bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Recent formations and Their Basal Topography in and around Tokyo Bay, Central Japan
Authors: Kaizuka Sohei , Naruse Yo , Matsuda Iware
Published: July 2006

This paper summarizes the subsurface geology of the recent (both Holocene and latest Pleistocene) formations and the buried topography beneath them in and around Tokyo Bay, the type area of the late Quaternary in Japan. Buried abrasion platforms in the buried topography are classified into upper (ca. 0 to −10 m high) and lower (ca. −20 to −40 m) platforms; upper and lower buried river terraces are also distinguished, and are correlated to the subaerial late Pleistocene terraces of Tc1 and Tc2, respectively. A buried valley system is elucidated, of which the trunk valley floor reaches −70 m in Tokyo and emerges into a flat surface at the shelf edge in the entrance to Tokyo Bay. Approximate dates for these geomorphic surfaces are given. The height of sea level contemporaneous with the buried valley floor (ca. 20,000–15,000 yr BP) is estimated at about −135 m. The recent formations are divided into two members, upper and lower, by a middle sand bed, in addition to the lowest buried valley floor gravel. The lower member, which is composed of brackish to marine deposits of complicated lithofacies, was accumulated in narrow drowned valleys during the early stage of the Yurakucho (Flandrian) transgression. The middle sand bed is the foreset bed of deltas, which was formed during a slight regression between ca. 11,000 and 10,000 yr BP. The upper member, which consists mainly of widespread homogeneous marine clay and deltaic sand, was accumulated in a wide bay and its embayments during the late stage of the Yurakucho transgression and the following stage of a relatively stable sea level.
High Stands of Holocene Sea Levels in the Northwest Pacific
Authors: Pirazzoli Paolo A.
Published: July 2006

Evidence of Holocene sea levels higher than the present level have often been reported from the Northwest Pacific. Eustatic interpretations have been propounded, but age and level of the maximum transgression vary with each new analysis. In this investigation, after an inventory of approximately 250 items of data, some of which are new, a tentative synthesis transcending local scale is advanced. The highest levels are reported from Taiwan, where they often reach several tens of meters in altitude. In the Ryûkyûs and in the main islands of the Japanese Archipelago, evidence of recent emergence is found along most of the coasts. Elevation increases towards the oceanic trenches, but former sea levels at above 6 m and even higher may also be recognized along the coasts of the Sea of Japan. In a few areas, such as in the Niigata Plain, marks of Holocene sea levels higher than at present are lacking. On the other hand, in other basins regarded as subsiding, such as those in the Nôbi and the Kantô plains, evidence of recent emergence is quite frequent. In many places, marks of several sea levels indicate that a step-by-step uplift has occurred. All the investigated insular arcs, therefore, seem to be situated in epeirogenic areas formed by several more or less large blocks affected by relative movements. The blocks are larger in the Outer Zone of Southwestern Japan; in the Inner Zone, an intricate network of fault lines marks the boundaries of many smaller independent blocks. During great earthquakes, relative movements of uplift, subsidence, tilting, or undulation occur in one or several blocks, depending on the position of the epicentres. Subsidence, however, must often be simply of a temporary nature, because a long-term uplift trend seems to prevail in most regions, even if it occurs at different rates. This interpretation may explain the cause of the great variety of ages and elevations of the former sea levels (with the oldest ages corresponding to the highest elevations) and the great number of indicators of step-by-step sea-level change. The inference, drawn by several authors, that the Holocene sea level in the Northwest Pacific was higher than at present, is, therefore, reasonable on a local scale, but does not define an eustatic sea level.
Late Quaternary Ice Age Climates of Tropical Australasia: Interpretations and Reconstructions
Authors: Webster P.J. , Streten N.A.
Published: July 2006

Paleoecological and paleogeographical evidence is used to mold a framework from which the basic parameters of the late Quaternary glacial-age climate of tropical Australasia can be inferred. The theory of physical circulations, a knowledge of present tropical circulation patterns, and a study of anomalous and extreme events in the present era are used to reemphasize the view of a less pluvial tropical and subtropical zone at that time. Cooler sea-surface temperature, cooler trades, and the effect of the then exposed land areas are indicated as instrumental in producing drier conditions. Tropical areas west of Cape York Peninsula and Torres Strait were subject to fewer tropical disturbances and were similar to the present tropical savannah of the northern interior of Australia. Such effects would exist even without shifts in major climatic zones, although they are shown to be consistent with an equatorward shift of the westerlies brought about by the increased pole to equator temperature gradient. Paleoenvironmental evidence from the New Guinea Highlands and southeastern Australia suggests that their climates were anomalous. Substantial data of the glacial period in New Guinea show snow lines to be 1000 to 1500 m lower than at present which matches a 6 to 8°C lowering of temperature in highland New Guinea. The deep-sea cores of the CLIMAP Project suggest a mere 2°C cooling of the surrounding tropical oceans. It is shown that it is highly unlikely that an upper-level decrease in temperature of 6 to 8°C could be maintained while the surface cools by only 2°C. It is suggested that either the temperature of the tropical oceans of the western Pacific were overestimated by CLIMAP or that cold air incursions from higher latitudes (for which some analogs exist today) were sufficiently frequent to allow the maintenance of a snow line well below the freezing level of the ancient ambient tropical atmosphere. It is shown that in southeastern Australia considerable evidence of aridity cannot be explained by merely displacing the westerlies more equatorward. To account for the aridity, a new circulation pattern is proposed. Noting that there is CLIMAP evidence of preferred equatorward extension of sea ice, a pattern is postulated that displays only small seasonal change and is characterized by an enhanced Indian Ocean trough, marked ridging at eastern Australian longitudes, and a further trough in the western Tasman. Such a basic flow is consistent with (i) a low rainfall over southeastern Australia, (ii) frequent cold outbreak conditions favorable for the maintenance of the New Guinea glaciers, and (iii) considerable precipitation to nourish the ice caps of Tasmania and the Australian and New Zeland Alps.
Late Quaternary Sediments and Stratigraphy on the Continental Shelf off Troms and West Finnmark, Northern Norway
Authors: Vorren Tore O. , Strass Inger F. , Lind-Hansen Odd W.
Published: July 2006

