Quaternary International最新文献

{"title":"Tectonic controls on channel migration and flood hazards in the frontal Mishmi fold belt, Eastern Himalaya, Northeast India","authors":"Girindra Bora ,&nbsp;Bashab Nandan Mahanta ,&nbsp;Tapos Kumar Goswami","doi":"10.1016/j.quaint.2026.110155","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.quaint.2026.110155","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Rivers in the Eastern Himalaya are among the most dynamic globally, reshaping landscapes under the combined influence of rapid tectonic uplift and extreme sediment flux. This study addresses the long-standing problem of how deep-seated tectonic structures and surface processes interact to drive river reorganization across the frontal Mishmi Thrust zone. Using multi-decadal satellite imagery, topographic maps, and digital elevation models (DEMs), we document nearly a century (1926–2022) of spatial–temporal changes in the Siang, Dibang, and Lohit rivers. The Siang shifted from a bifurcated Lali–Sibia Dihang system to a dominant western course, recording ∼1.6 km of westward migration by 1973. The Dibang migrated up to ∼2.5 km westward along its left bank, maintaining a braided planform strongly aligned with basement-controlled lineaments. The Lohit underwent major southward avulsion through the Dangori channel, fundamentally reorganizing the upper Brahmaputra floodplain.</div><div>These transformations intensified after the 1950 Assam earthquake (Mw 8.6), which acted as a geomorphic tipping point by synchronizing fault reactivation, widespread coseismic landsliding, and massive sediment redistribution. Post-earthquake adjustments included the emergence of the Dibru–Saikhowa fluvial island and the Lohit's persistent southward diversion along structurally weakened corridors. Collectively, these tectonically induced reorganizations, amplified by sediment inputs from landslides and monsoonal floods, have heightened flood vulnerability in structurally sensitive zones such as Sadiya, Laika–Dodhiya, and Rohmoria.</div><div>The findings underscore the decisive role of long-lived basement structures, thrust interactions, and channel gradient modifications in governing floodplain evolution. By embedding geomorphic mapping within a tectonic framework, this study demonstrates how active deformation and sediment-driven instability jointly shape river morphodynamics. Beyond regional insights, the results provide a broader framework for understanding river–tectonic coupling in active orogenic belts and highlight the need for geodynamically informed flood management strategies to mitigate hazards.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49644,"journal":{"name":"Quaternary International","volume":"759 ","pages":"Article 110155"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2026-03-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146174028","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Soil phytoliths as indicators of Sts'ailes (Coast Salish) stewardship legacies and history at Lhemqwó:tel in western Canada","authors":"Levi Cormier ,&nbsp;Morgan Ritchie ,&nbsp;Alex C. McAlvay ,&nbsp;Rosa Maria Albert ,&nbsp;Jean-Thomas Cornelis ,&nbsp;Francesco Berna ,&nbsp;Chelsey Geralda Armstrong","doi":"10.1016/j.quaint.2026.110152","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.quaint.2026.110152","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Human land-use and stewardship practices have long shaped ecosystems globally, but deciphering their effects today is challenging due to preservation biases and the nature of legacy effects. Additionally, assumptions about Indigenous land-use histories have also led to misinterpretations of historical landscapes. Using a historical-ecological framework, we combine soil phytolith analyses with historical and ecological indices of land-use changes in Sts'ailes (Coast Salish) territories in the Pacific Northwest of North America. The preservation of soil phytoliths offers the potential for assessing past human influences on surrounding environments, particularly in temperate regions where phytolith research has been underutilized. This study evaluates phytolith preservation and morphological identifiability in ancestral forest gardens and surrounding conifer forests. Results indicate phytoliths are abundant in all contexts and that morphotype quantification is useful for characterizing landscape-scale vegetation changes through time. We demonstrate that the Sts'ailes forest garden of Lhemqwó:tel was larger than its current extent, based on specific morphotype concentration changes observed in soil profiles. Additionally, specific phytolith morphotypes were identified as indicators of different site types, highlighting the potential value of phytolith analysis in identifying remnant forest garden ecosystems in the Pacific Northwest and potentially other types of historical land-use and stewardship practices more broadly.