Pub Date : 2026-02-28Epub Date: 2025-12-19DOI: 10.1016/j.quaint.2025.110095
Alicja Bonk , Claire M. Belcher , Agnieszka Wacnik , Wojciech Tylmann
Palaeofire reconstructions typically rely on quantifying fossil charcoal abundance to estimate fire regimes, but this approach does not provide direct information about the preservation of biomass that burned or the energy release of past fires. Here we combine observations of the degradation state of fossil charcoal, using reflected light microscopy, with measurements of charcoal reflectance. We propose that this combined approach enables: 1) the identification of whether plant material burned in palaeofires was degraded prior to charring or was in a fresh state, and 2) inference of the likely energy regime of palaeofires. To demonstrate the potential of this proxy-based method, we apply it to fossil charcoal extracted from a sediment core from Lake Żabińskie in north-eastern Poland, and integrate the results with pollen data to identify periods when palaeofire regimes were likely dominated by low-intensity litter fires, as opposed to more intense surface or crown fires burning live fuels.
{"title":"Assessing the usage of flammability experiments and charcoal reflectance for interpreting the late Holocene record of fire","authors":"Alicja Bonk , Claire M. Belcher , Agnieszka Wacnik , Wojciech Tylmann","doi":"10.1016/j.quaint.2025.110095","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.quaint.2025.110095","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Palaeofire reconstructions typically rely on quantifying fossil charcoal abundance to estimate fire regimes, but this approach does not provide direct information about the preservation of biomass that burned or the energy release of past fires. Here we combine observations of the degradation state of fossil charcoal, using reflected light microscopy, with measurements of charcoal reflectance. We propose that this combined approach enables: 1) the identification of whether plant material burned in palaeofires was degraded prior to charring or was in a fresh state, and 2) inference of the likely energy regime of palaeofires. To demonstrate the potential of this proxy-based method, we apply it to fossil charcoal extracted from a sediment core from Lake Żabińskie in north-eastern Poland, and integrate the results with pollen data to identify periods when palaeofire regimes were likely dominated by low-intensity litter fires, as opposed to more intense surface or crown fires burning live fuels.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49644,"journal":{"name":"Quaternary International","volume":"756 ","pages":"Article 110095"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2026-02-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145771910","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}
Anghilak Cave in southern Uzbekistan is one of the rare Middle Paleolithic sites associated with a hominin fossil in Central Asia. The radiocarbon dates from the 2002–2004 excavations once indicated that the hominin occupations of this site may have persisted into the Upper Paleolithic time-range (approximately 30–50 ka); we conducted additional research to verify those dates using different techniques and materials. This paper presents new sets of accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dates based on the samples from our renewed excavations between 2013 and 2017. The results suggest that the Middle Paleolithic layers of Anghilak are likely to be earlier than or at least close to the current limit of AMS dating, and they may go back to as early as 55–85 ka. Accordingly, we regard the Anghilak occupations representing a late Middle Paleolithic rather than those involving the Middle-Upper Paleolithic transition or showing a robust example of the late survival of the Middle Paleolithic. At the same time, this new finding helps to develop a better chronology for the Middle Paleolithic hominin occurrences in Central Asia, when different cultural groups may have co-existed.
