Pub Date : 2025-12-03DOI: 10.1016/j.quascirev.2025.109716
Meilun Zhang , Martín Medina-Elizalde , Stephen Burns , Josué Polanco-Martinez , Ambarish Karmalkar , David McGee , Hsun-Ming Hu , Chuan-Chou Shen
We present the oldest speleothem isotope record from Central America and the Caribbean, a high-resolution stalagmite (“Katún”) spanning discontinuously ∼198–322 ka BP, that documents hydroclimate variability across glacial–interglacial and millennial timescales. Katún δ18O covaries significantly with atmospheric CO2 and CH4, and multivariate analyses show that CO2 + CH4 together explain more variance in δ18O than either gas alone. Consistent with a CO2-mediated SST mechanism, Katún δ18O correlates with tropical Atlantic and eastern Pacific SST reconstructions, indicating that radiative forcing influenced Caribbean precipitation primarily through tropical surface warming. At millennial scales, Katún δ18O tracks North Atlantic variability: it aligns with CH4 peaks associated with Greenland D–O cycles and with detrital proxies of Heinrich-type ice-rafting, implicating AMOC-paced ITCZ shifts and SST-driven convection as key controls. A weak Katún–Cariaco Mo relationship highlights proxy sensitivities and argues against ITCZ migration as the sole driver. In contrast to Asian monsoon archives, Katún shows little precessional insolation imprint, emphasizing the dominance of internal ocean–atmosphere dynamics (AMOC, SSTs) in regulating Caribbean hydroclimate and modulating tropical wetland methane emissions during MIS 7–9.
{"title":"Linkages between Caribbean hydroclimate, atmospheric CO2, and methane production on orbital to millennial timescales","authors":"Meilun Zhang , Martín Medina-Elizalde , Stephen Burns , Josué Polanco-Martinez , Ambarish Karmalkar , David McGee , Hsun-Ming Hu , Chuan-Chou Shen","doi":"10.1016/j.quascirev.2025.109716","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.quascirev.2025.109716","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>We present the oldest speleothem isotope record from Central America and the Caribbean, a high-resolution stalagmite (“Katún”) spanning discontinuously ∼198–322 ka BP, that documents hydroclimate variability across glacial–interglacial and millennial timescales. Katún δ<sup>18</sup>O covaries significantly with atmospheric CO<sub>2</sub> and CH<sub>4</sub>, and multivariate analyses show that CO<sub>2</sub> + CH<sub>4</sub> together explain more variance in δ<sup>18</sup>O than either gas alone. Consistent with a CO<sub>2</sub>-mediated SST mechanism, Katún δ<sup>18</sup>O correlates with tropical Atlantic and eastern Pacific SST reconstructions, indicating that radiative forcing influenced Caribbean precipitation primarily through tropical surface warming. At millennial scales, Katún δ<sup>18</sup>O tracks North Atlantic variability: it aligns with CH<sub>4</sub> peaks associated with Greenland D–O cycles and with detrital proxies of Heinrich-type ice-rafting, implicating AMOC-paced ITCZ shifts and SST-driven convection as key controls. A weak Katún–Cariaco Mo relationship highlights proxy sensitivities and argues against ITCZ migration as the sole driver. In contrast to Asian monsoon archives, Katún shows little precessional insolation imprint, emphasizing the dominance of internal ocean–atmosphere dynamics (AMOC, SSTs) in regulating Caribbean hydroclimate and modulating tropical wetland methane emissions during MIS 7–9.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":20926,"journal":{"name":"Quaternary Science Reviews","volume":"373 ","pages":"Article 109716"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2025-12-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145692729","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The transition from Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5 to MIS 4 was a major climatic shift that affected hominin biological and cultural evolution in eastern Eurasia. Marked by abrupt climatic shifts, this stage is characterized by notable diversification in hominin behavior. Technological and behavioral changes co-occurred with fluctuating ecological regimes, coinciding with the transition of millennial-scale climate events at the terminus of MIS 5, forcing hominins to develop new strategies to exploit their environment. Temporal multi-proxy-based climate and environmental reconstructions from the Donggou site in the Nihewan Basin of North China offer a high-resolution archive of climatic variation for this period, providing insights into its impact on hominin adaptive strategies. Luminescence dating indicates that the Donggou site was formed between 126.1 and 70.1 ka, and hominins occupied the site from 76 to 74ka. Our results suggest that the regional climate was colder and drier than today and underwent frequent climatic fluctuations that drove environmental and landscape changes. The Donggou hominins persisted in the initial arid phase. They continued to occupy the river floodplain landscape during the mild and moist Dansgaard-Oeschger event of late MIS 5a, before the climate deterioration of the MIS 4 episode. The Donggou archaeological data revealed flexible adaptive strategies, including the effective use of high-quality lithic raw materials, an increase in retouched tools, systematic exploitation of ungulates, and the use of fire. Other sites in the region exhibited different adaptive strategies, collectively indicating hominin behavioral diversification during this period. We suggest that climate oscillation during the MIS 5–4 transition may have promoted hominins to adjust their strategies and develop solutions to challenging environments, leading to increased behavioral flexibility and capabilities when facing landscape turnover from lakeshore to river floodplain habitats after the Nihewan Old Lake dies out.
