Quaternary Science Reviews最新文献

{"title":"A 14 500-year multi-proxy reconstruction of climate and environmental change in Eastern Baltics","authors":"Varvara Bakumenko ,&nbsp;Anna Lanka ,&nbsp;Anneli Poska ,&nbsp;Jüri Vassiljev ,&nbsp;Oliver Heiri ,&nbsp;Simon Belle ,&nbsp;Tiiu Alliksaar ,&nbsp;Siim Veski","doi":"10.1016/j.quascirev.2026.109822","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.quascirev.2026.109822","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study presents a 14 500-year high-resolution multi-proxy reconstruction of past climate and environmental changes from Lake Nakri in Southern Estonia. Estonia's geographical position at the intersection of maritime and continental climate zones and boreal and nemoral biomes makes it a highly suitable location for studying even relatively small past fluctuations in climate. We used Chironomidae, Cladocera, pollen, and loss-on-ignition analyses to reconstruct mean July air temperatures, to explore changes in continentality expressed as annual temperature range (ATR), and track environmental changes in the catchment (land cover, land use) and in the lake (trophy, pH, etc.), throughout the late glacial and Holocene. Chironomidae and pollen analysis were used to reconstruct July air temperatures. The reconstruction curves are coherent and consistently reveal climate events, apparent around the 9.0–8.0 ka, 7.5–7.0 ka, 6.0–5.5 ka, 1.0–0.5 ka cal BP in the temperature records. The exception to the otherwise consistent proxy pattern is that Chironomidae reveal an earlier onset of Early Holocene warming compared with the pollen record. This discrepancy may be attributed to low local pollen productivity and delayed postglacial vegetation development. The chironomid-based reconstructions show that the Younger Dryas climate was marked by a 3 °C drop in summer temperature and increased ATR. Although the chironomid-based continentality (difference in summer and winter temperatures) reconstruction approach is still under development, we present a first tentative chironomid-inferred ATR reconstruction, which revealed a major decreasing trend throughout the postglacial. Cladocera remains were used to evaluate past changes in nutrient status and we found no evidence of significant shifts in trophic state and in-lake productivity. Therefore, we conclude that the chironomid-based reconstruction was not biased by such changes. The resulting reconstructions provide critical insights into past regional climate variability and ecosystem responses in eastern temperate-boreal ecotones. Our new palaeotemperature curves can serve as a reference for future regional climate studies.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":20926,"journal":{"name":"Quaternary Science Reviews","volume":"377 ","pages":"Article 109822"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2026-02-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146191861","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}

{"title":"Wind(ow) of change: The end of the Middle Stone Age and the beginning of the Later Stone Age at Umhlatuzana rockshelter showcasing concurrent technological and techno-economic shifts","authors":"V.C. Schmid ,&nbsp;I. Sifogeorgaki ,&nbsp;T. Abruzzese ,&nbsp;S. Blik ,&nbsp;L. Huang ,&nbsp;G.L. Dusseldorp","doi":"10.1016/j.quascirev.2026.109806","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.quascirev.2026.109806","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The site of Umhlatuzana rockshelter contains a key sequence documenting developments in human behaviour from ∼70 ka throughout the Late Pleistocene and Holocene. Re-excavation of the site yielded high-resolution lithic assemblages that clarify the character of the end of the Middle Stone Age and the beginning of the Later Stone Age at the site. We performed a technological analysis of this lithic material across the transition from Middle to Later Stone Age. We show that this transition took place more rapidly than previously assumed. The change from the Middle to Later Stone Age is characterized by concomitant shifts in raw material provisioning, reduction strategies and tool corpus. The final Middle Stone Age features high investment in tool production, including careful shaping of bifacial pieces in hornfels, while the transition to the Later Stone Age stands out by the accelerated increase in bipolar reduction of mainly quartz and very low numbers of retouched elements. We further demonstrate the presence of an earlier Later Stone Age assemblage characterized by bladelet production using freehand percussion combined with various bipolar knapping strategies. We document a new type of assemblage between the earlier Later Stone Age and the Robberg that features Later Stone Age characteristics associated with a distinct blade production and tool types reminiscent of the Middle Stone Age. Comparison of the sequence with other sites on the subcontinent reveals that the transition from the Middle to Later Stone Age is a spatially and temporally diffuse process, which is best interpreted as the result of loose social connections and arrhythmic pace of local innovations bounded by among others raw material properties, cross-craft constraints and land-use strategies that led to a stable suite of similar solutions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":20926,"journal":{"name":"Quaternary Science Reviews","volume":"377 ","pages":"Article 109806"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2026-02-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146191863","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}

