Quaternary

18 pages, 4053 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Glacial–Interglacial Malacofauna Record from the Titel Loess Plateau, Serbia, between ~350 and 250 ka

by Milica G. Radaković, Bojan Gavrilović, Milivoj B. Gavrilov, Rastko S. Marković, Qingzhen Hao, Randall J. Schaetzl, Christian Zeeden, Binggui Cai, Zoran M. Perić, Aleksandar Antić, Tin Lukić and Slobodan B. Marković

Quaternary 2024, 7(2), 28; https://doi.org/10.3390/quat7020028 - 14 Jun 2024

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Abstract

We present data on molluscan fauna within the L3 loess unit (and partially within the S3 paleosol) from the key loess section of Veliki Surduk in Serbia. The section correlates to Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 8 and late MIS 9 and, thus, spans [...] Read more.

We present data on molluscan fauna within the L3 loess unit (and partially within the S3 paleosol) from the key loess section of Veliki Surduk in Serbia. The section correlates to Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 8 and late MIS 9 and, thus, spans the time frame from ~350 to 250 ka. The Veliki Surduk loess–paleosol sequence (LPS) is located on the northwestern margin of the Titel loess plateau and comprises ~30 m of sediments. Our focus is on a 5.4 m thick sedimentary interval, which was sampled at 20 cm increments, each sample covering approximately 2 ky. Nine mollusk species were identified in the loess sequence: Granaria frumentum, Helicopsis striata, Pupilla triplicata, Chondrula tridens, Pupilla muscorum, Succinella oblonga, Punctum pygmaeum, Vallonia costata, and Vitrina pellucida, as well as a few unidentified slug taxa (Limacidae, Agriolimacidae, and Milacidae). The majority of the snail assemblage occurs at the transition between MIS 9 and MIS 8, suggesting a mostly dry climate and an open and steppe-like habitat. The fauna identified in the upper part of the paleosol layer S3, below the L3 unit, indicated aridification. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Environmental Changes and Their Significance for Sustainability)

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15 pages, 3232 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Late Pliocene–Middle Pleistocene Large Mammal Faunal Units of Greece

by George E. Konidaris and Dimitris S. Kostopoulos

Quaternary 2024, 7(2), 27; https://doi.org/10.3390/quat7020027 - 12 Jun 2024

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1741

Abstract

Located at the eastern corner of Mediterranean Europe, Greece occupies a critical position for mammal dispersals to/from Europe, Asia, and Africa and constitutes a potential passageway towards Western Europe. During recent decades, numerous fieldwork campaigns in several Pliocene–Pleistocene sites have greatly enriched the [...] Read more.

Located at the eastern corner of Mediterranean Europe, Greece occupies a critical position for mammal dispersals to/from Europe, Asia, and Africa and constitutes a potential passageway towards Western Europe. During recent decades, numerous fieldwork campaigns in several Pliocene–Pleistocene sites have greatly enriched the fossil record and provided valuable taxonomic and biostratigraphic data. However, a fully developed reference biochronological unit scheme for the Greek record that could contribute to correlations at a continental scale is still pending. In this article, we provide the updated Late Pliocene to Middle Pleistocene large mammal succession, and we introduce the Faunal Units (FUs) of Greece. We define eight FUs, the Milia, Dafnero, Gerakarou, Tsiotra Vryssi, Krimni, Apollonia, Marathousa, and Apidima FUs (from the oldest to the youngest), which are determined by a set of first and last local occurrences. The results form the basis for discussion of already set turnovers, dispersals, and extinction/immigration events and showcase the importance of the local record for the investigation of the European terrestrial ecosystems. By developing the first detailed biochronological scheme for the Pliocene–Pleistocene of Southeastern Europe, this study comprises the basis for an expanded Balkan faunal unit scale and a reference framework for future investigations. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mammals Biochronology and Paleoecology of the Euro-Mediterranean Quaternary)

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28 pages, 4255 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