Lithologic, paleontologic, and chronostratigraphic investigation of 13 gravity cores indicates the following environmental evolution: a high- (mid-) arctic period with a slight influx of ice-rafted debris occurred during the early middle Weichselian followed by a mid- (high-) arctic environment with a high influx of iceberg-rafted debris during the remainder of the middle Weichselian. The continental ice sheet probably did not extend beyond the inner shelf during middle Weichselian and a minimum relative sea level was ca. −120 m. A low-arctic environment occurred during (parts of) the late Weichselian with an initial winnowing of the sediments. The Norwegian Current entered the area during this substage. A high- (mid-) boreal environment occurred during the Holocene with high winnowing activity in the early Holocene. Winnowing is still very active on the shallower banks in contrast to the deeper banks where it has ceased. Relatively high percentages of carbonate in the form of biogenic skeletal remains occur in the Holocene sediments.
Late Pleistocene Sea Level History of Bermuda
Authors: Harmon Russell S. , Schwarcz Henry P. , Ford Derek C.
Published: July 2006

The timing of eustatic sea level fluctuations over the vertical range + 15 to −11 m has been deduced from 230Th/234U dating of Bermudan corals and speleothems. On this tectonically stable carbonate island, interglacial periods are characterized by platform submergence, development of patch reefs, and the deposition of littoral and eolian carbonates, whereas glacial periods are times of platform emergence, carbonate diagenesis, soil development, and the deposition of speleothems in caves extending below present sea level. Interglacial periods are observed at about 200,000, 130,000 to 90,000, and 10,000 yr BP to present. The sea level history of the last interglacial period (130,000 to 90,000 yr BP) is complex, consisting of at least two short, distinct episodes of high sea stand (at 125,000 and 97,000 yr BP) superimposed on a longer period of general platform submergence. The sea level data derived from this study are compatible with those from other stable areas such as the Bahamas, but in addition suggest that eustatic sea level changes can be rapid, on the order of 5 to 10 m/1000 yr.
Glacial Conglomerates of the Appalachian Plateau, New York
Authors: Aber James S.
Published: July 2006

Three generations of Quaternary conglomerates formed by cementation of glacial gravels are found in drift of the Appalachian Plateau in south-central New York. Postglacial conglomerates have been locally cemented by carbonate minerals within limestone-bearing (erratic-rich) gravels of Late Wisconsin (Woodfordian) age. Conglomerates cemented during the Mid-Wisconsin interstade occur as numerous fragments in erratic-rich Late Wisconsin drift, and as a single in situ mound near Syracuse. Mid-Wisconsin conglomerate contains fragments of a still older conglomerate believed to be of possible pre-Wisconsin (Sangamon) age. Both postglacial and Mid-Wisconsin conglomerates were cemented in the same manner, as a result of diagenetic processes in the vadose zones of limestone-bearing terraces. Information gleaned from conglomerate fragments indicates that Early Wisconsin drift was similar to Late Wisconsin drift; the Early and Late Wisconsin glaciations and deglaciations of the plateau probably proceeded in much the same fashion.
The Effect of Microtopography and Vegetation on the Catchment of Airborne Particles Measured by Remanent Magnetism
Authors: Oldfield Frank , Brown Ann , Thompson Roy
Published: July 2006

Measurements of saturation isothermal remanent magnetization (SIRM) for recent ombrotrophic peats show that the rate of deposition of magnetic particulates from the atmosphere varies strongly in response to the persistent, small-scale, spatial changes in vegetation and microtopography characteristic of many raised bogs. Hummock environments may trap over an order of magnitude more magnetic particulates than do Sphagnum lawns and pools. These results, thought to reflect the interception of subhorizontally moving particles by the hummock forming plants, have potentially important implications for studies of pollen deposition (“influx”) rates in peat.
Oceanic Evidence for the Mechanism of Rapid Northern Hemisphere Glaciation
Authors: Ruddiman W. F. , McIntyre A. , Niebler-Hunt V. , Durazzi J. T.
Published: July 2006