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49644,"journal":{"name":"Quaternary International","volume":"759 ","pages":"Article 110152"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2026-03-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146174025","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Rare or invisible? Crabs in prehistoric contexts","authors":"Alessandro Marcuzzi ,&nbsp;Catherine Dupont ,&nbsp;Jacques Grall","doi":"10.1016/j.quaint.2026.110132","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.quaint.2026.110132","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Prehistoric shell middens have been studied since the 19th century in archaeology along the European Atlantic façade. These sites correspond to refuses of daily activities of human populations living near the sea. Amongst these, food remains are numerous and correspond to the exploitation of the marine environments, such as seashells.</div><div>In order to understand the place of crustaceans in the daily life of past populations, this article reviews crab remains found in prehistoric shell middens in Atlantic Europe, from the Palaeolithic to the Neolithic. Data from the Mesolithic and Neolithic periods come from the online European Atlantic Prehistoric Shell-middens database (EAPSM). In addition, a synthesis of previous publications on crab remains from Palaeolithic sites in Atlantic Europe is provided.</div><div>The main objective is to assess the presence and role of crab in the diet of prehistoric populations from the Palaeolithic to the Neolithic. These topics will be addressed by examining the impact of the excavation methods used to detect them and also the preservation of coastal sites linked to variations of the sea level over time.</div><div>Analysis of published data shows a very uneven representation of sites across periods and spaces, with for example a high concentration in the Mesolithic and in southern regions (Iberian Peninsula). This first result can be explained by a lower level of the sea during the Palaeolithic. Except for the high cliffs of Spain or Portugal, Palaeolithic shell middens are not preserved if they ever existed. For all periods, crab remains are generally underrepresented. This result seems to be largely due both to their fragmentary state and the lack of systematic identification protocols. These gaps limit our vision of how human populations exploited crab. The article recommends a reassessment of archaeological material when sieved sediment existed and the implementation of standardized methods on new ones for the study of crabs in coastal subsistence economies during prehistory.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49644,"journal":{"name":"Quaternary International","volume":"759 ","pages":"Article 110132"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2026-03-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146025356","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Assessing soil erosion risk in the Trans Himalayan range of Ladakh: Implications of climate change and agricultural expansion","authors":"Sumira Nazir Zaz ,&nbsp;Shakil Ahmad Romshoo ,&nbsp;Farheen Qazi ,&nbsp;Shaista Maqbool ,&nbsp;Shah Khalid Ahmad","doi":"10.1016/j.quaint.2026.110123","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.quaint.2026.110123","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The Himalayan region is undergoing significant changes in soil erosion due to rapid Landuse/landcover change and climate variations. This study employs the ICONA model along with the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and satellite-based precipitation data from 1981 to 2024 to assess changes in erosion across the Trans Himalayan region in Ladakh. Key study inputs include slope, lithofacies, land-use/cover and Normalized Differential Vegetation Index (NDVI) (1992 and 2020), to generate the erosion risk maps. Results reveal that in 1992, 60.88 % (10483.6 km²) and 19.20 % (3302.9 km²) of the area exhibited high and very high erosion risk respectively, with moderate risk in 14.59 % (2513.3 km²), and low and very low risk together in 5.32 % (918.85 km²). By 2020, high and very high erosion risk areas increased only by 1 %–61.80 % (10641.20 km²) and 20.03 % (3445.5 km²) respectively, with a decrease in moderate risk areas to 10.47 % (1804.37 km²) and an increase in low and very low risk areas to 7.70 % (1327.58 km²). Analysis of precipitation data from 1981 to 2024 suggests a significant (S = 0.05) increase, of 13.5 % (383 mm). RCI (Rainfall Concentration Index) result shows peak precipitation in the year 1992, 2010 and 2014. The increasing precipitation and intensity is likely contributing to changes in the erosional processes with enhanced agricultural activities and decreased erosion in certain regions and increase in other regions. Changes in erosion are also attributed to agricultural expansion and potential expansion in infrastructure development from 3.45 km² to 6.92 km² between 1991 and 2020. This study helps in identifying changes in the erosion-pattern in the region with changing precipitation, which is essential for formulating mitigation strategies, and for sustainable planning in the study area.