{"title":"Climate change and hominin behavioral adaptations during the Marine Isotope Stage 5 to 4 transition: a case study from Donggou site, Nihewan Basin, North China","authors":"Jingyue Xu , Dongwei Niu , Shengrui Zhang , Yujie Guo , Xiaoli Li , Shuwen Pei","doi":"10.1016/j.quascirev.2025.109714","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.quascirev.2025.109714","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The transition from Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5 to MIS 4 was a major climatic shift that affected hominin biological and cultural evolution in eastern Eurasia. Marked by abrupt climatic shifts, this stage is characterized by notable diversification in hominin behavior. Technological and behavioral changes co-occurred with fluctuating ecological regimes, coinciding with the transition of millennial-scale climate events at the terminus of MIS 5, forcing hominins to develop new strategies to exploit their environment. Temporal multi-proxy-based climate and environmental reconstructions from the Donggou site in the Nihewan Basin of North China offer a high-resolution archive of climatic variation for this period, providing insights into its impact on hominin adaptive strategies. Luminescence dating indicates that the Donggou site was formed between 126.1 and 70.1 ka, and hominins occupied the site from 76 to 74ka. Our results suggest that the regional climate was colder and drier than today and underwent frequent climatic fluctuations that drove environmental and landscape changes. The Donggou hominins persisted in the initial arid phase. They continued to occupy the river floodplain landscape during the mild and moist Dansgaard-Oeschger event of late MIS 5a, before the climate deterioration of the MIS 4 episode. The Donggou archaeological data revealed flexible adaptive strategies, including the effective use of high-quality lithic raw materials, an increase in retouched tools, systematic exploitation of ungulates, and the use of fire. Other sites in the region exhibited different adaptive strategies, collectively indicating hominin behavioral diversification during this period. We suggest that climate oscillation during the MIS 5–4 transition may have promoted hominins to adjust their strategies and develop solutions to challenging environments, leading to increased behavioral flexibility and capabilities when facing landscape turnover from lakeshore to river floodplain habitats after the Nihewan Old Lake dies out.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":20926,"journal":{"name":"Quaternary Science Reviews","volume":"373 ","pages":"Article 109714"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2025-12-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145692730","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-12-02DOI: 10.1016/j.quascirev.2025.109728
Shuangwen Yi , Zhe Dong , Shijia Zhan , Shuwen Pei , Huayu Lu
Systematic field investigations and excavations in the lower Yangtze River region have uncovered numerous open-air Palaeolithic sites, yielding a wealth of stone artifacts crucial for understanding lithic technological evolution and hominin adaptive behaviors during the Middle to Late Pleistocene in South China. However, chronological frameworks and technological patterns in this region remain underexplored. This study applies multiple luminescence dating techniques to establish precise age estimates for three Palaeolithic sites in the Chaohu Lake region of Anhui Province, South China. Our high-resolution geochronological results indicate site occupation from approximately 200 to 30 ka. The lower archaeological unit, containing large scrapers, cleavers, and handaxes, dates to 200–70 ka, marking the emergence of a Large Cutting Tool techno-complex during MIS 5, possibly extending into MIS 6 or 7. In contrast, the upper archaeological unit, dated to 60–30 ka, is dominated by small flakes and flaked tools, reflecting the development of lithic miniaturization and an increased reliance on high-quality raw materials during MIS 3. These findings reveal a technological shift from Acheulean large flake technology to the dominance of miniaturized flake tools from the late Middle Pleistocene to the Late Pleistocene, closely linked to environmental and ecological changes in South China.
