correlation of fluvial sequences in the mediterranean basin over the last 200 ka and their relationship to climate change macklin mark fuller i c lewin j maas g a 2002 correlation of fluvial sequences in the mediterranean basin over the last 200 ka and their relationship to climate change quaternary science reviews 21 14 15 pp 1633 1641 rae2008

spherulites in calcrete laminar crusts biogenic caco 3 precipitation as a major contributor to crust formation abstract spherulites calcitic fibro radial spherulitic polycrystals are a major component of calcite layers in quaternary calcrete laminar crusts to explain the formation of spherulites petrographic and chemical studies were performed on pleistocene calcrete laminar crusts holocene biological crusts and laboratory in vitro cultures of cyanobacterial strains spherulites were found to be formed of acicular and radiating crystals either smooth and regular edged or twisted and irregular edged spherulites were composed of low mg calcite the concentration of mg in the spherulites increasing from nucleus to periphery the shape and chemistry of the in vitro spherulites and laminar crust spherulites were identical the structure elementary crystal shape and size of spherul tes can be used to differentiate them from microcodium with which they are commonly confused in the literature spherulite genesis can be linked to cyanobacterial activity involving photosynthetic uptake of hco 3 leading to caco3 precipitation the bicarbonate causing release of equivalent amounts of oh in the mucilaginous sheath the main steps in cyanobacteria biomineralization producing spherulites are 1 uptake of co2 and or hco 3 from the medium as the inorganic carbon source for photosynthesis 2 release of oh in the sheath 3 carbonate ion formation resulting from the reaction of oh and hco 3 followed by 4 caco3 precipitation this process involves two steps in desert environments during dry spells the cyanobacterial mat calcifies leading to spherulite production and the fo mation of thin clear microsparitic layers during wet periods a thin sedimentary deposit forms mixing micrite detrital particles and inherited or new tiny spherulites with the mucilaginous mat of cyanobacteria which traps all of this material an organo micritic layer forms during the following dry spell the process is repeated and the laminar crust is formed in conclusion the presence of spherulites in the laminar crust is indicative of subaerial exposure the crust being a terrestrial stromatolite

the pliocene initiation and early pleistocene volcanic disruption of the palaeo gediz fluvial system western turkey in this paper we report our latest observations concerning a pliocene and early pleistocene record from western turkey the sedimentary sequence described comprises the fluvial deposits of an early pleistocene palaeo gediz river system and its tributaries prior to the onset of volcanism around kula and the subsequent lacustrine volcaniclastic and fluvial deposits associated with the first phase of volcanism similar to 1 2 ma in this area early development of an east west drainage system in this area resulted from tectonic adjustments to north south extension and the formation of east west oriented grabens headward erosion of drainage entering the main alasehir graben led to the progressive capture of pre existing drainage systems as eastward headward erosion upstream tapped drainage networks previously formed in internally draining nne ssw oriented basins within one of these the selendi basin part of this evolutionary sequence is preserved as a buried river terrace sequence eleven terraces are preserved beneath alluvial fan sediments that are in turn capped by basaltic lava flows using the available geochronology these terraces are considered to represent sedimentation incision cycles which span the period similar to 1 67 1 2 ma although progressive valley incision is a fluvial system response to regional uplift the frequency of terrace formation within this time period suggests that the terrace formation resulted from sediment water supply changes a consequence of obliquity driven climate changes the production of sub parallel terraces suggests that during this period the river was able to attain a quasi equilibrium longitudinal profile adjusted to the regional uplift rate thus the incision rate of 0 16 mm a 1 during this period is believed to closely mirror the regional uplift rate after the onset of volcanism at similar to 1 2 ma there is a destruction of the dynamic link between fluvial system behaviour and climate change the repeated damming of the trunk river and its tributaries led to the construction of complex stratigraphic relationships during the first phase of volcanism the palaeo gediz river was dammed on numerous occasions leading to the formation of a series of lakes upstream of the dams in the palaeo gediz valley variations in lake level forced localised base level changes that resulted in complex fluvial system response and considerable periods of disequilibrium in profile adjustment furthermore response to these base level changes most likely disrupted the timing of the incisional adjustment to the on going regional uplift thus making the use of this part of the archive for inferring regional uplift rates untenable c 2007 elsevier ltd all rights reserved

catchment response to lava damming integrating field observation geochronology and landscape evolution modelling combining field reconstruction and landscape evolution modelling can be useful to investigate the relative role of different drivers on catchment response the geren catchment 45 km2 in western turkey is suitable for such a study as it has been influenced by uplift climate change and lava damming four middle pleistocene lava flows 40ar 39ar dated from 310 to 175 ka filled and dammed the gediz river at the gediz geren confluence resulting in base level fluctuations of the otherwise uplift driven incising river field reconstruction and luminescence dating suggest fluvial terraces in the geren catchment are capped by middle pleistocene aggradational fills this showed that incision of the geren trunk stream has been delayed until the end of mis 5 subsequently the catchment has responded to base level lowering since mis 4 by 30 m of stepped net incision field reconstruction left us with uncertainty on the main drivers of terrace formation therefore we used landscape evolution modelling to investigate catchment response to three scenarios of base level change i uplift with climate change rainfall and vegetation based on arboreal pollen ii uplift climate change and short lived damming events iii uplift climate and long lived damming events outputs were evaluated for erosion aggradation evolution in trunk streams at two different distances from the catchment outlet climate influences erosion aggradation activity in the catchment although internal feedbacks influence timing and magnitude furthermore lava damming events partly control if and where these climate driven aggradations occur damming thus leaves a legacy on current landscape evolution catchment response to long duration damming events corresponds best with field reconstruction and dating the combination of climate and base level explains a significant part of the landscape evolution history of the geren catchment by combining model results with fieldwork additional conclusions on landscape evolution could be drawn

