Fire and vegetation change during the Early Pleistocene in southeastern Australia     

J. M. Kale Sniderman  Simon G. Haberle 《第四纪科学杂志》2012,27(3):307-317

Early Pleistocene vegetation in upland southeastern Australia included diverse rainforests and sclerophyll forests, which alternated on precessional timescales. The nature and timing of transitions between these biomes, and the role of fire in maintaining or driving transitions between them, are uncertain. Here we present a high‐resolution pollen record from Stony Creek Basin, a small Early Pleistocene palaeolake in southeastern Australia. The pollen record documents a pattern of vegetation change, over ca. 10 ka at ca. 1590–1600 ka, between sclerophyll forests, dominated by Eucalyptus, Callitris (Cupressaceae) or Casuarinaceae, and rainforests dominated by either angiosperms or conifers of the family Podocarpaceae. Transitions between these biomes typically occurred within ca. 1–2 ka. The associated charcoal record suggests that greatest biomass combustion occurred when local vegetation was dominated by Eucalyptus, and the least biomass combustion occurred when local vegetation was dominated by Podocarpaceae. However, local fires burnt in both sclerophyll and angiosperm‐dominated rainforest vegetation, at least once every several centuries. Fire was very rare (less than about one fire per millennium) only when the local vegetation was rainforest dominated by Podocarpaceae. This suggests that fire was an irregular presence in both sclerophyll‐ and angiosperm‐dominated rainforest biomes during the late Neogene, though was largely absent in Podocarpaceae‐dominated rainforests. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.  相似文献   

The Eltanin asteroid impact: possible South Pacific palaeomegatsunami footprint and potential implications for the Pliocene–Pleistocene transition     

James Goff  Catherine Chagué‐Goff  Michael Archer  Dale Dominey‐Howes  Chris Turney 《第四纪科学杂志》2012,27(7):660-670

Large asteroid impacts are rare, and those into the deep ocean are rarer still. The Eltanin asteroid impact around 2.51 ± 0.07 Ma occurred at a time of great climatic and geological change associated with the Pliocene–Pleistocene boundary. Numerical models of the event indicate that a megatsunami was generated, although there is debate concerning its magnitude and the region‐wide extent of its influence. We summarise the existing evidence for possible Eltanin megatsunami deposits in Antarctica, Chile and New Zealand, while also examining other potential sites from several locations, mainly around the South Pacific region. In reviewing these data we note that these events were unfolding at the same time as those associated with the Pliocene–Pleistocene boundary and, as such, most of the geological evidence from that time has a climatic interpretation. The potential climatic and geological ramifications of the Eltanin asteroid impact, however, have failed to be considered by most researchers studying this time period. Although we are not advocating that all geological activity at that time is connected with the Eltanin asteroid impact, it raises interesting questions about the role potentially played by such catastrophic events in contributing to or even triggering epochal transitions. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.  相似文献   

Peat mounds of southwest Tasmania: Possible origins     

M. K. Macphail  M. Pemberton  G. Jacobson 《Australian Journal of Earth Sciences》2013,60(5):667-677

Small mounds of peat rise several metres above the level of the water‐table at Melaleuca Inlet and Louisa Plains on the buttongrass plains in southwest Tasmania. Possible origins of the peat mounds have been explored by pollen analysis and radiocarbon dating of a set of samples taken from a vertical section of one peat mound at Melaleuca. The peat accumulation is entirely of Holocene age although the mound is underlain by sapric peats preserving a cold climate palynoflora of probable Late Pleistocene age. Peats at and near the base of the mound accumulated under a heath sedgeland during the earliest Holocene while after about 7630 a BP the peat‐forming vegetation was shrub‐dominated. The radiocarbon data indicate two main phases of overall peat accumulation, between 7630 and 5340 a BP (Middle Holocene) and between 4450 and 450 a BP (Late Holocene), that were interrupted by a wildfire which burnt into the surface peats. The maintenance of high surface and internal levels of moisture almost certainly was the critical factor behind the low incidence of in situ fires burning into the surface peats on the mound. The perennial influx of groundwater below the mound is a possible origin that fits well with our observations, although the expansion and contraction of soils cannot be discounted as an initiating factor. Enhanced nutrient input from birds may have helped promote growth in the peat‐forming communities. The data do not support the mounds being eroded remnants of a former blanket peat cover or being due to periglacial activity. The peat mounds of southwest Tasmania deserve maximum protection because of their rarity in the Australian landscape and, it seems, elsewhere.  相似文献   

A late Early Pleistocene pollen record from Fontana Ranuccio (central Italy)     