{"title":"New chronological results from Chaohu Lake Palaeolithic sites in the lower Yangtze River, South China","authors":"Shuangwen Yi , Zhe Dong , Shijia Zhan , Shuwen Pei , Huayu Lu","doi":"10.1016/j.quascirev.2025.109728","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.quascirev.2025.109728","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Systematic field investigations and excavations in the lower Yangtze River region have uncovered numerous open-air Palaeolithic sites, yielding a wealth of stone artifacts crucial for understanding lithic technological evolution and hominin adaptive behaviors during the Middle to Late Pleistocene in South China. However, chronological frameworks and technological patterns in this region remain underexplored. This study applies multiple luminescence dating techniques to establish precise age estimates for three Palaeolithic sites in the Chaohu Lake region of Anhui Province, South China. Our high-resolution geochronological results indicate site occupation from approximately 200 to 30 ka. The lower archaeological unit, containing large scrapers, cleavers, and handaxes, dates to 200–70 ka, marking the emergence of a Large Cutting Tool techno-complex during MIS 5, possibly extending into MIS 6 or 7. In contrast, the upper archaeological unit, dated to 60–30 ka, is dominated by small flakes and flaked tools, reflecting the development of lithic miniaturization and an increased reliance on high-quality raw materials during MIS 3. These findings reveal a technological shift from Acheulean large flake technology to the dominance of miniaturized flake tools from the late Middle Pleistocene to the Late Pleistocene, closely linked to environmental and ecological changes in South China.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":20926,"journal":{"name":"Quaternary Science Reviews","volume":"373 ","pages":"Article 109728"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2025-12-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145692728","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-12-01DOI: 10.1016/j.quascirev.2025.109727
Liva Trasune , Lilia E. Orozco , J. Sakari Salonen , Gerard A. Otiniano , Trevor J. Porter , Jan Weckström , Michael A. Phillips , Frederik Schenk , Maija Heikkilä
Studies on Holocene climate conditions commonly show discrepancies between different proxy-based reconstructions, calling for in-depth analysis of both the proxies and the derived climate reconstructions. Here, we conducted multi-proxy Holocene warm-season temperature reconstructions for a sedimentary record from Lake Tippakuru in northeastern Finland, using pollen, plant macrofossils, and the novel branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers (brGDGTs) as climate proxies. In addition, we prepared a regional climate reconstruction by integrating pollen-based reconstructions from nearby sites. Mainly, we evaluated the potential of using brGDGTs as a climate proxy and compared the reconstructed climate shifts with those reconstructed from classical vegetation-based proxies (pollen and plant macrofossils). We see significant discrepancies between the three proxies, most notably during the early Holocene where plant macrofossils and brGDGTs indicate warm conditions while the pollen-based reconstructions are equivocal and strongly depend on the quantitative reconstruction method used. Additionally, the brGDGT records indicate an abrupt cooling at ca. 5.8 cal ka BP which is not seen in the classical proxies at the study site, but only in neighbouring localities. The results highlight the need for modern-day studies on seasonal variability and bacterial sources of brGDGTs to disentangle non-thermal biases and evaluate seasonal imprints in temperature reconstructions. In general, our results imply that not only the choice of climate proxies but also the methodological choices in the proxy-based quantitative reconstructions affect the climatic interpretation, especially during the early Holocene transitional period. We highlight the need for both multi-proxy and multi-method approaches in paleoclimate studies, as well as the need to expand the knowledge of brGDGT responses to climatic and other environmental variables.
全新世气候条件的研究通常显示不同的代理重建结果之间存在差异，因此需要对代理和衍生的气候重建结果进行深入分析。本文利用花粉、植物宏观化石和新型支链甘油二烷基甘油四醚（brGDGTs）作为气候代用物，对芬兰东北部蒂帕库鲁湖的沉积记录进行了全新世暖季温度重建。此外，我们通过整合附近站点的花粉重建，准备了区域气候重建。主要评估了brGDGTs作为气候代用物的潜力，并将重建的气候变化与基于经典植被代用物（花粉和植物大化石）重建的气候变化进行了比较。我们发现三个指标之间存在显著差异，最明显的是在全新世早期，植物大化石和brgdgt显示了温暖的环境，而基于花粉的重建是模棱两可的，并且强烈依赖于所使用的定量重建方法。此外，brGDGT记录表明，在大约5.8 cal ka BP时出现了一次突然冷却，这在研究地点的经典代用物中没有出现，而只在邻近地区出现。这些结果强调了对brGDGTs的季节变化和细菌来源进行现代研究的必要性，以解开非热偏差并评估温度重建中的季节性印记。总体而言，我们的研究结果表明，在基于气候指标的定量重建中，不仅气候指标的选择会影响气候解释，而且方法的选择也会影响气候解释，尤其是在全新世早期过渡时期。我们强调在古气候研究中需要多代理和多方法方法，以及需要扩大brGDGT对气候和其他环境变量的响应的知识。
{"title":"A comparison of Holocene temperature reconstructions from vegetation proxies and brGDGTs in northern Fennoscandia","authors":"Liva Trasune , Lilia E. Orozco , J. Sakari Salonen , Gerard A. Otiniano , Trevor J. Porter , Jan Weckström , Michael A. Phillips , Frederik Schenk , Maija Heikkilä","doi":"10.1016/j.quascirev.2025.109727","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.quascirev.2025.109727","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Studies on Holocene climate conditions commonly show discrepancies between different proxy-based reconstructions, calling for in-depth analysis of both the proxies and the derived climate reconstructions. Here, we conducted multi-proxy Holocene warm-season temperature reconstructions for a sedimentary record from Lake Tippakuru in northeastern Finland, using pollen, plant macrofossils, and the novel branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers (brGDGTs) as climate proxies. In addition, we prepared a regional climate reconstruction by integrating pollen-based reconstructions from nearby sites. Mainly, we evaluated the potential of using brGDGTs as a climate proxy and compared the reconstructed climate shifts with those reconstructed from classical vegetation-based proxies (pollen and plant macrofossils). We see significant discrepancies between the three proxies, most notably during the early Holocene where plant macrofossils and brGDGTs indicate warm conditions while the pollen-based reconstructions are equivocal and strongly depend on the quantitative reconstruction method used. Additionally, the brGDGT records indicate an abrupt cooling at ca. 5.8 cal ka BP which is not seen in the classical proxies at the study site, but only in neighbouring localities. The results highlight the need for modern-day studies on seasonal variability and bacterial sources of brGDGTs to disentangle non-thermal biases and evaluate seasonal imprints in temperature reconstructions. In general, our results imply that not only the choice of climate proxies but also the methodological choices in the proxy-based quantitative reconstructions affect the climatic interpretation, especially during the early Holocene transitional period. We highlight the need for both multi-proxy and multi-method approaches in paleoclimate studies, as well as the need to expand the knowledge of brGDGT responses to climatic and other environmental variables.