calcrete profile development in quaternary alluvial sequences southeast spain implications for using calcretes as a basis for landform chronologies a detailed study of the morphology and micro morphology of quaternary alluvial calcrete profiles from the sorbas basin shows that calcretes may be morphologically simple or complex the simple profiles reflect pedogenesis occurring after alluvial terrace formation and consist of a single pedogenic horizon near the land surface the complex profiles reflect the occurrence of multiple calcrete events during terrace sediment aggradation and further periods of pedogenesis after terrace formation these complex calcrete profiles are consequently described as composite profiles the exact morphology of the composite profiles depends upon 1 the number of calcrete forming events occurring during terrace sediment aggradation 2 the amount of sediment accretion that occurs between each period of calcrete formation and 3 the degree of pedogenesis after terrace formation simple calcrete profiles are most useful in establishing landform chronologies because they represent a single phase of pedogenesis after terrace formation composite profiles are more problematic pedogenic calcretes that form within them may inherit carbonate from calcrete horizons occurring lower down in the terrace sediments in addition erosion may lead to the exhumation of older calcretes within the terrace sediment calcrete inheritance may make pedogenic horizons appear more mature than they actually are and produce horizons containing carbonate embracing a range of ages calcrete exhumation exposes calcrete horizons whose morphology and radiometric ages are wholly unrelated to terrace surface age composite profiles are therefore only suitable for chronological studies if the pedogenic horizon capping the terrace sequence can be clearly distinguished from earlier calcrete forming events thus a detailed morphological micro morphological study is required before any chronological study is undertaken this is the only way to establish whether particular calcrete profiles are suitable for dating purposes copyright 2003 john wiley sons ltd

palaeoenvironmental significance of palustrine carbonates and calcretes in the geological record interest in palustrine carbonates and calcretes has increased over the last 20 years since they contain significant environmental information much of the work performed in this area has focused on either of two types of terrestrial carbonate palustrine carbonates or calcretes pedogenic and groundwater yet their simultaneous study shows there may be a gradual transition from one form to the other revealing the interplay between pedogenic sedimentary and diagenetic processes three main factors control the formation of these carbonates the position of the water table the host rock and the period of sub aerial exposure in pedogenic calcretes precipitation of carbonate takes places mostly in the vadose zone above the water table and within a previous host rock or sediment in groundwater calcretes the precipitation of carbonate also occurs within a previous host rock and around the groundwater table in palustrine carbonates however the precipitation of lime mud occurs in a lacustrine water body palustrine carbonates necessarily form on previous lacustrine mud whereas both types of calcretes may form on any type of sediment or soil the sub aerial exposure time needed to form palustrine carbonates may by relatively short even a season whereas pedogenic calcretes need more time several years to millions of years groundwater calcretes do not form on the topographic surfaces so there is no need of sub aerial exposure however stable surfaces favour the development of thick groundwater calcretes small fluctuations in the water table cause gradual transitions of these three types of terrestrial carbonates and the subsequent mixture of their characteristic features causing difficulties in the interpretation of these carbonates the formation of these carbonates is controlled by palaeoenvironmental factors both commonly form in semi arid climates arid climates are also suitable for calcretes but sub humid conditions are more suitable for palustrine carbonates more indications of climatic conditions may be obtained through the analysis of the d18o content of both calcretes and palustrine carbonates and from the depth of the horizon containing carbonate nodules in pedogenic calcretes vegetation is also important in the formation of these types of carbonates data on the prevailing vegetation can be obtained from the analysis of the micro and macrofabric as well as from the d13c signal of the primary carbonates which in pedogenic carbonates has also been used to estimate atmospheric pco2 during the phanerozoic these terrestrial carbonates are widely distributed on floodplains and distal areas of alluvial basins their presence and characteristics can be used as indicators of aggradation subsidence or accommodation rates and therefore as indicators of different tectonic regimes even though the study of these carbonates has notably increased in recent years much less is known about them than about marine carbonates presently there is much emphasis on obtaining a general model for sequence stratigraphy in terrestrial basins with a need to include the carbonates analysed in this paper

a new methodological approach to the taphonomic study of paleontological and archaeological faunal assemblages a preliminary case study from olduvai gorge tanzania abstract here we present a new analytical method that classifies bone damage patterns objectively and mathematically via a morphotypic definition taphotype of each long limb element and a bootstrapped correspondence analysis this enables statistically based classification and interpretations the accuracy of these interpretations depends on the accuracy of the analogical frameworks applied the new method shows that bone damage patterns differ according to carcass type and size they also differ depending on environmental conditions captive and wild carnivores the method is also useful to detect the type of carnivores involved in the modification of epiphyseal portions this opens the door to interpretations of hominin carnivore interactions and the resulting strategies of carcass acquisition strategies by hominins the application of the method to a sample of epiphyseal portions from two archaeological sites from olduvai gorge bk and flk n shows its potential resolution bk has been previously interpreted as a hominin carnivore assemblage whereas flk n has been interpreted as a felid accumulated assemblage the new method confirms these interpretations

