene when an organic horizon was formed inside of an abandoned meander oxbow lake and a third phase 2096 ybp upper holocene of reactivation of a warm and humid climate that promoted the development of a two meters thick typic udifluvent in a sector where the mogi guacu river no more floods due to the incision of its thalweg reaching more than six meters depth in the last 130 000 years bp thus this paper used a fluvial geomorphologic approach and its interplay with climate to understand how the landscape was shaped from upper pleistocene to holocene however neotectonics might have played a relevant role as well not only in the mogi guacu river basin but also in the parana sedimentary basin

the timing and nature of late quaternary vegetation changes in the northern great plains usa and canada a re assessment of the spruce phase abstract this paper revises the chronology for the northward migration of picea glauca white spruce across the northern great plains following the recession of the laurentide ice sheet and reinterprets the species composition and structure of the late glacial vegetation on the basis of pollen and plant macrofossil analysis the timing of spruce migration is based on 26 14 c ages obtained from picea macrofossils the date for the appearance of white spruce in southern south dakota usa remains unchanged 12 600 14 c yr bp ca 15 000 cal yr bp but its arrival in southern saskatchewan canada by 10 300 14 c yr bp ca 12 100 cal yr bp is about 1500 years later than previously estimated based on an organic sediment date picea glauca thus migrated northwards at an average rate of 0 38 km 14 c year 0 30 km calendar year significantly slower than the previously published rate of 2 km 14 c year white spruce trees probably inhabited lake shorelines whereas prairie parkland and boreal plants occupied both lowlands and uplands forming an open white spruce parkland this interpretation differs from a previous reconstruction of a boreal type spruce forest and thus offers another paleoclimatic interpretation precipitation was probably low and summer temperatures relatively mild averaging about 19 c

holocene dryness and human occupation in brazil during the archaic gap an overview of the archaeological data produced over the last decades for brazil coupled with a background of recent paleoenvironmental studies suggests that during the mid holocene vast areas of central brazil ceased to be occupied by human groups independent data from dated human skeletons rock shelter stratigraphy and chronology of open air sites converge to support the inference that these areas were depopulated or altogether abandoned paleoenvironmental data suggest that dryness events constitute the major cause behind the observed trends this phenomenon expands the already perceived notion that climatic stresses had a major role in the shaping of human settlement patterns in marginal environments such as deserts and high altitude settings

desert stream sequences in the sinai peninsula abstract desert sedimentary sequences of late quaternary age mainly subrecent were studied in several stream segments of wadi el arish northern sinai egypt morphologically these stream systems can be divided into three types confined open and terminal floodplains the confined and open floodplain sequences consist of repeated flood originated sedimentation units each around 50 cm thick an idealized sequence begins with mud clasts or either sand or pebble bearing plane beds reflecting the upper flow regime during peak flow stage of the flood these are overlain by cross bedded sands and climbing ripples lower intensities of the flow result in sequences beginning with cross stratified sands cracked mud layers represent the final desiccation stage of the flood in comparison with th confined floodplain units the open up to thousands of meters wide floodplain units are thinner 20 50 cm the horizontal strata are less developed and the mud layers are thicker the terminal floodplain which in the modern examples is a flat a few kilometers wide is the area where the remaining flood energy dissipates and therefore the resultant sedimentation units axe very thin usually less than 20 cm and consist of either finely laminated massive mud or cross laminated fine sand the wadi systems studied are in close geographic relationship with eolian dune fields nevertheless the wadi sequences consist of waterlaid units only

multiple landslide clusters record quaternary climate changes in the northwestern argentine andes the chronology of multiple landslide deposits and related lake sediments in the semi arid eastern argentine cordillera suggests that major mass movements cluster in two time periods during the quaternary i e between 40 and 25 and after 5 14 c kyr bp these clusters may correspond to the minchin maximum at around 28 27 14 c kyr bp and titicaca wet periods after 3 9 14 c kyr bp the more humid conditions apparently caused enhanced landsliding in this environment in contrast no landslide related damming and associated lake sediments occurred during the coipasa 11 5 10 14 c yr bp and tauca wet periods 14 5 11 14 c yr bp the two clusters at 40 25 and after 5 14 c kyr bp may correspond to periods where the el nin o southern oscillation enso and tropical atlantic sea surface temperature variability tav were active this however was not the case during the coipasa and tauca wet periods lake balance modelling of a landslide dammed lake suggests a 10 15 increase in precipitation and a 3 4 c decrease in temperature at v30 14 c kyr bp as compared to the present in addition time series analysis reveals a strong enso and tav during that time the landslide clusters in northwestern argentina are therefore best explained by periods of more humid and more variable climates 2003 elsevier science b v all rights reserved