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":20926,"journal":{"name":"Quaternary Science Reviews","volume":"372 ","pages":"Article 109727"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145691285","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-11-29DOI: 10.1016/j.quascirev.2025.109726
Qian Wang , John P. Smol , Kathleen M. Rühland , Rong Wang , Xiangdong Yang , Enlou Zhang , Yanjie Zhao , Yanling Li
Regime shifts in lake ecosystems are critical responses to cumulative environmental stress, yet the roles of climate variability and human activities in driving these transitions remain unclear, particularly in regions with long-term human-environment interactions. Here we reconstruct ∼8000 years of ecological dynamics in Chenghai Lake, a closed-basin lake in Southwest China, using cladoceran assemblages, sedimentary chlorophyll a, and geochemical records. We identify a major regime shift at ca. 1650 cal yr BP, characterized by a species turnover from planktonic to littoral and macrophyte-associated cladoceran communities, accompanied by declining primary productivity and increasing turbidity. This ecosystem shift was driven by progressive evaporation, monsoon weakening, and intensified catchment disturbance from deforestation and agriculture that collectively led to severe hydrological stress. Indicators of resilience (autocorrelation at lag-1 (AR1) and variance) suggest a gradual loss of system stability preceding the shift. Our findings suggest that coupled climate-vegetation-hydrology pressures can progressively destabilize lake ecosystems, promoting abrupt and persistent ecological transitions.
{"title":"Hydroclimate forcing and anthropogenic impacts trigger an early (∼1650 cal yr BP) regime shift in Chenghai Lake (China)","authors":"Qian Wang , John P. Smol , Kathleen M. Rühland , Rong Wang , Xiangdong Yang , Enlou Zhang , Yanjie Zhao , Yanling Li","doi":"10.1016/j.quascirev.2025.109726","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.quascirev.2025.109726","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Regime shifts in lake ecosystems are critical responses to cumulative environmental stress, yet the roles of climate variability and human activities in driving these transitions remain unclear, particularly in regions with long-term human-environment interactions. Here we reconstruct ∼8000 years of ecological dynamics in Chenghai Lake, a closed-basin lake in Southwest China, using cladoceran assemblages, sedimentary chlorophyll <em>a</em>, and geochemical records. We identify a major regime shift at ca. 1650 cal yr BP, characterized by a species turnover from planktonic to littoral and macrophyte-associated cladoceran communities, accompanied by declining primary productivity and increasing turbidity. This ecosystem shift was driven by progressive evaporation, monsoon weakening, and intensified catchment disturbance from deforestation and agriculture that collectively led to severe hydrological stress. Indicators of resilience (autocorrelation at lag-1 (AR1) and variance) suggest a gradual loss of system stability preceding the shift. Our findings suggest that coupled climate-vegetation-hydrology pressures can progressively destabilize lake ecosystems, promoting abrupt and persistent ecological transitions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":20926,"journal":{"name":"Quaternary Science Reviews","volume":"372 ","pages":"Article 109726"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2025-11-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145622543","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-11-27DOI: 10.1016/j.quascirev.2025.109616
P.I. Moreno , J. Videla , R.P. Villa-Martínez
We examine the vegetation and environmental evolution on the central Patagonian Andes over the last ∼21,000 years. This mid-latitude region of South America (45°S) is strongly affected by glaciers, the Southern Westerly Winds (SWW), explosive volcanism, fires, and human activities. Our lake sediment records show the highest abundance of cold-tolerant herbs and shrubs during the final portion of the Last Glacial Maximum (=LGM), which decline after ∼17.9 ka and nearly disappear after ∼12 ka. Hygrophilous tree pollen increased at ∼17.4 ka and ∼14.7 ka followed by prominent increases in Nothofagus at ∼16.7 ka and ∼12.1 ka. An abrupt transition led to Nothofagus-dominated forests that have persisted since ∼12 ka with minor variations despite intense fire and explosive volcanic activity. We interpret cold and humid conditions during the LGM, followed by deglacial warming after ∼17.9 ka, wetting events at ∼16.7 ka and ∼14.7 ka associated with enhanced SWW influence, warming and a decline in precipitation and SWW influence at ∼12.6 ka, and warm-temperate and sufficiently wet conditions over the last ∼12,000 years. Disturbance by fire and explosive volcanism have driven intermittent episodes of fragmentation/canopy openness at centennial timescale during the Holocene, superposed upon hydrologic balance variations and human activities. Our results suggest that scattered populations of hygrophilous trees and herbs inhabited the eastern margin of the Patagonian Ice Sheet during the LGM and expanded toward the Pacific slopes and archipelagoes during the Last Glacial Termination, contributing to the afforestation of central-west Patagonia.
