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1.
An Erratum has been published for this article in Journal of Quaternary Science 17(7) 2002, 721. There is conflicting evidence concerning the extent and timing of late Quaternary climate variability in southern South America and how this may be linked to climate change in the Northern Hemisphere. Critical unresolved questions include whether or not a cool period occurred in southern South America during the Younger Dryas Chronozone (YDC) (11 000–10 000 14C yr BP; 13 000–11 200 yr BP), and the timing of wet and dry phases during the Holocene. To date most evidence is from glacial, pollen and beetle records but, in an attempt to resolve these questions, we have used chironomid midges as an independent proxy in one of the first studies of its kind in Patagonia. We investigated the dynamics of midge assemblages during the Late‐glacial and Holocene at Lago Stibnite on the Taitao Peninsula, southern Chile (46°S). Changes in the midge assemblage suggest that the climate may have become cooler and drier during the YDC. During the Holocene there were cyclical changes in the midge assemblage that may have been in response to trophic change and/or to changes in precipitation when conditions appear to have been drier than today at 9400–6300 14C yr BP and 2400–1600 14C yr BP. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.  相似文献   

2.
Controlled by a local base level of downfaulted Edwards and Comanche Peak limestone, and aided by landsliding in Glen Rose marl, the Sabinal River and its tributaries have developed a large valley in the Edwards Plateau. Extensive soil-covered pediments that cut Glen Rose bedrock and Pleistocene terrace gravels are present along each side of the valley. Six alluvial deposits of late Pleistocene and Holocene age were recognized in the upper Sabinal River valley. The Holocene series is represented by three deposits. The oldest of these exhibits a Stage II calcic horizon and appears to have been deposited before ca. 5000 yr B.P. The Pleistocene deposits have a calcrete zone (calcic Stage IV and III horizon) in the upper 3-4 m. The Holocene alluviums, locally beveled by stream action, parallel the river's course and contain Archaic and younger artifacts, which in central Texas range in age from about 8000-350 yr B.P. One of the Holocene deposits (Q2) is correlated with the Georgetown and Fort Hood alluviums of the Cowhouse Creek at Fort Hood, which range in age from 11,000 yr B.P. to 5200 yr B.P., with the Wilson-Leonard terrace site in the Lampasas Cut Plain that ranges from about 11,000 to 5000 yr B.P., and with Unit E of Blum and Valastro (1989) in the Pedernales River valley, ranging from 10,550 to 7150 yr B.P. Modern climate in the valley is drought-prone, and fluctuates from semiarid to dry subhumid. Paleoclimate has ranged from much drier during the Middle Holocene to much cooler and wetter during the Late Pleistocene.  相似文献   

3.
The authors discuss Late Pleistocene–Holocene depositional environments in one of the Fuegian Andes valleys on the basis of palynological, geomorphological, and sedimentological analyses from two sites located near the Beagle Channel. The results obtained at these localities reinforce and refine the Late Pleistocene–Holocene climatic pattern previously recorded there. A colder period, associated with the Younger Dryas stadial event, is suggested by low Nothofagus pollen frequency, and communities of grass, low scrub, and shrub heath expanded into the low/middle slopes (10,310 14C yr BP). By ca. 9500 14C yr BP, warmer and drier conditions occurred, as evidenced by the development of open-grown vegetation in the valley floors (pollen zone O-3), followed by the expansion of open Nothofagus woodland (pollen zone O-2) in the middle Holocene. The milder climate subsequently changed, as indicated by the spreading of the closed forest and mire (pollen zone O-1), to more humid and cooler conditions during the last ca. 5000 yr BP.  相似文献   