late quaternary spatio temporal limnological variations in the altiplano of bolivia and peru abstract between the western and eastern andean cordilleras in peru and bolivia there are three main lacustrine basins lake titicaca lake poopo and the group of coipasa uyuni for the past few millennia highly variable environmental conditions have been recorded in their sediments today a latitudinal meteorological gradient influences the lakes status leading to specific deposits and ostracod communities lake titicaca in the north is oligohaline whereas lake poopo further south is polyhaline in the south the coipasa uyuni depression is characterized by a 12 000 km2 surficial salt crust during the late pleistocene ca 40 000 to 25 000 yr b p the water depth and salinity in paleolake poopo fluctuated widely and paleolake titicaca was slightly larger than at present sedimentation was mostly biocarbonate in the shallower areas and it was detrital organic in the deepest zones during the holocene a dry period transformed lake poopo into a salar with evaporite precipitation lake titicaca registered a large decline in water level 8100 3600 yr b p initially inducing gypsum precipitation followed by short influxes of water with an ostracod faunal composition similar to that of the modern brines of lake poopo lake titicacas present condition only appeared between 2200 and 1500 yr b p

late quaternary environmental changes and the alluvial record in humid tropical environments abstract ice core and ocean drilling records now confirm the evidence from lakes rivers and mires concerning temperature depression in the humid tropics during the lgm by at least 5 c on land and this accords with the recent ccm1 model output there is less agreement about fluctuation in precipitation amount intensity and seasonality during the late quaternary pollen records remain indeterminate because of the absence of sites in lowland rainforest locations and a widespread hiatus in sedimentation spanning the lgm alluvial sediments have often been ignored by specialists from other disciplines but they also provide a valuable source of palaeoenvironmental information that reflects catchment wide conditions current evidence shows that prolonged sedimentation took place in stage 3 at sites in s america and se asia and this was followed by incision for up to 9 ka spanning the lgm streams either produced little sediment or were characterised by braided channels and sometimes fan deposits until the transition towards an interglacial mode took place after 12 700 bp 14 c in many places this transition was marked by large floods incision and deposition of coarse sediment but as the holocene climates stabilised and fluctuations of runoff reduced in amplitude so meandering rivers developed floodplains with thick overbank silts and clays these changes have regional and intercontinental patterns not everywhere identical in bracketing dates but demonstrating major changes to the fluvial systems as a result of profound changes to the hydrology of forested tropics during the last 60 ka

pollen response surface estimates of late quaternary changes in the moisture balance of the northeastern united states abstract quantitative estimates of late quaternary climate in the northeastern united states are reconstructed from fossil pollen data to evaluate changes in the regional moisture balance inferred from water level fluctuations we use environmental response surfaces to calibrate modern pollen data for 17 different taxa to an index of effective soil moisture and mean annual precipitation we apply these response surfaces to fossil pollen data from 60 sites in the region to reconstruct changes in soil moisture and mean annual precipitation at 3000 yr intervals from 12 000 yr b p to present the mapped reconstructions of soil moisture and mean annual precipitation illustrate how the regional moisture balance of the northeast may have changed over the last 12 000 yr in response to changing climate reconstructions of annual precipitation show a gradual increase from 30 below modern values at 12 000 yr b p to near modern values by 6000 yr b p and then remain relatively constant thereafter reconstructed changes in the index of effective soil moisture however show a pattern of near modern values at 12 000 6000 and 3000 yr b p with significantly lower values estimated for 9000 yr b p the time of maximum pine pollen abundances in the northeast this pattern of change is similar to the change in regional moisture balance inferred from stratigraphic records of water level fluctuations these results confirm previous interpretations based on records of water level fluctuations that conditions in the northeast were significantly drier during the early to middle holocene than at other times during the last 12 000 yr