The oxygen isotopic stage 5/4 boundary in deep-sea sediments marks a prominent interval of northern hemisphere ice-sheet growth that lasted about 10,000 yr. During much of this rapid ice growth, the North Atlantic Ocean from at least 40°N to 60°N maintained warm sea-surface temperatures, within 1° to 2°C of today's subpolar ocean. This oceanic warmth provided a local source of moisture for ice-sheet accretion on the adjacent continents. The unusually strong thermal gradient off the east coast of North America (an “interglacial” ocean alongside a “glacial” land mass) also should have directed low-pressure storms from warm southern latitudes north-ward toward the Laurentide Ice Sheet. In addition, minimal calving of ice into the North Atlantic occurred during most of the stage 5/4 transition, indicative of ice retention within the continents. Diminished summer and autumn insolation, a warm subpolar ocean, and minimal calving of ice are conducive to rapid and extensive episodes of northern hemisphere ice-sheet growth.
Eigenvector Analysis of Reconstructed Holocene July Temperature Departures over Northern Canada
Authors: Andrews John T. , Diaz Henry F.
Published: July 2006

July temperatures for the past 6000 yr at 11 sites in northern Canada have been predicted by transfer-function equations. Normalized departures from the mean of each time series at 250-yr intervals are analyzed by principal component (eigenvector) analysis. An initial analysis included 9 sites and the first three principal components accounted for 85.7% of the variance. Maps of the loadings on the principal components show broad spatial coherence on all three components. Temporal coefficients (principal component scores) illustrate major regional and local midsummer temperature variations. An additional 2 sites were then included but the spatial pattern of the loadings remained essentially unchanged. A further test of this approach, with a view toward predicting paleoclimates of northern regions, was to use the spatial coefficients (loadings) to estimate the July temperature departures at an “unknown” site (Long Lake, Keewatin). This reconstruction compares favorably with an independent transfer-function reconstruction (Kay, 1979). Power spectrum analysis of the significant principal component scores (temperature departures) over the 6000 yr showed that the temporal fluctuations associated with the first three principal components follow a “red noise” spectrum, indicative of strong persistence in the reconstructed climatic records. The scores on the fourth principal component approximate a “white noise” spectrum. A peak in power between 2000 and 3000 yr occurs in the variance spectrum of the second principal component (significance 10%). We conclude that eigenvector analysis of Holocene paleoclimatic data has considerable power and may be useful for identifying regional and local climatic variations.
Paleoclimatic Significance of Lake-Level Fluctuations in the Lahontan Basin
Authors: Benson L.V.
Published: July 2006

An energy flux balance model has been developed which treats evaporation as a function of air temperature, surface water temperature, precipitable water aloft, the amount, height, and type of sky cover, and the optical air mass. The model has been used to estimate the mean historical evaporation rate for Pyramid Lake, Nevada, using as input climatic data from the Reno area averaged over the period 1950–1975. Estimated and measured values of the mean annual evaporation rate were found to be in good agreement. The model was used to simulate changes in the level, the surface area, and the volume of paleo Lake Lahontan. In particular, possible climatic states responsible for past high stands (1270 and 1330 m) were investigated. A conservative range of discharge values was used in the calculations. Results of the simulations indicate the fundamental importance of sky cover in the creation and destruction of large lake systems.
Interstadial Proboscidean from South-Central Alaska: Implications for Biogeography, Geology, and Archeology
Authors: Thorson Robert M. , Dixon E. James , Smith George S. , Batten Alan R.
Published: July 2006

In 1980 a large proboscidean femur, probably Mammuthus sp., was found in situ in a bluff exposure at the mouth of the Tyone River in the northwestern part of the Copper River Basin, Alaska. The regional setting, stratigraphy, radiocarbon chronology, flora, and implications of the fossil locality, which represents the first documented occurrence of Pleistocene terrestrial mammalian fauna in southern Alaska, are described. Radiocarbon dates and stratigraphic relations at the site indicate that the sediments containing the fossil accumulated during the transition from interstadial to glacial conditions during terminal middle Wisconsin time. During this interval the immediate vicinity was unforested and large areas of south-central Alaska may have been available for faunal and possibly human habitation. This documented find, dated at 29,450 ± 610 14C yr B.P., extends the known range for Pleistocene mammals and possibly steppe-tundra conditions south-ward at least 150 km, and suggests that mountain passes through the Alaska Range to the north were ice free during the last part of the middle Wisconsin interstadial.
Causes of Antarctic Glaciation in the Cenozoic
Authors: Kvasov D.D. , Verbitsky M.Ya.
Published: July 2006

The causes of Antarctic glaciation are analyzed by means of numeral experiments based on the three-dimensional thermodynamic model of a large ice sheet. Refrigeration of the climate between the Eocene and the Oligocene was due to the opening of the passage south of Australia and to the formation of the South Ring Stream. Calculations have shown that this led to the development of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet which might have existed in spite of relatively high temperatures of the surrounding ocean air. A new cooling of the climate in the Middle Miocene is connected with the fact that the South Ring Stream found its way through the Drake Passage glaciers spreading on to the Western Antarctic. Between Miocene and Pliocene, glaciation of the South Polar regions was at its maximum due to the regression of the world ocean. In Quaternary time, sea level was lowering due to the glaciation of the Northern Hemisphere, which resulted in glacier growth in the Antarctic. The anticipated warming of the climate due to the activity of man is not likely to bring about any considerable change in the size of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet.
Marine Plio-Pleistocene of Iceland and problems of Its Correlation
Authors: Gladenkov Y.B.
Published: July 2006