{"title":"Evidence that the Aso-3 caldera-forming eruption (southwest Japan) marks the termination of Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 6","authors":"D. McLean ,&nbsp;P.G. Albert ,&nbsp;G. Jones ,&nbsp;R.A. Staff ,&nbsp;A. Francke ,&nbsp;S.O. Vineberg ,&nbsp;J.J. Tyler ,&nbsp;M. Saito-Kato ,&nbsp;T. Sagawa ,&nbsp;K. Kaneko ,&nbsp;H. Buckland ,&nbsp;T. Suzuki ,&nbsp;J.-I. Kimura ,&nbsp;Q. Chang ,&nbsp;H. Hoshizumi ,&nbsp;Y. Miyabuchi ,&nbsp;C.J. Manning ,&nbsp;K. Yamada ,&nbsp;I. Kitaba ,&nbsp;K. Ikehara ,&nbsp;V.C. Smith","doi":"10.1016/j.quascirev.2026.109837","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.quascirev.2026.109837","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The Aso-3 caldera-forming event of Aso volcano was one of the largest eruptions of the Quaternary period, blanketing vast regions of Japan and surrounding seas in ash. However, uncertainties surrounding the eruption age and geochemical variability have limited its utility as a robust time-stratigraphic marker. Distal occurrences previously attributed to Aso-3 span a broad temporal window (135–110 ka) and glass shards often lack compositional agreement with those of proximal datasets. Here, we re-evaluate the characteristics of Aso-3 using new stratigraphic and geochemical evidence from proximal and distal settings. In the Lake Suigetsu sediments, three Aso tephra layers are newly identified, including a 3 cm thick layer at ∼133 ka with glass shards that compositionally span the proximal Aso-3 range. Additionally, we identify a compositionally identical Aso-3 cryptotephra in the Sea of Japan (core U1427A). Combined stratigraphic, geochemical, and palaeoenvironmental evidence (pollen, diatom and benthic δ¹⁸O) from these records confirms that Aso-3 occurred prior to Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5e, during the termination of MIS 6. This establishes Aso-3 as a regional isochron, aiding synchronisation of paleoclimate records across the glacial–interglacial transition (Termination II). Our findings caution against correlating to Aso-3 based on partial geochemical matches, given that Aso experienced numerous explosive eruptions responsible for widespread ash dispersals throughout MIS 6 and 5.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":20926,"journal":{"name":"Quaternary Science Reviews","volume":"377 ","pages":"Article 109837"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2026-02-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146191859","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}

{"title":"A paleoclimate reference record spanning the last 1 million years from the Fram Strait (Sites U1621 and U1623, IODP Expedition 403)","authors":"A. González-Lanchas ,&nbsp;B.T. Reilly ,&nbsp;M.A. Bárcena ,&nbsp;S. De Schepper ,&nbsp;A.C. Gebhardt ,&nbsp;J. Gruetzner ,&nbsp;K. Husum ,&nbsp;Y. Rosenthal ,&nbsp;Y. Suganuma ,&nbsp;Y. Zhong ,&nbsp;R.E.M. Rickaby ,&nbsp;A.K.I.U. Kapuge ,&nbsp;L.R. Monito ,&nbsp;J. Yeon ,&nbsp;R.G. Lucchi ,&nbsp;K. St. John ,&nbsp;T.A. Ronge ,&nbsp;L. Duxbury ,&nbsp;G. Goss ,&nbsp;N. Greco ,&nbsp;A.V. Sijinkumar","doi":"10.1016/j.quascirev.2026.109838","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.quascirev.2026.109838","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>As the main gateway to the Arctic Ocean, the Fram Strait (FS) plays a critical role in regulating central Arctic–Atlantic water exchange and global climate dynamics. Paleoclimate reconstructions from this key region remain particularly challenging due to the scarcity of continuous, well-positioned and high-resolution sedimentary records. During International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Expedition 403 (Eastern Fram Strait Paleo-Archive), Sites U1621 and U1623 were cored in the Bellsund Drift, southeastern Fram Strait. This study presents detailed calcareous nannofossil data from Holes U1621A and U1623A, documenting an unprecedented record of key Quaternary calcifying phytoplankton groups in the region. Intercalibrated with shipboard magnetostratigraphic data, these records establish the first chronological framework for the Bellsund Drift sediments, spanning the last ∼1 million years. Increases in nannofossil abundances—defined as Nannofossil Abundance (NA) events—are identified at both sites and closely correlate with peak enhancements in Ca/Ti and Sr/Ti ratios recorded in X-ray fluorescence (XRF) data. This biogenic-geochemical covariance provides compelling evidence of fluctuations in primary productivity and sedimentary calcium carbonate (CaCO₃) concentration, linked to orbitally driven changes in local conditions across glacial–interglacial (G/IG) cycles. These signals likely reflect ecological variability driven by changes in North Atlantic water inflow along the Fram Strait. The timing and structure of NA events show strong similarities with records from the palaeoceanographically connected lower-latitude Norwegian Seas. Within the structure of our record, we identify evidence of key transitions during the Pleistocene, the Mid-Pleistocene Transition (MPT) and the Mid-Brunhes Event (MBE), as well as the evolution of the interglacial phases Marine Isotope Stages (MIS) 31, 19, 15–9, 5 and the Holocene. Globally recognizable features, such as the increased pelagic production during the mid-Brunhes interval, are also observed. This study underscores the exceptional value of the Bellsund Drift as providing high-resolution records for the reconstruction of orbital scale paleoceanographic and paleocelimate variability from the key Fram Strait region during the last ∼1 million years.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":20926,"journal":{"name":"Quaternary Science Reviews","volume":"377 ","pages":"Article 109838"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2026-02-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146191862","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}