stratigraphy of near valley head quaternary deposits and evidence of climate driven slope channel processes in southern brazilian highlands abstract during the past 40 years colluvial and alluvial deposits have been used in brazil as good indicators of regional landscape sensitivity to quaternary environmental changes in spite of the low resolution of most of the continental sedimentary record geomorphology and sedimentology may favor palaeoenvironmental interpretation when supported by independent proxy data this paper presents results obtained from pedostratigraphic sequences in near valley head sites of southern brazilian highlands based on geomorphologic sedimentologic micromorphologic isotopic and palynologic data results point to environmental changes with ages that coincide with marine isotopic stages mis 5b 3 2 and 1 during the late pleistocene although under temperatures and precipitation lower than today the local record points to relatively wet local environments where shallow soil water saturated zones contributed to erosion and sedimentation during periods of climatic change as during the transition between mis 2 and mis 1 late pleistocene events with ages that coincide with the northern hemisphere younger dryas are also depicted during the mid holocene slope wash deposits suggest a climate drier than today probably under the influence of seasonally contrasted precipitation regimes the predominance of overland flow related sedimentary deposits suggests an excess of precipitation over evaporation that influenced local palaeohydrology this environmental condition seems to be recurrent and explains how slope morphology had influenced pedogenesis and sedimentation in the study area due to relative sensitiveness resilience and short source to sink sedimentary pathways near valley head sites deserve further attention in quaternary studies in the humid tropics

major environmental changes recorded by lacustrine sedimentary organic matter since the last glacial maximum near the equator lagoa do caco ne brazil sediment samples collected along a 6 m core drilled in the deepest part of the lagoa do caco ne brazil have been investigated in order to determine source s and degradation conditions of the organic matter om with special emphasis on paleoenvironmental implications bulk organic geochemistry rock eval pyrolysis c n determination 13c and 15n measurement and petrography combined with sedimentological evidence and radiocarbon dates allowed to identify four major intervals documenting major environmental changes that occurred during the last 20 000 years the first interval dating back to the end of the last glacial maximum lgm contains well preserved om derived from higher plants this material was most probably produced in an ephemeral palustrine system and rapidly buried by sands this level is thought to have been deposited under relatively arid climate conditions associated with strong but episodic rainfalls between 19 240 and 17 250 cal years bp the climate appears to have been more humid and seasonality more pronounced as suggested by the presence of a permanent lake after a drastic environmental change dating back to 17 250 cal years bp the sediment became truly lacustrine with restricted mineral input and highly degraded higher plant derived organic matter after that a stepwise improvement in the preservation of om occurred as revealed by several pronounced shifts in the rock eval tps2 signal these changes could document abrupt climatically driven changes during the late glacial finally around 5610 cal years bp environmental conditions approaching those prevailing today were established minor climatic changes during the holocene were probably buffered by a high water table which might explain the lack of paleoenvironmental fluctuations

quantitative estimation of bioclimatic parameters from presence absence vegetation data in north america by the modern analog technique abstract the method of modern analogs is widely used to obtain estimates of past climatic conditions from paleobiological assemblages and despite its frequent use this method involved so far untested assumptions we applied four analog approaches to a continental scale set of bioclimatic and plant distribution presence absence data for north america to assess how well this method works under near optimal modern conditions for each point on the grid we calculated the similarity between its vegetation assemblage and those of all other points on the grid excluding nearby points the climate of the points with the most similar vegetation was used to estimate the climate at the target grid point estimates based the use of the jaccard similarity coefficient had smaller errors than those based on the use of a new similarity coefficient although the latter may be more robust because it does not assume that the fossil assemblage is complete the results of these analyses indicate that presence absence vegetation assemblages provide a valid basis for estimating bioclimates on the continental scale however the accuracy of the estimates is strongly tied to the number of species in the target assemblage and the analog method is necessarily constrained to produce estimates that fall within the range of observed values we applied the four modern analog approaches and the mutual overlap or mutual climatic range method to estimate bioclimatic conditions represented by the plant macrofossil assemblage from a packrat midden of last glacial maximum age from southern nevada in general the estimation approaches produced similar results in regard to moisture conditions but there was a greater range of estimates for growing degree days despite its limitations the modern analog technique can provide paleoclimatic reconstructions that serve as the starting point to the interpretation of past climatic conditions

fluvial perturbance in the western amazon basin regulation by long term sub andean tectonics haffer s refuge theory proposes that during the arid climatic phases of the late pleistocene tropical lowland forests of amazonia were reduced to isolated patches contributing to the high species richness of the present day forest the theory was developed because no obvious historic or modern geomorphic isolation barriers were recorded in amazonia analyses of radar images combined with stratigraphical data show that in the basinal forelands of the tectonically active andes the geological setting causes long term fluvial perturbance this leads to a temporally structured highly complex mosaic of fossil and present floodplains these dynamics have been present with varying activity and geographic range during the tertiary and quaternary providing site turnover that has not been recognized by the biogeographic tradition of the amazon basin