The marine Pliocene-Pleistocene sequence of Iceland contains four main assemblages of mollusks: (1)Venerupis rhomboides et al., (2)Serripes groenlandicus et al., (3)Portlandia arctica et al., and (4) recent species. Analysis of the stratigraphic distribution of 100 species shows that the percentage of extinct species in the assemblages decreases from 40% in the oldest to 4–8% in the youngest. There is also a change from south boreal affinities in the oldest assemblage to north boreal in the youngest. The molluskan assemblages of Iceland can be correlated with Pliocene-Pleistocene assemblages of England and North Europe: (1) Coralline Crag, (2) Red Crag—lower part of the Icenian strata, (3) upper part of the Icenian-Cromerian strata. The upper boundaries of the Pliocene and Eopleistocene are defined by paleomagnetic data and radiological dating. The upper boundary of the Pliocene presumably should be established in the basalts lying between the Tjörnes and the Breidavik deposits by changes between the second and third mollusk assemblages and by the Gilsa paleomagnetic event.
Energy-Dispersive X-ray Fluorescence Analysis as a Rapid Method for Identifying Tephras
Authors: Cormie A. B. , Nelson D. E.
Published: July 2006

The use of energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence analysis (XES) for the routine identification of three tephras (Mazama, Bridge River, Mount St. Helens Yn) commonly found in archeological sites in British Columbia has been investigated. Researchers have often assumed that chemical analysis of bulk samples of glass separates would be hampered by contamination and weathering effects. Our results indicate that XES of bulk glass separates provides a very reliable method for rapidly identifying the three tephras in question, even with a very simple sample preparation. This should enable persons not skilled in geology or in tephrochronology to collect and to identify samples of these tephras. Finally, as a part of the study, similar measurements were made on the separated glass portions of these three tephras and of three others (Glacier Peak B and G, White River) from northwest North America. The results suggest that this method may provide tephrochronologists with a useful additional tool for studying tephras in other regions.
Full-Glacial Southwestern United States: Mild and Wet or Cold and Dry?
Authors: Galloway R. W.
Published: July 2006

This paper considers a model of cold and dry full-glacial climates for the southwestern United States in the light of published studies. The evidence from fossil plants is shown to be reconcilable with temperatures some 10°C below their present levels and a concomitant shift of the upper timberline which varied according to regional summer lapse rates. Fossils of “thermophilous” or “mesophytic” plants are cited by some writers as evidence for mild, pluvial conditions although today these plants occur in relatively cold and dry situations. Mean annual and July temperatures for the United States as a whole, derived from the model, are in accord with periglacial and palynological evidence.
Human Response to Environmental Change in the Perspective of Future, Global Climate
Authors: Butzer Karl W.
Published: July 2006

Human response to severe environmental stress is conceived and implemented by individuals, but must be approved by the group. These decisions are made with respect to perceived circumstances. Societies are enmeshed within adaptive systems that provide a matrix of opportunities and constraints for a wide range of potential behavioral variability. Such systems repeatedly readjust to short-term crises, e.g., droughts, but persistent and severe environmental stress may require substantial revision of adaptive strategies. The Sahel drought of 1968–1973 is an example of a brief but severe crisis, recurring along the Saharan margins perhaps once every 30 years. Closer inspection shows links between intensified intertribal warfare and ecological stress in the lower Omo Valley. The decline of the Egyptian New Kingdom during the 12th century B.C., in response to economic stagnation, sociopolitical instability, dynastic weakness, foreign pressures, and poor Nile floods over 50–70 years, represents a more complex and fundamental modification, with systemic simplification lasting 450 years. Such insights can be applied to future, global climatic change due to increasing atmospheric CO2. Simulation and paleoclimatic experience suggest a drier climate for the North American and Soviet breadbaskets, to threaten world food supplies at a time of maximum demographic pressures and declining resources. Public perception and remedial planning should receive the attention of Quaternary scientists, in order to preempt an involuntary, global, systemic simplification.
Evidence for a Postglacial Low Relative Sea-Level Stand in the Drowned Delta of the Merrimack River, Western Gulf of Maine
Authors: Oldale R. N. , Wommack L. E. , Whitney A. B.
Published: July 2006

A submerged delta of the Merrimack River, located offshore between Cape Ann, Massachusetts, and the New Hampshire border, indicates a postglacial low relative see-level stand of about −47 m. The low stand is inferred to date to 10,500 yr B.P., but a lack of age control makes this assignment uncertain. A curve based on a late Wisconsinan, high relative sea-level stand of +32m at 13,000 yr B.P., a low stand of −47m at 10,500 yr B.P., and younger radiocarbon dates related to sea-level rise indicates an early postglacial crustal rise of at least 5 m per century.
Holocene Vegetation History of the Prince William Sound Region, South-Central Alaska
Authors: Heusser Calvin J.
Published: July 2006