the obliquity controlled early pleistocene terrace sequence of the gediz river western turkey a revised correlation and chronology the buried early pleistocene river terrace record of the gediz river around kula western turkey has previously been considered to span the time interval equivalent to marine isotope stages mis 58 37 c 1 6 1 2 ma with the frequency of terrace formation mirroring obliquity driven climate change whereas progressive pleistocene incision of the gediz river is seen as a response to regional uplift the timing of fluvial incision leading to terrace formation and subsequent new floodplain development is believed to be climate controlled with incision deposition cycles resulting from varying sediment discharge conditions a direct consequence of changing climate and related vegetation change new outcrop observations downstream of the original field area alongside recently published geochronological data and improved understanding of the volcanic sequence all now suggest that the previously published interpretation is incorrect here we present a revised stratigraphy based upon terrace gradients of c 0 004 0 005 previously 0 001 in which 11 terraces are identified but only terraces gt11 the oldest to gt6 pre lava incursion predate volcanism the available geochronology suggests that terraces gt6 post first lava incursion to gt1 relate to the time interval mis38 28 c 1 26 1 ma however despite penecontemporaneous volcanism terrace formation continues to reflect sediment discharge changes predominantly controlled by regional climate change

multiple climatic cycles imprinted on regional uplift controlled fluvial terraces in the lower yalong river and anning river se tibetan plateau abstract the development of fluvial systems on the southeastern margin of the tibetan plateau is linked to significant and rapid late cenozoic uplift the relatively complete fluvial terrace sequence preserved along the yalong river valley and that of its tributary the anning river provides an excellent archive for studying the development of terraces in rapidly uplifting mountainous areas this study reveals that terrace development is predominantly controlled by multiscale climate cycles and long term uplift as shown by terrace dating sedimentary characteristics and incision rates at least six alluvial terrace units were identified in 20 transverse sections through the terraces along about a 600 km length of river and were dated using electron spin resonance esr and optically stimulated luminescence osl the climatostratigraphic positions of the terrace deposits and their respective age constraints suggest that fluvial aggradation was concentrated during marine isotope stages mis 32 22 18 4 2 and the younger dryas yd and that incision occurred during the succeeding cold to warm transitions the changes in fluvial style marked by terraces 6 5 and 4 predominantly occurred in synchrony with the 100 ka milankovitch climate cycles while terraces 3 and 2 were controlled by the obliquity driven 41 ka climate cycles finally the aggradation of terrace t1 occurred in response to the yd stadial during the intervening time between 0 72 and 0 063 ma terraces either did not form or were not preserved which may suggest that uplift rates varied through time and influenced terrace formation preservation the progressive valley incision recorded by these fluvial terraces cannot be entirely explained by climate cycling alone temporal and spatial variations in incision rates indicate that the continuing long term incision has been driven by uplift the temporal distribution of the incision rates reveals two rapidly uplifting stages in the southeastern tibetan plateau including an accelerated uplift that has been taking place since 0 06 ma the spatial distributions of differing incision rates reflect the geomorphological response to crustal shortening and differential uplift in this region

volcanic disruption and drainage diversion of the palaeo hudut river a tributary of the early pleistocene gediz river western turkey abstract the importance of extrinsic drivers of fluvial system behaviour climate tectonics eustatic sea level over quaternary timescales is well documented however comparatively fewer studies have been reported concerning the significance of more localised changes at reach to sub catchment scale over these extended 10 4 10 6 years timescales in this paper we examine the early pleistocene sedimentary record of the palaeo hudut river and compare it with the record from the trunk river into which it drains the gediz river of western turkey both the gediz river and the hudut river were subjected to major localised disruption during the early pleistocene as a consequence of volcanism but their respective responses to these events appear to differ observations are reported from the sedimentary sequence buried beneath the lavas which cap the burgaz plateau these sediments record a remarkable amount of detail for a significant period of the early pleistocene these suggest that the palaeo hudut system responded largely to the creation and failure of downstream lava dams both through channel incision and subsequent filling and via route diversions around lava dams and their associated lakes in contrast the gediz terrace record appears to demonstrate a river which was able to accommodate these changes more readily and hence continue to undergo sedimentation incision cycles consistent with a climate forcing

climate forcing of fluvial system development an evolution of ideas starting from traditional ideas on the climatic steering of fluvial system dynamics it appears that there are different kinds of climatic influences on system dynamics they vary from direct climatic forcing like peak precipitation to indirect like permafrost and partial forcing like vegetation vegetation or its absence and not directly climate is considered as the main cause of fluvial incision or deposition during temperate or cold periods however other external factors than climate and non climatic factors such as local basin characteristics like subsoil lithology and relief express their effects on the fluvial systems by their role in the energy balance of the river catchment finally internal factors in fluvial system evolution like thresholds and response time should not be neglected

revisiting the hunting versus scavenging debate at flk zinj a gis spatial analysis of bone surface modifications produced by hominins and carnivores in the flk 22 assemblage olduvai gorge tanzania abstract this study presents a taphonomic examination of the ca 1 84 million year old ma bovid fauna from flk level 22 flk zinj bed i olduvai gorge using a new gis spatial analysis approach the flk zinj site contains some of the best preserved evidence for meat eating by hominins and has been used extensively in reconstructions of early hominin behavior however despite numerous interpretations of site function there is currently no consensus regarding how hominins acquired carcasses at flk zinj some interpretations argue that early stone age hominins had early access to fleshed carcasses through hunting or active scavenging while others argue hominins had late access to largely defleshed carcasses through passive scavenging in this study gis was used to record bone preservation in the flk zinj assemblage as well as in several modern experimentally modified bone assemblages which are used for comparison the placement of hominin and carnivore produced modifications was documented on bones from these assemblages and the gis spatial analyst was used to identify patterning in tooth mark clusters as well as patterning in cut mark locations this analysis suggests hominins had early access to fleshed carcasses at flk zinj particularly of smaller prey which they may have acquired through hunting damage patterns on larger carcasses are more difficult to interpret but are consistent with early access through hunting or aggressive scavenging a reanalysis of carnivore tooth mark frequencies on the flk zinj bovid fauna also supports an early access scenario