paleoecological and archaeological implications of a late pleistocene early holocene record of vegetation and climate from the pacific coastal plain of panama abstract a phytolith record from monte oscuro a crater lake located 10 m above sea level on the pacific coastal plain of panama shows that during the late pleistocene the lake bed was dry and savanna like vegetation expanded at the expense of tropical deciduous forest the modern potential vegetation a significant reduction of precipitation below current levels was almost certainly required to effect the changes observed core sediment characteristics indicate that permanent inundation of the monte oscuro basin with water occurred at about 10 500 14c yr b p pollen and phytolith records show that deciduous tropical forest expanded into the lake s watershed during the early holocene significant burning of the vegetation and increases of weedy plants at ca 7500 to 7000 14c yr b p indicate disturbance which most likely resulted from early human occupation of the seasonal tropical forest near monte oscuro and the development of slash and burn methods of cultivation

late quaternary aeolian dunes on the presently humid blue mountains eastern australia abstract sand dunes on the newnes plateau 1000 m a s l west of sydney were active during the last glacial maximum the scattered sand dunes are forested under the modern humid temperate climate regime dune types range from parabolic to transverse lee dunes and sand sheets or patches all point to the presence of conditions marginal for aeolian activity made possible through wind acceleration on windward slopes ready sand supply from the weathered sandstone of the plateau and sparse vegetation cover modern climate envelopes of sand dune activity in australia predict that unrealistically drier conditions are necessary to allow wind transport at this site only additional impediments to plant growth such as lower temperature and lower atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations appear to allow the necessary conditions for dune formation these observations and conclusions extend our understanding of the extremes of the lgm climate in humid eastern australia confirming that the widespread treeless vegetation was also sparse even in areas that today have annual rainfall above 1000 mm

stable carbon and oxygen isotopes of pedogenic carbonates ajo mountains southern arizona implications for paleoenvironmental change abstract in this study we compare the stable isotope composition of late holocene pedogenic carbonate from a late holocene soil developed on the pediment below the ajo mountains in southern arizona usa with measurements of the 18 o of the soil water throughout the seasonal cycle and with 18 o and 13 c measurements on older dated soils the comparison with the soil water composition shows that the pedogenic carbonate is forming in equilibrium with highly evaporated soil water at the highest summer temperatures the 13 c of the carbonate apparently reflects equilibrium with co 2 of an isotopic composition consistent with the present mixture of c3 desert shrubs and cam cactus comparison with glacial period soil carbonates shows that there has been little change in the 18 o but that the 13 c was about 4 5 heavier independent evidence indicates that glacial period summer temperatures were probably much cooler and that the 18 o of precipitation was also lighter the increase in the carbonate water fractionation factor with decreasing temperature probably counteracted the decrease in the 18 o of precipitation producing little net change in the 18 o of the soil carbonate we attribute the decrease in the 13 c to replacement of a glacial period c4 grassland by holocene c3 cam desert shrubs and succulents this replacement was probably in response to an increase in temperature and reduction in summer precipitation at the end of the last glacial period the 13 c of older soil carbonates indicates that landscape was dominated by grassland for most of the past 700 ka and that the present vegetation likely represents a relatively brief anomaly

late quaternary climate history of the bolivian altiplano abstract sediment cores and outcrops from the bolivian altiplano are used to interpret late pleistocene holocene paleoclimates and lake evolution based on a multi proxy approach ostracod content palynology sedimentology and radiocarbon dating despite the different sensitivity of the lacustrine basins to environmental changes interpreting the records in terms of paleohydrology climate and more especially timing of events is difficult notwithstanding these problems lake titicaca in the north and lake pocoyu lake poopo salars of coipasa and uyuni in the south reveal a similar evolution in general trends through the course of time during the minchin phase until 30 26 kyr bp the altiplano was wetter than present the last glacial maximum ca 26 14 kyr bp marked by cooler drier conditions was followed by a return to a wetter climate interrupted by short arid events between ca 14 and 10 5 kyr bp another cycle of aridity between 10 5 and 8 kyr bp took place abruptly just after the humid tauca phase the mid holocene is interpreted as climatically unstable with an alternation of humid and dry episodes since 3 9 kyr bp wetter conditions have persisted and intensified to the present the data are interpreted in terms of changes in inter tropical convergence zone extension summer precipitation and in polar air mass intensity winter precipitation