4.
Field, micromorphological, pollen, whole soil (XRF), and stable isotope geochemical methods were used to evaluate the latest Pleistocene to Holocene climate record from a floodplain-terrace system in southeastern West Virginia. A late Pleistocene (22,940 ± 150 14C yr B.P.) silt paleosol with low-chroma colors formed from fluviolacustrine sediment deposited during the last glacial maximum (Wisconsinan) and records a cooler full-glacial paleoclimate. Fluvial gravel deposited between the latest Pleistocene and earliest Holocene (prior to 6360 ± 40 14C yr B.P.) was weathered in the middle Holocene under warmer, drier climate conditions, possibly correlated with the Hypsithermal and Altithermal Events of the eastern and southwestern United States, respectively. The glacial to interglacial climate shift is recorded by: (1) changes from a poorly drained landscape with fine-textured soil, characterized by high organic C and redoximorphic features related to Fe removal and concentration, to a well-drained, coarse-textured setting without gley and with significant argillic (Bt) horizon development; (2) changes from a high Zr and Ti silt-dominated parent material to locally derived, coarse fluvial gravels lower in Zr and Ti; (3) a shift from dominantly conifer and sedge pollen in the paleosol to a modern oak/hickory hardwood assemblage; and (4) a shift in δ13C values of soil organic matter from −28‰ to −24‰ PDB, suggesting an ecosystem shift from cooler, C3-dominated flora to one that was mixed C3 and C4, but still predominantly composed of C3 plants. A root-restrictive placic horizon developed between the late Pleistocene silt paleosol and the overlying fluvial gravel because of the high permeability contrast between the two textures of soil materials. This layer formed a barrier that effectively isolated the Pleistocene paleosol from later Holocene pedogenic processes.  相似文献   

5.
The Gaap Escarpment is a dolomite cuesta demarcating the southeast margin of the Kalahari. Since Miocene-Pliocene times, thick masses of lime tufa have repeatedly accumulated at several points along this escarpment, and four regional sequences are described. These allow discrimination of six major depositional complexes, commonly characterized by basal cryoclastic breccias or coarse conglomerates that reflect frost shattering and torrential runoff, followed by sheets and lobes of tufa generated in an environment substantially wetter than today. A chronostratigraphy for the last 30,000 yr is provided by 14C dating, with direct or indirect correlations to the Vaal River sequence. The regional stratigraphy as well as faunal dating indicate an early Pleistocene age for Australopithecus africanus at Taung. Repeated episodes of protracted cold or wetter climate or both begin in terminal Miocene times, and the last Pleistocene cold-moist interval began after 35,000 yr B.P. and ended 14,000 yr B.P. Early and late Holocene times were mainly wetter, whereas the middle Holocene was drier than today. The paleoclimatic sequence differs from that of the southern and southwestern Cape or that of East Africa, but close parallels are evident throughout the lower Vaal Basin and the southern Kalahari. The tufa cycles provide a unique, 5,000,000-yr record of climatic variation in the Kalahari.summer-rainfall belt that can be related to complex anomalies of the general atmospheric circulation.  相似文献   

6.
The record of Almoloya Lake in the Upper Lerma basin starts with the deposition of the late Pleistocene Upper Toluca Pumice layer. The data from this interval indicate a period of climatic instability that lasted until 8500 cal yr B.P., when temperature conditions stabilized, although moisture fluctuations continued until 8000 cal yr B.P. Between 8500 and 5000 cal yr B.P. a temperate climate is indicated by dominance of Pinus. From 5000 to 3000 cal yr B.P. Quercus forest expanded, suggesting a warm temperate climate: a first indication of drier environmental conditions is an increase in grassland between 4200 and 3500 cal yr B.P. During the Late Holocene (3300 to 500 cal yr B.P.) the increase of Pinus and grassland indicates temperate dry conditions, with a considerable increase of Pinus between 1100 and 950 cal yr B.P. At the end of this period, humidity increased. The main tendency during the Holocene was a change from humid to dry conditions. During the Early Holocene, Almoloya Lake was larger and deeper; the changing humidity regime resulted in a fragmented marshland, with the presence of aquatic and subaquatic vegetation types.  相似文献   

7.
Computer models suggest that the Holocene Optimum for East Asian summer monsoon precipitation occurred at different times in different regions of China. Previous studies indicate that this time-transgressive Holocene Optimum should have been experienced about 3000 yr ago in southern China. In this study we describe a section which allows us to test this timing directly. We have closely examined high-resolution eutrophic peat/mud sequences covering the past 18,000 cal yr at Dahu, Jiangxi, on the southern boundary of the mid subtropical zone in China. Late Pleistocene successions in the Dahu record indicate cooler and much wetter conditions relative to synchronous events in north-central China. Our results indicate that the Holocene Optimum occurred between ca. 10,000 and 6000 cal yr ago in southern China, consistent with the global pattern. Conditions were relatively dry and cold from 6000 to 4000 cal yr ago. Our data also support the conclusion that the last deglaciation to early Holocene in the south was much wetter, resulting in the formation of dense broad-leaved forests, which could have acted to moderate land temperature ∼10,000 to 6000 cal yr ago, yielding a stable early-Holocene climate. After 6000 cal yr, forest reduction led to unstable land temperatures, and possibly to a northerly shift of the subtropical high-pressure system. Whatever the mechanism, these changes resulted in decreased precipitation between 6000 and 4000 cal yr B.P. in southern China.  相似文献   