{"title":"Intrusion of Circumpolar Deep Water has driven the Holocene changes in diatom- and dinoflagellate-derived productivity at Palmer Deep, Western Antarctic Peninsula","authors":"Jiaxuan Chen ,&nbsp;Yuesong Gao ,&nbsp;Yuxin He ,&nbsp;Qishen Cheng ,&nbsp;Junjie Ma ,&nbsp;Pengrui Yang ,&nbsp;Hanyang Liu ,&nbsp;Xiaohong Guo ,&nbsp;Leping Chen ,&nbsp;Lianjiao Yang ,&nbsp;Zhouqing Xie","doi":"10.1016/j.quascirev.2026.109841","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.quascirev.2026.109841","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The western Antarctic Peninsula, one of the world's most rapidly warming regions, has undergone substantial ecosystem changes, including community succession driven by environmental stress. However, due to the lack of suitable proxies, how this succession responded to Holocene climate fluctuations remains unknown. This study focuses on a sediment core from Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Leg 178 Site 1098, Palmer Deep, western Antarctic Peninsula, a hotspot of biological activity and a core area of long-term ecosystem research. By analyzing lipid biomarkers (sterols, <em>n</em>-alkanols, phytol, and fatty acids) and other proxies throughout the Holocene, this study aims to determine the past changes in productivity and the contributions of different phytoplankton groups. Lipid biomarkers (e.g., brassicasterol, sitosterol, phytol, and 16:0 fatty acid) generally aligned with variations in diatom abundance and stable carbon isotope of organic carbon (δ¹³C_org), indicating an overall trend of the diatom-dominating productivity that was mainly influenced by Circumpolar Deep Water (CDW) intrusion, along with other oceanic factors. The changes in dinosterol, however, indicated stable or even increased dinoflagellate-associated productivity during cool climates of the early Holocene and Neoglacial, concurrent with reduced diatom-associated productivity. This study highlights the advanced applicability of lipid biomarkers in reconstructing productivity changes across multiple components of phytoplankton communities, which provide a powerful tool for revealing the evolution of Antarctic marine ecosystems under climate change impacts.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":20926,"journal":{"name":"Quaternary Science Reviews","volume":"377 ","pages":"Article 109841"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2026-02-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146192235","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}

{"title":"Stranded shorelines in prince William sound, southern Alaska: Testing the applicability of pacific coast archaeological discovery models","authors":"John T. White ,&nbsp;John F.C. Johnson","doi":"10.1016/j.quascirev.2026.109844","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.quascirev.2026.109844","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In recent decades, Coastal Migration Theory has come to prominence in discussions of the initial peopling of the Americas. Southern Alaska would have, by necessity, played an important role in any coastal migration from Northeast Asia into North America, yet the archaeological record of southern coastal Alaska post-dates those of both temperate North America and interior Alaska. Groundbreaking research in British Columbia demonstrated the necessity of paleoenvironmental reconstruction, particularly understanding of sea-level dynamics, to investigations of early coastal occupations anywhere along the north Pacific Rim. Prince William Sound in southern Alaska has been identified as an area where stranded shorelines dating to the late Pleistocene should be preserved above modern sea level, yet traditional Chugach knowledge suggests persistent glaciation of the sound, possibly into the Holocene. Here we present our reconstruction efforts for this maritime region. While we successfully identified preserved uplifted marine deposits within the Sound, they date to the early-mid Holocene rather than the late Pleistocene and their preservation is contingent on specific localized tectonic influences, including some ongoing throughout the Holocene. This research demonstrates that locating ancient shorelines stranded above modern sea level in southern Alaska will be a complex process.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":20926,"journal":{"name":"Quaternary Science Reviews","volume":"377 ","pages":"Article 109844"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2026-02-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146102598","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}

