Journal of Quaternary Science最新文献

The stratigraphic and palaeogeographic interpretations in our article (Popova et al., 2025) received criticism from Mroczek et al. (2025), who argued that our results contradict regional and global stratigraphic models and that we propose a revision of the Ukrainian regional stratigraphic scheme without sufficient data background. We want to clarify that the main focus of our study was to shed light on climatically induced biotic transformations in the Middle Dnipro area during deglaciation and postglacial stages. We did not revise the stratigraphic framework but only provided support for an already established correlation model, according to which the Dnipro stage is associated with MIS 6, the Kaidaky with MIS 5e and the Tiasmyn with MIS 5d. This stratigraphic scheme is opposed by Mroczek et al. (2025), who questioned the reliability of our results. Here, we address their comments and discuss an approach to deal with competing stratigraphic models and methods of biostratigraphic, palaeogeographical and palaeoecological interpretation.

Reinardy B.T.I., Karstens J., Böttner C., Lichschlag A., Berndt C., Strandberg N.A. & Callow B.J. (2025). The Pleistocene Witch Ground Ice Stream in the central North Sea. Journal of Quaternary Science, 40: 185-200. https://doi.org/10.1002/jqs.3691

Figure 6(A) displays a seismic root mean square (RMS) amplitude map but with an old version of the annotation which does not identify MSGL flowsets 1 to 5 described in the figure caption. Here, we provide the updated version of this figure with correct annotation that is referenced within the figure caption and discussed more widely within the text. In addition to the indicated MSGL flowsets 1 to 5, purple arrows have been added to indicate meltwater channels.

We apologize for this error.

Megafauna became extinct during the late Quaternary, with climate changes and human activities the two main proposed extinction drivers. Palaeoloxodon naumanni (Naumann's elephant) and Mammuthus primigenius roamed the Japanese archipelago during the Pleistocene. In contrast to the increasing amount of chronological information regarding extinct elephants, stable isotopic composition of these animals is less well studied, despite its potential to reveal foraging ecologies and surrounding paleoenvironments. The isotopic compositions were measured for tooth enamel and dentin collagen of fifteen P. naumanni and five Mammuthus sp. specimens from Lake Nojiri in Honshu and four sites in Hokkaido, Japan. Statistical differences were observed between the carbon isotopic composition of tooth enamel of the Lake Nojiri elephants and those of the two elephant species in Hokkaido, suggesting more open grassland for the former. In Hokkaido, no overlap was observed in the isotopic compositions of the two species, suggesting a separation in foraging behaviors. The specimens had relatively low nitrogen isotopic composition for Late Pleistocene elephants possibly reflecting an environmental stress at the edge of their distributions. The large isotopic variations of Naumann's elephants suggest that their demise was not triggered by inflexibility in their feeding strategies.

Anatolia, which had active volcanoes during the Pleistocene and Holocene periods, was also influenced by volcanic eruptions around the Eastern Mediterranean. Therefore, tephrochronology is an important research topic in palaeoenvironmental studies conducted in Anatolia. This study focuses on the geochemical characteristics, chronologies and source areas of six different tephra layers identified in a 16 m sediment core obtained from Paleo-Kuleönü Lake in the Lake District of West Anatolia. Whole-rock geochemistry is used to determine the geochemical characteristics and source of the tephra layers, micro X-ray fluorescence analysis is used to determine relative element changes throughout the cores, and ¹⁴C analysis is performed to establish the chronologies. The geochemistry of the Paleo-Kuleönü Lake tephra layers is consistent with the Gölcük volcanism located in West Anatolia province and the Minoan eruption within the Aegean volcanic province. The layers that resemble the geochemistry of the Gölcük volcanism accumulated at ~33 218 cal a bp (PLK-19-1; 30 cm), ~32 267 cal a bp (PLK-19-2: 18 cm), ~31 597 cal a bp (PLK-19-3; 8 cm), ~31 300 cal a bp (PLK-19-4; 17 cm) and ~26547 cal a bp (PLK-19-5; 13 cm) and are associated with the last eruptive cycle (Cycle III) of the volcanism. The closest tephra layer to the surface in the sediment core, designated as PLK-19-6 (~1.5 cm), shows geochemical similarities with the Santorini Minoan eruption. However, according to our data, the age of the tephra layer is ~4717 bp/~5542 cal a bp, which is inconsistent with the widely accepted date for the Minoan eruption in the literature. The discrepancy between the geochemical match and chronological inconsistency is discussed in the context of the results presented in the paper.