quantifying time scales of pedogenic calcrete formation using u series disequilibria abstract time scales of pedogenic calcrete development are quantified by subsampling carbonate from within a mature stage v pedogenic calcrete profile from southeast spain and dating the material by u series disequilibria the location of the earliest and latest cements can be estimated by comparing previous studies of calcrete morphological development with micromorphological analysis of the study profile carbonate was sampled and dated from three locations within the profile 1 below the lower surface of clasts within the hardpan representing the earliest cement present 207 11 ka 2 from the centre of cement filled pores within the hardpan reflecting the final plugging of the calcrete hardpan 155 9 ka and 3 from the laminar calcrete overlying the hardpan representing the latest cement 112 15 ka these results show that the hardpan took between 73 and 31 ka to form whilst the mature stage v profile took between 121 and 69 ka to form this is the first time that rates of mature calcrete development have been established by direct radiometric dating of the authigenic carbonate the technique is appropriate for dating mature calcretes in dryland regions worldwide and offers the opportunity of increasing our understanding of the spatial and temporal variability in rates of pedogenic calcrete development

reconstructing the interacting effects of base level climate and tectonic uplift in the lower mino river terrace record a gradient modelling evaluation the origin of the lower mino river terraces in the nw iberian peninsula has been a topic of debate since the 1940s various hypotheses about their main controlling factors have been put forward but general consensus is still lacking field studies of terrace distribution and the weathering of quartzite pebbles in the terrace deposits demonstrated that terrace longitudinal correlation is not parallel to the current river bed in addition the longitudinal profile model fluver2 was used to simulate the profile evolution of the mino river over the past 450 ka a reconstructed longitudinal profile and an offshore climate record were used as inputs several scenarios with variable uplift rates were investigated and evaluated against properties of four selected reaches along the river for a match with the number of terraces their relative altitude timing and sediment thickness an uplift scenario with a net constant vertical uplift rate of 0 08 m ka 1 yielded the best results the best fit scenarios indicate that base level changes from glacioeustatic changes in combination with tectonic uplift are the main driving forces of the observed terrace formation and valley incision contrary to most nw european fluvial systems the timing of upstream controlled sediment supply has a less dominant effect on terrace formation this can be explained by the close proximity to the narrow passive atlantic margin

the gediz river fluvial archive a benchmark for quaternary research in western anatolia abstract the gediz river one of the principal rivers of western anatolia has an extensive pleistocene fluvial archive that potentially offers a unique window into fluvial system behaviour on the western margins of asia during the quaternary in this paper we review our work on the quaternary gediz river project 2001 2010 and present new data which leads to a revised stratigraphical model for the early pleistocene development of this fluvial system in previous work we confirmed the preservation of eleven buried early pleistocene fluvial terraces of the gediz river designated gt11 the oldest and highest to gt1 the youngest and lowest which lie beneath the basalt covered plateaux of the kula volcanic province deciphering the information locked in this fluvial archive requires the construction of a robust geochronology fortunately the gediz archive provides ample opportunity for age constraint based upon age estimates derived from basaltic lava flows that repeatedly entered the palaeo gediz valley floors in this paper we present for the first time our complete dataset of 40ar 39ar age estimates and associated palaeomagnetic measurements these data which can be directly related to the underlying fluvial deposits provide age constraints critical to our understanding of this sequence the new chronology establishes the onset of quaternary volcanism at 1320ka mis42 this volcanism which is associated with gt6 confirms a pre mis42 age for terraces gt11 gt7 evidence from the colluvial sequences directly overlying these early terraces suggests that they formed in response to hydrological and sediment budget changes forced by climate driven vegetation change the cyclic formation of terraces and their timing suggests they represent the obliquity driven climate changes of the early pleistocene by way of contrast the gt5 gt1 terrace sequence constrained by a lava flow with an age estimate of 1247ka span the time interval mis42 mis38 and therefore do not match the frequency of climate change as previously suggested the onset of volcanism breaks the simple linkage of terracing to climate driven change these younger terraces more likely reflect a localized terracing process triggered by base level changes forced by volcanic eruptions and associated reactivation of pre existing faults lava dam construction landsliding and subsequent lava dammed lake drainage establishing a firm stratigraphy and geochronology for the early pleistocene archive provides a secure framework for future exploitation of this part of the archive and sets the standard as we begin our work on the middle late pleistocene sequence we believe this work forms a benchmark study for detailed quaternary research in turkey

range of bone modifications by human chewing in this paper we present an experimental study of bone modifications caused by human chewing during consumption traditionally tooth marks have been attributed to non human actors however ethnoarchaeological as well as previous experimental work has shown that humans can make many modifications during chewing our results suggest that the range of damage is as extensive as that most likely to be produced by carnivores this damage includes furrowing scooping out crenulated and saw toothed edges longitudinal cracking crushing peeling and tooth marks in this paper we present a description of the types of damage observed in the experimental sample some of this damage shows parallels between the experimental modifications and archaeological assemblages from pleistocene and holocene deposits at the sierra de atapuerca sites burgos spain the repetition of morphologies allowed us to attribute some of the damage to tooth marks made by human chewing

genesis and climatic interpretation of paleosols and calcretes in a plio pleistocene alluvial fan of the costa blanca se spain abstract a plio pleistocene alluvial fan near la regia in the southeast coast of spain contains a vertical series of 7 fossil soils and 7 calcrete complexes the soil stratigraphy reflects recurring alternation of sedimentation and soil formation suggesting numerous pedogenically effective cyclical climatic changes during the late pliocene and early pleistocene the differentiated composition of calcretes near la regia is a polygenetic product surface erosion and sedimentary fossilization were followed by secondary carbonatization and subsequent induration at least 15 stages of soil formation are reconstructed red paleosols and pedogenic calcretes are well developed and reflect humid subtropical and mediterranean conditions during soil genesis with geomorphodynamic stability in contrast the accumulation of sediments and synsedimentary calcretes correlates with geomorphodynamic activity under considerably drier mediterranean conditions