A Hierarchical Bayesian Examination of the Chronological Relationship between the Noaillian and Rayssian Phases of the French Middle Gravettian

by William E. Banks, Anaïs Vignoles, Jessica Lacarrière, André Morala and Laurent Klaric

Quaternary 2024, 7(2), 26; https://doi.org/10.3390/quat7020026 - 12 Jun 2024

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Abstract

Issues of chronology are central to inferences pertaining to relationships between both contemporaneous and successive prehistoric typo-technological entities (i.e., archaeological cultures), culture–environment relationships, and ultimately the mechanisms at play behind cultural changes observed through time in the archaeological record. We refine the chronology [...] Read more.

Issues of chronology are central to inferences pertaining to relationships between both contemporaneous and successive prehistoric typo-technological entities (i.e., archaeological cultures), culture–environment relationships, and ultimately the mechanisms at play behind cultural changes observed through time in the archaeological record. We refine the chronology of Upper Paleolithic archaeological cultures between 35–18 calibrated kiloanni before the present in present-day France by incorporating recently published radiocarbon data along with new ¹⁴C ages that we obtained from several Gravettian archaeological contexts. We present the results of a Bayesian age model that includes these new radiometric data and that, more importantly, separates Gravettian contexts in regions north of the Garonne River into two successive cultural phases: The Northern Noaillian and the Rayssian, respectively. This new age model places the beginning of the Noaillian during Greenland Stadial 5.2. The appearance of contexts containing assemblages associated with the Rayssian lithic technical system occurs immediately prior to the termination of Greenland Interstadial 5.1, and it is present throughout Heinrich Event 3 (GS-5.1) and into the following GI-4 climatic amelioration. Despite the Rayssian’s initial appearance during the brief and relatively weakly expressed Greenland Interstadial 5.1, its duration suggests that Rayssian lithic technology was well-suited to the environmental conditions of Greenland Stadial 5.1. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Climate and Environment of Marine Isotope Stage 3 (MIS 3), 60,000–27,000 Years before Present)

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28 pages, 5206 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Holocene Paleohydrological Changes Reflected in Lake-Level Fluctuations in Lake Annecy (French Pre-Alps): Climatic Significance and Archeological Implications

by Michel Magny, Eymeric Morin, Agnès Vérot, Hervé Richard, André Marguet, Robin Brigand, Franck Gabayet, Florent Hinschberger, Jacques Mouthon and Eric Thirault

Quaternary 2024, 7(2), 25; https://doi.org/10.3390/quat7020025 - 29 May 2024

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Abstract

Lakes are threatened by contemporary climate change and human activities. Paleohydrological records provide important evidence for developing scenarios for future changes in the availability of freshwater resources. This study presents a synthesis of a sedimentological, archeological, and chronological dataset collected from Lake Annecy [...] Read more.

Lakes are threatened by contemporary climate change and human activities. Paleohydrological records provide important evidence for developing scenarios for future changes in the availability of freshwater resources. This study presents a synthesis of a sedimentological, archeological, and chronological dataset collected from Lake Annecy (eastern France) to reconstruct a lake-level record documenting the whole Holocene. This dataset shows a pronounced minimum in the lake level during the Holocene thermal maximum (HTM) (ca. 9000–7000 cal BP), preceded by a general lowering trend (early Holocene), and followed by a general rising trend (Neoglacial). On both the millennial and centennial scales, the Lake Annecy record appears to match the regional pattern of Holocene lake-level fluctuations established for West-Central Europe. In agreement with other extra-regional paleoclimatic records, it shows the dominant influence of orbital forcing. The high magnitude of the lake-level lowering (more than 5 m) during the HTM, with a 2–2.5 °C difference between the HTM and the pre-industrial mean summer temperatures, suggests possible drastic lake-level lowering phases in the near future depending on the IPCC scenarios following climate change. This would mean dramatic impacts on human activities and the preservation of exceptional archeological remains in regional lake basins. Full article

