High resolution paleoenvironmental and chronological investigations of Norse landnám at Tasiusaq, Eastern Settlement, Greenland     

Kevin J. Edwards  J. Edward Schofield 《Quaternary Research》2008,69(1):1-15

High-resolution paleoenvironmental data from a peat profile with a small pollen source area are used to reconstruct the impacts of landnám on vegetation and soils at a Norse farm complex (∅2 at Tasiusaq) comprising two farms in the Eastern Settlement of Greenland. Analyses include the AMS ¹⁴C dating of plant macrofossil samples and the use of Bayesian radiocarbon calibration to construct improved age-depth models for Norse cultural horizons. The onset of a regional landnám may be indicated by the clearance of Betula pubescens woodland immediately prior to local settlement. The latter is dated to AD 950-1020 (2σ) and is characterised by possible burning of Betula glandulosa scrub to provide grassland pasture for domestic stock. Clearance and grazing resulted in accelerated levels of soil erosion at a westerly farm. This was followed by an easterly migration of settlement and agriculture. Site constraints prevent an assessment of the demise of the easterly farm, but pressures of overgrazing and land degradation may have been the major factors responsible for the abandonment of the earlier farm.  相似文献   

Giant ancient landslide in the Alma water gap (Crimean Mountains,Ukraine): notes to the predisposition,structure, and chronology     

Tomáš Pánek  Jan Hradecký  Veronika Smolková  Karel Šilhán 《Landslides》2008,5(4):367-378

Large-scale ancient landslides of the area of more than 5 km² and volume exceeding 200 × 10⁶ m³ are characteristic features of the valleys incised in the northern periphery of the Crimean Mountains (Ukraine). The largely affected area is located in the outermost cuesta range of the Crimean Mountains which consists of rigid Sarmatian limestones overlying weak Middle Miocene and Upper Palaeogene deposits. A giant landslide arose in the Alma water gap as a reflection of several coincident preparatory factors such as suitable bedrock stratification, smectite-rich bedrock exposed to swelling activity, presence of faults parallel to the valley trend, and river capture event which preceded the landslide event. The occurrence of such ancient megaslides is particularly interesting in the area which is characterized by low precipitation (<500 mm/year) and weak contemporary seismicity. It probably reflects a more dynamic environment in humid phases of the Holocene; however, seismic triggering along the Mesozoic suture zone cannot be rejected. Compressional features such as gravitational folds in the central and distal parts of the landslide, which probably correlate with the whole landslide genesis or its significant reactivation, arose, according to the radiocarbon dating, during the Holocene climatic optimum in the Atlantic period. The slope deformation has been relatively quiescent since that time, except minor historic reactivization which took place in the frontal part of the landslide. We suppose that the studied landslide could be classified as a transitional type of slope deformation with some signs of spreading and translational block slides.  相似文献   

Timing of the late-glacial climate reversal in the Southern Hemisphere using high-resolution radiocarbon chronology for Kaipo bog, New Zealand     

Irka Hajdas  David J. Lowe  Georges Bonani 《Quaternary Research》2006,65(2):340-345

The pattern of climate change in the Southern Hemisphere during the Younger Dryas (YD) chronozone provides essential constraint on mechanisms of abrupt climate change only if accurate, high-precision chronologies are obtained. A climate reversal reported previously at Kaipo bog, New Zealand, had been dated between 13,600 and 12,600 cal yr B.P. and appeared to asynchronously overlap the YD chron, but the chronology, based on conventionally radiocarbon-dated bulk sediment samples, left the precise timing questionable. We report a new high-resolution AMS ¹⁴C chronology for the Kaipo record that confirms the original chronology and provides further evidence for a mid-latitude Southern Ocean cooling event dated between 13,800 and 12,400 cal yr B.P. (2σ range), roughly equivalent to the Antarctic Cold Reversal.  相似文献   

Great earthquakes of variable magnitude at the Cascadia subduction zone   总被引：1，自引：0，他引：1  