oxygen and carbon isotopic composition of quaternary meteoric carbonates from western and southern europe their role in palaoenvironmental reconstruction abstract the relationship between environmental conditions and the 18 o and 13 c values of soil and groundwater carbonates in europe is poorly understood consequently the use of the isotopic composition of these carbonate palaeoclimatic indicators in european sedimentary sequences is restricted in this study we examine the 18 o and 13 c values of soil and groundwater carbonates from western and southern europe in western europe there is no relationship between carbonate 18 o values and carbonate 13 c values the 18 o values of soil carbonate appears to be driven by temperature whilst the 13 c value of soil and groundwater carbonate reflects the persistent dominance of c 3 vegetation in this region during the quaternary the 18 o and 13 c values of soil carbonates from spain and crete show a strong degree of co variance suggesting that they are being controlled by the same environmental factor this is suggested to be aridity 18 o values are controlled by soil moisture evaporation whilst 13 c value is controlled by soil moisture degassing vegetation abundance and possible c 3 c 4 vegetation inputs the paper concludes by highlighting the fact that although currently under utilised the 18 o and 13 c values of soil and groundwater carbonates have a huge potential for providing important palaeoenvironmental information from sites across europe

early pleistocene river terraces of the gediz river turkey the role of faulting fracturing volcanism and travertines in their genesis abstract reconstructing and interpreting past hydrological system changes from the quaternary sediment landform record presents many challenges especially when trying to establish causality in such circumstances attempting to isolate individual drivers is perhaps unrealistic and thus inferences are made with respect to the combined influence of multiple controls and constraints in this paper we seek to interpret the landscape responses recorded in the sediment landform record of the early pleistocene gediz valley western turkey within the context of interacting geodynamic and hydrodynamic system changes our earlier work on the gediz sequence established the presence of a rich fluvial archive constrained by a comprehensive geochronology from overlying lava flows repeated damming of the gediz valley floor and consequent re routing of water flow testifies to a direct connection between fluvial activity and volcanism this volcanism has been linked to regional tectonic extension with regional uplift promoted as a major driver of the progressive river incision of the gediz river over the quaternary this incision has been punctuated by periods of deposition dictated by sediment and water budgets controlled principally by fluctuating climate and consequent vegetation change recently however the significance of more local fault movements and fracturing has been recognised and here we examine and attempt to quantify these geodynamics in greater detail in addition we examine and describe for the first time extensive associated travertine deposits isotopic analysis of these travertines confirms their thermogenic origin and directly links their creation to the faulting fracturing volcanism and the recycling of calcium rich groundwater the formation of mounds and sheets extend onto their contemporary valley floors thus directly connecting the fluvial and travertine archives and allowing linkage between surface and subsurface hydrological change by utilising both the fluvial and travertine archives a more complex picture of landscape evolution emerges the youngest terraces the gediz sequence demonstrates increasing complexity there is no reason to suggest this is unusual although climate and tectonics remain as key drivers the local landscape response is also conditioned by many additional factors while it is tempting to search for global patterns the big picture such reduced complexity may be over simplistic recognising complexity requires detailed observation and therefore more emphasis on the smaller picture which can only be obtained through extensive field observation

a gis based approach to documenting large canid damage to bones abstract experimental studies of modern carnivore tooth marking patterns are integral to understanding the nature of carnivore involvement in archeological bone assemblages however modern bone damage data for most carnivore taxa are limited this is particularly true for canids this study presents bone damage data collected from feeding experiments conducted with mexican gray wolves canis lupus baileyi and red wolves canis rufus this is the largest experimental assemblage reported for canids to date the image analysis gis approach described by marean et al 2001 is expanded on here and used to document bone preservation and tooth mark distribution for the first time in a carnivore modified bone assemblage further we introduce the use of the arcgis spatial analyst to identify significant concentrations of bone modifications results show that the distribution of tooth pits varies considerably across elements as well as across different portions of the same element and that significant clusters of tooth pits occur on all long bones we suggest that with a large enough sample the gis spatial analyst can be a useful tool for analyzing the distribution of bone modifications with greater resolution than previous methods this method facilitates comparisons between experimental and fossil assemblages which may aid in identifying the timing of access to carcasses by carnivores involved in modifying fossil assemblages finally the use of this rigorous methodology is a step toward increasing standardization in methods of taphonomic analysis

vegetation and climate of anatolia and adjacent regions during the last glacial period abstract reinterpretation of vegetation and climatic conditions of anatolia and neighboring regions during last glacial 30 15 cal ka bp have been done using a non quantitative biomization approach based on previously published plant functional types the results suggest that the climate was cold and humid before 25 cal ka bp and also during the period 23 19 cal ka bp except east anatolia forest vegetation was 80 90 of the land cover in the northwestern anatolia and black sea coast and 50 60 along the mediterranean coast at the same period during heinrich event 2 from 25 to 23 cal ka bp steppe vegetation dominated the anatolian region due to the sudden change to very cold and arid conditions approximately between 18 and 16 cal ka bp in the late glacial during heinrich event 1 a brief interval of cold and arid conditions resulted in weaker steppe vegetation over some part of anatolia around at 15 cal ka bp suitable climatic conditions for forest vegetation prevailed across a great part of anatolia except for eastern anatolia and western iran which are highlands

