bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Fluctuation in the Level of Pluvial Lake Lahontan During the last 40,000 Years
Authors: Benson Larry
Published: December 2004

Samples of algal tufa, gastropods and calcite-cemented sand were collected from the Walker and Pyramid Lake areas of the Lahontan Basin, Nevada. X-ray diffraction petrographic and radiocarbon analyses show that massive forms of tufa such as the dendritic variety contain secondary carbon-bearing material and therefore yield unreliable radiocarbon dates. Dense coating of tufa (lithoid), however, gave radiocarbon ages in agreement with dates on coexisting aragonite gastropods. Radiocarbon data from the study were combined with previously dated noncarbonate materials [Born, S. M. (1972). “Lake Quaternary History, Deltaic Sedimentation, and Mudlump Formation at Pyramid Lake, Nevada”, Center for Water Resources, Desert Research Inst., Reno, Nevada] to give an internally consistent record of lake level fluctuations for the past 40,000 years. The main features of the Lahontan chronology are (1) extreme high stands (1330 m above sea level) 13,500 to 11,000 and 25,000 to 22,000 B.P., (2) a moderate high stand (1260 m above sea level) 20,000 to 15,000 B.P., (3) a low stand of unknown elevation 40,000 to 25,000 B.P., (4) an extremely low stand 9000 to 5000 B.P., and (5) an overall increase in the size of Walker and Pyramid Lakes during the past 5000 years, until the late 19th century. Pore fluid data indicate that Walker Lake desiccated sometime during the period 9050 to 6400 B.P. Salts deposited as a result of this dessication are still undergoing dissolution causing a flux of chloride, carbon, and other solute species from the sediments to the overlying lake water. Pore fluid data obtained from Pyramid Lake sediments do not indicate the presence of a concentrated brine at depth. This suggests that Pyramid Lake did not dry completely during this period although it may have been severely reduced in size. There has been considerable disagreement regarding the occurrence of extreme arid conditions (altithermal period) since 10,000 B.P. [Mehringer, P. J. (1977). “Models and Great Basin Prehistory”. Desert Research Inst. Pub, Reno, Nevada]. The data of this study suggest that such a climatic regime did occur in the western Great Basin during the period 9000 to 5000 B.P.
The Age, Origin, and Volcanological Significance of the Y-5 Ash Layer in the Mediterranean
Authors: Thunell Robert , Federman Alan , Sparks Stephen , Williams Douglas
Published: December 2004

The Y-5 ash is the most widespread layer in deep-sea sediments from the eastern Mediterranean. This ash layer was previously correlated with the Citara-Serrara tuff on Ischia Island and dated at approximately 25,000 yr B.P. New data on the glass chemistry of the Y-5 ash and pyroclastic deposits from the Neopolitan volcanic province suggest that the layer is correlative with the large-volume Campanian ignimbrite and not with the deposit from Ischia Island. The volume of the Y-5 ash is approximately 65 km3 which is comparable in magnitude to the volume of the Campanian ignimbrite. An interpolated age of approximately 38,000 yr B.P. is estimated based on sedimentation rates derived from δ18O stratigraphy. There is a discrepancy between this estimate and previously reported radiocarbon ages which range from 24,000 to 35,000 yr B.P. We propose that the “Campanian tuff ash layer” should be adopted as the full stratigraphic name for the Y-5 ash. The deep-sea ash layer is divisible into two units in proximal localities, probably correlating with two major phases of the eruption: plinian and ignimbrite.
Fossil Pigments as a Guide to the Paleolimnology of Browns Lake, Ohio
Authors: Sanger Jon E. , Crowl G. H.
Published: December 2004

Some aspects of the paleolimnology of Browns Lake, Ohio, have been ascertained by a study of preserved sedimentary plant pigments and conductivity of interstitial water. Temporal changes in the sedimentary environment, especially redox conditions, along with changes in the flora of the lake and the development of peat in the basin have brought about differential sedimentation and preservation of pigments. Measurement of changes in total and relative concentration and diversity of chlorophyll derivatives and carotenoids has provided important clues to late-glacial and postglacial evolution of the lake. Laminated sediments, rich in fossil remains, near the base of the core indicate eutrophic conditions and meromixis for several thousand years beginning shortly after lake inception. As meromixis broke down, the lake evolved gradually to holomictic conditions when sapropel was deposited. An advancing complex of reed swamp and fen forest began during midpostglacial time, providing ever-increasing amounts of highly organic, peaty sediments and continues to the present. The pond is now dystrophic, and increasing deposition of inorganic sediment is apparent at the top of the core, concomitant with land clearance and agriculture. In the same interval, an increase of water conductivity reflects recent agricultural practices and industrialization in the region.
Model for Paleoceanographic Reconstructions of the California Current During the Last 8000 Years
Authors: Pisias Nicklas G.
Published: December 2004