8.
Rice domestication and climatic change: phytolith evidence from East China   总被引:11,自引:0,他引:11  
Fossil rice phytoliths have been identified from a lateglacial to Holocene sequence of epicontinental sediments in the East China Sea that were probably transported by the Yangtze River from its middle and/or lower reaches. The rice phytoliths occurred first in the sequence at about 13900 cal. yr BP and disappeared during the period of 13000-10000 cal. yr BP, implying the earliest domesticated cereal crops of the world ever reported. Based on the records of phytoliths, pollen, diatoms and foraminifera from the sequence, the climate between 13000 and 10000 cal. yr BP was notably colder (Younger Dryas). The coincidence of disappearance of domesticated rice phytoliths with cold climate conditions may suggest a great climatic influence on human activities during that time. Warmer and wetter conditions during the period 13900 to 13000 cal. yr BP and after 10000 cal. yr BP have probably favoured rice domestication in the area.  相似文献   

9.
The late Quaternary mammalian zoogeographic history of eastern Washington as revealed by archaeological and paleontological research conforms to a set of past environmental conditions inferred from botanical data. During the relatively cool and moist late Pleistocene and early Holocene, Cervus cf. elaphus, Ovis canadensis, Vulpes vulpes, Martes americana, Alopex lagopus, and perhaps Rangifer sp., taxa with ecological preferences for mesic steppe habitats, were present in the now xeric Columbia Basin. As the climate became progressively warmer and drier during the late Pleistocene and early Holocene, Antilocapra americana, Onychomys leucogaster, Spermophilus townsendii, and Neotoma cinerea, taxa with ecological preferences for xeric steppe habitats, appear in the Columbia Basin. Bison sp. and Taxidea taxus may have been present in eastern Washington for the last 20,000 yr. Middle and late Holocene records for Oreamnos americanus, Spermophilus columbianus, S. townsendii, Lagurus curtatus, and Urocyon cinereoargenteus in central eastern Washington suggest fluctuations in the ranges of these taxa that conform to a middle Holocene period of less effective precipitation and a ca. 3500-yr-old period of more effective precipitation before essentially modern environmental conditions prevailed.  相似文献   

10.
Late Pleistocene and Holocene vegetational and climatic change have been studied palynologically at a site at 1750 m elevation in the subandean vegetation belt near Popayán, in the southern Colombian Andes. Time control on the pollen record is based on six AMS 14C ages, ranging from possibly Middle Pleniglacial time (around 50000 yr BP) to 1092 ± 44 yr BP. Because of the presence of two hiatuses only the Middle Pleniglacial and Late Holocene periods (the last 2300 yr BP) are represented. Pollen data indicate the presence of closed subandean forest during glacial time. Changes in the contribution of pollen originating from the uppermost and lowermost subandean forest belts, changes in the contribution of a number of other subandean forest taxa, and changes in species composition between the three pollen zones, suggest that the climate during the Middle Pleniglacial was markedly colder, and perhaps also wetter, than during the Late Holocene. Pollen assemblages from the Late Holocene indicate that the landscape has been affected by deforestation and agriculture since at least 2300 yr BP, but that human impact decreased in the last 780 yr BP. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.  相似文献   