insect trace fossils in aeolian deposits and calcretes from the canary islands their ichnotaxonomy producers and palaeoenvironmental significance insect trace fossils from canary islands have been known and discussed since the beginnings of the last century the most common and widespread morphologies have been tentatively referred to the ichnogenera celliforma palmiraichnus or rebuffoichnus and attributed to bees coleopterans and locusts until now herein they are included in a new single ichnospecies rebuffoichnus guanche isp nov which can be distinguished from other ichnospecies by the presence of an antechamber r guanche are considered herein as coleopteran curculionidae or scarabaeidae pupation chambers this is supported by themostly horizontal orientation in soils ellipsoid shape dispersion of sizes and particularly the internal surface of the wall chamber that is completely smoothed even in both extremes in addition it is supported by the finding of one adult weevil in a similar trace fossil and palaeoenvironment of australia all these characters argue against their assignation neither to egg pods of a locust species nor to bee cells the latter also contradicted by the lack of spiral closure the wall of r guanche shows the same petrological features of those of the palaeosol in which specimens are found in those specimens found in aeolian deposits the wall is composed of sand grains similar to those found in the dunes or sand sheets the diversity of microfabrics found in calcretes is higher and depends on the calcrete hostrock and the degree of development of the calcretes in poorly developed calcretes the trace fossils reflect very well the calcrete hostrock whereas in more developed ones they usually show peloidal ooidal or laminar microfabrics these similarities indicate that in contrast to some previous reports insects utilised as building material that of the surrounding soil as expectable for a coleopteran pupation chamber lower numbers of r guanche are recorded in calcretes from the western canary islands where no aeolian deposits are present in contrast to the high densities in the aeolian deposits of the eastern islands coleopterans would first colonise thin soils with calcretes developed on basaltic or sedimentary rocks in young islands and later colonise dunes as they appear when the islands aged the widespread presence of calcretes aeolian deposits and trace fossils in the easternmost and older canary islands is driven by both the geological evolution of the islands and climatic conditions both the calcretes and pupation chambers formed during the relatively wetter periods within otherwise prevailing arid to semiarid conditions

reconstructing absolute water level variability of lake prespa sw balkans during the medieval climate anomaly and little ice age from a prograding beach ridge complex lake prespa beach ridges register climate driven water level fluctuations that contain a strong north atlantic signal this study examines the beach ridge complex that underlies the koula isthmus

holocene environmental signals from mollusk assemblages in burgundy france abstract the malacofaunas of burgundy france reflect changes in climate and the activities of man during the holocene statistical analyses based on the shannon diversity index and correspondence analysis are used to describe the mollusk assemblages in a composite sequence based on three well dated sites the variation demonstrated by the mollusks suggests that a two step warming took place between 10 000 and 9000 and 8000 and 6000 yr b p in relative agreement with the timing of the deglaciation in the tropical atlantic ocean proposed by mix and ruddiman 1985 quaternary science reviews 4 59 108 high humidity partly associated with widespread inundations of the valleys between 10 000 and 8000 yr b p may be related to estimated variations in the rate of freshwater discharge to the atlantic ocean reported by fairbanks 1989 nature 342 637 642 the increasing impact of human activities on the environment during the past 2000 yr is indicated by the low diversity of the mollusk assemblages demonstrating the need for careful interpretation of the youngest holocene sediments in this region

an isotopic study of paleosol carbonates from olduvai gorge the isotopic composition of paleosol carbonates from olduvai gorge can be used to give estimates of the paleoclimatic history of east africa during the plio pleistocene oxygen isotopes are indicative of major changes in the isotopic composition of meteoric water while carbon isotopes are indicative of major changes in the fraction of biomass using the hatch slack c4 photosynthetic pathway three major periods of climatic change in this terrestrial setting occurred at about 1 67 1 3 and 0 6 myr these involved major changes in flora as well as major changes in the isotopic composition of meteoric water overall the climate has become warmer and more arid over the past 2 2 myr

river terrace development in the ne mediterranean region syria and turkey patterns in relation to crustal type it is widely recognized that the optimal development of river terraces globally has been in the temperate latitudes with nw and central europe being areas of particular importance for the preservation of such archives of quaternary environmental change there is also a growing consensus that the principal drivers of terrace formation have been climatic fluctuation against a background of progressive but variable uplift nonetheless river terraces are widely preserved in the mediterranean region where they have often been attributed to the effects of neotectonic activity with a continuing debate about the relative significance of fluctuating temperature glacials interglacials and precipitation pluvials interpluvials research in syria and southern central turkey specifically in the valleys of the tigris and ceyhan in turkey the kebir in syria and the trans border rivers orontes and euphrates has underlined the importance of uplift rates in dictating the preservation pattern of fluvial archives and has revealed different patterns that can be related to crustal type the ne mediterranean coastal region has experienced unusually rapid uplift in the late quaternary the relation between the kebir terraces and the staircase of interglacial raised beaches preserved along the mediterranean coastline of nw syria reinforces previous conclusions that the emplacement of the fluvial terrace deposits in the mediterranean has occurred during colder climatic episodes

reconstructing early pleistocene 1 3 ma terrestrial environmental change in western anatolia did it drive fluvial terrace formation a terrestrial environmental reconstruction of an early pleistocene landscape from western anatolia is presented the basis of this reconstruction is a sedimentary stack comprising fluvial and colluvial slope deposits contained within this stack is a sequence comprising two massive laminar calcretes alternating with three reddish palaeosols this evolutionary sequence is situated on top of a fluvial terrace staircase capped by a 1 3 ma 40ar 39ar plateau age lava flow the micro morphological properties of the observed calcretes and reddish palaeosols combined with the stable oxygen and carbon isotopic composition of the carbonates suggest the alternation of three stable relatively warm humid vegetation rich and two stable relatively arid cool bare surface cycles in addition there is also ample evidence for landscape instability in between these phases causing local soil truncation and slope instability in an open grassland shrub environment these landscape instability phases match well with known fluvial incisional phases of the gediz during this period this suggests that climate forced landscape environmental dynamics were of sufficient magnitude to drive fluvial terrace formation of the early pleistocene gediz

