Journal Description
Quaternary
Quaternary
is an international, peer-reviewed, open access journal that covers all aspects within quaternary science, embracing the whole range of scientific fields related to geological, geographical, biological, physical, chemical, environmental and human sciences. The journal is published quarterly online by MDPI.
- Open Access — free for readers, with article processing charges (APC) paid by authors or their institutions.
- High Visibility: indexed within Scopus, ESCI (Web of Science), GeoRef, and other databases.
- Journal Rank: CiteScore - Q2 (Earth-Surface Processes)
- Rapid Publication: manuscripts are peer-reviewed and a first decision is provided to authors approximately 29.2 days after submission; acceptance to publication is undertaken in 12.8 days (median values for papers published in this journal in the second half of 2023).
- Recognition of Reviewers: reviewers who provide timely, thorough peer-review reports receive vouchers entitling them to a discount on the APC of their next publication in any MDPI journal, in appreciation of the work done.
Impact Factor:
2.3 (2022);
5-Year Impact Factor:
2.4 (2022)
Latest Articles
Holocene Paleohydrological Changes Reflected in Lake-Level Fluctuations in Lake Annecy (French Pre-Alps): Climatic Significance and Archeological Implications
Quaternary 2024, 7(2), 25; https://doi.org/10.3390/quat7020025 - 29 May 2024
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
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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.
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(This article belongs to the Collection Feature Papers in Quaternary Research)
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Palaeoenvironmental Conditions of the Upper Middle Pleistocene Warm Intervals in the Upper Volga Region, Northwestern Russia, Based on Palynological, Paleocarpological and Quantitative Geochronological Data
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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
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,
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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.
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(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Microfossil Records and Their Paleoenvironmental Implications in Quaternary)
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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
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
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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.
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(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fluvial Archives: Drainage Hydrology, Sedimentological and Geomorphological Processes and Environmental Change)
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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
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Olga Borisova, Natalia Naryshkina and Andrey Panin
Quaternary 2024, 7(2), 22; https://doi.org/10.3390/quat7020022 - 15 May 2024
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.
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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.
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(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Microfossil Records and Their Paleoenvironmental Implications in Quaternary)
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Relation between Central European Climate Change and Eifel Volcanism during the Last 130,000 Years: The ELSA-23-Tephra-Stack
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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
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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
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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.
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Open AccessArticle
Middle Pleistocene Hippopotamuses from the Italian Peninsula: An Overview
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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
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
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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.
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(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mammals Biochronology and Paleoecology of the Euro-Mediterranean Quaternary)
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Open AccessArticle
Complex Microlandscape as a Structural Unit of the Study of Spatiotemporal Development of an Ombrotrophic Suboceanic Bog
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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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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
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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.
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Open AccessTechnical Note
LOVE Is in the R—Two R Tools for Local Vegetation Reconstruction
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Martin Theuerkauf and John Couwenberg
Quaternary 2024, 7(2), 18; https://doi.org/10.3390/quat7020018 - 25 Mar 2024
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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
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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.
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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
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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
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
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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.
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(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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Ostracod Assemblages in the East Siberian Sea: A Comparative Study of River-Influenced and River-Isolated Shelf Ecosystems
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Maria Zenina, Ekaterina Ovsepyan and Yaroslav Ovsepyan
Quaternary 2024, 7(1), 16; https://doi.org/10.3390/quat7010016 - 19 Mar 2024
Abstract
The East Siberian Sea (ESS) is one of the least studied seas in terms of ostracod fauna. Ostracods are sensitive organisms to environmental changes, and detailed information on their ecology is still required. To fill this knowledge gap, we studied 33 meiobenthic dredge
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The East Siberian Sea (ESS) is one of the least studied seas in terms of ostracod fauna. Ostracods are sensitive organisms to environmental changes, and detailed information on their ecology is still required. To fill this knowledge gap, we studied 33 meiobenthic dredge samples collected from the western part of the ESS and the Chaun Bay together with 17 grab samples taken from the eastern part of the sea. Quantitative analyses of the ostracod assemblages demonstrate that the river-influenced western part of the ESS is inhabited by low diverse and impoverished fauna consisting of the taxa which are able to adapt to different environmental conditions. In the isolated Chaun Bay sheltered from significant riverine influence, the ostracod assemblages contain species that prefer more stable conditions. The predominance of living specimens over dead ones and individual valves points to strong carbonate dissolution that is more pronounced in the western ESS than in the Chaun Bay. The formation of such conditions might be related to the high content of dissolved carbon dioxide resulting from bacterial remineralization of in situ produced and land-derived organic matter in the bottom sediments and low pH near the seabed. Numerous ferromanganese crusts were found on the ostracod valve surfaces and inside the shells from the Chaun Bay.