{"title":"Multi-scale drivers shaped the late Quaternary vegetation composition in eastern Nanling Mountains, subtropical China","authors":"Mingying Quan ,&nbsp;Wei Zhong ,&nbsp;Xiaojun Wang ,&nbsp;Tianhang Li ,&nbsp;Durui Lin ,&nbsp;Limi Mao","doi":"10.1016/j.quascirev.2026.109833","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.quascirev.2026.109833","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Understanding vegetation dynamics and their driving mechanisms is crucial for predicting ecosystem responses. In this paper, we present a 46,300-year pollen record from the Dahu swamp (eastern Nanling Mountains, south China), so far the longest high-resolution lacustrine sequence in the subtropical monsoon region, to reconstruct vegetation dynamics and decipher different drivers. Biomization and principal component analyses were used for quantitative reconstruction of vegetation evolution history since ∼46.3 cal kyr BP.</div><div>During Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 3b (∼46.3–41.2 cal kyr BP), warm and humid climate promoted the expansion of evergreen broadleaved forests (EBLF). A transition to cooler and drier climates in MIS 3c (∼41.2–26.8 cal kyr BP) favored the prevailing of deciduous broadleaved forests (DBLF) and herbaceous taxa. The Last Glacial Maximum (LGM, ∼26.8–17.4 cal kyr BP) of MIS 2 was featured by a mixed forest dominated by <em>Fagus</em> and <em>Tsuga</em> under cool-wet climate, sustained by weakened East Asia summer monsoon (EASM), persistent fog-cloud layers, and the topographic barrier effects of Nanling Mountains (NLM). Deglacial warming (∼17.4–12.2 cal kyr BP) triggered the expansion of thermophilic taxa (<em>Cyclobalanopsis/Quercus</em> (E)). The early Holocene (∼12.2–8.2 cal kyr BP) was marked by the dominance of EBLF under intensified EASM. Lake expansion and hygrophilous herbs prevailed during the mid-Holocene (∼8.2–4.2 cal kyr BP), whereas the late Holocene (∼4.2–0.6 cal kyr BP) was characterized by sparse vegetation cover (possibly open mosaic of forest and grassland), probably associated with cooling and intensified human activities especially since ∼2.8 cal kyr BP.</div><div>Spectral and wavelet analysis identifies orbital-scale precession-driven EASM variability (20.3-kyr cycle) since MIS 3b, modulated by tropical ocean-atmosphere oscillations (12.2-kyr cycle) and North Atlantic shifts (1.0-kyr cycles). By revealing how insolation-driven climate and topography together created cool, moist micro-refugia, the presence of <em>Fagus</em> and <em>Tsuga</em> forests during the LGM offers a basis for re-evaluating the hypothesis of extreme aridity in subtropical regions. This multi-scale analysis integrates orbital forcing, regional topography, and anthropogenic impacts, providing a framework for understanding subtropical forest resilience under climatic extremes.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":20926,"journal":{"name":"Quaternary Science Reviews","volume":"376 ","pages":"Article 109833"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2026-01-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146080487","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}

{"title":"Holocene potential natural vegetation in Europe: Evaluating the model spread with three dynamical vegetation models","authors":"Isabeau A. Bertrix ,&nbsp;Hisashi Sato ,&nbsp;Nicolas Viovy ,&nbsp;Hans Renssen ,&nbsp;Didier M. Roche","doi":"10.1016/j.quascirev.2026.109813","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.quascirev.2026.109813","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The period of the early Holocene in Europe is marked by climate warming as Earth comes out of the last glacial period and is followed by the emergence of agriculture and animal husbandry in the second half of the period. Increased human influence had profound impacts on the land surface, but the Holocene climate evolution also drove some changes that are intertwined with it. Deciphering the role of each in the vegetation evolution is becoming more difficult as one progresses to the earlier parts of the Holocene here human induced impacts were fainter. Within this general context, we aim at understanding how much Dynamical Vegetation Models (DGVMs) differ in their representation of Potential Natural Vegetation (PNV) in Europe during the mid-to late Holocene (8.5 k.a. BP to 1900 A. D.). We ran three different DGVMs, SEIB-DGVM, ORCHIDEE-DGVM and CARAIB, in Europe, for six time-slices and forced them with identical climatic imputs obtained from the iLOVECLIM Earth system model (downscaled and bias-corrected). Results are then compared with pollen-based reconstructions from the TERRANOVA database. Overall, the three models have a similar performance in representing the pollen-derived vegetation cover at the european scale. However, their results are largely different at regional scales, particularly in mountainous areas and in boreal regions. They also show a very large spread in simulated PFT diversity at the grid cell scale, highlighting the impact of each model's internal dynamics on the results. On a global scale, they all agree on a decreasing match of their results with pollen base reconstructions over time, indicating - as expected - an increase of the human pressure on the landscape.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":20926,"journal":{"name":"Quaternary Science Reviews","volume":"376 ","pages":"Article 109813"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2026-01-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146080489","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}