three million years of monsoon variability over the northern sahara we present a 3 million year record of aeolian dust supply into the eastern mediterranean sea based on hematite contents derived from magnetic properties of sediments from ocean drilling program site 967 our record has an average temporal resolution of 400 years geochemical data validate this record of hematite content as a proxy for the supply of aeolian dust from the sahara we deduce that the aeolian hematite in eastern mediterranean sediments derives from the eastern algerian libyan and western egyptian lowlands located north of the central saharan watershed 21 n in corroboration of earlier work we relate dust flux minima to penetration of the african summer monsoon front to the north of the central saharan watershed this would have enhanced soil humidity and vegetation cover in the source regions in agreement with results from green sahara climate models our results indicate that this northward monsoon penetration recurred during insolation maxima throughout the last 3 million years as would be expected this orbital precession scale mechanism is modulated on both short 100 kyr and long 400 kyr eccentricity time scales we also observe a strong expression of the 41 kyr obliquity cycle which we discuss in terms of high and low latitude mechanisms that involve southern hemisphere meridional temperature contrasts and shifts in the latitudes of the tropics respectively we also observe a marked increase in sub milankovitch variability around the mid pleistocene transition 0 95 ma which suggests a link between millennial scale climate variability including monsoon dynamics and the size of northern hemisphere ice sheets

climate controls on late pleistocene landscape evolution of the okhombe valley kwazulu natal south africa hillslopes in central and western parts of kwazulu natal south africa are often mantled by colluvial sediments of the masotcheni formation these sediments have accreted in response to several cycles of deposition pedogenesis and incomplete erosion climatic controls on these cycles are incompletely known results from fieldwork micromorphology stable carbon isotope analysis and optically stimulated luminescence dating of masotcheni formation sediments from okhombe valley in the drakensberg foothills are combined deposition in the area had at least 11 phases starting before 42 ka and ending before 0 17 ka the first six deposits from before 42 ka to after 29 ka resulted from the interplay between slope processes and fluvial redistribution under cold conditions solifluction was the most important slope process no deposits have been found from the last glacial maximum arguably because this period was too dry the last five deposits from about 11 ka to before 0 17 ka resulted from fluvial redistribution of upslope material and older deposits under increasing precipitation current extreme gully erosion in the masotcheni formation indicates a lack of available upslope material leaving downslope deposits as the only sediment source for fluvial redistribution this model for landscape response to climate change may be able to explain how climate controlled landscape processes in other masotcheni formation sites in kwazulu natal in the research area and elsewhere this proposition may be tested with numerical landscape evolution models

evidence of past environmental conditions during the evolution of a calcretised wadi system in southern jordan using stable isotopes abstract a stratigraphically and temporally ordered sequence of channel calcretes preserved along the wadi dana southern jordan records the quaternary evolution of the formation and infilling of rock cut channels and their subsequent incision in a tectonically subsiding basin it is currently unknown under what palaeoenvironmental conditions these non pedogenic calcretes formed stable isotope analyses have been used to investigate whether any past topographical hydrological vegetational diagenetic and or temporal signatures can be identified from the channel calcretes the results of this research indicate that channel calcrete development is influenced by altitudinal variation affecting vegetation and hydrology within the landscape as well as location within individual wadi channels which has an affect on diagenetic processes the lack of calcretisation of a terrace that is between 1 and 1 5 m above the modern wadi floor supports the idea that the environment is currently too arid for calcrete to develop thus the presence of older wadi dana channel duricrusts suggests wetter conditions when they formed the 18o data of the calcrete implies cooler conditions than today as there is little evidence of a strong evaporative effect any temporal control is limited and mainly a function of stratigraphic position with some numeric dating

biogenic laminar calcretes evidence of calcified root mat horizons in paleosols laminar calcretes are described from the lower carboniferous of south wales the upper jurassic of southern england and the upper jurassic lower cretaceous of northern spain they are interpreted as calcified root mats horizontal root systems and are compared with other examples in the geological record and with possible modern analogues all three occurrences consist of virtually identical centimetre to decimetre thick locally organic carbon rich laminar micrites containing up to 50 by volume of millimetre sized typically calcite filled tubular fenestrae set in an irregular but very finely laminated matrix it is suggested that root mat calcretes are probably very common in the geological record in peritidal lacustrine margin and floodplain deposits but owing to their crudely biogenic microstructure they more closely resemble cryptalgal laminites than do other laminar calcretes the recognition of such root mat calcretes in sedimentary sequences not only provides evidence of subaerial exposure and vegetation cover but can also indicate positions of palaeo water tables in certain circumstances

multi proxy records of quaternary fluvio lacustrine sediments around lakes eymir and mogan ankara central anatolia turkey this paper presents the mineralogical geochemical palynological and stable isotopic compositions of the late pleistocene holocene fluvio lacustrine sediments around lakes eymir and mogan ankara central anatolia it is based on the interpretation of the multi proxy records in conjunction with the geochronological data in eight different sections the comparison between the increase decrease in the abundances of carbonates and total clay assemblages is correlated with the changing abundance of coniferous forests and herbaceous plants mainly asteraceae and chenopodiaceae 13c and 18o values and molecular weathering ratios of the sediments revealing the hydrolysis evaporation and leaching together with chemical index of alteration cia provide insight into the climatic changes in the study area between 11 899 and 1428 cal year bp relatively higher total clay amount 18o of around 8 and higher cia 40 with higher hydrolysis suggest humid conditions during 11 899 6448 cal year bp between 6448 and 5763 cal year bp sediments show oscillations between high and relatively low values of the proxy data implying intercalation of dry and wet seasons the last period recorded between 5763 and 1428 cal year bp is realized with high calcite precipitation low total clay and low cia and relatively higher salinization which directly characterize aridity