Two independent data sets are used to develop a model for reconstructing sea-surface temperature and dynamic height anomaly distributions for the California Current during the last 8000 years. The first data set, all hydrographic data available for the California Current region, was used to determine the statistical relationships between the historical record of sea-surface conditions in the Santa Barbara Basin and all one-degree-square grid points of the California Current area. Given these relationships and the second data set, an 8000-from the Santa Barbara Basin, past sea-surface conditions throughout the California Current can be estimated for times before historical observations. The 8000-year record of sea-surface conditions was estimated by analysis of the radiolarian fauna found in a varved sediment core from the Santa Barbara Basin (Pisias, N. G., 1978 year record of sea-surface temperatures and dynamic height anomalies , Quaternary Research 10, 366–384). The reconstructions of sea-surface temperature and dynamic height anomalies indicate that at times of cold sea-surface conditions in the Santa Barbara Basin, the flow of the California Current was much stronger than it is today or was during the times of the warmest sea-surface conditions during the last 8000 years. The atmospheric circulation during the winter of 1950, the period of the coldest recorded sea-surface temperatures in the Santa Barbara Basin based on the historical data set, contained a strong northerly component in the winds which is consistent with the inferred increase in the California Current at times of cold sea-surface temperatures. Times of warm sea-surface temperatures in the Santa Barbara Basin are characterized by decreased southward flow of the California Current and a marked increase in northward flow into the Santa Barbara Basin itself. In the historical record, times of warm sea-surface temperatures are often associated with high precipitation in southern California. The atmospheric circulation during the winter of 1968–1969 is characterized by strong eastward flow over southern California and a northward transport of warm humid air from the tropics into the region of southern California producing the high rainfall observed. The persistence of this atmospheric circulation could produce the more zonal flow predicted for the California Current during times of warmer average conditions in the Santa Barbara Basin.
Formation of the Neoglacial Surge Moraines of the Klutlan Glacier, Yukon Territory, Canada
Authors: Driscoll Fletcher G.
Published: December 2004

The Klutlan Glacier is a valley glacier 82-km long emerging from the Icefield Ranges of the St. Elias Mountains. It is one of at least 200 surging glaciers identified in western North America. During about the past 1200 yr, the glacier has deposited at its terminus a series of at least 7 surge-related Neoglacial ice-cored moraines. Lithologic characteristics of the Klutlan moraines suggest that they have resulted principally from the surging of the tributary Nesham Glacier, which periodically injects a lobe of medial and lateral moraines and the underlying ice into a more slowly moving Klutlan ice stream. Subsequent surges of the main ice carry the Nesham surge lobes to the Klutlan terminus as discrete geomorphic features. For the past 400 yr a Nesham lobe has reached the Klutlan terminus at approximately 80-yr intervals.
Soil Development on Recent End Moraines of the Klutlan Glacier, Yukon Territory, Canada
Authors: Jacobson G. L. , Birks H. J. B.
Published: December 2004

Data on soils with six Neoglacial moraines of the Klutlan Glacier have been compared with those from moraines at the warm, moist coastal site of Glacier Bay, 160 km south. Percentage organic matter increases rapidly for the first 100 to 150 yr of soil development and then continues to rise gradually for the next 100 yr. Soil pH falls from 8.0 in recent till to approximately 6.0 in 200-yr-old soils. Nitrogen levels in the mineral soil increase from near zero in recent tills to 0.7% in soils 175–200 yr old; organic horizons of soils associated with spruce forests in later successional stages contain approximately 1% nitrogen. Concentrations of certain inorganic phosphate ions in the different-aged soils increase continually throughout the succession. Data for nine chemical variables were subjected to a principal components analysis; the major pattern in the data reflects the differences between soils of low organic content and high pH present in early successional stages, and nutrient-rich soils with high organic content and low pH present after succession has progressed toward the spruce forest. These trends in soil development with time are strikingly similar to those reported from Glacier Bay, except that the changes in soil properties appear to be delayed by 50–100 yr at the Klutlan terminus. Although numerous signs of nitrogen deficiency have been identified in plants growing on new soils at Glacier Bay, none was observed visually in living plants or in nutrients measured in samples of foliage from three plant taxa (Epilobium latifolium, Salix spp., and Populus balsamifera) taken from the Klutlan moraines. Concentrations of nitrogen and other nutrients (Ca, Mg, K, total P) in the foliage samples show no clear trends with increasing soil development. Low temperatures, a short growing season, and very low mean annual precipitation probably limit plant growth and account for the delayed soil development on the Klutlan moraines.
Electron Microprobe Correlation of Tephra Layers from Eastern Mediterranean Abyssal Sediments and the Island of Santorini
Authors: Federman Alan N. , Carey Steven N.
Published: December 2004

Five widespread tephra layers are found in late Quaternary sediments (0–130,000 yr B.P.) of the Eastern Mediterranean Sea. These layers have been correlated among abyssal cores and to their respective terrestrial sources by electron-probe microanalysis of glass and pumice shards. Major element variations are sufficient to discriminate unambiguously between the five major layers. Oxygen isotope stratigraphy in one of the cores studied was used to data four of the five layers. Two of the widespread layers are derived from explosive eruptions of the Santorini volcanic complex: the Minoan Ash (3370 yr B.P.) and the Acrotiri Ignimbrite (18,000 yr B.P.). An additional layer, found in one core only, is most likely correlated to the Middle Pumice Series of Santorini (approximately 100,000 yr B.P.). Two layers are correlated to deposits on the islands of Yali and Kos and date to 31,000 and 120,000 yr B.P., respectively. One layer originated from the Neapolitan area of Italy 38,000 yr B.P.
Late-Quaternary Vegetation History at White Pond on the Inner Coastal Plain of South Carolina
Authors: Watts W. A.
Published: December 2004