{"title":"Terrestrial ecosystem development since ∼21 ka in the core of the central Patagonian Andes (∼45°S)","authors":"P.I. Moreno , J. Videla , R.P. Villa-Martínez","doi":"10.1016/j.quascirev.2025.109616","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.quascirev.2025.109616","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>We examine the vegetation and environmental evolution on the central Patagonian Andes over the last ∼21,000 years. This mid-latitude region of South America (45°S) is strongly affected by glaciers, the Southern Westerly Winds (SWW), explosive volcanism, fires, and human activities. Our lake sediment records show the highest abundance of cold-tolerant herbs and shrubs during the final portion of the Last Glacial Maximum (=LGM), which decline after ∼17.9 ka and nearly disappear after ∼12 ka. Hygrophilous tree pollen increased at ∼17.4 ka and ∼14.7 ka followed by prominent increases in <em>Nothofagus</em> at ∼16.7 ka and ∼12.1 ka. An abrupt transition led to <em>Nothofagus</em>-dominated forests that have persisted since ∼12 ka with minor variations despite intense fire and explosive volcanic activity. We interpret cold and humid conditions during the LGM, followed by deglacial warming after ∼17.9 ka, wetting events at ∼16.7 ka and ∼14.7 ka associated with enhanced SWW influence, warming and a decline in precipitation and SWW influence at ∼12.6 ka, and warm-temperate and sufficiently wet conditions over the last ∼12,000 years. Disturbance by fire and explosive volcanism have driven intermittent episodes of fragmentation/canopy openness at centennial timescale during the Holocene, superposed upon hydrologic balance variations and human activities. Our results suggest that scattered populations of hygrophilous trees and herbs inhabited the eastern margin of the Patagonian Ice Sheet during the LGM and expanded toward the Pacific slopes and archipelagoes during the Last Glacial Termination, contributing to the afforestation of central-west Patagonia.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":20926,"journal":{"name":"Quaternary Science Reviews","volume":"372 ","pages":"Article 109616"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2025-11-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145622542","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-11-27DOI: 10.1016/j.quascirev.2025.109694
Peter Matzerath , Henriette M. Kolling , Markus Kienast , Kirsten Fahl , Ruediger Stein , Felix Gross , Ralph R. Schneider
The Scotian Shelf is affected by the confluence of cold polar and warm Gulf Stream-influenced waters, making it particularly sensitive to record past ocean and climate variability. Despite this paleoenvironmental significance, major gaps in our understanding of Holocene ocean and climate dynamics persist, particularly in terms of sea ice and marine productivity. Here, we use a combination of biomarkers, specifically the sea-ice proxy IP25, together with biomarkers for productivity (i.e., brassicasterol, dinosterol, total organic carbon) and terrigenous input (campesterol) in a sediment core from the northeastern Scotian Shelf to resolve Holocene changes in sea ice and marine productivity. During the Early Holocene, our results show increased spring sea-ice algae and reduced marine productivity, which we posit to be linked to a strongly reduced regional sea level together with increased inflow of meltwater favoring the formation of an expanded seasonal sea-ice cover on the Scotian Shelf. After 6 cal ka BP, the Scotian Shelf became predominantly free of sea ice due to a decreased influence of meltwater and a rise in local sea level. After 2.5 cal ka BP and coinciding with the Late Holocene Neoglacial cooling, the Scotian Shelf might have been affected by episodic sea-ice readvances, consistent with other regional on- and offshore paleoclimate studies. In summary, our records suggest a strong link between sea-ice extent, marine productivity, and Holocene variations in regional sea level, and ocean and atmosphere conditions, i.e., the strength of Gulf of St. Lawrence outflow and Labrador Current, and prevailing North Atlantic Oscillation anomalies.