Paolo Corrado  Donatella Magri 《第四纪科学杂志》2011,26(3):335-344

A pollen record from a sediment core drilled underneath the Acheulian site of Fontana Ranuccio provides new data on the vegetation characters in central Italy during the late Early Pleistocene, in a forest phase possibly corresponding to a substage of Marine Isotope Stage 21. A number of tree taxa nowadays extinct in Europe (Cathaya, Tsuga, Taxodium type, Carya and Pterocarya) are present at Fontana Ranuccio in a temperate phase characterised by dense forest conditions, dominated by Alnus and Pterocarya. The comparison of the Fontana Ranuccio record with other dated sites distributed along the Italian peninsula indicates that the floristic and vegetational characters of the Mid Pleistocene revolution present a rather distinct succession of biostratigraphic events. Compared to other Early Pleistocene pollen records from southern Europe, the Italian Peninsula shows greater floristic similarities with the Eastern Mediterranean regions than with the Iberian Peninsula. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.  相似文献   

福建漳浦前湖湾晚更新世的孢粉组合及其古环境意义     

吴彩容  刘剑秋  王绍鸿  俞鸣同 《福建地理》2008,(1):1-7

从孢粉角度对漳浦前湖湾古森林遗迹分布区所在的剖面QHP和钻孔QHZ～1的第四纪沉积物进行系统的分析．经过孢粉种属鉴定、孢粉浓度的统计,木本、草本、蕨类、藻类以及各科属孢粉百分比的不同,划分出7个孢粉组合带,剖面QHP自下而上为组合带Ⅲ、Ⅱ、Ⅰ,其中组合带Ⅲ推知属晚更新世的中期产物,组合带Ⅱ属晚更新世中期接近晚期的产物,组合带Ⅰ属晚更新世晚期的产物;钻孔QHZ-1自下而上为组合带Ⅳ、Ⅲ、Ⅱ、Ⅰ,其中组合带Ⅳ推知属晚更新世的早期的产物,组合带Ⅲ是一过渡层,组合带Ⅱ推知属晚更新世的中期的产物,组合带Ⅰ推知属晚更新世晚期的产物,而组合带Ⅰ以上的层位是全新世以来的产物．结合^14C测年和沉积地层岩性等资料,得出该地区晚更新世以来沉积环境及其古气候演化的4次变迁过程：晚更新世早期的寒冷干燥;晚更新世中期的温和热湿,期间发生2次明显的海侵事件;晚更新世晚期过渡到全新世的冷暖干湿的动荡期;全新世以来与现代气候较为接近的气候．  相似文献   

西藏札达盆地上新世—早更新世气候变迁与湖泊演化     

韩建恩  余佳  朱大岗  孟宪刚  邵兆刚  杨朝斌 《地质力学学报》2011,17(4):361-372

通过孢粉组合分析, 结合河湖相地层岩性特征和古地磁及电子自旋共振(ESR)法年龄测定结果, 探讨了西藏札达盆地上新世—早更新世的古气候变迁与札达古湖泊演化的关系.研究表明, 札达盆地古湖泊演化可划分为早(湖泊形成期)、中(稳定发展期)、晚(湖泊消亡期)三期.早期(距今5.41~4.40 Ma), 札达盆地为温凉而干旱的疏林草原植被气候, 随后转变为温暖稍湿的森林草原植被气候, 最后转变为温暖潮湿的亚热带针阔叶混交林气候, 这一时期古湖开始形成; 中期(距今4.40~2.57 Ma), 古气候进入寒温期, 古植被表现为先由暖温带针阔叶混交林带向山地寒温带暗针叶林带过渡, 再由山地暖温带针阔叶混交林→山地寒温带暗针叶林交替出现的过程, 古湖泊进入发育期; 晚期(距今2.57~1.36 Ma), 湖区古气候环境进入寒冷期, 古植被为山地寒温带暗针叶林→山地暗针叶林向低矮灌木→干冷草原的变化, 古湖泊进入消亡阶段.古湖泊演化与古植被、古气候演变有很好的相关性, 高原隆升控制了古气候环境的变化, 进而影响湖泊水量的变化.   相似文献   

青海格尔木早更新世昆仑河砾岩的发现及其地质意义   总被引：2，自引：0，他引：2  

赵希涛  胡道功  吴中海  刘琦胜  张耀玲  薛腊梅 《地质力学学报》2010,16(1):1-10

昆仑河发源于昆仑山,是格尔木河的重要支流之一。前人所报道的新近纪与第四纪地层,主要集中于昆仑山垭口地区,而在昆仑河—格尔木河谷地中,只有中更新世以来的最新地层,从而提出了发生于1.1~0.6 Ma BP间的“昆仑—黄河运动”的概念。然而在昆仑河谷中发现了厚达20 m的钙质胶结的河流相砾石层(昆仑河砾岩),其分布、特征及其与纳赤台沟组、三岔河组和低阶地沉积等上覆地层的不整合接触关系,以及ESR法测定的该砾石层2个钙质胶结物样品的年龄(分别为1 042 ± 104 ka BP与1 269 ± 126 ka BP)均表明,早在距今1.27~1.42 Ma之前昆仑河—格尔木河河谷已经形成,而且已深切到现今的谷底。此后河谷内的多次切割与堆积,不应是构造运动的结果,而可能是冰期与间冰期气候变化所引起的侵蚀与搬运能力变化造成的。同样,昆仑山相对于柴达木盆地的强烈隆升至少应发生于距今1.27~1.42 Ma之前。   相似文献   