At White Pond near Columbia, South Carolina, a pollen assemblage of Pinus banksiana (jack pine), Picea (spruce), and herbs is dated between 19,100 and 12,800 14C yr B.P. Plants of sandhill habitats are more prominent than at other sites of similar age, and pollen of deciduous trees is infrequent. The vegetation was probably a mosaic of pine and spruce stands with prairies and sand-dune vegetation. The climate may have been like that of the eastern boreal forest today. 14C dates of 12,800 and 9500 yr B.P. bracket a time when Quercus (oak), Carya (hickory), Fagus (beech), and Ostrya-Carpinus (ironwood) dominated the vegetation. It is estimated that beech and hickory made up at least 25% of the forest trees. Conifers were rare or absent. The environment is interpreted as hickory-rich mesic deciduous forest with a climate similar to but slightly warmer than that of the northern hardwoods region of western New York State. After 9500 yr B.P. oak and pine forest dominated the landscape, with pine becoming the most important tree genus in the later Holocene.
On the Design of Paleoenvironmental Data Networks for Estimating Large-Scale Patterns of Climate
Authors: Kutzbach J. E. , Guetter P. J.
Published: December 2004

Guidelines are determined for the spatial density and location of climatic variables (temperature and precipitation) that are appropriate for estimating the continental- to hemispheric-scale pattern of atmospheric circulation (sea-level pressure). Because instrumental records of temperature and precipitation simulate the climatic information that is contained in certain paleoenvironmental records (tree-ring, pollen, and written-documentary records, for example), these guidelines provide useful sampling strategies for reconstructing the pattern of atmospheric circulation from paleoenvironmental records. The statistical analysis uses a multiple linear regression model. The sampling strategies consist of changes in site density (from 0.5 to 2.5 sites per million square kilometers) and site location (from western North American sites only to sites in Japan, North America, and western Europe) of the climatic data. The results showed that the accuracy of specification of the pattern of sea-level pressure: (1) is improved if sites with climatic records are spread as uniformly as possible over the area of interest; (2) increases with increasing site density-at least up to the maximum site density used in this study; (3) is improved if sites cover an area that extends considerably beyond the limits of the area of interest. The accuracy of specification was lower for independent data than for the data that were used to develop the regression model; some skill was found for almost all sampling strategies.
Relations entre les données isotopiques océaniques et l'histoire des grandes faunes européennes plio-pleistocenes
Authors: Bonifay Marie-Françoise
Published: December 2004

Cette étude est un premier essai de corrélation entre les résultats déjà obtenus sur les grandes faunes plio-pléistocènes européennes et les stades climatiques majeurs (tant froids que tempérés) mis en évidence dans les courbes isotopiques océaniques. Ce sont les phases froides en particulier qui expliquent souvent la disparition de certaines espèces, puis les phénomènes climatiques s'accentuant, leur remplacement par d'autres groupes. Un parallélisme assez évident se fait jour entre la succession en Europe des associations de grandes faunes et les phases paléoclimatiques révélées par le domaine marin, avec cependant une certaine dissension pour les périodes récentes. Face à la grande diversification des faunes quaternaires, dues vraisemblablement à la multiplicité des zones climatiques, et aux résultats des carottes océaniques qui nous fournissent seulement des données globales, seules les biostratigraphies régionales permettront de reconstituer avec précision les différents biotopes.

This study is the first test of correlation between the results obtained on the large Plio-Pleistocene European faunas and the main climatic stages (cold as well as temperate) demonstrated in marine isotopic records. In particular, there are cold stages which often explain the disappearance of some species, as well as climatic events that promote the substitution of some species by other groups. A rather evident parallelism appears between the European succession of large faunal associations and paleoclimatic stages revealed in oceanic areas, but some discordance occurs in the later periods. Faced with the great diversification of the Quaternary faunas, probably due to the multiplicity of climatic environments, and with global information from oceanic records, only local biostratigraphic studies will allow precise reconstruction of the different biotopes.
Cave Sites, Faunal Analysis, and Big-Game Hunters of the Great Basin: A Caution
Authors: Mc Guire Kelly R.
Published: December 2004

Deposits of inferred natural origin excavated at Mineral Hill Cave, north-central Nevada, exhibit a similarity to the reported evidence for “Big-Game Hunters” from cave sites in the Great Basin. Split bone and charcoal were observed throughout the deposits. In addition, the remains of a number of animal taxa including several Pleistocene genera, which are considered to have been of economic importance, were recovered from the deposits. These findings suggest that the role of natural processes in cave deposition is of crucial importance in understanding cave-site archaeology.
Geomorphology, Deformation, and Chronology of Marine Terraces along the Pacific Coast of Central Baja California, Mexico
Authors: Woods Alan J.
Published: December 2004

Three emergent marine terraces are prominent between Playa El Marron and Arroyo El Salinito and comprise the most extensive Pleistocene planation surfaces in central Baja California, Mexico. The deposits of the lowest terrace, the Tomatal, are 120,000 ± 20,000 yr old (Sangamonian?) while the absolute ages of the two higher and older terraces, the Andrés and Aeropuerto, are unknown. The Tomatal terrace is particularly well developed and comprises degraded sea cliffs, paleodunes, and lagoonal sequences. Shingle paleobeach ridges also occur locally and reflect shore progradation and tombolo formation. The Tomatal shoreline is nearly horizontal at 7 ± 1 m above present mean sea level, whereas the older Aeropuerto terrace has been tilted so that it decreases in elevation toward the southeast. Nonetheless, coastal tilting is not nearly as great as at many other localities in California and Baja California. This is despite the fact that the entire Baja California peninsula has been assumed to be tectonically unstable during the Pleistocene, primarily because of the forces generated by plate motion.
Late-Glacial and Postglacial Sedimentation in Lake Superior Based on Seismic-Reflection Profiles
Authors: Johnson Thomas C.
Published: December 2004