(This article belongs to the Collection Feature Papers in Quaternary Research)

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28 pages, 5183 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Palaeoenvironmental Conditions of the Upper Middle Pleistocene Warm Intervals in the Upper Volga Region, Northwestern Russia, Based on Palynological, Paleocarpological and Quantitative Geochronological Data

by Andrei Panin, Evgeny Konstantinov, Olga Borisova, Inna Zyuganova, Dmitrii Baranov, Natalia Karpukhina, Anna Utkina, Natalia Naryshkina and Redzhep Kurbanov

Quaternary 2024, 7(2), 24; https://doi.org/10.3390/quat7020024 - 27 May 2024

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Abstract

The climatostratigraphic scale of the Upper Middle Pleistocene in the northwest of the East European Plain contains a number of controversial issues, one of which is the position of the Likhvin (Holstein) Interglacial and lesser warm (interstadial) climatic events. To approach this problem, [...] Read more.

The climatostratigraphic scale of the Upper Middle Pleistocene in the northwest of the East European Plain contains a number of controversial issues, one of which is the position of the Likhvin (Holstein) Interglacial and lesser warm (interstadial) climatic events. To approach this problem, we have studied two sections of Quaternary deposits, Bolshaya Kosha (a well-known and long-studied natural exposure) and Nazarovo (a new, previously unknown section studied in a borehole), in which warm intervals of the Middle Pleistocene are recognized. In both sections, we performed lithological and paleobiological (carpological, spore-pollen) analyses and luminescence dating. In the Bolshaya Kosha section, seeds of the extinct species Caulinia goretskyi were revealed, which allowed us to attribute the obtained IRSL (ca 250–260 ka) dates to the post-Likhvin Bolshaya Kosha interstadial. The sum of data let us propose that both our IRSL and recently published ²³⁰Th/U dates (ca 240–290 ka) underestimate the age by 10–15%, and the post-Likhvin Kosha interstadial deposits were formed in the late MIS 9. In the Nazarovo section, palynological study showed the conditions of a relatively warm interstadial, with a change in the composition of vegetation from northern to middle taiga forests. According to IRSL dating, the section was formed in the MIS 10 late glacial between 330–370 ka. The two studied interstadials bracket the Likhvin (Holstein) Interglacial and sedimentary units in the Bolshaya Kosha section are proposed to have formed in MIS 9e. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Microfossil Records and Their Paleoenvironmental Implications in Quaternary)

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10 pages, 2641 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Prolonged Response of River Terrace Flooding to Climate Change

by Jef Vandenberghe, Xianyan Wang and Xun Yang

Quaternary 2024, 7(2), 23; https://doi.org/10.3390/quat7020023 - 27 May 2024

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Abstract

From the start of river incision onward, the abandoned terrace surface is only reached by floods during peak discharges. Two main flood facies are distinguished: a relatively high-energetic, coarse-grained facies and a relatively low-energetic, fine-grained facies. In general, the flood deposits become gradually [...] Read more.

From the start of river incision onward, the abandoned terrace surface is only reached by floods during peak discharges. Two main flood facies are distinguished: a relatively high-energetic, coarse-grained facies and a relatively low-energetic, fine-grained facies. In general, the flood deposits become gradually finer-grained and the finer-grained facies relatively more prominent when the river incises progressively deeper. This signifies a delayed and prolonged effect of channel incision and flood deposition compared with the climate changes that initiated the incision. However, these long-term trends may be interrupted by shorter-term events of flooding or non-deposition. Those short events are expressed by cycles of coarse-grained deposits from small/shallow flooding channels due to short peak discharges or fine-grained suspended sediment and incipient soils during periods of low flow. These short events may be attributed to short climatic episodes or intermittent intrinsic river evolution. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fluvial Archives: Drainage Hydrology, Sedimentological and Geomorphological Processes and Environmental Change)