Vegetation history during the Holocene is interpreted from the pollen and sedimentary records of nine sections of peat deposits located in sedge tundra at sites in the northern and northwestern parts of the Prince William Sound region. Basal radiocarbon ages of the deposits are between 10,015 and 580 yr B.P. Modern surface pollen data from these and 25 additional sites, ranging from lowlands to an altitude of 675 m in the alpine tundra, were used to aid in the interpretation of the fossil records. Both frequency and influx pollen diagrams of the oldest section disclose a sequence of communities beginning with sedge tundra, containing thickets of willow and alder, followed by alder, which became predominant at about 8300 yr B.P. Later, alder declined, and an inferred growth of sedge tundra and the establishment of colonies of mountain hemlock and Sitka spruce with some western hemlock occurred about 2680 yr B.P. Finally, regrowth of sedge tundra accompanied by the development of forest communites took place over the past 2000 yr. The influence of glacier advances on the vegetation in the fjords occurred during Neoglacial episodes dated at 3200–2500 yr B.P. and during recent centuries. Regional Holocene tectonic activity was also an influential factor, especially at the time of the 1964 earthquake.
Geochronology and Settlement Disposition in the Early Palaeo-Indian Occupation of Southern Ontario, Canada
Authors: Jackson L. J.
Published: July 2006

Examination of a sample of 150 fluted-point localities from southern Ontario, Canada in relation to datable features of Late Wisconsinan ice retreat discloses maximum possible ages for early Palaeo-Indian occupation and reveals selection of specific physiographic situations. General relationship to maximum ice-advance positions suggests occupation during the Two Creeks Interstade after Port Huron ice retreat about 12,300 yr B.P. Specific relationship to 14C-dated proglacial Great Lake strands favors occupation during the North Bay Interstade after Greatlakean ice retreat about 11,500 yr B.P. Locality frequency on Lake Algonquin strands suggests contemporaneity with the main stage of this lake about 11,500 to 10,400 yr B.P., with a small number of lake-plain localities indicating minor post-Algonquin persistence. Radiocarbon dates for fluted-point sites elsewhere in the glaciated northeast place occupation coeval with the southwestern Folsom fluted-point tradition of about 10,850 to 10,200 yr B.P. Locality situation in regions dominated by proglacial sediments, on lake-edge features adjacent to strand-dissecting tributaries, within major river valleys, implies selectivity reflecting primary adaptation. Fluted-point associations with caribou and elk remains suggest that “focal” adaptation to cervids, comparable to southwestern Folsom bison exploitation, might underlie the homogeneous nature and distribution of early Palaeo-Indian localities throughout the northeast.
Paleoentomology and Paleoecology of a Possible Sangamonian Site Near Innerkip, Ontario
Authors: Pilny Jerry J. , Morgan Alan V.
Published: July 2006

A stream section near Innerkip, Ontario, exposes several meters of organic silts and peaty detritus beneath two late Wisconsinan tills. Radiocarbon dates provide a minimal middle Wisconsinan age of >50,000 yr B.P. A 250-kg bulk sample from the peat stratum was processed for vertebrates, plant macrofossils, and insects. Vertebrate remains include teeth from deer, muskrat, and vole as well as plates from a turtle shell. At least 6000 insect fragments from a minimum of 19 Coleoptera families were identified. The most common groups are hydrophilids and dytiscids (water beetles), curculionids (weevils), staphylinids (rove beetles), and carabids (ground beetles). The majority of identified beetles are associated with fresh water as aquatic predators, scavengers, or grazers, while others prefer hygric substrates and moist plant litter. The large number of plant-dependent beetles, the numerous floating and emergent aquatic plant seeds, and the presence of the associated vertebrates point toward a locally rich and varied flora and fauna, probably deposited in a well-vegetated pond. The modern distributions and ecologies of the identified fossil insects suggest temperatures similar to those found in southern Ontario today. On these grounds the Innerkip peat represents either a very warm interstadial or a possible interglacial deposit. If the latter is true this is the second presumed Sangamon-aged site known in southern Ontario.
Changed Late Quaternary Marine Environments on Atlantic Continental Shelf and Upper Slope
Authors: Emery K.O. , Merrill A.S. , Druffel E.R.M.
Published: July 2006

About 2000 large sediment samples were collected during the early 1960s throughout the continental shelf off the Atlantic coast of the United States to establish and map sediment types including sediments relict from times of glacially low (and subsequently higher) sea levels. In about 510 of these samples we found fossil shells of mollusks remaining from environmental conditions different from those at present. Publications and collections by others contain about 70 additional samples having relict mollusks. Some of these shells indicate lower sea levels, others colder water, and still others warmer water than is now present. Radiocarbon measurements from earlier studies by us and others established the dates of colder water (late Pleistocene), and we made additional measurements to learn the dates of warmer water (about 1000 to 2000 yr B.P.). The results show reasonably enough that continental shelves are the sites of relict faunas as well as of sediments that indicate changed and complex environmental histories.
Discriminant Function Analysis of Late Quaternary Tephras from Five Volcanoes in New Zealand Using Glass Shard Major Element Chemistry
Authors: Stokes Stephen , Lowe David J.
Published: July 2006