Seismic reflection profiles (3.5 kHz) were obtained along more than 3500 km of shiptrack in Lake Superior within the last 2 yr. The acoustic character of profiles is categorized as: (I) a single, strong reflector at the lake floor, (II) a thick, acoustically transparent layer overlying a strong reflector, and (III) relatively thick sediment with internal acoustic reflectors. These profiles, in conjunction with sediment cores from the area, reveal that varved glacial-lacustrine sediment settled out preferentially in a trough between Isle Royale and the north shore, and to a lesser extent in other topographic depressions; bottom currents generated by storm waves prevent clay accumulation on till or bedrock in the open lake wherever the bottom is shallower than 100 m; bottom currents prevent deposition or erode bottom sediment in certain deep-water (> 200 m) valleys; and lacustrine sediment is disturbed by creep or slumping off Grand Portage, Minnesota, and by other processes such as dewatering in many other areas. These factors complicate sedimentation in Lake Superior, and must be considered when investigating any aspect of the lake sediment.
An Altitudinal Cline in Tropical African Grass Floras and Its Paleoecological Significance
Authors: Livingstone D.A. , Clayton W. D.
Published: December 2004

At altitudes below 1300 m most species of grasses in tropical Africa are ones that use 4-carbon photosynthesis. Above 4000 m only species of the subfamily Pooideae using 3-carbon photosynthesis are found. At intermediate altitudes the percent of 3-carbon genera and species in the grass flora is a very regular function of altitude. The correlate of altitude that controls the distribution of grasses appears to be temperature. Fossil grass cuticles are identifiable to genus and should provide a useful paleothermometer. If no other errors were involved, the regular altitudinal distribution of genera in the flora of tropical East Africa would permit paleotemperature estimates with 95% confidence limits of ± 1.2°C.
Radiocarbon Chronology of Holocene Hydrologic Changes in Northeastern Mali
Authors: Hillaire-Marcel C. , Riser J. , Rognon P. , Petit-Maire N. , Rosso J.C. , Soulie-Marche I.
Published: December 2004

A detailed chronology of hydrological changes that occurred in northeastern Mali during the Holocene is based on approximately 3014C dates of molluscs which were collected from the lacustrine and paludal deposits of the Ine Sakane sand sea. The presence of cemented paleodunes indicates that the end of the Pleistocene was and arid period. This was followed by an early Holocene lacustrine episode (ca. 9500–6500 yr B.P.) during which numerous lakes occupied depressions formed in the Cretaceous limestones and between the sand ridges. These lakes reflect a significant rise in the water table. Between ca. 6500 and 5500 yr B.P. the lakes dried up, although the water table remained close to the ground surface in several areas. Calcareous concretions formed at the water table fringe during this time, thereby “fossilizing” some of the middle Holocene dunes. A second lacustrine episode is dated between ca. 5500 and 4500 yr B.P.; it corresponds to the establishment of numerous Neolithic settlements in the area. Arid conditions have developed since about 4500 yr B.P. to attain the conditions of the present day. The isotopic composition (18O and13C) of the fauna reflects highly variable hydrological conditions. Groundwaters were recharged by precipitation which was occasionally very depleted in heavy oxygen (δ18O ≅ −13%.). Evaporation induced an enrichment in18O; high concentrations characterize some lakes. The13C content of fossil shells reflect: (1) species ecological requirements, (2) isotopic composition of the total inorganic dissolved carbon (TIDC) in groundwaters, and (3) the lake metabolism.
A Late Wisconsin and Holocene Vegetation History from the Central Brooks Range: Implications for Alaskan Palaeoecology
Authors: Brubaker Linda B. , Garfinkel Harriet L. , Edwards Mary E.
Published: December 2004

Five pollen diagrams reveal late Wisconsin and Holocene vegetation changes in the Walker Lake/Alatna Valley region of the central Brooks Range, approximately 100 km west of the area studied by D. A. Livingstone (1955, Ecology 36, 587–600). New insights into the vegetation history of this region are provided by calculations of pollen influx and by the use of linear discriminant analysis to separate Picea glauca and P. mariana pollen. Three major pollen zones are identified: (1) a basal herb zone, characterized by high percentages of Cyperaceae, Gramineae, Salix, and Artemisia, and low total pollen influx; (2) a shrub Betula zone with increased total pollen influx and very high percentages of Betula pollen, predominantly in the size range of B. nana and B. glandulosa; and (3) and Alnus zone dominated by Alnus pollen. Lakes currently within the boreal forest or near tree line show relatively high percentages of Picea pollen in the Alnus zone. Several striking vegetation changes occurred between ca. 10,000 and 7000 yr B.P. Between ca. 11,000 and 10,000 yr B.P., Populus balsamifera pollen percentages as great as 30% indicate that this species was present at low-elevation sites near Walker Lake. These populations declined abruptly ca. 10,000 yr ago and have never regained prominence. About 8500 yr B.P., Picea glauca pollen reached 10–15%, indicating the arrival of P. glauca in or near the study area. P. glauca populations evidently decreased ca. 8000 yr ago, when Picea pollen percentages and influx fell to low values. About 7000 yr B.P., Alnus pollen percentages and influx rose sharply as alder shrubs became established widely. Picea once more expanded ca. 5000 yr ago, but these populations were dominated by P. mariana rather than P. glauca, which increased slowly at this time and may still be advancing northward. Some vegetation changes have been remarkably synchronous over wide areas of interior Alaska, and probably reflect responses of in situ vegetation to environmental changes, but others may reflect the lagged responses of species migrating into new areas.
Late-Glacial Vegetation and Climate at the Manis Mastodon site, Olympic Peninsula, Washington
Authors: Petersen Kenneth L. , Mehringer Peter J. , Gustafson Carl E.
Published: December 2004