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(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Microfossil Records and Their Paleoenvironmental Implications in Quaternary)
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Open AccessReview
Fluvial Morphology in Different Permafrost Environments—A Review
by
Jef Vandenberghe
Quaternary 2024, 7(1), 15; https://doi.org/10.3390/quat7010015 - 15 Mar 2024
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This review presents a synthesis of the interaction between the hydro-morphological processes on interfluves and channels within fluvial catchments in permafrost regions. Both in modern and ancient permafrost catchments, this integrated landscape is quite diverse because of a variegated extent of frozen ground,
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This review presents a synthesis of the interaction between the hydro-morphological processes on interfluves and channels within fluvial catchments in permafrost regions. Both in modern and ancient permafrost catchments, this integrated landscape is quite diverse because of a variegated extent of frozen ground, density of vegetation cover, snow thickness, and other local factors. Moreover, temporal changes in environmental conditions are expressed in the morphological evolution of catchments. Channel patterns vary between single- and different multi-channel forms while the interfluves show a high diversity ranging from complete stability to intense denudation by surface runoff. It appears that braided channels, despite their high energy, were only significant during short intervals of peak discharge and transported only limited amounts of eroded sediment, while other channel patterns required more subdued annual discharge variability. Further, denudational processes on interfluves were a specific characteristic of landscape evolution during subsequent ice ages, especially in conditions of snow-rich and poorly vegetated, seasonal frost, or discontinuous permafrost resulting in the formation of extended planforms (cryopediments). In contrast, interfluves appeared to be rather stable on continuously frozen soils.
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Open AccessArticle
Rhynchotalona latens (Sarmaja-Korjonen, Hakojärvi et Korhola 2000) (Crustacea, Anomopoda, Chydoridae) in Lacustrine Sediments of European Russia
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Aisylu G. Ibragimova, Artyom V. Gusarov and Larisa A. Frolova
Quaternary 2024, 7(1), 14; https://doi.org/10.3390/quat7010014 - 6 Mar 2024
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Remains of Rhynchotalona latens (Sarmaja-Korjonen, Hakojärvi et Korhola 2000) were found in the bottom sediments of several glaciogenic lakes in northwestern Russia. Subfossil remains of the species were noted both in the bottom sediments of the Late Pleistocene and Mid-Holocene. We discovered a
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Remains of Rhynchotalona latens (Sarmaja-Korjonen, Hakojärvi et Korhola 2000) were found in the bottom sediments of several glaciogenic lakes in northwestern Russia. Subfossil remains of the species were noted both in the bottom sediments of the Late Pleistocene and Mid-Holocene. We discovered a rare species, R. latens, in the bottom sediments of Lake Medvedevskoye (Karelian Isthmus). This species prefers shallow oligo-mesotrophic lakes with organic sediments and has attracted the interest of scientists around the world as it is considered a glacial relict and has recently been found in surface sediments and as a living population in Finland and Russia.