11.
Macrofossil, pollen, lithostratigraphy, mineral magnetic measurements (SIRM and magnetic susceptibility), loss‐on‐ignition, and AMS radiocarbon dating on sediments from two former crater lakes, situated at moderate altitudes in the Gutaiului Mountains of northwest Romania, allow reconstruction of Late Quaternary climate and environment. Shrubs and herbs with steppe and montane affinities along with stands of Betula and Pinus, colonised the surroundings of the sites prior to 14 700 cal. yr BP and the inferred climatic conditions were cold and dry. The gradual transition to open PinusBetula forests, slightly higher lake water temperatures, and higher lake productivity, indicate more stable environmental conditions between 14 700 and 14 100 cal. yr BP. This development was interrupted by cooler and drier climatic conditions between 14 100 and 13 800 cal. yr BP, as inferred from a reduction of open forests to patches, or stands, of Pinus, Betula, Larix, Salix and Populus. The expansion of a denser boreal forest, dominated by Picea, but including Pinus, Larix, Betula, Salix, and Ulmus started at 13 800 cal. yr BP, although the forest density seems to have been reduced between 13 400 and 13 200 cal. yr BP. Air temperature and moisture availability gradually increased, but a change towards drier conditions is seen at 13 400 cal. yr BP. A distinct decrease in temperature and humidity between 12 900 and 11 500 cal. yr BP led to a return of open vegetation, with patches of Betula, Larix, Salix, Pinus and Alnus and individuals of Picea. Macrofossils and pollen of aquatic plants indicate rising lake water temperatures and increased aquatic productivity already by ca. 11 800 cal. yr BP, 300 years earlier than documented by the terrestrial plant communities. At the onset of the Holocene, 11 500 cal. yr BP, forests dominated by Betula, Pinus and Larix expanded and were followed by dense Ulmus forests with Picea, Betula and Pinus at 11 250 cal. yr BP. Larix pollen was not found, but macrofossil evidence indicates that Larix was an important forest constituent at the onset of the Holocene. Moister conditions were followed by a dry period starting about 10 600 cal. yr BP, which was more pronounced between 8600 and 8200 cal. yr BP, as inferred from aquatic macrofossils. The maximum expansion of Tilia, Quercus, Fraxinus and Acer between 10 700 and 8600 cal. yr BP may reflect a more continental climate. A drier and/or cooler climate could have been responsible for the late expansion (10 300 cal. yr BP) and late maximum (9300 cal. yr BP) of Corylus. Increased water stress, and possibly cooler conditions around 8600 cal. yr BP, may have caused a reduction of Ulmus, Tilia, Quercus and Fraxinus. After 8200 cal. yr BP moisture increased and the forests included Picea, Tilia, Quercus and Fraxinus. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.  相似文献   

12.
This article presents a combined pollen and phytolith record of a 1.70-m sediment core from the wetlands of India Muerta (33° 42′ S, 53° 57′ W) in the lowland Pampa (grasslands) of southeastern Uruguay. Six 14C dates and the pollen and phytolith content of the samples permitted the recognition of four distinct climatic periods between 14,850 14C yr B.P. and the present. The Late Pleistocene period (between ca. 14,810 and ca. 10,000 14C yr B.P.) was characterized by drier and cooler conditions indicated by the presence of a C3-dominated grassland. These conditions prevailed until the onset of the warmer and more humid climate of the Holocene around 9450 14C yr B.P. The early Holocene (between around 10,000 and 6620 14C yr B.P.) was characterized by the establishment of wetlands in the region as evidenced by the formation of black peat, the increase in wetland taxa, and the replacement of C3 Pooideae by C4 Panicoideae grasses. During the mid-Holocene, around 6620 14C yr B.P., began a period of environmental change characterized by drier climatic conditions, which resulted in the expansion of halophytic communities in the flat, low-lying areas of the wetlands of India Muerta. About 4020 14C yr B.P. a massive spike of Amaranthaceae/Chenopodiaceae coupled with a radical drop in wetland species indicates another major and more severe period of dryness. After ca. 4000 14C yr B.P., a decrease of halophytic species indicates the onset of more humid and stable climatic conditions, which characterized the late Holocene.The findings reported in this article substantially improve our knowledge of the late Glacial and Holocene climate and vegetation in the region. The data provide a detailed record of the timing and severity of mid-Holocene environmental changes in southeastern South America. Significantly, the mid-Holocene drying trend coincided with major organizational changes in settlement, subsistence, and technology of the pre-Hispanic populations in the region, which gave rise to early Formative societies. This study also represents the first combined pollen and phytolith record for southeastern South America reinforcing the utility of phytoliths as significant indicators of long-term grassland dynamics.  相似文献   