{"title":"New chronological data for the Middle Paleolithic hominin occupations at Anghilak Cave, Uzbekistan","authors":"Yoshihiro Nishiaki , Otabek Aripdjanov , Michelle Glantz , Toru Tamura , Hiroyuki Kitagawa , Saiji Arai , Terrence Ritzman , Rustam Suleymanov","doi":"10.1016/j.quaint.2025.110096","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.quaint.2025.110096","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Anghilak Cave in southern Uzbekistan is one of the rare Middle Paleolithic sites associated with a hominin fossil in Central Asia. The radiocarbon dates from the 2002–2004 excavations once indicated that the hominin occupations of this site may have persisted into the Upper Paleolithic time-range (approximately 30–50 ka); we conducted additional research to verify those dates using different techniques and materials. This paper presents new sets of accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dates based on the samples from our renewed excavations between 2013 and 2017. The results suggest that the Middle Paleolithic layers of Anghilak are likely to be earlier than or at least close to the current limit of AMS dating, and they may go back to as early as 55–85 ka. Accordingly, we regard the Anghilak occupations representing a late Middle Paleolithic rather than those involving the Middle-Upper Paleolithic transition or showing a robust example of the late survival of the Middle Paleolithic. At the same time, this new finding helps to develop a better chronology for the Middle Paleolithic hominin occurrences in Central Asia, when different cultural groups may have co-existed.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49644,"journal":{"name":"Quaternary International","volume":"756 ","pages":"Article 110096"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2026-02-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145885794","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}
Pub Date : 2026-02-28Epub Date: 2026-01-06DOI: 10.1016/j.quaint.2025.110098
Karol Tylmann , Vincent Rinterknecht , Piotr P. Woźniak , Damian Moskalewicz , Aleksandra Bielicka-Giełdoń
The paper presents new results of glacial landforms mapping and analysis based on high-resolution Digital Elevation Model (DEM), and 10Be surface exposure dating of erratic boulders on the northern fringe of Poland. We aimed to reconstruct the main ice-marginal positions, local ice flow directions and timing of the ice margin retreat during the last deglaciation. A total number of 532 glacial landforms were mapped, including: 274 moraine ridges, 68 subglacial lineations, 74 overridden moraines, 52 eskers, 47 subglacial valleys, 5 subglacial meltwater corridors (SMCs), and 12 ice-marginal valleys. Nine erratic boulders have been dated giving 10Be age range between 2.2 ± 0.5 ka and 17.8 ± 1.8 ka with the most reliable ages between 12.5 ± 1.1 ka and 17.8 ± 1.8 ka. We interpret landforms distribution and obtained 10Be ages together with geomorphological context of dated boulders in six detailed regions located along the east-west transect. Our results suggest that the ice-marginal landsystems across the study area are composed of distinct ice lobes and the ice margin stillstands in the area was tentatively dated to ∼18 ka and most likely younger around Lake Gardno. It is also possible that the timing for the particular ice streams/ice lobes could be diverse from east to west, which largely hinder efforts to correlate ice-marginal belts along the ice sheet and to date them as distinct phases of glaciation/deglaciation, i.e. discrete time intervals.
{"title":"Dynamics of the last ice sheet on the northern fringe of Poland: reconstruction inferred from landform analysis and 10Be surface exposure dating","authors":"Karol Tylmann , Vincent Rinterknecht , Piotr P. Woźniak , Damian Moskalewicz , Aleksandra Bielicka-Giełdoń","doi":"10.1016/j.quaint.2025.110098","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.quaint.2025.110098","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The paper presents new results of glacial landforms mapping and analysis based on high-resolution Digital Elevation Model (DEM), and <sup>10</sup>Be surface exposure dating of erratic boulders on the northern fringe of Poland. We aimed to reconstruct the main ice-marginal positions, local ice flow directions and timing of the ice margin retreat during the last deglaciation. A total number of 532 glacial landforms were mapped, including: 274 moraine ridges, 68 subglacial lineations, 74 overridden moraines, 52 eskers, 47 subglacial valleys, 5 subglacial meltwater corridors (SMCs), and 12 ice-marginal valleys. Nine erratic boulders have been dated giving <sup>10</sup>Be age range between 2.2 ± 0.5 ka and 17.8 ± 1.8 ka with the most reliable ages between 12.5 ± 1.1 ka and 17.8 ± 1.8 ka. We interpret landforms distribution and obtained <sup>10</sup>Be ages together with geomorphological context of dated boulders in six detailed regions located along the east-west transect. Our results suggest that the ice-marginal landsystems across the study area are composed of distinct ice lobes and the ice margin stillstands in the area was tentatively dated to ∼18 ka and most likely younger around Lake Gardno. It is also possible that the timing for the particular ice streams/ice lobes could be diverse from east to west, which largely hinder efforts to correlate ice-marginal belts along the ice sheet and to date them as distinct phases of glaciation/deglaciation, i.e. discrete time intervals.