The microprobe-determined glass shard major element chemistry of tephras derived from five North Island, New Zealand volcanoes (Mayor Island, Okataina, Taupo, Tongariro, and Mount Egmont) and younger than ca. 20,000 yr B.P. was subjected to discriminant function analysis. Four separate approaches were adopted to test the match of the tephras with their known sources: (1) an analysis of raw microprobe data; (2) an analysis of normalized data; (3) an analysis of the data transformed by calculating the log10 of oxide scores divided (arbitrarily) by the chlorine content; and (4) a repeat of (3) with multivariate outlier scores, as determined by principal components analysis, deleted. All yielded excellent classification functions (efficiencies of 91–100%), with the eruptives associated with each of the five volcanoes being chemically distinct from one another. In each approach, the first two canonical discriminant functions accounted for >90% of the variation between groups. The removal of multivariate outliers from the data set had only minor effects on the performance of the discriminant function procedures. Separate discriminant function analysis of the relatively alike Taupo and Okataina eruptives gave a greater degree of multivariate separation. The numerical classifications generated should enable unidentified tephras erupted since ca. 20,000 yr B.P. from the five volcanoes to be provisionally matched with their sources.
Chemical Composition of Ice Containing Tephra Layers in the Byrd Station Ice Core, Antarctica
Authors: Palais Julie M. , Kyle Philip R.
Published: July 2006

The chemical composition of ice containing tephra (volcanic ash) layers in 22 sections of the Byrd Station ice core was examined to determine if the volcanic eruptions affected the chemical composition of the atmosphere and precipitation in the vicinity of Byrd Station. The liquid conductivity, acidity, sulfate, nitrate, aluminum, and sodium concentrations of ice samples deposited before, during, and after the deposition of the tephra layers were analyzed. Ice samples that contain tephra layers have, on average, about two times more sulfate and three to four times more aluminum than nonvolcanic ice samples. The acidity of ice samples associated with tephra layers is lowered by hydrolysis of silicate glass and minerals. Average nitrate, sodium, and conductivity are the same in all samples. Because much of the sulfur and chlorine originally associated with these eruptions may have been scavenged by ash particles, the atmospheric residence time of these volatiles would have been minimized. Therefore the eruptions probably had only a small effect on the composition of the Antarctic atmosphere and a negligible effect on local or global climate.
Early Holocene Basinal Sediments of the Dakhleh Oasis Region, South Central Egypt
Authors: Brookes Ian A.
Published: July 2006

Twenty samples of artifactual ostrich eggshell and hearth charcoal, firmly to loosely associated with basinal lacustrine, playa, and sand sheet sediments in the Dakhleh Oasis region of south-central Egypt, yield radiocarbon ages between ca. 8800 and ca. 4700 yr B.P. The sediments record variable sedimentary responses to an early Holocene pluvial interval in this virtually rainless region. Differences of hydrogeology and morphometry among and within basin types complicate paleoclimatic interpretation.
Humid to Arid to Subhumid Vegetation Shift on Pilliga Sandstone, Ulungra Springs, New South Wales
Authors: Dodson J.R. , Wright R.V.S.
Published: July 2006

The Pilliga Sandstone region of the northwest slope of New South Wales has a natural vegetation cover of sclerophyllous relatively closed to open forests with a largely heathy understorey, and a warm, subhumid and continental climate. Pollen analysis of spring-fed deposits gives a vegetation history extending from at least 30,000 yr B.P. to the late Holocene. Tree pollen became scarce after about 25,000 yr B.P. and an assemblage dominated by Chenopodiaceae, Liguliflorae, Tubuliflorae, and probably Poaceae developed. No similar assemblage is known from present pollen rain studies carried out in Australia. However, it clearly represents a treeless open shrub-steppe formation and therefore an arid or semiarid environment. The site thus provides evidence of an eastward late Pleistocene extension of the arid zone in Australia, and is the first full-glacial vegetation record between 20° and 35° latitude in Australia. The present vegetation cover did not become reestablished until the beginning of the Holocene, which raises questions about the form in which Pilliga Sandstone vegetation survived full-glacial conditions.
Holocene Vegetation Change at Treeline North of Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada
Authors: Moser K. A. , MacDonald G. M.
Published: July 2006

Two radiocarbon-dated cores from small lakes located approximately 25 km north of the mapped boundary between forest-tundra and tundra provide records of postglacial vegetation change at the treeline near Yellowknife, NWT, Canada. Basal radiocarbon dates of 6180 and 7470 yr B.P. were obtained from the cores. The fossil pollen evidence suggests that the initial vegetation wasBetulatundra with a peatland component.Alnusbecame an important constituent of the pollen assemblages between 6900 and 5500 yr B.P. Both lakes record sharp increases inPiceacf.marianapollen at approximately 5000 yr B.P., suggesting the establishment of forest-tundra. By 3500 yr B.P.Picea marianaforest-tundra had withdrawn. The proportion of organic to inorganic sediment in the cores was at a maximum between 5000 and 3500 yr B.P. Tundra has dominated the region since 3500 yr B.P. In northwestern Canada, the maximum northward advance of treeline occurred between 9000 and 5000 yr B.P. The asynchrony in treeline advance in central and northwestern Canada may reflect that glacial ice persisted in the interior NWT longer than previously believed. Alternatively, the asynchronous history of the treeline may be a result of the geometric properties of the long-wave westerly disturbance that is manifest in the median summer position of the arctic front and ultimately controls the geographic location of the treeline.
Fossil Insect Evidence for Late Quaternary Climatic Change in the Big Bend Region, Chihuahuan Desert, Texas
Authors: Elias Scott A. , Van Devender Thomas R.
Published: July 2006