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Open AccessArticle
The Middle Pleistocene Hippopotamus from Malagrotta (Latium, Italy): New Data and Future Perspectives
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Roberta Martino, Fabrizio Marra, María Ríos and Luca Pandolfi
Quaternary 2024, 7(1), 13; https://doi.org/10.3390/quat7010013 - 29 Feb 2024
Cited by 1
Abstract
The Middle Pleistocene was characterized by the presence in continental Europe of at least two different species of hippopotamus: Hippopotamus antiquus and H. amphibius. Although suspected, the presence of both hippopotamuses in the same geographical area has not yet been proven. The
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The Middle Pleistocene was characterized by the presence in continental Europe of at least two different species of hippopotamus: Hippopotamus antiquus and H. amphibius. Although suspected, the presence of both hippopotamuses in the same geographical area has not yet been proven. The following manuscript describes findings from Malagrotta (Rome, central Italy), dating back to the time span between 0.45 and 0.38 Ma. These findings offer new insights into the Middle Pleistocene period. The fragmented mandible has a slender and low corpus, the humerus is robust with a deltoid tuberosity placed medially on the diaphysis, the unciform shows a facet for the MCIV wider than the one for the MCV and the calcaneum is clepsydra-shaped. The morphological characteristics of the sample are closer to those of H. antiquus, despite the fact that the morphometric measurements are smaller than those of the samples coming from Valdarno (Italy), Untermaßfeld (Germany) or Colle Curti (Italy). Considering all the information, the material from Malagrotta is here attributed to H. cf. antiquus, indicating the survival of the European hippopotamus until at least 0.38 Ma in central Italy. The coexistence of H. amphibius and H. antiquus in the same geographical area is also discussed.
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(This article belongs to the Special Issue Quaternary Mammals: State of the Art and New Discoveries)
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Open AccessArticle
Rare Earth Elements in Sediments from the Laptev Sea Shelf: Insight into Sources and Distribution Factors
by
Alexey Ruban, Oleg Dudarev, Maxim Rudmin and Igor Semiletov
Quaternary 2024, 7(1), 12; https://doi.org/10.3390/quat7010012 - 28 Feb 2024
Abstract
The study of rare earth elements (REEs) in marine sediments is a powerful geochemical tool for determining depositional processes and sediment provenance, as well as for understanding paleoenvironmental changes. In this context, we present REE, some major and trace elements, grain size, and
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The study of rare earth elements (REEs) in marine sediments is a powerful geochemical tool for determining depositional processes and sediment provenance, as well as for understanding paleoenvironmental changes. In this context, we present REE, some major and trace elements, grain size, and mineralogy data on surface and core sediments, which were collected in different areas of the eastern Laptev Sea Shelf (LSS; Arctic Ocean). The primary objective of this paper was to assess the principal controlling factors influencing REE concentration and their vertical to lateral distribution. The total REE content (ΣREE) ranged from 139 ppm to 239 ppm within the studied sediment samples, predominantly consisting of silt. The normalized REE distribution patterns, based on North American Shale Composite (NASC) standard, exhibited an enrichment in light REE (LREE) when compared to heavy REE (HREE), which is similar to that in Lena River suspended particulate matter. The primary sources of REEs in the eastern LSS were both the suspended particulate matter from the Lena River and sediments originating from the coastal ice complex. The spatial distribution of REEs was primarily contingent upon the distance from sediment sources and prevailing hydrological conditions and was generally characterized by a decrease in REE concentration seaward. There was a moderate positive correlation between ΣREE and mean grain size in the studied surface sediment. However, this relationship was specific only for surface samples and was not found in the sediment cores, indicating that sediment grain size does not play a significant role in the REE vertical distribution. The strong positive correlation between ΣREE and Al, K, Ti, V, Cr, Zr, Hf, and Th suggests that REEs are hosted by not only heavy but also clay minerals. The vertical fluctuations of LREE/HREE, Eu/Eu*, (La/Lu)N can point at variable dominance of one or another REE source for during sediment accumulation.