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49644,"journal":{"name":"Quaternary International","volume":"756 ","pages":"Article 110098"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2026-02-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145927438","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}
Pub Date : 2026-02-28Epub Date: 2025-12-30DOI: 10.1016/j.quaint.2025.110103
Nagendra Prasad , Mohammad Firoze Quamar , Maneesha M. E.T. , Pooja Tiwari , Biswajeet Thakur , Anupam Sharma
We provide records of the Indian Summer Monsoon (ISM) variability since ca. 8220 cal yr BP from the Core Monsoon Zone (CMZ), India. The study revealed that between ca. 8220 and 7600 cal yr BP, tree savannah vegetation occupied the landscape under a cool-dry climate, indicating a reduced ISM rainfall. This phase of harsh climate broadly coincides, rather overlaps with the global “8.2 ka cooling event” of the North Atlantic. Visual inspection of the pollen diagram, however, does not reveal a clear signal of the ‘8.2 ka’ event. Lack of robust chronology, coarse sampling resolution (4 cm intervals), pollen preservation bias, and ‘insensitive’ vegetation response to the most severe Holocene cooling event in the Northern Hemisphere could be cited as plausible reasons for the non-detection of the global ‘8.2 ka event’. The ISM gradually evolved during ca. 7600‒4980 cal yr BP, ca. 4980‒3775 cal yr BP, ca. 3775‒920 cal yr BP, and ca. 920 ‒145 cal yr BP, which likely supported open forest vegetation, open-mixed tropical deciduous forests, mixed tropical deciduous forests, and dense mixed tropical deciduous forests, respectively, around the study area. A relatively less intensified ISM rainfall since ca. 145 cal yr BP to the present was suggested, which likely supported mixed tropical deciduous forests in a warm and a relatively less humid climate, around the landscape of the study area in the CMZ, India.
我们提供了印度核心季风带（CMZ）约8220 calyr BP以来的印度夏季风（ISM）变率记录。研究表明，在约8220至7600 cal yr BP之间，热带稀树草原植被在凉爽干燥的气候下占据了景观，表明ISM降雨量减少。这一阶段的恶劣气候与北大西洋的全球“8.2 ka冷却事件”大致重合，甚至重叠。然而，对花粉图的目视检查并没有显示出“8.2 ka”事件的明确信号。缺乏可靠的年代学、粗糙的采样分辨率（4厘米间隔）、花粉保存偏差以及植被对北半球最严重的全新世冷却事件的“不敏感”反应可能是未检测到全球“8.2 ka事件”的合理原因。在大约7600 ~ 4980 cal yr BP、大约4980 ~ 3775 cal yr BP、大约3775 ~ 920 cal yr BP和大约920 ~ 145 cal yr BP，研究区周围可能分别支持开放森林植被、开放混合热带落叶林、混合热带落叶林和茂密混合热带落叶林。从大约145 calyr BP到现在，ISM降水相对较少，这可能支持了印度CMZ研究区周围温暖和相对较少潮湿气候下的混合热带落叶林。
{"title":"Vegetation dynamics, corresponding climate change and Indian Summer Monsoon variability during the Middle-to Late Holocene from the Core Monsoon Zone, India: Reflection of the 8.2 ka event?","authors":"Nagendra Prasad , Mohammad Firoze Quamar , Maneesha M. E.T. , Pooja Tiwari , Biswajeet Thakur , Anupam Sharma","doi":"10.1016/j.quaint.2025.110103","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.quaint.2025.110103","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>We provide records of the Indian Summer Monsoon (ISM) variability since ca. 8220 cal yr BP from the Core Monsoon Zone (CMZ), India. The study revealed that between ca. 8220 and 7600 cal yr BP, tree savannah vegetation occupied the landscape under a cool-dry climate, indicating a reduced ISM rainfall. This phase of harsh climate broadly coincides, rather overlaps with the global “8.2 ka cooling event” of the North Atlantic. Visual inspection of the pollen diagram, however, does not reveal a clear signal of the ‘8.2 ka’ event. Lack of robust chronology, coarse sampling resolution (4 cm intervals), pollen preservation bias, and ‘insensitive’ vegetation response to the most severe Holocene cooling event in the Northern Hemisphere could be cited as plausible reasons for the non-detection of the global ‘8.2 ka event’. The ISM gradually evolved during ca. 7600‒4980 cal yr BP, ca. 4980‒3775 cal yr BP, ca. 3775‒920 cal yr BP, and ca. 920 ‒145 cal yr BP, which likely supported open forest vegetation, open-mixed tropical deciduous forests, mixed tropical deciduous forests, and dense mixed tropical deciduous forests, respectively, around the study area. A relatively less intensified ISM rainfall since ca. 145 cal yr BP to the present was suggested, which likely supported mixed tropical deciduous forests in a warm and a relatively less humid climate, around the landscape of the study area in the CMZ, India.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49644,"journal":{"name":"Quaternary International","volume":"756 ","pages":"Article 110103"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2026-02-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145885230","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}