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18 pages, 4548 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Short-Term Climatic Oscillations in the Central Region of the East-European Plain at the Beginning of the Holocene Based on Palynological Studies of Lacustrine Deposits

by Olga Borisova, Natalia Naryshkina and Andrey Panin

Quaternary 2024, 7(2), 22; https://doi.org/10.3390/quat7020022 - 15 May 2024

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Abstract

The Preboreal (11.75–10.70 ka BP) is still the least paleogeographically studied time interval in the central part of the East European Plain. High-resolution multi-proxy studies of lacustrine sediments at the Seltso site located in the Desna River floodplain (Dnieper River basin) were conducted. [...] Read more.

The Preboreal (11.75–10.70 ka BP) is still the least paleogeographically studied time interval in the central part of the East European Plain. High-resolution multi-proxy studies of lacustrine sediments at the Seltso site located in the Desna River floodplain (Dnieper River basin) were conducted. Radiocarbon dating, loss-on-ignition determination, sedimentological and palynological studies and identification of Non-Pollen Palynomorphs in lacustrine sediments allow us to reconstruct changes in vegetation caused by rapid warming at the Younger Dryas–Holocene boundary, short-term climatic fluctuations within the Preboreal and subsequent resumption of warming. Initial Preboreal warming reached its maximum at about 11.5 ka BP when a relatively dry continental climate existed. Between 11.4 and 11.2 ka BP, a short-term cooling corresponding to the Preboreal Oscillation in Greenland occurred, as indicated by a significant reduction of woody vegetation and expansion of open plant communities. In the Late Preboreal, approximately 11.2–10.7 ka BP, warming resumed, which was accompanied by a decrease in the climate continentality. Comparison with high-resolution lithological and palynological data from eight reliably dated sections of the central East European Plain indicates that in northwestern and central Europe, the impact of the Preboreal Oscillation cooling on the vegetation and the lake ecosystems’ development was probably somewhat stronger. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Microfossil Records and Their Paleoenvironmental Implications in Quaternary)

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25 pages, 8771 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Relation between Central European Climate Change and Eifel Volcanism during the Last 130,000 Years: The ELSA-23-Tephra-Stack

by Frank Sirocko, Frederik Krebsbach, Johannes Albert, Sarah Britzius, Fiona Schenk and Michael W. Förster

Quaternary 2024, 7(2), 21; https://doi.org/10.3390/quat7020021 - 25 Apr 2024

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1654

Abstract

The analysis of tephra layers in maar lake sediments of the Eifel shows 14 well-visible tephra during the last glacial cycle from the Holocene to the Eemian (0–130,000 yr b2k). These tephra were analyzed for their petrographic composition, which allows us to connect [...] Read more.

The analysis of tephra layers in maar lake sediments of the Eifel shows 14 well-visible tephra during the last glacial cycle from the Holocene to the Eemian (0–130,000 yr b2k). These tephra were analyzed for their petrographic composition, which allows us to connect several tephra to eruption sites. All tephra were dated by application of the ELSA-20 chronology, developed using the late Pleistocene infilled maar lake of Auel and the Holocene lake Holzmaar (0–60,000 yr b2k). We extend the ELSA-20 chronology with this paper for the millennia of 60,000–130,000 yr b2k (ELSA-23 chronology), which is based on the infilled maar lake records from Dehner, Hoher List, and Jungferweiher. The evaluation of the tephra from the entire last glacial cycle shows that all 14 tephra were close to interstadial warming of the North Atlantic sea surface temperatures. In particular, phreatomagmatic maar eruptions were systematically associated with Heinrich events or C-events. These events represent times of warming of the Southern Hemisphere, global sea level rise, and CO₂ increase, which predate the abrupt interstadial warming events of the Northern Hemisphere. This synchroneity indicates a physical relationship between endogenic and exogenic processes. Changes in the lithospheric stress field in response to changes in continental ice loads have already been suggested as a potential candidate to explain the exogenic forcing of endogenic processes. The chronology of volcanic activity in the Eifel demonstrates that intraplate mantle plumes are also affected by the exogenic forcing of endogenic processes. Full article