late pleistocene temperature depression and vegetation change in ecuadorian amazonia abstract paleoecological pollen phytolith and wood analyses of sediments radiocarbon dated 33 000 to 26 000 yr b p from two sites in ecuadorian amazonia provide data that suggest a cooling of ca 7 5 c below present in equatorial lowlands from 33 000 to 30 000 yr b p a period of warning followed in which novel species assemblages a blend of montane and lowland floral components persisted for at least 4000 years these data of forest community change from sites lying within the postulated glacial rain forest napo refugium provide the strongest paleoecological refutation of the refugial hypothesis yet obtained the large temperature depression at ca 30 000 yr b p allows the possibility that if maximum cooling at the equator was synchronous with the last glacial maximum lgm of the northern hemisphere freezing temperatures would have been experienced in parts of lowland amazonia between 25 000 and 18 000 b p

physiological significance of low atmospheric co2 for plant climate interactions abstract methods of palaeoclimate reconstruction from pollen are built upon the assumption that plant climate interactions remain the same through time or that these interactions are independent of changes in atmospheric co 2 the latter may be problematic because air trapped in polar ice caps indicates that atmospheric co 2 has fluctuated significantly over at least the past 400 000 yr and likely the last 1 6 million yr three other points indicate potential biases for vegetation based climate proxies first c 3 plant physiological research shows that the processes that determine growth optima in plants photosynthesis mitochondrial respiration photorespiration are all highly co 2 dependent and thus were likely affected by the lower co 2 levels of the last glacial maximum second the ratio of carbon assimilation per unit transpiration called water use efficiency is sensitive to changes in atmospheric co 2 through effects on stomatal conductance and may have altered c 3 plant responses to drought third leaf gas exchange experiments indicate that the response of plants to carbon depleting environmental stresses are strengthened under low co 2 relative to today this paper reviews the scope of research addressing the consequences of low atmospheric co 2 for plant and ecosystem processes and highlights why consideration of the physiological effects of low atmospheric co 2 on plant function is recommended for any future refinements to pollen based palaeoclimatic reconstructions

comparing modern and pleistocene enso like influences in nw argentina using nonlinear time series analysis methods higher variability in rainfall and river discharge could be of major importance in landslide generation in the northwestern argentine andes annual layered varved deposits of a landslide dammed lake in the santa maria basin 26 s 66 w with an age of 30 000 14c years provide an archive of precipitation variability during this time the comparison of these data with present day rainfall observations tests the hypothesis that increased rainfall variability played a major role in landslide generation a potential cause of such variability is the el nino southern oscillation enso the causal link between enso and local rainfall is quantified by using a new method of nonlinear data analysis the quantitative analysis of cross recurrence plots crp this method seeks similarities in the dynamics of two different processes such as an ocean atmosphere oscillation and local rainfall our analysis reveals significant similarities in the statistics of both modern and palaeo precipitation data the similarities in the data suggest that an enso like influence on local rainfall was present at around 30 000 14c years ago increased rainfall which was inferred from a lake balance modeling in a previous study together with enso like cyclicities could help to explain the clustering of landslides at around 30 000 14c years ago

european vegetation during marine oxygen isotope stage 3 european vegetation during representative warm and cold intervals of stage 3 was inferred from pollen analytical data the inferred vegetation differs in character and spatial pattern from that of both fully glacial and fully interglacial conditions and exhibits contrasts between warm and cold intervals consistent with other evidence for stage 3 palaeoenvironmental fluctuations european vegetation thus appears to have been an integral component of millennial environmental fluctuations during stage 3 vegetation responded to this scale of environmental change and through feedback mechanisms may have had effects upon the environment the pollen inferred vegetation was compared with vegetation simulated using the biome 3 5 vegetation model for climatic conditions simulated using a regional climate model regcm2 nested within a coupled global climate and vegetation model genesis biome despite some discrepancies in detail both approaches capture the principal features of the present vegetation of europe the simulated vegetation for stage 3 differs markedly from that inferred from pollen analytical data implying substantial discrepancy between the simulated climate and that actually prevailing sensitivity analyses indicate that the simulated climate is too warm and probably has too short a winter season these discrepancies may reflect incorrect specification of sea surface temperature or sea ice conditions and may be exacerbated by vegetation climate feedback in the coupled global model