As the late Wisconsin Cordilleran Ice Sheet retreated, sediment accumulated in shallow depressions at the Manis Mastodon Archaeological site on the Olympic Peninsula, near Sequim, Washington. Pollen, plant macrofossils, and bones of mastodon, caribou, and bison occur within the lower 47 cm of these deposits. The fossil pollen and seed assemblages indicate persistence for 1000 yr (11,000–12,000 yr B.P.) of an herb-and-shrub-dominated landscape at a time when forest species appear elsewhere in Washington and in adjacent British Columbia.

At present, Sequim is near the northern coastal limits of both Cactaceae andCeratophyllum. Mean annual precipitation is 42.7 cm and summer temperatures average 15°–16°C in July. The absence of coniferous trees and the presence of cactus andCeratophyllumin late-glacial sediments are explained by a regional climate that was drier and at least as warm as today. These conditions persisted in the rain shadow of the Olympic Mountains until at least 11,000 yr B.P.
A 10,000 yr B.P. Extensive Ice Shelf over Viscount Melville Sound, Arctic Canada
Authors: Hodgson Douglas A. , Vincent Jean-Serge
Published: December 2004

Late Wisconsinan age glacial landforms and deposits indicate that an ice shelf of at least 60,000 km2 flowed northwestward into Viscount Melville Sound, probably from the M'Clintock Dome of the Laurentide Ice Sheet. The ice shelf overlapped coastal areas and laid Winter Harbour Till up to 125 m above present sea level on the southern coast of Melville Island, to 135 m on Byam Martin Island, to possibly 90 m on the northeast tip of Banks Island, and to 150 m on the north coast of Victoria Island. The contemporary sea level was 50 to 100 m higher than present (it now rises eastward). A maximum age of 10,340 ± 150 yr B.P. for the till, and thus the ice-shelf advance, is provided by shells in marine sediments which underlie it, whereas a minimum age of 9880 ± 150 yr B.P. is provided by overlying shells that postdate the ice advance. The major advance of shelf ice into Viscount Melville Sound may be the result of the rapid disintegration of the M'Clintock Dome while the climate ameliorated in the western Arctic.
Late-Glacial-Holocene Climate of the Lake District of Chile
Authors: Heusser Calvin J.
Published: December 2004

Pollen evidence from a 350-cm section of a fen in a moraine belt at Rucañancu (39°33′S, 72°18′W) bears on the controversy regarding interpretation of late-glacial and Holocene climate in midlatitude Chile. Earlier pollen studies, indicating a cooling trend between approximately 11,000 and 10,000 yr B.P., disagreed with observations of glacier fluctuations which show continuous glacier wastage and, by inference, warming after 12,500 yr B.P. and possibly earlier, up until Neoglaciation, beginning after 6850 yr B.P. Fossil beetle assemblage data in this time range support the interpretation of climate made from the observed glacier behavior. At Rucañancu, a pollen assemblage containing upper montane podocarp (Podocarpus andinus) in quantities reaching 34% and dating between 10,440 and 10,000 yr B.P. implies a cold climate with summer temperatures possibly 5–8°C lower than today's. Holocene warming began afterward, later than the glacier and beetle records indicate, and continued until at least 8350 yr B.P., as suggested by the sequence of assemblages dominated by Myrtaceae, by Aextoxicon punctatum, and by Gramineae. A subsequent assemblage of Nothofagus obliqua type implies an increase of moisture until 6960 yr B.P., following which N. dombeyi type, under a cool and humid Neoglacial climate, became dominant.
Nivation Landforms in the Western Great Basin and Their Paleoclimatic Significance
Authors: Dohrenwend John C.
Published: December 2004

More than 10,000 nivation landforms occur in the higher mountain ranges of the western Great Basin. They range from small, subtle hollows with head scarps a few meters high and a few tens of meters long to broad, clearly defined terraces as much as 220 m wide bounded by bold, steeply sloping head scarps as much as 30 m high and 1600 m long. Distribution of these nivation hollows is strongly influenced by elevation, slope orientation, local relief, and substrate lithology. About 95% occur between 2200 and 3000 m elevation, and nearly 80% are situated on north-northwest-to east-northeast-facing slopes. They occur mainly in areas of moderately sloping terrain and moderate local relief, and they are preferentially developed on relatively incompetent substrates including terrigenous sedimentary deposits, volcanic and metavolcanic rocks of intermediate composition, and deeply weathered granitoid rocks. Nearly all of these nivation hollows are relict. They are most abundant near areas of late Pleistocene glaciation but rarely occur within such areas. Most are veneered with colluvium and are well vegetated, and many hollows in the Mono Basin area are veneered with volcanic ash at least 700 yr old. Distribution of nivation hollows suggests that (1) the full-glacial nivation threshold altitude (NTA) rose from north to south at 190 m per degree of latitude, subparallel to, and approximately 740 m lower than, the full-glacial equilibrium-line altitude (ELA) and about 1370 m lower than the estimated modern ELA; (2) the difference between the full-glacial and modern ELAs indicates an approximate 7°C full-glacial mean-annual-temperature depression throughout the Great Basin; and (3) the full-glacial mean annual temperature at the NTA is estimated to have been approximately 0° to 1°C, assuming little change in accumulation-season precipitation.
San Agustin Plains, New Mexico: Age and Paleoenvironmental Potential Reassessed
Authors: Markgraf Vera , Bradbury J. Platt , Forester R. M. , Singh G. , Sternberg R. S.
Published: December 2004