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32 pages, 4986 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Middle Pleistocene Hippopotamuses from the Italian Peninsula: An Overview

by Beniamino Mecozzi, Alessio Iannucci, Marta Arzarello, Marco Carpentieri, Marie-Hélène Moncel, Carlo Peretto, Benedetto Sala and Raffaele Sardella

Quaternary 2024, 7(2), 20; https://doi.org/10.3390/quat7020020 - 22 Apr 2024

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1852

Abstract

Our work presents an updated overview of the Italian Middle Pleistocene records of hippopotamuses, including the two species Hippopotamus antiquus and Hippopotamus amphibius. In addition to reviewing several well-known fossils in the literature, a large number of samples are described herein for [...] Read more.

Our work presents an updated overview of the Italian Middle Pleistocene records of hippopotamuses, including the two species Hippopotamus antiquus and Hippopotamus amphibius. In addition to reviewing several well-known fossils in the literature, a large number of samples are described herein for the first time. Following the recent results published in the literature, where the skull from the Middle Pleistocene of Cava Montanari (ca. MIS 13) was confirmed to belong to H. amphibius, one of the aims of this work was to investigate the H. antiquus–H. amphibius transition. A morphological analysis applied to a large sample confirmed the validity of the arrangement of the enamel ridges of the external surfaces of the lower canines as a diagnostic character for specific identifications. Finally, biometric analyses allowed us to test the size variability during the Middle Pleistocene, which confirmed that H. antiquus was generally larger than H. amphibius. Nevertheless, the remains of H. antiquus dated to ca. 600 ka show a reduced size when compared to older fossils of the same taxon, probably as a response to severe glacial conditions that occurred during MIS 16. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mammals Biochronology and Paleoecology of the Euro-Mediterranean Quaternary)

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22 pages, 4764 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Complex Microlandscape as a Structural Unit of the Study of Spatiotemporal Development of an Ombrotrophic Suboceanic Bog

by Tamara Ponomareva, Ivan Zubov, Anastasiya Shtang, Alexander Orlov and Svetlana Selyanina

Quaternary 2024, 7(2), 19; https://doi.org/10.3390/quat7020019 - 15 Apr 2024

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Abstract

Ombrotrophic suboceanic bogs are distinguished by a high diversity of complex microlandscapes within the bog massif. Each complex microlandscape is a separate intrabog ecosystem with a specific set of parameters and relationships. This study aims to assess the specifics of the characteristics and [...] Read more.

Ombrotrophic suboceanic bogs are distinguished by a high diversity of complex microlandscapes within the bog massif. Each complex microlandscape is a separate intrabog ecosystem with a specific set of parameters and relationships. This study aims to assess the specifics of the characteristics and parameters of the complex microlandscapes as part of an ombrotrophic suboceanic Sphagnum bog and as stages of bog morphogenesis, and to establish the internal relationships and their relationship with external environmental factors. A comprehensive multidisciplinary approach was used to assess the functioning of the complex microlandscapes. It was found that the relationship with the air temperature is closer than with the bog water table dynamics. It was shown that the morphometric parameters of perennial dwarf shrubs can serve as indicators of the stages of development of bogs. The processes of the self-regulation of complex microlandscapes are weakened with the age of the complex microlandscape, as evidenced by an increase in the amplitude of temperature fluctuations and the level of bog waters, as well as the key physicochemical parameters of the peat deposit. This leads to a gradual, slow reorientation of the physicochemical processes occurring in the deposit, from the deposition of organic matter to the decomposition of peat biomass. Full article

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11 pages, 1072 KiB

Open AccessTechnical Note

LOVE Is in the R—Two R Tools for Local Vegetation Reconstruction

by Martin Theuerkauf and John Couwenberg

Quaternary 2024, 7(2), 18; https://doi.org/10.3390/quat7020018 - 25 Mar 2024

Viewed by 1393

Abstract

Pollen deposition in small lakes and peatlands is composed of local pollen deposition arriving from the nearby vegetation and of regional pollen deposition arriving from farther away. The LOVE model aims to reconstruct past vegetation on a small local scale by extracting only [...] Read more.