Alan R. Nelson  Harvey M. Kelsey 《Quaternary Research》2006,65(3):354-365

Comparison of histories of great earthquakes and accompanying tsunamis at eight coastal sites suggests plate-boundary ruptures of varying length, implying great earthquakes of variable magnitude at the Cascadia subduction zone. Inference of rupture length relies on degree of overlap on radiocarbon age ranges for earthquakes and tsunamis, and relative amounts of coseismic subsidence and heights of tsunamis. Written records of a tsunami in Japan provide the most conclusive evidence for rupture of much of the plate boundary during the earthquake of 26 January 1700. Cascadia stratigraphic evidence dating from about 1600 cal yr B.P., similar to that for the 1700 earthquake, implies a similarly long rupture with substantial subsidence and a high tsunami. Correlations are consistent with other long ruptures about 1350 cal yr B.P., 2500 cal yr B.P., 3400 cal yr B.P., 3800 cal yr B.P., 4400 cal yr B.P., and 4900 cal yr B.P. A rupture about 700-1100 cal yr B.P. was limited to the northern and central parts of the subduction zone, and a northern rupture about 2900 cal yr B.P. may have been similarly limited. Times of probable short ruptures in southern Cascadia include about 1100 cal yr B.P., 1700 cal yr B.P., 3200 cal yr B.P., 4200 cal yr B.P., 4600 cal yr B.P., and 4700 cal yr B.P. Rupture patterns suggest that the plate boundary in northern Cascadia usually breaks in long ruptures during the greatest earthquakes. Ruptures in southernmost Cascadia vary in length and recurrence intervals more than ruptures in northern Cascadia.  相似文献   

The First Appearance of Cattle in Denmark Occurred 6000 Years Ago: An Effect of Cultural or Climate and Environmental Changes     

Nanna Noe-Nygaard  Mikkel U. Hede 《Geografiska Annaler: Series A, Physical Geography》2006,88(2):87-95

Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios from bones of contemporaneous Late Atlantic aurochs and early cattle in eastern Denmark are significantly different and provide information on the origin and feeding strategies of the earliest domestic cattle. The data show that the early cattle were feeding on grass right from the beginning 4000 cal. yr BC. In contrast, the youngest aurochs population primarily browsed and grazed from the dense forest floor resulting in rather negative δ¹³C values measured on bone collagen. The oldest aurochs have similar isotope values to the earlier cattle, whereas the youngest aurochs have similar values to Late Atlantic red deer from the same locality. As eastern Denmark was largely covered by forest, speculations on the origin of the grazing areas are many. The grass may have grown in openings in the forest, at the forest fringe, or more likely on the newly reclaimed coastal land areas exposed by the decreasing rate of eustatic sea‐level rise contemporaneously with isostatic uplift, during the Littorina transgressions. The stable isotope values do not indicate that leaf foddering of the early cattle was of importance.  相似文献   

Mid-holocene climate change in Lake Bosumtwi, Ghana     

James Russell  Michael R TalbotBrian J Haskell 《Quaternary Research》2003,60(2):133-141

Lake Bosumtwi is one of the most widely studied palaeoclimate archives in West Africa. Results from numerous AMS ¹⁴C dates of samples from four piston cores from Lake Bosumtwi show that an abrupt sedimentary transition from a mid-Holocene sapropel to calcareous laminated muds occurred at about 3200 cal yr B.P. High-resolution analyses of the nitrogen isotopic composition of organic matter across this transition confirm its abrupt nature, and suggest that the change may signal a step toward increased aridity and intensified surface winds that affected western equatorial Africa from Ghana to the Congo basin. Northern and Eastern Africa experienced a similar abrupt shift toward aridity during the late Holocene, but at about 5000 cal yr B.P., a difference in timing that illustrates the regional nature of climate changes during the Holocene and the importance of feedback mechanisms in regulating Holocene climate variability. Furthermore, an abrupt change at about 3000 cal yr B.P. occurs at several sites adjacent to the tropical and subtropical Atlantic, which may hint at major changes in the surface temperatures of the tropical Atlantic and/or Pacific at this time.  相似文献   

Marine and limnic radiocarbon reservoir corrections for studies of late- and postglacial environments in Georgia Basin and Puget Lowland, British Columbia, Canada and Washington, USA     