palustrine carbonates and pedogenic calcretes in the cal basin of sw anatolia implications for the plio pleistocene regional climatic pattern in the eastern mediterranean abstract sedimentologic and stable isotopic studies in the cal basin fill provide new insights on the late neogene quaternary climatic pattern in the eastern mediterranean long term subsidence and terrestrial sedimentation in the basin beginning in the late miocene are recorded in alluvial fan and fluvial deposits overlain by pliocene palustrine carbonates an erosional unconformity separates the pleistocene siliciclastic and calcrete deposits above as a single sedimentary unit resting on top of floodplain fines and restricted to the basin center the stable isotopic analysis of the palustrine carbonates and pedogenic calcretes displays a wide range of values 7 98

modelling soil genesis in calcareous loess abstract the soilgen1 model was developed to simulate soil development in calcareous loess at holocene 15 000 bp present temporal extent we used the leachc model as a core and added process formulations to describe the effect of vegetation and soil macrofauna on various soil properties a limited calibration was done on the calcite solubility constant by comparing decarbonization rates in various leaching climates with values predicted by the metamodel of egli and fitze egli m and fitze p 2001 quantitative aspects of carbonate leaching of soils with differing ages and climates catena 46 35 62 soil profiles of c and ph after 15 000 years compared well with measurements in a belgian loess profile that was never under agriculture taking the composition of the c horizon as uniform parent material scenarios with and without agriculture with varying degrees of bioturbation and for documented holocene climatic and vegetation evolutions in belgium and hungary were simulated and compared results show a clear effect of bioturbation on soil development especially in the continental climate evolution of hungary indicators for the possible occurrence of clay migration and disturbance of lateglacial morphology were calculated and these also show the importance of bioturbation

microwear polishes on early stone tools from koobi fora kenya the functions of the stone artefacts made and used by early hominids has been a matter for speculation however recent experimental work has demonstrated that microscopically distinct wear polishes form on tools of cryptocrystalline silica when used on different materials and that these microwear polishes survive on ancient implements1 3 we have now examined 54 artefacts from five early pleistocene archaeological sites dated to 1 5 myr ago in the koobi fora region of kenya for microwear polishes and other traces of use wear traces were found on nine artefacts variously resembling traces induced experimentally by cutting soft animal tissue and soft plant material and by scraping and sawing wood these results greatly extend the time range for which microwear polish analysis is applicable and increase the evidence of early hominid adaptation

the last 1 35 million years at tenaghi philippon revised chronostratigraphy and long term vegetation trends abstract in addition to being of interest to ancient greek and roman historians the site of philippi ne greece has long been noted in quaternary circles for providing the longest continuous european pollen record spanning the last one million years here the original age model is re evaluated and a new marine terrestrial correlation is proposed an astronomical calibration procedure based on a correspondence between changes in certain vegetation elements and march and june perihelion configurations suggests that the base of the sequence extends back to 1 35 million years ago the revised chronological framework for the tenaghi philippon sequence provides an opportunity to examine the long term behaviour of individual taxa and vegetation trends within the context of global climate changes comparisons reveal a close correspondence between the terrestrial and marine records in terms of orbital and suborbital variability however joint time frequency analysis of the arboreal pollen record shows that the obliquity and eccentricity precession signals persist into the 100 kyr and 41 kyr worlds respectively suggesting the operation of additional climate mechanisms that are independent of high latitude glacial interglacial effects unlike ice core and marine sequences no change in the magnitude of interglacial tree population expansions is observed after the mid brunhes event instead the tenaghi philippon record suggests a major shift in the vegetational composition of interglacials after mis 16 with the establishment of forests of reduced diversity and a modern appearance

an obliquity controlled early pleistocene river terrace record from western turkey investigation of the pleistocene sequence of the gediz river western turkey has revealed a record of early pleistocene river terraces eleven terraces spanning the interval from 1 67 to 1 245 million years ago mis 59 37 are preserved beneath basaltic lava flows the high number of terraces over this short time period reflects high frequency sedimentation incision cycles preserved due to the fortuitous combination of relatively high uplift rates 0 16 mm yr 1 and progressive southwards valley migration comparison of this record with odp967 from the eastern mediterranean basin suggests a link between the production of terraces and obliquity driven 41 000 year climate cycles in the early pleistocene

separation of intrinsic and scattering attenuation in the crust of central and eastern alborz region iran abstract in this study more than 380 local earthquakes 2 m l q d coda q c intrinsic q i and scattering quality factor q sc in the crust of central and eastern alborz region the events were recorded by one temporary and two permanent networks the quality factors of shear and coda waves have been individually estimated at different frequency bands by using coda normalization cnm method and single backscattering sbs method respectively average frequency dependent relationships have been estimated for q d and q c as 111 4 f 0 85 0 04 and 112 8 f 1 02 0 06 respectively the intrinsic quality factor q i has been separated from the scattering quality factor q sc by using individually estimated q c and q d values the average frequency dependent relationships of q i and q sc have been calculated in the form of 108 f 1 00 and 784 f 0 56 respectively the results of this study suggest that s wave s attenuation q d 1 is dominated by the intrinsic attenuation the attenuation of coda waves has been observed similar to the intrinsic attenuation which indicates the coda decay is mostly caused by the intrinsic attenuation it has been observed that the scattering mean free path is frequency independent at frequencies greater than 6 hz the results of this study are similar to the tectonically active regions