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49644,"journal":{"name":"Quaternary International","volume":"759 ","pages":"Article 110123"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2026-03-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145981859","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Investigations of short-term denudation rates on the North Dalmatian Plain (Croatia)","authors":"Kristina Krklec ,&nbsp;Dražen Perica ,&nbsp;Aleksandra Bensa ,&nbsp;David Domínguez-Villar","doi":"10.1016/j.quaint.2026.110129","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.quaint.2026.110129","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Studies of denudation rates in carbonate areas are an important step to understand rates of karst landscape development. Weathering of carbonate rocks is an essential process in soil formation and has a significant role in the global CO₂ budget. We studied short-term weathering and denudation rates at a location in the Dinaric karst using the rock tablet method while monitoring surficial and soil environmental parameters. We exposed “standard” rock tablets and those from local lithologies to the natural environment at the surface and buried them at two depths (20 and 50 cm) in the soil profile. Our results show that the average actual denudation rate measured at this site is 2.28 μm/a (for rock tablets exposed at the surface and buried in the soil). Furthermore, this rate is higher at the surface (2.95 μm/a) than those recorded in the soil (1.46 μm/a and 1.99 μm/a at 20 and 50 cm depth, respectively) and is dominated by physical weathering processes driven by diurnal temperature cycles. On the other hand, weathering of rock tablets buried in the soil profile is dominated by chemical weathering processes strongly dependent on the availability of CO₂ in the soil, resulting in higher denudation rates deeper in the soil profile. Furthermore, the denudation rate strongly depends on lithology; thus, local lithologies should be used to obtain actual denudation rates.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49644,"journal":{"name":"Quaternary International","volume":"759 ","pages":"Article 110129"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2026-03-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145957813","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Analysis of hydrochemical characteristics, hydrochemical origin and travertine deposition capacity in the eastern margin of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau: A case study of the Shenxianchi scenic spot and the Mouni Valley","authors":"Jiyu Tang ,&nbsp;Wenhao Gao ,&nbsp;Qingle Zeng ,&nbsp;Xinze Liu ,&nbsp;Ronglin Xu ,&nbsp;Dong Sun ,&nbsp;Liang Qin ,&nbsp;Zhipeng Zhang","doi":"10.1016/j.quaint.2026.110126","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.quaint.2026.110126","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study investigates the hydrochemical characteristics and travertine deposition mechanisms in two karst scenic areas-Shenxianchi and Mouni Valley-located on the eastern margin of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Field and laboratory analyses of water samples collected in May 2024 reveal that both regions are dominated by HCO₃-Ca type waters, indicating carbonate weathering as the primary geochemical process. Gibbs diagrams, ion ratios, and principal component analysis confirm that calcite and dolomite dissolution, with secondary contributions from silicate weathering and cation exchange, governs the hydrochemical composition. Cation exchange is particularly pronounced in the Shenxianchi scenic spot due to the dominance of thick-bedded limestones. The major ions originate primarily from natural water-rock interactions: Ca²⁺ and HCO₃⁻ derive mainly from calcite and dolomite dissolution; Mg²⁺ and SO₄²⁻ are associated with dolomite and minor sulfate-bearing minerals; Na⁺ and K⁺ are likely released through silicate weathering and cation exchange; F⁻ is mainly derived from natural geochemical processes (such as the weathering of silicate rocks); while NO₃⁻ and Cl⁻ exhibit limited correlation with major ions and are interpreted as weak anthropogenic or biological inputs. Travertine deposition potential was evaluated using SIc, P_CO2, and SPM. Shenxianchi shows higher SIc values and efficient CO₂ degassing along steep flow paths, favoring stable calcite precipitation. Scanning electron microscopy reveals dominant calcite morphologies in Shenxianchi scenic spot, whereas Mouni Valley samples exhibit mixed CaCO₃ polymorphs (calcite-aragonite-vaterite) and weaker depositional capacity, reflecting environmental instability. The polymorphic characteristics of CaCO₃ provide sensitive indicators of depositional environment and hydrodynamic stability. Management strategies should prioritize maintaining natural slope gradients (approximately 0.01–0.30), adequate flow velocity, and CO₂ degassing efficiency to sustain travertine formation. Continuous monitoring of SIc, CaCO₃ polymorph transitions, and external ions (NO₃⁻, Cl⁻) is recommended as an early-warning tool for ecosystem disturbances. These results enhance understanding of the coupling between hydrochemical processes and travertine deposition, while offering practical guidance for the conservation and adaptive management of fragile karst landscapes under increasing environmental and tourism pressures.