13.
Sedimentary, palynologic, and 14C analysis of 480 cm of freshwater marl and swamp-peat deposits, formed under the influence of fluctuating artesian springs, provides a paleoenvironmental and paleoclimatic record of approximately 65,000 yr for northwestern Tasmania.The Holocene (Pollen Zone 1, 11,000-0 yr B.P.) climate was warm and moist, and forest vegetation was dominant throughout the area. During the later part of the last glacial stage (Pollen Zone 2, 35,000–11,000 yr B.P.) the climate was generally drier, and grassy open environments were widespread. The driest part of this period occurred between 25,000 to 11,000 yr B.P., when temperatures in western Tasmania were markedly reduced during the last major phase of glaciation. Prior to 35,000 yr B.P. (Pollen Zones 3–9) a long “interstadial complex” dating to the middle of the last glacial stage is recognized. During this period the climate was generally moist, and forest and scrub communities were more important than during the later part of the last glacial stage, except during Pollen Zone 5 when high Gramineae plus Compositae values suggest drier conditions. High Gramineae and Compositae values also occur in Pollen Zone 10 at the base of the diagram. They suggest that a phase of drier and cooler climatic conditions occurred during the early part of the last glacial stage.  相似文献   

14.
黄河源区黄河袭夺长江水系之初探   总被引:1,自引:0,他引:1  
程捷  田明中  张绪教 《地学前缘》2007,14(1):251-256
对黄河源区的河流地貌研究表明,该区共发育三级阶地,其中第一、第二级阶地形成于晚更新世的末期至全新世,而第三级阶地形成于晚更新世晚期。在晚更新世晚期,多石峡被切开,黄河源区晚更新世湖泊消失,现今黄河形成。随着现今黄河的形成和晚更新世湖泊的消失,南岸支流之一的多曲向南溯源侵蚀加强,并穿越巴颜喀拉山,夺取了巴颜喀拉山南侧原属于长江流域的贝敏曲和洛曲,使分水岭向南推进了25km,袭夺的时间为晚更新世末期。  相似文献   

15.
A Late‐glacial–Holocene pollen record was obtained from a 3.96 m sediment core taken from Lake St Clair, central Tasmania. Modern vegetation and pollen analyses formed the basis for interpretation of the vegetation and climate history. Following deglaciation and before ca. 18450 yr BP Podocarpus lawrencei coniferous heath and Astelia–Plantago wet alpine herbfield became established at Lake St Clair. A distinct Poaceae‐Plantago peak occurs between 18450 and 11210 yr BP and a mean annual temperature depression from ca. 6.2°C to 3°C below present is inferred for this period. The marked reduction in Podocarpus and strong increase of Poaceae suggests reduced precipitation levels during the period of widespread deglaciation (ca. 18.5–11 kyr BP). The local Late Pleistocene–Holocene non‐forest to forest biostratigraphical boundary is dated at 11.2 kyr BP. It is characterised by expansion of the subalpine taxa Athrotaxis/Diselma with Nothofagus gunnii, and by the establishment of Nothofagus cunninghamii with Eucalyptus spp. A ‘Phyllocladus bulge’ prior to the expansion of Nothofagus cunninghamii, reported at other Tasmanian sites, is not present at Lake St Clair. Nothofagus cunninghamii cool temperate rainforest peaked at 7800 yr BP, probably under wetter climatic conditions than present. The maximum development of rainforest in the early–middle Holocene may indicate that the temperature was slightly warmer than present, but the evidence is not definitive. The expansion of Eucalyptus spp. and Poaceae after 6000 yr BP may be partly a disclimax effect as a result of Aboriginal burning, but appears also to reflect reduced precipitation. The changes in vegetation and inferred climate can be explained by major changes in synoptic patterns of southern Australia and the adjacent southwest Pacific. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.  相似文献   

16.
Easter Island occupies an exceptionally isolated position in the south Pacific Ocean. It is entirely volcanic, and is famous for its giant statues. Late Quaternary sediments have been investigated in three craters: Rano Raraku, Rano Aroi and Rano Kao, giving a continuous record over the past 30 Ka. Pollen records indicate that the island was formerly forested. Palynological and sedimentological evidence suggests a Late Pleistocene climate slightly cooler and drier than the present. Deforestation by people occurred mainly between 1200 and 800 yr BP. This may have led to an ecological disaster and to the decline of the megalithic civilization. The depauperation of the present native flora owes more to human activity than to isolation.  相似文献   