The Central Equatorial Indian Ocean (CEIO) constitutes a key region for inter-basin water exchange within the Indian Ocean, primarily modulated by the seasonal reversal of the summer and winter monsoons. The CEIO also contributes indirectly to global ocean circulation by linking equatorial Indian Ocean processes with exchanges through the Indonesian Throughflow and to ventilation pathways of the Arabian Sea. In the present investigation, the core location is situated near the Cape Comorin Ridge in the CEIO, and the ridge serves as a topographic barrier that restricts inter-basin water exchange, thereby creating a quasi-isolated regional basin. This quasi-isolation provides a unique natural setting to study localized circulation, water mass transformation, and biogeochemical processes. The deep-sea benthic foraminiferal records of the CEIO shows a high abundance and diversity of uvigerinids since this region is uniquely influenced by a strong oxygen minimum zone, monsoon-driven productivity, and semi-isolated circulation. Uvigerina cocoaensis and its subspecies, recorded from the study area, serve as key bioindicators of past oceanographic and climatic conditions. The observed morphological adaptations reflect environmental changes closely tied to glacial-interglacial cycles. Stratigraphic records obtained through the present investigation further reveal a progressive climatic transition, underscoring the significance of U. cocoaensis as a proxy for reconstructing paleoenvironmental dynamics in the CEIO. This study presents the first comprehensive analysis of U. cocoaensis and its subspecies from the Indian Ocean, drawing the evolutionary trajectory of these species within the CEIO during the Late Pleistocene. Detailed morphometric and taxonomic analyses of U. cocoaensis and its subspecies from this region suggests that the CEIO may have functioned as a quasi-isolated basin during the Late Pleistocene, promoting localized evolutionary processes. Notably, while U. cocoaensis has a long stratigraphic record in the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean dating back to the Tertiary (Eocene), its late Pleistocene expression in the CEIO highlights a distinct regional evolutionary pathway. The appearance (∼85 cal ka BP) and disappearance (∼138 cal ka BP) of U. cocoaensis and its subspecies in the CEIO reflect adaptive responses to oceanographic and climatic perturbations, including shifts in productivity, water mass properties, and oxygenation levels of the region. Thus, their first recovery in the CEIO provides new regional evidence to reconstruct paleoceanographic and paleoclimatic conditions of the area, highlighting the potential of the CEIO as a quasi-isolated regional basin in the marine realm.
中赤道印度洋（CEIO）是印度洋盆地间水交换的关键区域，主要受夏季和冬季季风的季节性逆转调节。CEIO还通过将赤道印度洋过程与印度尼西亚通流的交换以及阿拉伯海的通风通道联系起来，间接地促进了全球海洋环流。在本研究中，核心位置位于CEIO的科摩罗角山脊附近，该山脊作为地形屏障限制了盆地间的水交换，从而形成了一个准孤立的区域盆地。这种准隔离为研究局部循环、水团转化和生物地球化学过程提供了独特的自然环境。CEIO的深海底栖有孔虫记录显示，由于该地区受强氧最小带、季风驱动的生产力和半孤立环流的独特影响，uvigerinids具有较高的丰度和多样性。在研究区记录到的cocouvigerina及其亚种是过去海洋学和气候条件的关键生物指标。观察到的形态适应反映了与冰期-间冰期旋回密切相关的环境变化。通过本研究获得的地层记录进一步揭示了一个渐进的气候转变，强调了U. cocoaensis作为重建CEIO古环境动力学的代表的意义。本研究首次全面分析了来自印度洋的cocoaensis及其亚种，绘制了这些物种在晚更新世期间在CEIO内的进化轨迹。对该地区可可树及其亚种的形态计量学和分类学分析表明，在晚更新世，CEIO可能是一个准孤立的盆地，促进了局部进化过程。值得注意的是，虽然U. cocoaensis在大西洋和太平洋有很长的地层记录，可以追溯到第三纪（始新世），但其在CEIO中的晚更新世表达突出了一个独特的区域进化途径。可可树及其亚种在CEIO的出现（~ 85 cal ka BP）和消失（~ 138 cal ka BP）反映了对海洋和气候扰动的适应性反应，包括该地区生产力、水质量性质和氧合水平的变化。因此，他们在CEIO的首次恢复为重建该地区的古海洋和古气候条件提供了新的区域证据，突出了CEIO作为海洋领域准孤立区域盆地的潜力。
{"title":"Late Pleistocene morphological variability of Uvigerina cocoaensis and its subspecies in the quasi-isolated Central Equatorial Indian Ocean Basin","authors":"Puja Vijay , Neelakantan Ravindran Nisha , Naveen Gandhi","doi":"10.1016/j.quaint.2025.110105","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.quaint.2025.110105","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The Central Equatorial Indian Ocean (CEIO) constitutes a key region for inter-basin water exchange within the Indian Ocean, primarily modulated by the seasonal reversal of the summer and winter monsoons. The CEIO also contributes indirectly to global ocean circulation by linking equatorial Indian Ocean processes with exchanges through the Indonesian Throughflow and to ventilation pathways of the Arabian Sea. In the present investigation, the core location is situated