Northern Australia experiences extreme seasonality via the Indo-Australian summer monsoon, with high inter-annual variability in hydroclimate. Understanding the influence of hydrological variability on the landscape through the period of human occupation provides important environmental context to support the interpretation of the rich archaeological and rock art records of the region. The development of terrestrial records of environmental change has remained challenging due to the limited traditional palaeoenvironmental archives in the region. This study reports on the potential of sediments from ecologically significant monsoon rainforest patches to further elucidate the palaeoenvironmental history of the Kimberley. An ~19 000-year record of monsoon rainforest variability is presented, inferred from pollen, charcoal and major element geochemical analysis. Monsoon rainforest-associated taxa vary in abundance through the deglacial and the Holocene, which is compared to broad-scale hydroclimate variability inferred from previous studies in the region. The persistence of arboreal, riparian and monsoon rainforest-associated taxa suggest a positive moisture balance at the site throughout the period archived. Fire activity inferred from micro- and macrocharcoal is greatest over the last ~6000 years, and broadly corresponds to periods when monsoon rainforest-associated taxa are less abundant. Challenges remain in using this type of site as an archive of environmental change, but they also present an opportunity to extend previous records both spatially and temporally with thousands of monsoon rainforest patches present across the Kimberley, and similar ecosystems found across northern Australia.

The North Sea Basin has been covered by ice sheets originating from both the British Isles and Scandinavia at multiple times during the Pleistocene. The Witch Ground Basin (WGB) in the central northern North Sea is a critical location in terms of interpreting Late Pleistocene glacial to glacimarine history of the North Sea since it was the location of the Witch Ground Ice Stream that was active on multiple occasions during the Mid to Late Pleistocene. We map five mega-scale glacial lineation flowsets corresponding to the changing ice flow direction of the Witch Ground Ice Stream and investigate the sedimentological fingerprint and corresponding subglacial depositional processes of this palaeo-ice stream. We show that sorted sand layers within a subglacial traction till represent periodic hydraulic jacking and ice–bed decoupling at the base of the Witch Ground Ice Stream. In contrast to previous studies that have described glacitectonites deposited below the most recent grounded ice in the WGB, we present analysis of sediment cores that recovered primarily massive diamictons without any obvious deformation structures. The most recent ice cover in the WGB (~18–16 ka) was thought to have been sourced from a localized ice cap over Orkney and Shetland. The presence of chalk clasts sourced from NW of the WGB described in this study from the stratigraphically youngest till confirms this interpretation. The transition from subglacial to glacimarine deposition, while acoustically well defined (from opaque to laminated acoustic units), appears surprisingly uniform in the recovered sediment cores, but can be differentiated based on a change in colour including mottling and banding, presence of whole intact shells, and the increased number of silt and sand lenses. ¹⁴C dating of glacimarine muds indicate high sedimentation rates of between 80 and 260 cm ka⁻¹. The transition from glacimarine to marine deposition is represented by a comparative decrease in sedimentation rate and deposition of Holocene age sandy mud. This study demonstrates a highly dynamic Witch Ground Ice Stream in the northern North Sea during the Late Pleistocene with evolving subglacial hydrology and depositional processes at the ice stream bed that left a distinct geomorphological and sedimentological fingerprint within the WGB.