{"title":"High temperature seasonality as a signature of late-Quaternary AMOC weakening in Northern Europe","authors":"Liva Trasune ,&nbsp;J Sakari Salonen ,&nbsp;Normunds Stivrins ,&nbsp;Leeli Amon ,&nbsp;Migle Stancikaite ,&nbsp;Laura Gedminiene ,&nbsp;Siim Veski ,&nbsp;Frederik Schenk","doi":"10.1016/j.quascirev.2026.109843","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.quascirev.2026.109843","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Late-Quaternary disruptions of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) have been linked to profound impacts on local and regional climate as well as vegetation. Temperature seasonality patterns during these AMOC events, most notably during the Younger Dryas, are not yet fully understood, as studies have shown two possible scenarios: overall cooling patterns in Younger Dryas, or warm summers with extreme winter cooling. Here we assess the seasonal temperature trends of late-Quaternary weak AMOC states in Northern Europe, based on new quantitative pollen- and plant macrofossil-based January and July temperature reconstructions using multi-method ensemble reconstruction approaches. For plant macrofossils, we implement a “dynamic” calibration approach, where a spatial extent of the modern calibration region varies based on an independent proxy for the past continentality regime. This allows the reconstruction to algorithmically select the most representative modern calibration region for each time slice. We find an indication that abrupt AMOC weakening is associated with winter-dominated cooling of up to 10 °C but relatively stable summers.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":20926,"journal":{"name":"Quaternary Science Reviews","volume":"376 ","pages":"Article 109843"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2026-01-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146080490","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}

{"title":"Cyanobacteria and aquatic ecosystem dynamics across 28,000 years of environmental changes in subtropical North America","authors":"Savvas Paradeisis-Stathis ,&nbsp;Matthew N. Waters ,&nbsp;Debra A. Willard ,&nbsp;Richard S. Vachula","doi":"10.1016/j.quascirev.2026.109842","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.quascirev.2026.109842","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Ecological pressures on aquatic ecosystems have increased over recent centuries due to human activities and climate change. However, contextualizing ecosystem deterioration is often challenging due to limited knowledge of environmental changes over millennial timescales. Subtropical Carolina bays in North Carolina, USA, have remained unglaciated, preserving paleolimnological records that extend back to the last glacial period. Here, we analyzed a sediment core from the ecologically rich Lake Waccamaw spanning more than 28,000 years for aquatic proxies of nutrients, photosynthetic pigments, cyanotoxins, carbon isotopes, and terrestrial proxies of pollen and charcoal. The study explored paleolimnological changes in the aquatic environment connected to land changes and climate during the late Quaternary in the southeastern Atlantic Coastal Plain. Results reveal that while current levels of colonial cyanobacteria are high, past levels of cyanobacteria, other primary producers, and cyanotoxins were higher under natural climate variability. Abrupt ecosystem responses to increasing trophic conditions during Interstadial 3 (27.8–26.4 cal ka BP) and the early Holocene (11.4–7 cal ka BP) were marked by increases in primary producer abundance, deciduous vegetation expansion, and fire activity. Cyanobacteria remained dominant throughout the record, with colonial forms prevailing during the Holocene. Increases in pigment concentrations aligned with <em>Quercus</em> and were primarily driven by hydroclimatic variability and nutrient stoichiometry. Transitions between <em>Pinus</em> and <em>Quercus</em> pollen matched stadials and interstadials in the δ¹⁸Ο record from the North Greenland Ice Core Project (NGRIP). This study highlights the value of multi-proxy millennial-scale paleolimnological records for understanding aquatic ecosystem responses to climate conditions during the late Pleistocene.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":20926,"journal":{"name":"Quaternary Science Reviews","volume":"376 ","pages":"Article 109842"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2026-01-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146080488","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}