near the Cape Comorin Ridge in the CEIO, and the ridge serves as a topographic barrier that restricts inter-basin water exchange, thereby creating a quasi-isolated regional basin. This quasi-isolation provides a unique natural setting to study localized circulation, water mass transformation, and biogeochemical processes. The deep-sea benthic foraminiferal records of the CEIO shows a high abundance and diversity of uvigerinids since this region is uniquely influenced by a strong oxygen minimum zone, monsoon-driven productivity, and semi-isolated circulation. <em>Uvigerina cocoaensi</em>s and its subspecies, recorded from the study area, serve as key bioindicators of past oceanographic and climatic conditions. The observed morphological adaptations reflect environmental changes closely tied to glacial-interglacial cycles. Stratigraphic records obtained through the present investigation further reveal a progressive climatic transition, underscoring the significance of <em>U. cocoaensis</em> as a proxy for reconstructing paleoenvironmental dynamics in the CEIO. This study presents the first comprehensive analysis of <em>U. cocoaensis</em> and its subspecies from the Indian Ocean, drawing the evolutionary trajectory of these species within the CEIO during the Late Pleistocene. Detailed morphometric and taxonomic analyses of <em>U. cocoaensis</em> and its subspecies from this region suggests that the CEIO may have functioned as a quasi-isolated basin during the Late Pleistocene, promoting localized evolutionary processes. Notably, while <em>U. cocoaensis</em> has a long stratigraphic record in the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean dating back to the Tertiary (Eocene), its late Pleistocene expression in the CEIO highlights a distinct regional evolutionary pathway. The appearance (∼85 cal ka BP) and disappearance (∼138 cal ka BP) of <em>U. cocoaensis</em> and its subspecies in the CEIO reflect adaptive responses to oceanographic and climatic perturbations, including shifts in productivity, water mass properties, and oxygenation levels of the region. Thus, their first recovery in the CEIO provides new regional evidence to reconstruct paleoceanographic and paleoclimatic conditions of the area, highlighting the potential of the CEIO as a quasi-isolated regional basin in the marine realm.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49644,"journal":{"name":"Quaternary International","volume":"756 ","pages":"Article 110105"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2026-02-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145885792","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}
The southern Bay of Bengal (BoB) is a pivotal region for paleoceanographic and paleoclimatic research, owing to its intricate interactions among monsoonal dynamics, ocean circulation, sedimentation patterns, and regional hydrology. Being the northern boundary of the tropical Indian Ocean, the area experiences significant freshwater input from major river systems and is modulated by the seasonal monsoonal wind regime. In this study, we present the first high-resolution, multi-proxy reconstruction of surface hydrographic and climatic variations over the past 44 kyr BP in the southern BoB. Our analysis integrates stable isotope records, planktonic foraminiferal assemblage distributions, textural studies and trace elemental data. The stable isotope records, along with the planktonic foraminiferal species abundances, indicate a strengthened Indian Summer Monsoon (ISM) during Marine Isotope Stages (MIS) 1 and 3, whereas a weakened ISM with predominant northeast monsoon influence during MIS 2. Species such as Globigerinoides ruber, Pulleniatina obliquiloculata, and Neogloboquadrina dutertrei exhibit sensitivity to variations in temperature, salinity, and thermocline depth, displaying distinct responses during major climatic events such as the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), Heinrich Events, and the Younger Dryas. Proxy records reveal rapid deglacial warming coupled with monsoon intensification, while mid-Holocene trends suggest a gradual weakening of the ISM. Cluster and factor analyses effectively differentiate surface, thermocline, and subsurface dwelling foraminiferal species, facilitating comprehensive reconstructions of vertical water column structures. Fluctuations in planktonic/benthic foraminiferal (PF/BF) ratios, along with variations in trace elements such as molybdenum (Mo), vanadium (V), and uranium (U), underscore changes in productivity and bottom-water oxygenation over the last 44 kyr BP in the southern BoB. This comprehensive dataset highlights the intricate interplay between global climatic forces and regional monsoonal variability, which have collectively shaped the paleoceanographic evolution of the southern Bay of Bengal.