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(This article belongs to the Special Issue Early Diagenetic Processes in Marine Cold Seeps)
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Open AccessFeature PaperArticle
The Occurrence of Suids in the Post-Olduvai to Pre-Jaramillo Pleistocene of Europe and Implications for Late Villafranchian Biochronology and Faunal Dynamics
by
Alessio Iannucci
Quaternary 2024, 7(1), 11; https://doi.org/10.3390/quat7010011 - 21 Feb 2024
Cited by 1
Abstract
It has been proposed that suids were absent from Europe during the post-Olduvai to pre-Jaramillo Early Pleistocene (from less than 1.8 to more than 1.2 Ma) and that their “re-appearance” in the late Early Pleistocene would mark the end of the late Villafranchian
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It has been proposed that suids were absent from Europe during the post-Olduvai to pre-Jaramillo Early Pleistocene (from less than 1.8 to more than 1.2 Ma) and that their “re-appearance” in the late Early Pleistocene would mark the end of the late Villafranchian and the beginning of the Epivillafranchian. Arguments enumerated in favor of this “suid gap” are the lack of suid remains from extensively sampled fossil localities of this age and the high reproductive potential (r-strategy) of suids, which would translate in a high commonness of their remains in the fossil record. However, here it shown that while suids’ reproductive potential is certainly exceptional within artiodactyls, there is no direct relationship between the reproductive strategy and preservation rate of a taxon in the fossil record. In Early Pleistocene localities of Europe and adjoining areas, where suids are present in a fossil assemblage, they are always rare. In terms of number of occurrences (frequency), suids range from being moderately common (~2.0–1.8 Ma) to moderately rare (~1.1–1.0 Ma). Suid material is also described herein from Peyrolles (Issoire, France; reference locality for MNQ 19), a site dated at 1.47 Ma, providing direct evidence for the presence of suids within the purported “suid gap”. The case of suids underlines an important source of caveat in inferring faunal dynamics of the late Early Pleistocene of western Europe—including the dispersal of hominins—i.e., the unequal geographical distribution of the paleontological sites of post-Olduvai to pre-Jaramillo age. Indeed, Peyrolles is the only large mammal site in western Europe located outside the Iberian and Italian Peninsulas reliably dated around 1.5 Ma. In the post-Olduvai to pre-Jaramillo period, there is a paucity of radiometric estimates (or they have too coarse a resolution) and of paleomagnetic excursions detectable in continental deposits. Basically, for this time span, there is a high dependence on biochronological correlations, although, at the same time, these correlations are less reliable—because these are based on a few sites not covering the entire spectrum of environments present in Europe and the sites are not independently dated with methods that outperform biochronology—than those for other periods.
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(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mammals Biochronology and Paleoecology of the Euro-Mediterranean Quaternary)
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Open AccessFeature PaperArticle
The Sardinian Mammoth’s Evolutionary History: Lights and Shadows
by
Maria Rita Palombo, Marco Zedda and Daniel Zoboli
Quaternary 2024, 7(1), 10; https://doi.org/10.3390/quat7010010 - 17 Feb 2024
Abstract
The dwarf Sardinian mammoth, Mammuthus lamarmorai, is a well-known species frequently cited in the literature; however, the fossil record of the Pleistocene Sardinian mammoths mainly consists of isolated remains (an incomplete skeleton from Guardia Pisano Hill, isolated teeth and a largely incomplete
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The dwarf Sardinian mammoth, Mammuthus lamarmorai, is a well-known species frequently cited in the literature; however, the fossil record of the Pleistocene Sardinian mammoths mainly consists of isolated remains (an incomplete skeleton from Guardia Pisano Hill, isolated teeth and a largely incomplete tibia from different localities, and some footprints from Funtana Morimenta), which have been found in sites presumably ranging in age from the late Middle to the Late Pleistocene. All of the remains have been ascribed to a single species of an endemic mammoth, Mammuthus lamarmorai, which is moderately reduced in size. The paucity of remains increases uncertainties about the chronological range of Sardinian mammoth remains, some of which are currently missing, while others lack sound information about their exact provenance or were removed and collected without contextual information. As a result, the different sizes of molariform teeth from different localities, the lack of chewing tooth remains at Guardia Pisano Hill, and the doubtful chronology of some remains hamper any attempt to infer whether one or more species that originated from an anagenetic or radiative evolutionary process or through multiple arrivals from the mainland inhabited the island. Therefore, the continental ancestor or ancestors of Sardinian mammoth populations and the time and number of dispersals of the ancestral taxon or taxa have long been debated, and the persistence through time of mammoth endemic populations still remains an unsolved matter. This research summarizes and critically reviews our knowledge about the Sardinian endemic mammoth, provides new evidence about the Sardinian mammoth’s ancestor and the possible time of its dispersal from the mainland to the island, gives new information about the Sardinian mammoth’s histology and physical characteristics, and highlights some focal, unsolved questions (e.g., morphological and dimensional differences in dentition, number of Sardinian mammoth species, population dynamics, decline, and disappearance). Further research and increasing data, which will enable taphonomic, spectrometric, and dating studies, will provide better results to solve the remaining questions.