Catastrophic middle Pleistocene jökulhlaups in the upper Susquehanna River: Distinctive landforms from breakout floods in the central Appalachians     

R. Craig Kochel  Richard P. Nickelsen  L. Scott Eaton 《Geomorphology》2009,110(3-4):80-95

Widespread till and moraines record excursions of middle-Pleistocene ice that flowed up-slope into several watersheds of the Valley and Ridge Province along the West Branch of the Susquehanna River. A unique landform assemblage was created by ice-damming and jökulhlaups emanating from high gradient mountain watersheds. This combination of topography formed by multiple eastward-plunging anticlinal ridges, and the upvalley advance of glaciers resulted in an ideal geomorphic condition for the formation of temporary ice-dammed lakes. Extensive low gradient (1°–2° slope) gravel surfaces dominate the mountain front geomorphology in this region and defy simple explanation. The geomorphic circumstances that occurred in tributaries to the West Branch Susquehanna River during middle Pleistocene glaciation are extremely rare and may be unique in the world. Failure of ice dams released sediment-rich water from lakes, entraining cobbles and boulders, and depositing them in elongated debris fans extending up to 9 km downstream from their mountain-front breakout points. Poorly developed imbrication is rare, but occasionally present in matrix-supported sediments resembling debris flow deposits. Clast weathering and soils are consistent with a middle Pleistocene age for the most recent flows, circa the 880-ka paleomagnetic date for glacial lake sediments north of the region on the West Branch Susquehanna River. Post-glacial stream incision has focused along the margins of fan surfaces, resulting in topographic inversion, leaving bouldery jökulhlaup surfaces up to 15 m above Holocene channels. Because of their coarse nature and high water tables, jökulhlaup surfaces are generally forested in contrast to agricultural land use in the valleys and, thus, are readily apparent from orbital imagery.  相似文献   

Dating of Late Pleistocene terrace deposits of the River Rhine using Uranium series and luminescence methods: Potential and limitations     

Stphane Kock  Jan D. Kramers  Frank Preusser  Andreas Wetzel 《Quaternary Geochronology》2009,4(5):363-373

Uranium-series dating of pedogenic carbonate crusts from fluvial gravels is tested using Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) ages as references. OSL dating yielded ages of 30–15 ka and 13–11 ka, which correlate with the cold periods of the Last Glacial Maximum and the Younger Dryas. These ages are internally coherent and consistent with the geological background and are thus regarded as reliable. Most of the U/Th results scatter widely in the ²³⁰Th/²³²Th vs. ²³⁴U/²³²Th isochron diagram, making regression unrealistic. Semiquantitative age estimates from the data were found to be mostly older than the OSL ages and the geological context. It is suggested that a heterogeneous initial ²³⁰Th input, not relatable to a detrital component, is responsible for the observed discrepancies. This input may be due to bacterial activities and Th transport on organic colloids. It appears necessary to avoid samples where bacteria could have contributed to carbonate precipitation. Further, the relative importance of this problem decreases with sample age, so that U/Th dating of sinters is expected to be more reliable in the >100 ka age range.  相似文献   

Present and Late Pleistocene equilibrium line altitudes in Changbai Mountains, Northeast China     

ZHANG Wei  CUI Zhijiu  YAN Ling 《地理学报》2009,19(3):373-383

According to the glacial landforms and deposits with the optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating results, two glacial stages of the last glacial cycle (LGC) and Late Glacial were identified. The Late Glacial stage (Meteorological Station glacier advance) took place about 11 ka (11.3±1.2 ka), and the last glacial maximum (LGM), named Black Wind Mouth glacier advance, occurred at 20 ka (20.0±2.1 ka). Based on the Ohmura’s formula in which there is a relationship between summer (JJA) atmospheric temperature (T) and the annual precipitation (P) at ELA, the present theoretical equilibrium line altitude (ELAt) in Changbai Mountains was 3380±100 m. Six methods of accumulation–area ratio (AAR), maximum elevation of lateral moraines (MELM), toe–to headwall altitude ratios (THAR), the terminal to summit altitudinal (TSAM), the altitude of cirque floor (CF), and the terminal to average elevation of the catchment area (Hofer) were used for calculation of the former ELAs in different stages. These methods provided the ELA for a range of 2250–2383 m with an average value of 2320±20 m during the LGM, which is 200 m higher than the value of previous investigation. The snowlines during the Late Glacial are 2490 m on northern slope, and 2440 m on western slope. The results show that the snowline on northern slope is 50 m higher than that on western slope during the Late Glacial, and the average snowline is 2465m. The ELA △ values were more than 1000 m during the LGM, and about 920 m lower than now during the Late Glacial stage respectively. Compared with Taiwanese and Japanese mountains in East Asia during the LGM, the effect of the uplift on ELA in Changbai Mountains during the glaciations (i.e. 20 m uplift in the LGM and 11 m in the Late Glacial) is not obvious.  相似文献