{"title":"Foraminiferal and geochemical evidence of the late Quaternary monsoon and oceanographic shifts in the southern Bay of Bengal","authors":"Kavya Aravind , Neelakandan Ravindran Nisha , Naveen Gandhi , Pankaj Kumar","doi":"10.1016/j.quaint.2025.110106","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.quaint.2025.110106","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The southern Bay of Bengal (BoB) is a pivotal region for paleoceanographic and paleoclimatic research, owing to its intricate interactions among monsoonal dynamics, ocean circulation, sedimentation patterns, and regional hydrology. Being the northern boundary of the tropical Indian Ocean, the area experiences significant freshwater input from major river systems and is modulated by the seasonal monsoonal wind regime. In this study, we present the first high-resolution, multi-proxy reconstruction of surface hydrographic and climatic variations over the past 44 kyr BP in the southern BoB. Our analysis integrates stable isotope records, planktonic foraminiferal assemblage distributions, textural studies and trace elemental data. The stable isotope records, along with the planktonic foraminiferal species abundances, indicate a strengthened Indian Summer Monsoon (ISM) during Marine Isotope Stages (MIS) 1 and 3, whereas a weakened ISM with predominant northeast monsoon influence during MIS 2. Species such as <em>Globigerinoides ruber</em>, <em>Pulleniatina obliquiloculata</em>, and <em>Neogloboquadrina dutertrei</em> exhibit sensitivity to variations in temperature, salinity, and thermocline depth, displaying distinct responses during major climatic events such as the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), Heinrich Events, and the Younger Dryas. Proxy records reveal rapid deglacial warming coupled with monsoon intensification, while mid-Holocene trends suggest a gradual weakening of the ISM. Cluster and factor analyses effectively differentiate surface, thermocline, and subsurface dwelling foraminiferal species, facilitating comprehensive reconstructions of vertical water column structures. Fluctuations in planktonic/benthic foraminiferal (PF/BF) ratios, along with variations in trace elements such as molybdenum (Mo), vanadium (V), and uranium (U), underscore changes in productivity and bottom-water oxygenation over the last 44 kyr BP in the southern BoB. This comprehensive dataset highlights the intricate interplay between global climatic forces and regional monsoonal variability, which have collectively shaped the paleoceanographic evolution of the southern Bay of Bengal.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49644,"journal":{"name":"Quaternary International","volume":"756 ","pages":"Article 110106"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2026-02-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145885793","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}
Pub Date : 2026-02-28Epub Date: 2026-01-23DOI: 10.1016/j.quaint.2026.110143
Adrian Marciszak , Grzegorz Lipecki , Małgorzata Kot
Analysis of carnivore remains from Tunel Wielki Cave revealed the presence of highly diversified composition, representing two different faunal assemblages. Carnivores are an admixture of ancient and modern forms, such as Lycaon lycaonoides, Canis lupus mosbachensis, Panthera gombaszogensis gombaszogensis, Homotherium latidens latidens, those whose occurrence dates back 2 mya, and in the case of some forms even over 3 mya. These species are already in decline, and this is one of their last, relic occurrences. For them, the next 50–80 kya will be the time of their final extinction.