17.
Sedimentological, faunal, and archaeological investigations at the Sunshine Locality, Long Valley, Nevada reveal a history of human adaptation and environmental change at the last glacial–interglacial transition in North America's north-central Great Basin. The locality contains a suite of lacustrine, alluvial, and eolian deposits associated with fluvially reworked faunal remains and Paleoindian artifacts. Radiocarbon-dated stratigraphy indicates a history of receding pluvial lake levels followed by alluvial downcutting and subsequent valley filling with marsh-like conditions at the end of the Pleistocene. A period of alluvial deposition and shallow water tables (9,800 to 11,000 14C yr B.P.) correlates to the Younger Dryas. Subsequent drier conditions and reduced surface runoff mark the early Holocene; sand dunes replace wetlands by 8,000 14C yr B.P. The stratigraphy at Sunshine is similar to sites located 400 km south and supports regional climatic synchroneity in the central and southern Great Basin during the terminal Pleistocene/early Holocene. Given regional climate change and recurrent geomorphic settings comparable to Sunshine, we believe that there is a high potential for buried Paleoindian features in primary association with extinct fauna elsewhere in the region yet to be discovered due to limited stratigraphic exposure and consequent low visibility.  相似文献   

18.
Sediments from Rapid Lake document glacial and vegetation history in the Temple Lake valley of the Wind River Range, Wyoming over the past 11,000 to 12,000 yr. Radiocarbon age determinations on basal detrital organic matter from Rapid Lake (11,770 ± 710 yr B.P.) and Temple Lake (11,400 ± 630 yr B.P.) bracket the age of the Temple Lake moraine, suggesting that the moraine formed in the late Pleistocene. This terminal Pleistocene readvance may be represented at lower elevations by the expansion of forest into intermontane basins 12,000 to 10,000 yr B.P. Vegetation in the Wind River Range responded to changing environmental conditions at the end of the Pleistocene. Following deglaciation, alpine tundra in the Temple Lake valley was replaced by a Pinus albicaulis parkland by about 11,300 14C yr B.P. Picea and Abies, established by 10,600 14C yr B.P., grew with Pinus albicaulis in a mixed conifer forest at and up to 100 m above Rapid Lake for most of the Holocene. Middle Holocene summer temperatures were about 1.5°C warmer than today. By about 5400 14C yr B.P. Pinus albicaulis and Abies became less prominent at upper treeline because of decreased winter snowpack and higher maximum summer temperatures. The position of the modern treeline was established by 3000 14 C yr B.P. when Picea retreated downslope in response to Neoglacial cooling.  相似文献   

19.
Kuzmin, Y. V. 2009: Extinction of the woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius) and woolly rhinoceros (Coelodonta antiquitatis) in Eurasia: Review of chronological and environmental issues. Boreas, 10.1111/j.1502‐3885.2009.00122.x. ISSN 0300‐9483. The current evidence for date and environmental preferences of the extinction of two middle–late Pleistocene megafaunal species, the woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius Blum.) and woolly rhinoceros (Coelodonta antiquitatis Blum.), is presented in this review. It is suggested that extinction of these large herbivores in Eurasia was closely related to landscape changes near the Pleistocene–Holocene boundary (c. 12 000–9000 uncalibrated radiocarbon years ago, yr BP), mainly involving the widespread forest formations in the temperate and arctic regions of northern Eurasia and the loss of grasslands crucial to the existence of woolly mammoth and rhinoceros. However, some woolly mammoth populations survived well into the Holocene (up to c. 3700 yr BP), showing that the process of final extinction was fairly complex, with delays in some regions of up to several millennia. The possible role of Palaeolithic humans in the extinction of Late Pleistocene megafauna is also considered.  相似文献   

20.
Cores from the New River Lagoon in Belize have been analysed using a range of palaeolimnological proxies to reconstruct change since the latest Pleistocene. The combination of diatom and stable isotope analyses (supported by mineralogical and major element data) indicate that the New River Lagoon has been a freshwater system throughout the period of record. For most of this time the lagoon has been hydrologically open, but there are indications that it may have become closed in the latest Pleistocene or very early Holocene. This may have been associated with a drier climate and lower sea level. Mid‐Holocene records are consistent with those from elsewhere in the region, indicating a stable and moist climate. The late Holocene was marked by greater variability, but there is no clear evidence of any drying in the late Classic coincident with the Maya ‘collapse’ ca. AD 900. Our results indicate that the continuity of occupation at the Maya site of Lamanai on the shores of the New River Lagoon is consistent with continued access to freshwater during periods of regional climatic variability. The importance of conditions at individual sites when considering both system response and human vulnerability to climate change is emphasised. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.  相似文献   

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