Paleomagnetic analysis of samples from the original 600-m-long core from the San Agustin Plains, New Mexico, showed an unquestionable reversal stratigraphy dating the record back to at least 1.6 my. Analysis of pollen, ostracodes, and algae of a duplicate sample section in the vicinity of the original coring site and spanning the last 18,000 yr B.P. shows a much higher resolution than the earlier results.
Biogeographic Implications of a Packrat Midden Sequence from the Sacramento Mountains, South-Central New Mexico
Authors: Van Devender Thomas R. , Betancourt Julio L. , Wimberly Mark
Published: December 2004

Thirteen packrat (Neotoma spp.) and two porcupine (Erethizon dorsatum) middens from 1555 to 1690 m elevation from the Sacramento Mountains, New Mexico, provide an 18,000-yr vegetation record in the northern Chiuahuan Desert. The vegetation sequence is a mesic, Wisconsin fullglacial (18,000–16,000 yr B.P.) pinyon-juniper-oak woodland; a xeric, early Holocene (ca. 11,000–8000 yr B.P.) juniper-oak woodland; a middle Holocene (ca. 8000-4000 yr B.P.) desert-grassland; and a late Holocene (ca. 4000 yr B.P. to present) Chihuahuan desertscrub. The frequency of spring freezes and summer droughts in the late Wisconsin probably set the northern limits of Pinus edulis and Juniperus monosperma at about 34°N, or 6° south of today's limit. Rising summer tempratures in the early Holocene eliminated pinyon and other mesic woodland plants from the desert lowlands and allowed the woodland to move upslope. At this time pinyon-juniper woodland and pine forest dominated by Pinus ponderosa probably began their spectacular Holocene expansions to the north. Continued warming in the middle Holocene led to very warm summers with strong monsoons, relatively dry, cold winters, and widespread desert-grasslands. Desertscrub communities in the northern Chihuahuan Desert did not develop until the late Holocene when the biseasonal rainfall shifted slightly back toward the winter, catastrophic winter freezes decreased, and droughts in all seasons increased. The creosote bush desertscrub corridor across the Continental Divide between the Chihuahuan and Sonoran deserts was probably connected for the first time since the last interglaciation.
Fungal Remains in Pleistocene Ground Squirrel Dung from Yukon Territory, Canada
Authors: Pirozynski Kris A. , Carter Adrian , Day Richard G.
Published: December 2004

Fungi in dung of the Arctic ground squirrel (Spermophilus parryii) collected near Dominion Creek, Yukon Territory, Canada, have a radiocarbon age of 12,200 ± 100 yr B.P. Most of the fungal remains are assignable to modern taxa, and most of these are either widespread saprobes or nonspecific coprophiles. However, specimens identified asChaetomium simileandThecaphora deformansrepresent fungi that may be more characteristic of rodent dung than that of other animals, inviting consideration of dung fungi as a potential source of paleontological data.
High Resolution Isotope Study of the Latest Deglaciation Based on Bermuda Rise Cores
Authors: Keigwin L. D. , Corliss B. H. , Druffel E. R. M. , Laine E. P.
Published: December 2004

A stable isotope and 14C investigation of carbonates from three late Quaternary cores with high rates of sedimentation from the northeastern Bermuda Rise has produced the highest resolution record of the glacial maximum to Holocene stable isotope change yet obtained from an open ocean location. The record includes a three-step “termination” and the first direct evidence of an early deglacial meltwater “spike” in the open sea.
River Ice as a Taphonomic Agent: An Alternative Hypothesis for Bone “Artifacts”
Authors: Thorson Robert M. , Dale Guthrie R.
Published: December 2004

The annual freezeup and violent breakup of temperate and high-latitude rivers produces unique geomorphic features that can be recognized in ancient sediments. The forces and materials involved in the breakup process could modify entrained bones in ways similar to those attributed to human activity. An intuitive taphonomic model is developed to explain how river ice may affect bones, and to predict the modifications expected. Partial testing of the model by experiments designed to simulate river breakup produced bone modifications such as fractures, flakes, facets, striations, isolated cuts, and polish. The taphonomic effects of river ice must be discounted prior to the interpretation of such features as human in origin.
The Evidence for Middle-Wisconsin Peopling of Beringia: An Evaluation
Authors: Guthrie R. Dale
Published: December 2004