A series of 50 packrat midden assemblages from the Big Bend region of the Chihuahuan Desert, ranging in age from >36,000 yr B.P. to recent, yielded abundant, diverse arthropod faunas. The mesic nature of regional Wisconsin age climates is substantiated by the fauna from 30,000–12,000 yr B.P., especially during the middle Wisconsin (30,000–20,000 yr B.P.). Late Wisconsin faunas contained grassland species which are confined today to cooler, moister regions. Following 12,000 yr B.P., most of these temperate species were replaced either by desert species or by more cosmopolitan taxa, marking the climatic shift from late Wisconsin to postglacial time. Insects indicative of more severe aridity are first recorded at about 6000 yr B.P., but some temperate species persisted until about 2500 yr B.P. After this, only desert dwellers are recorded.
Time of Maximum Late Wisconsin Glaciation, West Coast of Canada
Authors: Blaise Bertrand , Clague John J. , Mathewes Rolf W.
Published: July 2006

New data from a deep-sea core in the eastern North Pacific Ocean indicate that the western margin of the Late Wisconsin Cordilleran Ice Sheet began to retreat from its maximum position after 15,600 yr B.P. Ice-rafted detritus is present in the core below the 15,600 yr B.P. level and was deposited while lobes of the Cordilleran Ice Sheet advanced across the continental shelf in Queen Charlotte Sound, Hecate Strait, and Dixon Entrance. The core data are complemented by stratigraphic evidence and radiocarbon ages from Quaternary exposures bordering Hecate Strait and Dixon Entrance. These indicate that piedmont lobes reached the east and north shores of Graham Island (part of the Queen Charlotte Islands) between about 23,000 and 21,000 yr B.P. Sometime thereafter, but before 15,000–16,000 yr B.P., these glaciers achieved their greatest Late Wisconsin extent. Radiocarbon ages of late-glacial and postglacial sediments from Queen Charlotte Sound, Hecate Strait, and adjacent land areas show that deglaciation began in these areas before 15,000 yr B.P. and that the shelf was completely free of ice by 13,000 yr B.P.
The Hayes Tephra Deposits, and Upper Holocene Marker Horizon in South-Central Alaska
Authors: Riehle James R. , Bowers Peter M. , Ager Thomas A.
Published: July 2006

The most widespread of all Holocene tephra deposits in the Cook Inlet region of south-central Alaska is a set of deposits from Hayes volcano. Because of their unique phenocryst content—biotite in rare amounts and a high proportion of amphibole to pyroxene—the deposits are readily identifiable at all but the most distant sites where they are very fine grained. Eighteen radiocarbon dates from eight upland sites limit the age of the tephra set to between about 3500 and 3800 yr. The set originated at Hayes volcano in the Tordrillo Mountains 150 km northwest of Anchorage; seven or possibly eight closely succeeding deposits, low-silica dacite in composition, compose two main lobes that extend northeast for 400 km and south for at least 250 km from the vent. We estimate the total tephra volume to be 10 km3; multiple layers imply four to six larger and two or three smaller eruptions. The deposits are a nearly isochronous marker horizon that should be useful in future archeologic, geologic, and palynologic studies in the region.
Dynamic Pedogenesis: New Views on Some Key Soil Concepts, and a Model for Interpreting Quaternary Soils
Authors: Johnson D. L. , Keller E. A. , Rockwell T. K.
Published: July 2006

Inasmuch as soils are open systems and rarely, if ever, achieve equilibrium with their environments, it is philosophically sound to view all soils as expressing varying levels of polygenesis as that term has been redefined. Soil genesis and resultant morphology may then be viewed in a comprehensive framework of soil evolution that consists of two linked pathways, one developmental and the other regressive, that reflect interactions of both exogenous and endogenous vectors (vectors are factors, processes, and conditions of pedogenesis). Following this philosophy, a model of pedogenesis is framed in an evolutional paradigm that emphasizes the integrated effects of dynamic and passive pedogenic vectors in directing pathways and in controlling rates of soil genesis through time. The dynamic vectors include energy and mass fluxes, frequencies of soil wetting and drying, water table dynamics, organisms, feedback processes, and pedoturbation. The passive vectors include parent materials, soil chemical environment, stability of geomorphic surfaces, and various evolved soil properties and conditions (accessions). Both sets of vectors vary spatially, and the dynamic vectors, more so than passive vectors, fluctuate through time. The model is expressed as S=f(D,P,dD/dt,dD/dt) where S is the state of the soil or degree of profile evolution, D is the set of dynamic vectors, P is the set of passive vectors, and dD/dt and dP/dt denote change through time t. The model helps explain the apparent minimal development and regressed character of some old soils and the rapid and strong development of some young ones.
Plant and Insect Remains from the Wisconsinan Interstadial/Stadial Transition at Wedron, North-Central Illinois
Authors: Garry Clarke E. , Schwert Donald P. , Baker Richard G. , Kemmis Tim J. , Horton Diana G. , Sullivan Amy E.
Published: July 2006