Pollen deposition in small lakes and peatlands is composed of local pollen deposition arriving from the nearby vegetation and of regional pollen deposition arriving from farther away. The LOVE model aims to reconstruct past vegetation on a small local scale by extracting only the local pollen signal. To this end, pollen deposition from small sites is related to pollen deposition from large lakes with predominantly regional pollen deposition. We here present a new implementation of the LOVE model in the R environment for statistical computing that is more user friendly than existing implementations. It allows more readily application with fossil pollen data and facilitates extensive testing of the approach in simulated landscapes. The LOVE model derives from critical mathematical assumptions that strongly limit its application. We additionally present LOVEoptim as an adjusted approach to local-scale reconstructions. Other than in LOVE, past local plant abundances are approximated using numerical optimization. Tests in a simulated landscape, which is based on true landscape patterns from digital maps, show that both approaches are valid. Due to fewer mathematical assumptions, LOVEoptim is more widely applicable. The modeling results help to better interpret the spatial scale of vegetation reflected in LOVE/LOVEoptim reconstructions. Full article

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20 pages, 8539 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Cryptotephra Layer in Sediments of an Infilled Maar Lake from the Eifel (Germany): First Evidence of Campanian Ignimbrite Ash Airfall in Central Europe

by Fiona Schenk, Ulrich Hambach, Sarah Britzius, Daniel Veres and Frank Sirocko

Quaternary 2024, 7(2), 17; https://doi.org/10.3390/quat7020017 - 25 Mar 2024

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1547

Abstract

We analyzed mineralogical characteristics, and major as well as rare earth element concentrations, from a cryptotephra layer in sediments of the infilled maar of Auel (Eifel, Germany). The results of detailed geochemical analyses of clinopyroxenes and their glassy rims from the Auel cryptotephra [...] Read more.

We analyzed mineralogical characteristics, and major as well as rare earth element concentrations, from a cryptotephra layer in sediments of the infilled maar of Auel (Eifel, Germany). The results of detailed geochemical analyses of clinopyroxenes and their glassy rims from the Auel cryptotephra layer showed that they are similar to those from the thick Campanian Ignimbrite tephra occurrence in a loess section at Urluia (Romania). Both tephras show idiomorphic green clinopyroxenes and formation of distorted grains up to millimeter scale. The cryptotephra in the Auel core has a modelled age of around 39,940 yr b2k in the ELSA-20 chronology, almost identical to the latest ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar dates for the Campanian Ignimbrite/Y-5 (CI/Y-5) eruption. These observations suggest that parts of the CI/Y-5 ash cloud were transported also northwestward into Central Europe, whereas the main branch of the CI/Y-5 ash plume was transported from southern Italy towards the NE, E, and SE. Based on pollen analyses, we conclude there was no direct effect on vegetation from the CI/Y-5 fallout in the Eifel area. Trees, shrubs, and grasses remained at pre-tephra-airfall levels for roughly 240 years, but changed around 39,700 yr b2k when thermophilic woody plants (e.g., Alnus and Carpinus) disappeared and Artemisia spread. This change in vegetation was well after the Laschamp geomagnetic excursion and also after the GI9 interstadial and quite probably represents the onset of the Heinrich Event 4 (H4) cold spell, when climatic conditions over the North Atlantic, and apparently also in Central Europe, deteriorated sharply. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Climate and Environment of Marine Isotope Stage 3 (MIS 3), 60,000–27,000 Years before Present)

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Quaternary, Volume 7, Issue 2 (June 2024) – 12 articles

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