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49644,"journal":{"name":"Quaternary International","volume":"759 ","pages":"Article 110126"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2026-03-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146025357","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"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 vegetation dynamics of the Koobi Fora Basin, East Turkana, Kenya: Insights from phytolith analysis","authors":"Rahab N. Kinyanjui ,&nbsp;Husna K. Mashaka ,&nbsp;Kendra L. Chritz ,&nbsp;Sylvia N. Wemanya ,&nbsp;Emmanuel K. Ndiema ,&nbsp;David R. Braun ,&nbsp;Marion Bamford","doi":"10.1016/j.quaint.2026.110131","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.quaint.2026.110131","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The Koobi Fora Basin is renowned for its rich paleontological and archaeological record. Despite extensive study of earlier periods the Holocene (∼11,7000 years ago to present) sedimentary record, the Galana Boi Formation, remains understudied. This Formation preserves a record of lake-level fluctuation, environmental shifts, and the appearance of the first herders in eastern Africa around ∼5000 years ago. Here we examine Holocene vegetation change using phytolith and chronological data from five archaeological sites. Phytoliths from twenty Holocene, and three modern samples from Ileret, Karari and Koobi Fora were extracted using heavy liquid flotation. All phytoliths encountered were identified and classified.</div><div>Our data show subtle temporal changes in vegetation cover from wooded grasslands in the early Holocene to open wooded grasslands in the mid Holocene. By late Holocene, the; vegetation cover had transitioned to open grassy shrublands. Broadly, the phytolith; assemblages likely reflect local to regional scale vegetation. However, at Karari ridge, intra-site differences suggest localized, small-scale anthropogenic modification, indicated by; elevated abundances of useful taxa, such as palms.</div><div>The phytolith data suggest that climate became progressively drier from 6000 years ago to present, consistent with basin-wide paleoenvironmental reconstruction from leaf wax biomarkers. These ecological changes coincided with shifts in socio-economic subsistence strategies. Early Holocene populations engaged in hunting, gathering, and fishing while the mid Holocene, early pastoralists appear within the basin, but continued to use diverse wild food resources alongside maintaining livestock (caprines and cattle).</div><div>The reduced woody cover density, together with decline in wetland indicators over the past four millennia, gradually transformed the region into sparsely; vegetated landscapes observed today. These changes subsequently shaped and sustained; resilient pastoralist lifeways under increasingly arid conditions.</div><div>An increased sample size and multiproxy approach are crucial for understanding Holocene spatiotemporal human-environment interactions in the Basin and for understanding human resilience to environmental pressures, including unpredictable climate change and contemporary lake-level fluctuations Lake Turkana.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49644,"journal":{"name":"Quaternary International","volume":"759 ","pages":"Article 110131"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2026-03-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145981858","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Deglaciation and the terraces of the River Dee, Scotland","authors":"Simon Allerton","doi":"10.1016/j.quaint.2026.110142","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.quaint.2026.110142","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The terraces of the River Dee record the postglacial history of northeast Scotland. LiDAR data provide high resolution imaging of the geomorphic features, which, combined with field observations and borehole data has allowed the mapping of 112 km of the river valley. The lower river terraces exhibit meandering bedforms, likely formed in the Holocene. The upper terraces correspond to glacial outwash plains, back-stepping towards the west. These braided outwash plains are near-parallel to the riverbed in their distal, downstream sections, but terrace surfaces increase in slope upstream towards the west. Their upstream termination likely represents a stillstand point of the glacier. Two rock basins, at Ballater and at Braemar, each lie upstream of a wedge of ice-contact and distal outwash deposits, and may have marked ephemeral proglacial lakes, filled by lacustrine delta sediments. At least five separate flood deposits have also been identified, attesting to very high energy flooding events (<em>jökulhlaups</em>?) during the Lateglacial and potentially into the Younger Dryas. A model for punctuated glacial retreat in the Dee valley is developed. The evolution of the terraces provides a framework for understanding the paleoenvironment during early human activity in northeast Scotland. Most Mesolithic material is associated with the Lateglacial distal outwash, which would have been elevated terraces cut by a single meandering channel during the Holocene.