苏格兰大陆架受到寒冷的极地和温暖的墨西哥湾流影响的海水汇合的影响，使它对记录过去的海洋和气候变化特别敏感。尽管具有这种古环境意义，但我们对全新世海洋和气候动力学的理解仍然存在重大差距，特别是在海冰和海洋生产力方面。在这里，我们使用生物标志物，特别是海冰代理IP25，以及生产力生物标志物（即油菜甾醇，甾醇，总有机碳）和陆源输入（油菜甾醇）的组合来解决全新世海冰和海洋生产力的变化。在全新世早期，我们的研究结果表明，春季海冰藻类增加，海洋生产力下降，我们认为这与区域海平面大幅下降以及融水流入增加有关，有利于在苏格兰大陆架上形成扩大的季节性海冰覆盖。在6 cal ka BP之后，由于融水的影响减弱和当地海平面上升，苏格兰陆架基本上没有海冰。在2.5 cal ka BP之后，与晚全新世新冰期冷却相吻合，苏格兰大陆架可能受到了间歇性海冰推进的影响，这与其他区域性陆地和近海古气候研究结果一致。总之，我们的记录表明，海冰范围、海洋生产力、全新世区域海平面变化、海洋和大气条件（即圣劳伦斯湾流出流和拉布拉多流的强度，以及北大西洋涛动的普遍异常）之间存在着密切的联系。
{"title":"Holocene sea-ice and productivity changes on the Scotian Shelf, NW Atlantic","authors":"Peter Matzerath , Henriette M. Kolling , Markus Kienast , Kirsten Fahl , Ruediger Stein , Felix Gross , Ralph R. Schneider","doi":"10.1016/j.quascirev.2025.109694","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.quascirev.2025.109694","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The Scotian Shelf is affected by the confluence of cold polar and warm Gulf Stream-influenced waters, making it particularly sensitive to record past ocean and climate variability. Despite this paleoenvironmental significance, major gaps in our understanding of Holocene ocean and climate dynamics persist, particularly in terms of sea ice and marine productivity. Here, we use a combination of biomarkers, specifically the sea-ice proxy IP<sub>25</sub>, together with biomarkers for productivity (i.e., brassicasterol, dinosterol, total organic carbon) and terrigenous input (campesterol) in a sediment core from the northeastern Scotian Shelf to resolve Holocene changes in sea ice and marine productivity. During the Early Holocene, our results show increased spring sea-ice algae and reduced marine productivity, which we posit to be linked to a strongly reduced regional sea level together with increased inflow of meltwater favoring the formation of an expanded seasonal sea-ice cover on the Scotian Shelf. After 6 cal ka BP, the Scotian Shelf became predominantly free of sea ice due to a decreased influence of meltwater and a rise in local sea level. After 2.5 cal ka BP and coinciding with the Late Holocene Neoglacial cooling, the Scotian Shelf might have been affected by episodic sea-ice readvances, consistent with other regional on- and offshore paleoclimate studies. In summary, our records suggest a strong link between sea-ice extent, marine productivity, and Holocene variations in regional sea level, and ocean and atmosphere conditions, i.e., the strength of Gulf of St. Lawrence outflow and Labrador Current, and prevailing North Atlantic Oscillation anomalies.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":20926,"journal":{"name":"Quaternary Science Reviews","volume":"372 ","pages":"Article 109694"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2025-11-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145622540","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-11-27DOI: 10.1016/j.quascirev.2025.109686
Rick J. Schulting , Mary Jane Berman , Grace Turner , Joanna Ostapkowicz
There remains considerable debate over the scale and nature of impacts by pre-industrial, small-scale societies on the natural environment. In the pre-Columbian Caribbean, this has included clear evidence for terrestrial extirpations and extinctions, as well as more equivocal evidence for the over-exploitation of near-shore marine resources. Bringing a new line of evidence to this debate, we present the results of a radiocarbon and stable isotope project undertaken on pre-Columbian (Lucayan) human remains from Guanahaní (San Salvador), The Bahamas. The dates obtained range between ca. AD 900 and 1400, encompassing much of the known settlement history of the island, as demonstrated through a comparison with Bayesian modeling of radiocarbon dates from settlements. Associated mean human stable carbon isotope (δ13C) values changed significantly over this period, from ca. −11.8‰ to ca. −14.6‰, consistent with previous suggestions of a decline in the use of marine resources across the archipelago as a whole. We interpret this as a result of local resource depletion through over-exploitation, impacting human decision-making in favour of greater emphasis on managed terrestrial resources. The available zooarchaeological evidence offers some support for a shift in marine resource use that is consistent with this scenario. Our results provide an independent line of evidence supporting the potential for small human populations to significantly affect their environments.
{"title":"Declining marine resource use over five centuries of human adaptation on Guanahaní (San Salvador), The Bahamas","authors":"Rick J. Schulting , Mary Jane Berman , Grace Turner , Joanna Ostapkowicz","doi":"10.1016/j.quascirev.2025.109686","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.quascirev.2025.109686","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>There remains considerable debate over the scale and nature of impacts by pre-industrial, small-scale societies on the natural environment. In the pre-Columbian Caribbean, this has included clear evidence for terrestrial extirpations and extinctions, as well as more equivocal evidence for the over-exploitation of near-shore marine resources. Bringing a new line of evidence to this debate, we present the results of a radiocarbon and stable isotope project undertaken on pre-Columbian (Lucayan) human remains from Guanahaní (San Salvador), The Bahamas. The dates obtained range between ca. AD 900 and 1400, encompassing much of the known settlement history of the island, as demonstrated through a comparison with Bayesian modeling of radiocarbon dates from settlements. Associated mean human stable carbon isotope (<em>δ</em><sup>13</sup>C) values changed significantly over this period, from ca. −11.8‰ to ca. −14.6‰, consistent with previous suggestions of a decline in the use of marine resources across the archipelago as a whole. We interpret this as a result of local resource depletion through over-exploitation, impacting human decision-making in favour of greater emphasis on managed terrestrial resources. The available zooarchaeological evidence offers some support for a shift in marine resource use that is consistent with this scenario. Our results provide an independent line of evidence supporting the potential for small human populations to significantly affect their environments.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":20926,"journal":{"name":"Quaternary Science Reviews","volume":"372 ","pages":"Article 109686"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2025-11-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145691286","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-11-27DOI: 10.1016/j.quascirev.2025.109696