Organic material exposed within a small swale fill in Pit 6 of the Wedron Silica Sand Co. near Wedron in LaSalle County, Illinois, includes well-preserved pollen, plant macrofossils, and insect remains. This material occurs in slackwater sediment in the lower part of the Peddicord Formation, which was deposited as existing valleys were dammed by fluvial aggradation during the initial late Wisconsinan advance of Laurentide ice into the Wedron area. Wood from the organic horizon has a radiocarbon age of 21,460 ± 470 yr B.P. (ISGS-1486). The pollen spectrum is dominated byPicea, Pinus, and Cyperaceae. Plant macrofossils comprise a mix of boreal-forest taxa, includingPicea, Larix laricina, and the mossCampylium stellatum; subarctic species includingBetula glandulosa, Empetrum nigrum, andSelaginella selaginoides; along with the predominantly arcticVaccinium uliginosumvar.alpinum, Dryas integrifolia, andRhododendron lapponicum. The insect fauna contains the western montane ground beetleOpisthius richardsoni; several arctic-subarctic ground beetles includingDiacheila polita, Helophorus sibiricus, andPterostichus (Cryobius) caribou; and a diverse assemblage of insects that today inhabit the boreal forest. We interpret the biotic record to record a phase in the transition from closed boreal forest to open tundra as climatic conditions deteriorated in advance of continental glaciation.
Late Holocene tephrochronology of the northern Antarctic Peninsula
Authors: Björck Svante , Sandgren Per , Zale Rolf
Published: July 2006

Andesitic and basaltic andesitic tephra layers are abundant in Holocene deposits from the Antarctic Peninsula. Visually discernible tephra horizons occur in three lakes on Livingston Island. Tephra in two other lakes and in a moss bank on Elephant Island, with very low ash concentrations, were detected magnetically. Deception Island is the most likely volcanic source for the tephra. With direct14C dating, age/depth curves, and cross-correlations at least 14 tephra horizons dating to between ca. 4700 and 250 yr B.P. were identified and now form the basis for a preliminary regional tephrochronology that will be a valuable dating tool for investigating the Holocene climatic history of Antarctica.
Late Pleistocene chronology of loess deposition near Luochuan, China
Authors: Forman Steven L.
Published: July 2006

Loess near Luochuan was sampled for thermoluminescence (TL) dating simultaneously with magnetic susceptibility measurements to provide the first independent age estimates on a susceptibility record from the Loess Plateau of China. TL age estimates on late Pleistocene loess (L1) are stratigraphically consistent with no statistical difference in TL ages by the total or partial bleach techniques or by measuring ultraviolet or green wavelengths in the TL analysis. Loess below the last interglacial soil (S1) yielded disparate results and is in many localities in central and eastern China unsuitable for TL dating because of complications of TL saturation and uncertainties in estimating the environmental radiation. TL age estimates on the L1 loess are consistent with previously reported TL ages for sites near Beijing and Xian as well as in general agreement with age models for loess deposition based on paleomagnetics and magnetic susceptibility. The convergence of a variety of geochronologic indices indicate that the last major period of loess deposition in central China began 70,000 ± 10,000 yr B.P. and terminated <20,000 yr B.P. This event is probably recorded in sediments from the adjacent Pacific Ocean and possibly in dust records from the Antarctic Ice Sheet.
Fossil Beetle Evidence for Climatic Change 18,000–10,000 years B.P. in South-Central Chile
Authors: Hoganson John W. , Ashworth Allan C.
Published: July 2006

Cold-adapted beetles colonized the lowlands of the Lake Region of south-central Chile following the retreat of glaciers from their maximum extent at about 19,500 yr B.P. The beetle fauna from 18,000 to 14,000 yr B.P. was characterized by species of moorland habitats. This fauna was species-poor compared to later faunas of the postglacial interval. By 14,000 yr B.P. arboreal species were replacing species of open habitats, reflecting a change toward a warmer climate. By about 12,500 yr B.P. fossil beetle assemblages consisted entirely of rain forest species. The fauna of the postglacial interval was about five times as species-rich as that of the glacial interval. The change in species composition and greater diversity of the beetle fauna was produced by an increase in mean annual temperature estimated to be about 4°–5°C. This was the last major climatic change to affect profoundly the biota of the middle latitudes of South America. The fossil beetle assemblages do not imply a reversal to a colder climate at the time of the European Younger Dryas interval between 11,000 and 10,000 yr B.P.
Short-Duration Holocene Lakes in the Mojave River Drainage Basin, Southern California
Authors: Enzel Yehouda , Brown William J. , Anderson Roger Y. , McFadden Leslie D. , Wells Stephen G.
Published: July 2006

Stratigraphic, sedimentologic, and pedologic studies of beach ridge and lacustrine deposits indicate that up to five times during the Holocene, shallow lakes covered Silver Lake playa in southeastern California for periods of years to decades. The two youngest lacustrine events (at about 390 ± 90 yr B. P. and 3620 ± 70 yr B. P.) coincide with the early and late Neoglacial episodes of North America. Increasing evidence in recent years from other nonglaciated areas leads us to conclude that the effects of these climatic episodes were much more widespread than previously thought. The climate during these episodes was characterized by an increased frequency of winter storms in the southwestern United States, causing wetter conditions that affected diverse, hyperarid environments in the Mojave Desert and adjacent regions. We propose that this wide areal coverage was caused by large-scale, winter atmospheric circulation patterns, which are probably related to changes in sea-surface temperatures and oceanic circulation in the eastern North Pacific Ocean.