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(This article belongs to the Collection Exclusive Collection: Papers from the Editorial Board Members (EBMs) of Quaternary)
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Open AccessArticle
Fluvial Response to Environmental Change in Sub-Tropical Australia over the Past 220 Ka
by
Jacky Croke, Chris Thompson, Annegret Larsen, Mark Macklin and Kate Hughes
Quaternary 2024, 7(1), 9; https://doi.org/10.3390/quat7010009 - 9 Feb 2024
Abstract
This paper uses a 30 m record of valley alluviation in the Lockyer Creek, a major tributary of the mid-Brisbane River in Southeast Queensland, to document the timing and nature of Quaternary fluvial response. A combination of radiocarbon and optically stimulated luminescence dating
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This paper uses a 30 m record of valley alluviation in the Lockyer Creek, a major tributary of the mid-Brisbane River in Southeast Queensland, to document the timing and nature of Quaternary fluvial response. A combination of radiocarbon and optically stimulated luminescence dating reveals a sequence of major cut and fill episodes. The earliest aggradation phase is represented by a basal gravel unit, dating to ~220 ka (marine isotope sub-stage 7d), and although little evidence supports higher fluvial discharges during MIS 5, a MIS 3 fluvial episode characterised by incision and aggradation dates to ~60 ka. A penultimate phase of incision to a depth of 30 m prior to ~14 ka saw the lower Lockyer occupy its current position within the valley floor. The Lockyer Creek shows evidence of only minor fluvial activity during MIS 2, suggesting a drier LGM climate. The appearance of alternating fine- and coarse-grained units at about 2 ka is notable and may represent higher-energy flood conditions associated with a strengthening of El Niño Southern Oscillation activity as observed in the flood of 2011. The aggradation rate for this Holocene floodplain unit is ~11 times higher than the long-term rate.
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(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fluvial Archives: Drainage Hydrology, Sedimentological and Geomorphological Processes and Environmental Change)
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Vegetation Patterns during the Last 132,000 Years: A Synthesis from Twelve Eifel Maar Sediment Cores (Germany): The ELSA-23-Pollen-Stack
by
Sarah Britzius, Frank Dreher, Patricia Maisel and Frank Sirocko
Quaternary 2024, 7(1), 8; https://doi.org/10.3390/quat7010008 - 6 Feb 2024
Cited by 3
Abstract
Seven published and four new pollen records from well-dated sediment cores from six Pleistocene and Holocene maar structures located in the Eifel, Germany, are combined to a pollen stack that covers the entire last 132,000 years. This stack is complemented by new macroremain
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Seven published and four new pollen records from well-dated sediment cores from six Pleistocene and Holocene maar structures located in the Eifel, Germany, are combined to a pollen stack that covers the entire last 132,000 years. This stack is complemented by new macroremain data from one additional sediment core. The pollen data included into the stack show consistently that the Eifel was covered by a dense forest during the Eemian, early Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 3, and the Holocene. While other European records indeed indicate a warming, the early MIS 3 fully developed forest remains a unique feature in central European pollen records. Comparison to orbital parameters and insolation hints to warm and humid, however, not fully interglacial conditions, which are also visible in speleothem growth throughout Europe. With the cooling trend towards the glacial maxima of MIS 4 and 2, tree pollen declined, with recovering phases during MIS 5c and 5a, as well as during all MIS 3 interglacials. During the colder stadials, steppe vegetation expanded. For MIS 5 and 4, we defined six new landscape evolution zones based on pollen and macroremains.