Mariya A. Kusliy , Dmitriy G. Malikov , Alexey M. Klementiev , Snezhana A. Samarina , Svetlana A. Modina , Katerina V. Tishakova , Natalya A. Lemskaya , Natalya A. Serdyukova , Ekaterina V. Budenchuk , Artyom V. Yakovlev , Pavel A. Cheklyuev , Anna A. Yurlova , Andrey A. Tomarovsky , Azamat A. Totikov , Yuri Y. Nushtaev , Kseniya O. Popova , Innokentiy S. Pavlov , Naryya I. Pavlova , Albert V. Protopopov , Alexander S. Graphodatsky , Anna S. Molodtseva
Our study contributes to the characterization of the phylogeography, genetic diversity, range, time of extinction, demographic history of the Ovodov horses (Equus ovodovi) from Southern Siberia in comparison with previously studied Ovodov horses from China. Phylogeographic and haplotype analysis based on the mitogenome sequences we have obtained through targeted enrichment and previously published mitogenome sequences showed that some of the Ovodov horses of Krasnoyarsk Krai (Siberia) examined turned out to be the closest to one of the most ancient mitotypes, related to the Altai Ovodov horse. The remaining Ovodov horses from Southern Siberia that we studied showed the closest maternal relationship with the Holocene horses of Northeast China (Heilongjiang Province). Nucleotide diversity and FST analyses indicated a greater maternal genetic closeness between the Pleistocene population of Ovodov horses in Southern Siberia and the Holocene population of Ovodov horses in Northeast China than between the Pleistocene populations of Ovodov horses in Siberia and China, which may indicate the migration of Ovodov horses from Siberia to the south. Our sample also included the northernmost Late Pleistocene dated Ovodov horses of Siberia, which extended the boundary of its range up to 56° north latitude and the time of its extinction in Siberia to 15,000–11,000 years ago. The constructed population curves showed several sharp declines in the number of Ovodov horses in the Late Pleistocene and Holocene, one of which corresponded to the great human expansion into Asia, and the second — to the rapid climate changes at the beginning of the Holocene.
{"title":"New genetic data on the Pleistocene Ovodov horses of Siberia","authors":"Mariya A. Kusliy , Dmitriy G. Malikov , Alexey M. Klementiev , Snezhana A. Samarina , Svetlana A. Modina , Katerina V. Tishakova , Natalya A. Lemskaya , Natalya A. Serdyukova , Ekaterina V. Budenchuk , Artyom V. Yakovlev , Pavel A. Cheklyuev , Anna A. Yurlova , Andrey A. Tomarovsky , Azamat A. Totikov , Yuri Y. Nushtaev , Kseniya O. Popova , Innokentiy S. Pavlov , Naryya I. Pavlova , Albert V. Protopopov , Alexander S. Graphodatsky , Anna S. Molodtseva","doi":"10.1016/j.quascirev.2025.109696","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.quascirev.2025.109696","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Our study contributes to the characterization of the phylogeography, genetic diversity, range, time of extinction, demographic history of the Ovodov horses (<em>Equus ovodovi</em>) from Southern Siberia in comparison with previously studied Ovodov horses from China. Phylogeographic and haplotype analysis based on the mitogenome sequences we have obtained through targeted enrichment and previously published mitogenome sequences showed that some of the Ovodov horses of Krasnoyarsk Krai (Siberia) examined turned out to be the closest to one of the most ancient mitotypes, related to the Altai Ovodov horse. The remaining Ovodov horses from Southern Siberia that we studied showed the closest maternal relationship with the Holocene horses of Northeast China (Heilongjiang Province). Nucleotide diversity and F<sub>ST</sub> analyses indicated a greater maternal genetic closeness between the Pleistocene population of Ovodov horses in Southern Siberia and the Holocene population of Ovodov horses in Northeast China than between the Pleistocene populations of Ovodov horses in Siberia and China, which may indicate the migration of Ovodov horses from Siberia to the south. Our sample also included the northernmost Late Pleistocene dated Ovodov horses of Siberia, which extended the boundary of its range up to 56° north latitude and the time of its extinction in Siberia to 15,000–11,000 years ago. The constructed population curves showed several sharp declines in the number of Ovodov horses in the Late Pleistocene and Holocene, one of which corresponded to the great human expansion into Asia, and the second — to the rapid climate changes at the beginning of the Holocene.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":20926,"journal":{"name":"Quaternary Science Reviews","volume":"372 ","pages":"Article 109696"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2025-11-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145622541","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-11-26DOI: 10.1016/j.quascirev.2025.109723
Sergio Augusto Santos Xavier , Marie-Pierre Ledru , Ilana Wainer , Myriam Khodri , Francisca Soares de Araújo
Northeastern Brazil (NEB) is characterized by irregular rainfall distribution and various vegetation types, such as the xerophilous Caatinga in the east, Cerrado and Amazon rainforests in the west. Sediment cores and speleothems show that the region was subjected to strong climatic changes during the Holocene. To reconstruct related vegetation responses and biomass burning, we present a synthetic review based on nine pollen published records covering the last 6000 years. Our regional environmental reconstructions reveal four intervals of changes, influenced by the position and intensity of an east-west moisture band across NEB, in phase with South America Summer Monsoon variability. Between 6.0 and 5.2 ka BP and 5.2–4.2 ka BP, changes in the distribution of the dry forest Caatinga, Cerrado and Amazon Forest were driven by oscillating precipitation in a general pattern dry western/moist eastern NEB. Similar changes amongst sites were correlated to their location either within or outside the moisture band. Between 4.2 and 2.6 ka BP, Caatinga expanded in the eastern NEB, while Cerrado and Amazon forests became established in western NEB. This vegetation shift matches the moist western/dry eastern NEB climate around 4.2 ka BP, consistent with TraCE-21k simulations and speleothem records. From 2.6 ka BP onwards, biomass burning observed under dry or wet conditions was related to a marked increase in anthropogenic activities. For the last 6000 years NEB's vegetation boundaries have been in phase with the summer insolation, the oscillations of the South America Summer Monsoon, and the positions of the convergence zones which delimited a band of moisture throughout specific location of NEB. Human activities were not found to be directly affected by the humidity gradient; instead, humans have relied on each biome's resources. Investigating the extent of climatic and human influences on NEB vegetation in the past is crucial to discussing the effectiveness of current conservation policies in the region.