Ian Hutchinson  Thomas S. James  Brian D. Bornhold 《Quaternary Research》2004,61(2):193-203

Models of late-glacial environmental change in coastal areas are commonly based on radiocarbon ages on marine shell and basal lake sediments, both of which may be compromised by reservoir effects. The magnitude of the oceanic reservoir age in the inland waters of the Georgia Basin and Puget Lowland of northwestern North America is inferred from radiocarbon ages on shell-wood pairs in Saanich Inlet and previously published estimates. The weighted mean oceanic reservoir correction in the early and mid Holocene is −720±90 yr, slightly smaller than, but not significantly different from, the modern value. The correction in late-glacial time is −950±50 yr. Valley-head sites yield higher reservoir values (−1200±130 yr) immediately after deglaciation. The magnitude of the gyttja reservoir effect is inferred from pairs of bulk gyttja and plant macrofossil ages from four lakes in the region. Incorporation of old carbon into basal gyttja yields ages from bulk samples that are initially about 600 yr too old. The reservoir age declines to less than 100 yr after the first millennium of lake development. When these corrections are accounted for, dates of deglaciation and late-glacial sea-level change in the study area are pushed forward in time by more than 500 yr.  相似文献   

Dating the onset of Lower Tagus River terrace formation using electron spin resonance          下载免费PDF全文

PIERLUIGI ROSINA  PIERRE VOINCHET  JEAN‐JACQUES BAHAIN  JORGE CRISTOVÃO  CHRISTOPHE FALGUÈRES 《第四纪科学杂志》2014,29(2):153-162

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Stratigraphy,geochemistry, and thermoluminescence ages of lower Mississippi Valley loess     

K. Pye  R. Johnson 《地球表面变化过程与地形》1988,13(2):103-124

Four periods of loess deposition in the Lower Mississippi Valley can be identified on the basis of geochemical and mineralogical criteria, radiocarbon dating, and thermoluminescence dating. These are designated Loess Units 1,2,3, and 4 in order of increasing age. Carbonate-rich Unit 1 loess comprises more than 70 per cent of the thickness of the loess profiles. ¹⁴C and TL dates indicate this loess was deposited between 9 000 and 20 000 years ago. A maximum sedimentation rate of 2.17 mm yr^?1 has been recorded near Vicksburg just after the last Laurentide glacial maximum, between 17 190 and 15 580 years ago. The Unit 2 loess, which is thin and partly decalcified, was deposited slowly between about 25 000 and 20 000 years ago. The Unit 3 and Unit 4 loess formations, which are both highly weathered, have yielded TL ages of 76 000–85 000 years and 119 000- > 132 000 years, suggesting they were deposited during the Altonian Substage of the early Wisconsinan and the Illinoian glacial stage respectively. The four loess units are stratigraphically equivalent to the Peoria, Farmdale, Roxana, and Loveland loess formations previously recognized in Illinois. The source of dust in both areas was glacial outwash in the Mississippi Valley. During interglacials and interstadials, when the supply of glacial debris was reduced and the Mississippi River changed from a braided to a meandering regime, dust sedimentation in southern Mississippi virtually ceased, allowing weathering and pedogenesis to proceed.  相似文献   

Neoglacial gelifluction in the Jostedalsbreen Region,Western Norway: Evidence from dated buried palaeopodsols     

Atle Nesje  Mons Kvamme  Noralf Rye 《地球表面变化过程与地形》1989,14(3):259-270

Radiocarbon dating of thin palaeopodsols buried beneath turf-banked gelifluction lobes at four localities in the low alpine mountain zone in the Jostedalsbreen region, western Norway, show that gelifluction processes were initiated subsequent to the late Subboreal Chronozone. Although large age-depth gradients have been demonstrated from buried palaeosols in southern Norway, evidence is presented that the palaeosols in this study show only moderate age-depth gradients. The age estimates from these buried palaeosols give maximum dates of burial, but the error is not thought to be large. Gelifluction processes were probably initiated close to the time of the climatic deterioration, which led to the formation of the present glaciers during the Subatlantic Chronozone. The processes may have been most active during the peak of the Little Ice Age, during which a periglacial climate was established to low levels in this mountainous region.  相似文献