Broken large mammal fossil bones in eastern Beringia have been used to argue for a middle-Wisconsin, or earlier, time of human entry into North America, It has been inferred that these controversial Pleistocene bones are artifacts because (1) they are similar to those found in archaeological sites and (2) they can be reproduced in the laboratory by replication. However, fractured, flaked, polished, faceted, cut, and scratched bones similar to the purportedly human artifacts described from Beringia are known to be produced by natural processes. New experimental data demonstrate that identifications of Pleistocene bone artifacts on the basis of differential staining and fresh breakage are suspect. Physical processes, such as the violent forces of river ice breakups in the north, and bone crushing by mammalian scavengers produce similar pseudo-artifacts. Additionally, the middle-Wisconsin dates associated with some of the finished tools, and human and dog bones from Beringia are open to question. The lack of credible dates on these artifacts raises doubt about the model of human colonization of Beringia, developed in the 1960s, which proposed an interstadial colonization of the New World.
Late Pleistocene Woodlands in the Bolson de Mapimi: A Refugium for the Chihuahuan Desert Biota?
Authors: Van Devender Thomas R. , Burgess Tony L.
Published: December 2004

Packrat middens radiocarbon dated at 12,280 ± 345 and 12,700 ± 165 yr B.P. record expansions of junipers and papershell pinyon (Pinus remota) into the desert lowlands of Durango and Coahuila, Mexico (26° N). Extralocal trees and shrubs presently occur 24–580 km in nearly all directions including more subtropical areas to the northeast and southeast. An equable Late Wisconsin climate marked by mild winters with increased precipitation and by cool summers with reduced summer monsoons is proposed. The extensive playas of the Bolson de Mapimi probably held water at that time. The Bolson de Mapimi was not a geographical refugium unaffected by glacial climates, although many Chihuahuan Desert plants and animals probably remainin situas members of equable woodlands. Equable climates, low extinction rates, and repeated, rapid glacial/interglacial climatic fluctuations may have been important in the evolution and accumulation of species at lower latitudes.
Conference on the Last Deglaciation: Timing and Mechanism
Authors: Ruddiman W. F. , Duplessy J.-C.
Published: December 2004

For years paleoclimatologists have held the general view that the last deglaciation began around 17,000 to 15,000 yr ago, that the shape of the globally integrated deglacial curve was smoothly sigmoidal with the fastest rate of change centered around 11,000 yr ago, and that the deglaciation ended around 7000 to 5000 yr ago. Recent studies have challenged several aspects of this consensus and have suggested that the mechanisms responsible for the deglaciation are significantly different from those previously proposed. As a result, an international workshop was held at Airlie House in Virginia during May 2–6 of 1983 to evaluate a wide range of evidence relevant to this controversy. The conference results suggested that (1) the decrease in global ice volume occurred in two steps, with the dating of the earlier step still in doubt, but the later step occurring at about 10,000–7000 yr ago and (2) the most likely feedback mechanisms for accelerating the initial forcing by orbital variations are delayed bedrock rebound, marine downdraw/calving, and CO2heating.
Correlation of Late Quaternary Tephra Layers in a Long Pluvial Sequence near Summer Lake, Oregon
Authors: Davis Jonathan O.
Published: December 2004

Near Summer Lake in southern Oregon, 54 tephra beds of late Quaternary age are exposed in pluvial lake sediments of Lake Chewaucan. Seven of the tephra beds near the top can be correlated with tephra deposits younger than 117,000 yr at Mount St. Helens, Washington, at Crater Lake, Oregon, and in northwestern Nevada in the deposits of pluvial Lake Lahontan. However, most of the section at Summer Lake lies below the correlated units, and contains 39 tephra beds older than 117,000 yr.

Major-element chemistry of tephra glasses was determined by electron microprobe analysis; petrography supports the correlations made from chemical evidence. Compositions correlated range from 70 to 76% SiO2; the least silicic Summer Lake glass contained 57%.

Extrapolation of depositional rate suggests that most of the sediments at Summer Lake are younger than about 335,000 yr, but older lake beds containing tephra layers occur at one place. The long lacustrine record suggests that Lake Chewaucan persisted through the last interpluvial stage, and that the lake may have dried up at the end of the Pleistocene due to diversion of the Chewaucan River by relict shore features.
Ages of Subsurface Stratigraphic Intervals in the Quaternary of Enewetak Atoll, Marshall Islands
Authors: Szabo B. J. , Tracey J. I. , Goter E. R.
Published: December 2004

Drill cores of Enewetak Atoll, Marshall Islands, reveal six stratigraphic intervals, numbered in downward sequence, which represent vertical coral growth during Quaternary interglaciations. Radiocarbon dates indicate that the Holocene sea transgressed the emergent reef platform by about 8000 yr B.P. The reef grew rapidly upward (about 5 to 10 mm/yr) until about 6500 yr B.P. Afterward vertical growth slowed to about 0.5 mm/yr, then lateral development became dominant during the last several thousand years. The second interval is dated at 131,000 ± 3000 yr B.P. by uranium series. This unit correlates with oxygen-isotope substage 5e and with terrace VIIa of Huon Peninsula, New Guinea, and of Main Reef-2 terrace at Atauro Island. The third interval is not dated because corals were recrystallized and it is tentatively correlated with either oxygen-isotope stages 7 or 9. The age of the fourth interval is estimated at 454,000 ± 100,000 yr B.P. from measured 234U238U activity ratios. This unit is correlated with either oxygen-isotope stage 9, 11, or 13.
Comparison of Soils in Midwestern United States and Western Europe with the Interglacial Record
Authors: Boardman John
Published: December 2004