巴西东北部（NEB）降雨分布不规则，植被类型多样，东部有喜旱的Caatinga雨林，西部有塞拉多雨林和亚马逊雨林。沉积物岩心和岩洞显示，该地区在全新世期间经历了强烈的气候变化。为了重建相关的植被响应和生物质燃烧，我们基于近6000年的9个已发表的花粉记录进行了综合综述。我们的区域环境重建揭示了四个变化间隔，受横跨东北b的东西向水汽带的位置和强度的影响，与南美洲夏季风变异相一致。在6.0 ~ 5.2 ka BP和5.2 ~ 4.2 ka BP期间，Caatinga、Cerrado和亚马逊森林的分布变化主要受降水振荡驱动，呈现出西部干燥/东部湿润的总体格局，而不同站点之间的变化也与它们在湿润带内外的位置有关。在4.2 ~ 2.6 ka BP之间，Caatinga在NEB东部扩张，而Cerrado和Amazon森林在NEB西部建立。这种植被转移与4.2 ka BP左右NEB西部湿润/东部干燥的气候相匹配，与TraCE-21k模拟和洞穴记录一致。从2.6 ka BP开始，在干燥或潮湿条件下观测到的生物质燃烧与人为活动的显著增加有关。近6000年来，NEB的植被边界与夏季日照、南美夏季风的振荡以及在NEB特定地区划定水汽带的辐合带位置处于同一阶段，人类活动并未直接受到湿度梯度的影响；相反，人类依赖于每个生物群落的资源。调查过去气候和人类对新东部地区植被的影响程度，对于讨论该地区当前保护政策的有效性至关重要。
{"title":"6000 years of monsoon-driven east–west antiphasing of northeastern Brazil vegetation","authors":"Sergio Augusto Santos Xavier , Marie-Pierre Ledru , Ilana Wainer , Myriam Khodri , Francisca Soares de Araújo","doi":"10.1016/j.quascirev.2025.109723","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.quascirev.2025.109723","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Northeastern Brazil (NEB) is characterized by irregular rainfall distribution and various vegetation types, such as the xerophilous Caatinga in the east, Cerrado and Amazon rainforests in the west. Sediment cores and speleothems show that the region was subjected to strong climatic changes during the Holocene. To reconstruct related vegetation responses and biomass burning, we present a synthetic review based on nine pollen published records covering the last 6000 years. Our regional environmental reconstructions reveal four intervals of changes, influenced by the position and intensity of an east-west moisture band across NEB, in phase with South America Summer Monsoon variability. Between 6.0 and 5.2 ka BP and 5.2–4.2 ka BP, changes in the distribution of the dry forest Caatinga, Cerrado and Amazon Forest were driven by oscillating precipitation in a general pattern dry western/moist eastern NEB. Similar changes amongst sites were correlated to their location either within or outside the moisture band. Between 4.2 and 2.6 ka BP, Caatinga expanded in the eastern NEB, while Cerrado and Amazon forests became established in western NEB. This vegetation shift matches the moist western/dry eastern NEB climate around 4.2 ka BP, consistent with TraCE-21k simulations and speleothem records. From 2.6 ka BP onwards, biomass burning observed under dry or wet conditions was related to a marked increase in anthropogenic activities. For the last 6000 years NEB's vegetation boundaries have been in phase with the summer insolation, the oscillations of the South America Summer Monsoon, and the positions of the convergence zones which delimited a band of moisture throughout specific location of NEB. Human activities were not found to be directly affected by the humidity gradient; instead, humans have relied on each biome's resources. Investigating the extent of climatic and human influences on NEB vegetation in the past is crucial to discussing the effectiveness of current conservation policies in the region.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":20926,"journal":{"name":"Quaternary Science Reviews","volume":"372 ","pages":"Article 109723"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2025-11-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145622539","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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