late quaternary environmental and climatic changes in central brazil paleoenvironmental changes dating back to 30 000 yr b p documented in a pollen record from central brazil lat 19 s permit the reconstruction of climatic changes related to shifts of the antarctic polar fronts the paleoclimatic inferences were obtained by a study of modern vegetation and pollen distribution taking into account present day climatic parameters at 30 000 yr b p the climate must have been warmer and moister than today judging from the high amount of tree pollen taxa characteristic of floodplain forest from 17 000 to 14 000 yr b p the climate was drier although tree pollen percentages were relatively high after 12 000 yr b p araucaria forest elements increased suggesting a moister and cooler climate the araucaria forest disappeared during a short interval between 11 000 and 10 000 yr b p this could be related to the younger dryas event at the beginning of the holocene the climate became cool and moist again as indicated by the reexpansion of the araucaria forest the latter was progressively replaced by a mesophytic semideciduous forest indicating warmer and drier climate after 8500 yr b p at 5000 yr b p an arid interval was followed by the expansion of mesophytic semideciduous forest elements

radiocarbon reservoir effect and the timing of the late glacial early holocene humid phase in the atacama desert northern chile we revise substantially the regional chronology of lake level fluctuations from the late glacial early holocene humid phase along a high altitude transect 3500 to 4500 m between 18 s and 28 s in the southwestern altiplano of northern chile radiocarbon dates and 210pb profiles for limnic and terrestrial materials allow us to estimate and justify reservoir correction values for conventional 14c dates our chronology suggests that the latest pleistocene early holocene humid phase started between 13 000 and 12 000 14c yr b p and that maximum lake levels were reached between 10 800 and 9200 14c yr b p this is significantly younger than what has been established so far for the titicaca uyuni basin in bolivia the paleolakes disappeared sometime between 8400 and 8000 14c yr b p our revised chronology agrees with the regional history of human occupation and is broadly synchronous with vegetation changes in subtropical continental south america and with the onset of wetland expansion in the northern hemisphere tropics

late quaternary stream sedimentation in the humid tropics a review with new data from ne queensland australia there is now a wide agreement that temperature depression in the humid tropics during the last glacial maximum lgm was at least 5 c most estimates of precipitation reduction at the lgm range from 25 30 to 50 65 based on proxy data but the recent ccm1 model envisages only around 12 dates obtained from river sediments indicate major changes to fluvial activity in the late quaternary isotope zone 3 sediments 58 28 ka bp are widespread and possibly indicate cooler conditions post 28 ka bp and certainly post 21 ka bp river regimes altered radically towards fan building braiding or major reduction in all activity this paper reports on fan formation in ne queensland between 26 and 14 ka bp and reviews evidence for comparable changes in humid tropical areas of s america w africa and se asia including records of holocene sedimentation within a global rhythm of major changes to river regimes in the humid tropics during the late quaternary it is now possible to detect regional variations in stream response to climatic change at the lgm reductions in stream power may have led to fan formation in ne queensland while vegetation changes may have contributed to increased sediment loads and braiding in some forest marginal areas but in w africa greater aridity may have been responsible for enfeebled streams leaving few records channel cutting then deposition of coarse sediment in braided rivers marked the transition to the early holocene in w africa and fans became entrenched in ne queensland this regime persisted until forest recovery was complete by 9 5 8 5 ka bp when widespread overbank deposition occurred and a change towards meandering channels took place widely across the humid tropical zone followed by several cut and fill episodes in the middle and late holocene

the co2 concentration of air trapped in gisp2 ice from the last glacial maximum holocene transition measurements of the co2 concentration of air trapped in greenland ice sheet project two ice show an increase from approximately 190 ppm to 270 ppm during the 8000 years between the end of the last glacial maximum and the beginning of the holocene this increase is in agreement with other parallel records from both greenland and antarctica although the gisp2 data exhibit considerable variability over periods as small as 50 100 years and show that co2 can be affected by processes occurring within the ice after bubble formation the in situ reactions which contribute to the modification of the concentrations of paleoatmospheric co2 may include both co2 uptake as well as co2 production the existence of two major episodes of co2 enrichment in addition to the variability of the data prevents a precise determination of the progression of the increase in atmospheric co2 although the 80 ppm rise between 18 0 kybp and 10 4 kybp is evident these results strongly suggest that some intervals of the gisp2 co2 record must be interpreted in the context of the chemical composition of the ice and that records of atmospheric co2 in polar ice can be considered accurate only if the ice is either essentially carbonate free or contains abundant carbonate