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49644,"journal":{"name":"Quaternary International","volume":"759 ","pages":"Article 110142"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2026-03-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146025355","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Paleopedogenesis and paleoclimatic changes recorded at the Khonako II loess section, Khovaling Loess Plateau, Southern Tajikistan","authors":"Faeze Talebi ,&nbsp;Farhad Khormali ,&nbsp;Alireza Karimi ,&nbsp;Hossein Tazikeh ,&nbsp;Redzhep Kurbanov ,&nbsp;Jan-Pieter Buylaert","doi":"10.1016/j.quaint.2026.110153","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.quaint.2026.110153","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Loess-paleosol sequences from the Khovaling Loess Plateau serve as a complete sedimentary archive for understanding past climatic changes in Southern Tajikistan during the Pleistocene. To aid in paleoenvironmental interpretation in this region, we present mineralogical analysis, the micromorphological index of soil evolution (MISECA), and physicochemical properties (e.g., clay content, calcium carbonate equivalent, etc.) for the Khonako II loess-paleosol sequence. The Holocene soil and five representative pedocomplexes (PC1, PC2, PC3, PC4, and PC5), separated by loess units (L1, L2, L3, L4, L5, and L6), were selected to reconstruct Late Pleistocene to Holocene paleoclimate changes. Our results indicate that PC5 and PC3 are considered strongly developed pedocomplexes, as evidenced by high clay/silt ratios, intensive carbonate eluviation, and abundant clay coatings. The composition of clay minerals in the paleosols suggests a warmer and wetter paleoclimate during the formation of PC5 and PC3 compared to subsequent interglacials when the other pedocomplexes developed. The increased precipitation is indicated by the weathering of mica and chlorite minerals, as well as pedogenic transformation of smectite and mixed-layer minerals.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49644,"journal":{"name":"Quaternary International","volume":"759 ","pages":"Article 110153"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2026-03-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146174027","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Sedimentological characteristics of four palaeolakes in the Tsakhiurtyn Hundi Lakeland (Gobi Desert, Mongolia)","authors":"Rafał Sikora ,&nbsp;Mirosław Masojć ,&nbsp;Antoni Wójcik ,&nbsp;Patrycja Wójcik-Tabol ,&nbsp;Andrzej Gałaś ,&nbsp;Dominik Pawłowski ,&nbsp;Grzegorz Michalec ,&nbsp;Piotr Moska ,&nbsp;Mirosław Makohonienko ,&nbsp;Józef Szykulski ,&nbsp;Jin Cheul Kim ,&nbsp;Jieun Kwon ,&nbsp;Byambaa Gunchinsuren","doi":"10.1016/j.quaint.2026.110127","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.quaint.2026.110127","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>We describe the sedimentological properties of four palaeolake basins located in the Tsakhiurtyn Hundi Lakeland, situated at the southern edge of the Arts Bogd massif in the Gobi Desert, Mongolia.</div><div>The palaeolakes – Talingaryn Shal, Chavgantsyn Shal, Zuun Khuree, and Luulityn Toirom – are part of the endorheic Shereegiin Gashuun Basin. In this study, we reconstruct the local palaeogeographic and palaeoclimatic conditions from the Pleistocene to the Holocene through integrated field surveys, sedimentological profiling, and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating.</div><div>The sedimentation patterns reflect alternating fluvial, lacustrine and aeolian conditions that correspond to climatic oscillations and hydrological changes. OSL dating indicates that lakes in the region began to form during MIS-6 (138.3 ± 7.5 ka), and markedly expanded during MIS-5, particularly between 104 and 72 ka. The Holocene record shows evidence of episodic aridification, with dry phases dated to approximately 10.6 and 8.6 ka. In the Late Holocene, wetter conditions returned, lasting about 3.6 ka.</div><div>Pollen analysis yielded limited results but recovery of cladoceran (water flea) remains in Lake Zuun Khuree indicates likely seasonality of this water body. These findings underscore the interplay of tectonic subsidence and climate-driven processes in shaping lacustrine systems across southern Mongolia. There is evidence too of early human activity, with archaeological traces being documented near the lake basins studied.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49644,"journal":{"name":"Quaternary International","volume":"758 ","pages":"Article 110127"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2026-03-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145980474","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}