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(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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Reconstructing the Last 71 ka Paleoclimate in Northeast China by Integrating Typical Loess Sections
by
Juan Li, Kristofor R. Brye, Zhong-Xiu Sun, Phillip R. Owens, Zhuo-Dong Jiang, Tian-Hao Wang, Meng-Ge Zhang and Qiu-Bing Wang
Quaternary 2024, 7(1), 7; https://doi.org/10.3390/quat7010007 - 12 Jan 2024
Abstract
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Long-term continuous deposits and well-preserved thick loess sections are natural archives for the reconstruction of global climate change. However, the loess sections are often discontinuous owing to soil erosions and accumulations. This study aimed at reconstructing long-term continuous paleoclimatic records by integrating the
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Long-term continuous deposits and well-preserved thick loess sections are natural archives for the reconstruction of global climate change. However, the loess sections are often discontinuous owing to soil erosions and accumulations. This study aimed at reconstructing long-term continuous paleoclimatic records by integrating the target sections of two typical loess sequences in northeast (NE) China. One section, the Dajiugang (DJG) section, was investigated and sampled, and the Sanbahuo (SBH) section was used as the target for integrating and reconstructing the paleoclimate. Sedimentary, pedogenesis, and luminescence dating analyses were conducted to analyze the potentials for reconstructing the paleoclimate by integrating two typical loess sections. The results indicated that the paleoclimate records derived from the DJG section can be used to reconstruct the continuous paleoclimate of NE China by integrating them with the SBH section. The paleoclimate information inferred from the DJG section could impute paleoclimate data from 71 to 11.7 ka, which were missing in the SBH section. The paleoclimate of NE China generally consisted of three periods from 71 to 11.7 ka: cold and dry from 29 to 11.7 ka, alternately cold and warm from 57 to 29 ka, and warm and wet to cold and dry from 71 to 57 ka. Integrating the target loess sections can contribute to reconstructing regional long-term continuous paleoclimate records where discontinuous loess sequences occurred.
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Open AccessTechnical Note
87Sr/86Sr Isotope Ratio as a Tool in Archaeological Investigation: Limits and Risks
by
Mattia Rossi, Paola Iacumin and Gianpiero Venturelli
Quaternary 2024, 7(1), 6; https://doi.org/10.3390/quat7010006 - 11 Jan 2024
Abstract
During the last forty years, the use of strontium isotopes in archaeology and biogeochemical research has spread widely. These isotopes, alone or in combination with others, can contribute to trace past and present environmental conditions. However, the interpretation of the isotopic values of
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During the last forty years, the use of strontium isotopes in archaeology and biogeochemical research has spread widely. These isotopes, alone or in combination with others, can contribute to trace past and present environmental conditions. However, the interpretation of the isotopic values of strontium is not always simple and requires good knowledge of geochemistry and geology. This short paper on the use of strontium isotopes is aimed at those who use this tool (archaeologists, but not only) but who do not have a thorough knowledge of mineralogy, geology, and geochemistry necessary for a good understanding of natural processes involving these isotopes. We report basic knowledge and suggestions for the correct use of these isotopes. The isotopic characteristics of bio-assimilable strontium depend not so much on the isotopic characteristics of the bulk rock as, rather, on those of its more soluble minerals. Before studying human, animal and plant remains, the state of conservation and any conditions of isotopic pollution should be carefully checked. Samples should be collected according to random sampling rules. The data should be treated by a statistical approach. To make comparisons between different areas, it should be borne in mind that the study of current soils can be misleading since the mineralogical modification of soil over time can be very rapid.
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(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Geoarchaeology and Cultural Heritage)
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