Paleosols that formed primarily before the last glaciation cannot be adequately explained by a model of Holocene-like interglacial periods of about 10,000 yr in length which has been inferred from the marine18O16O record. Geological and palynological evidence from terrestrial, midlatitude sites suggests that temperate conditions conducive to soil formation existed for periods greatly in excess of 10,000 yr during the middle and late Pleistocene. Available data on soils formed during this interval from Western Europe and midwestern United States are best explained by relatively long interglaciations or the development of composite soils over a number of temperate periods. Climatic contrasts between the interglaciations appear to have been overemphasized: widespread assumptions regarding greater warmth in interglaciations prior to the present one are generally unproven. In the absence of precise dating, progress in relating paleosols to fragmentary local records of Quaternary climatic changes will be achieved by detailed analytical techniques such as soil micromorphology.
13C/12C Ratios of Pleistocene Mummified Remains from Beringia
Authors: Bombin Miguel , Muehlenbachs Karlis
Published: December 2004

During the Quaternary glacial episodes, when sea level was considerably lower, Asia and North America were linked by large extensions of circumarctic land (Beringia), which remained unglaciated. This land mass served not only as a biogeographical bridge for plants, animals, and humans, but also supported a biome very different from present tundra or boreal coniferous forests, which was dominated by steppes and a rich mammalian megafauna. Carbon stable isotope ratios of Beringian late Pleistocene mummified remains of bison, equids, mammoth, caribou, musk-ox, moose, woolly rhino, and other undetermined species, found preserved in permafrost, indicate that these megaherbivores fed exclusively on C3 plants, and that C4 grasses were not differentially ingested by bison, as previously suggested. Paleoclimatic constraints probably prevented the formation of a warm-season (C4) guild during the later part of the growing season in the steppes of Beringia during the last glaciation.
Glacial Geography and Native North American Languages
Authors: Rogers Richard A.
Published: December 2004

This study tests the hypothesis that the number and distribution of some native American languages may be related to ice-margin changes of the Wisconsin glaciation. The analysis indicated that the number of languages per unit area is much greater in unglaciated areas of the last glacial maximum than in glaciated areas. The pattern of languge overlap between land areas sequentially exposed during deglaciation appears to indicate the direction of movement of populations from the periphery toward the core of the area once covered by the Wisconsin Ice Sheet. The data strongly indicate that North America was inhabited prior to the Wisconsin glacial maximum, because glacial maximum conditions apparently influenced linguistic distributions. Evidence suggests that ancestral Eskimo-Aleut and Na-Dene speakers occupied the northwestern edge of the continental ice mass, and that ancestral Algonquian speakers were south of the ice mass during the Wisconsin glacial maximum (approximately 18,000 yr ago). These three linguistic groups were the principal ones to spreas into areas exposed by the recession of the Wisconsin ice.
A Revised Chronology for the Last Pleistocene Lake Cycle in the Central Lahontan Basin
Authors: Thompson Robert S. , Benson Larry , Hattori Eugene M.
Published: December 2004

Radiocarbon dates of plant materials from packrat middens in caves below the elevation of the last high stand of Pleistocene Lake Lahontan, in conjunction with radiocarbon dates of ancient archaeological materials, provide evidence that the last high stand terminated before 12,070 yr B.P. This new information suggests that the last major fluctuation in the level of Lake Lahontan was approximately synchronous with those of Lakes Bonneville and Russell, and that these three lakes probably responded contemporaneously to the same regional paleoclimatic changes.
Plio-Pleistocene Marine-Continental Correlation using Habitat Indicators from Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania
Authors: Kappelman John
Published: December 2004

Reconstructions of Plio-Pleistocene habitats and lake levels from a brief interval (∼200,000 yr) of hominid-bearing sediments from Bed I and lower Bed II, Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania, are for the first time integrated with climatic data from the deep-sea in order to examine the effect of largescale climatic events in East Africa. The period of densely vegetated habitats and wet conditions at Olduval at ∼1.82 myr shows a best fit with a period of northern hemisphere warming as evidenced by oxygen isotopes from deep-sea core V28-239 from the western Pacific. This environmental response is similar to that witnessed in East Africa during the period of warming climates associated with deglaciation at ∼10,000–8,000 yr.
Radiocarbon Studies of Latest Pleistocene and Holocene Lava Flows of the Snake River Plain, Idaho: Data, Lessons, Interpretations
Authors: Kuntz Mel A. , Spiker Elliott C. , Rubin Meyer , Champion Duane E. , Lefebvre Richard H.
Published: December 2004

Latest Pleistocene-Holocene basaltic lava fields of the Snake River Plain, Idaho, have been dated by the radiocarbon method. Backhoe excavations beneath lava flows typically yielded carbon-bearing, charred eolian sediment. This material provided most of the samples for this study; the sediment typically contains less than 0.2% carbon. Charcoal fragments were obtained from tree molds but only from a few backhoe excavations. Contamination of the charred sediments and charcoal by younger carbon components is extensive; the effects of contamination were mitigated but appropriate pretreatment of samples using acid and alkali leaches. Twenty of the more than 60 lava flows of the Craters of the Moon lava field have been dated; their ages range from about 15,000 to about 2000 yr B.P. The ages permit assignment of the flows to eight distinct eruptive periods with an average recurrence interval of about 2000 yr. The seven other latest Pleistocene-Holocene lava fields were all emplaced in short eruptive bursts. Their 14C ages (yr B.P.) are: Kings Bowl (2222± 100), Wapi (2270 ± 50), Hells Half Acre (5200 ± 150), Shoshone (10,130 ± 350), North Robbers and South Robbers (11.980 ± 300), and Cerro Grande (13,380 ± 350).