At the same time, second faunal assemblage signalised upcoming faunal changes. Among them, Cuon alpinus priscus, Ursus deningeri hercynicus, Ursus arctos taubachensis, Gulo gulo, Martes martes, Mustela putorius, Mustela nivalis, Panthera spelaea fossilis are the species confirming the beginning of the faunal turnover. Within the next 100 kya, all ancient species have disappeared, while those carnivores formed the core of the assemblage that survived with small modifications until the end of the Late Pleistocene.
{"title":"The carnivore great turnover during the Middle Pleistocene and the role of the MIS 12 glaciations in this process","authors":"Adrian Marciszak , Grzegorz Lipecki , Małgorzata Kot","doi":"10.1016/j.quaint.2026.110143","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.quaint.2026.110143","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Analysis of carnivore remains from Tunel Wielki Cave revealed the presence of highly diversified composition, representing two different faunal assemblages. Carnivores are an admixture of ancient and modern forms, such as <em>Lycaon lycaonoides</em>, <em>Canis lupus mosbachensis</em>, <em>Panthera gombaszogensis gombaszogensis</em>, <em>Homotherium latidens latidens</em>, those whose occurrence dates back 2 mya, and in the case of some forms even over 3 mya. These species are already in decline, and this is one of their last, relic occurrences. For them, the next 50–80 kya will be the time of their final extinction.</div><div>At the same time, second faunal assemblage signalised upcoming faunal changes. Among them, <em>Cuon alpinus priscus</em>, <em>Ursus deningeri hercynicus</em>, <em>Ursus arctos taubachensis</em>, <em>Gulo gulo</em>, <em>Martes martes</em>, <em>Mustela putorius</em>, <em>Mustela nivalis</em>, <em>Panthera spelaea fossilis</em> are the species confirming the beginning of the faunal turnover. Within the next 100 kya, all ancient species have disappeared, while those carnivores formed the core of the assemblage that survived with small modifications until the end of the Late Pleistocene.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49644,"journal":{"name":"Quaternary International","volume":"756 ","pages":"Article 110143"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2026-02-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146023607","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}
Pub Date : 2026-02-15Epub Date: 2025-12-16DOI: 10.1016/j.quaint.2025.110080
Annika K. Åberg , Niko Putkinen , Nick Eyles , Juha Davidila , Michal Malinowski
Almost 70 % of drinking water in Finland is derived from groundwater in complex glacial and interglacial sediments. The thick (∼70 m) late Pleistocene stratigraphic infill of an extensive (>200 km2) buried bedrock valley cut into the underlying crystalline strata of the Fennoscandian Shield at Kurikka in west-central Finland hosts a complex aquifer system that will be used for municipal water for some 150 000 people. This paper briefly reports ongoing hydrostratigraphic and hydrogeological modelling work, the largest current groundwater investigation of its kind on Finland, aimed at improved management of this strategic water supply. This study integrates geological and downhole geophysical data (resistivity, susceptibility, natural gamma/gamma-gamma density) from some 211 boreholes including seismic reflection profiling, to develop a 3D hydrostratigraphic model of the valley fill based on some 1412 km of geological cross-sections. 18 unconformity-bounded depositional systems are recognized within the fill that record successive phases of deposition during the penultimate glaciation (Saalian till: DS4, ca. 191–130 ka) resting on an older sediment unit of indeterminate age (DS1–DS3, >200 ka), Saalian ice-marginal deposits (DS5), Saalian composite (DS6 ca. 191–130 ka), a thick composite Late Saalian-Eemian-Early-Weichselian sediment package (DS7, ca. 130–74 ka), Weichselian succession (DS9–DS14, ca. 74–12 ka), Late Weichselian deglaciation (DS15, ca. 11 ka) and Holocene postglacial sediments (DS16–18, 11ka – present day). The modelling approach used here provides a framework for investigation of groundwater resources elsewhere in Finland where detailed studies are needed to address the impacts of future climate change on water resources.
{"title":"3D hydrostratigraphic architecture of a Late Pleistocene buried valley infill at Kurikka, west-central Finland","authors":"Annika K. Åberg , Niko Putkinen , Nick Eyles , Juha Davidila , Michal Malinowski","doi":"10.1016/j.quaint.2025.110080","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.quaint.2025.110080","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Almost 70 % of drinking water in Finland is derived from groundwater in complex glacial and interglacial sediments. The thick (∼70 m) late Pleistocene stratigraphic infill of an extensive (>200 km<sup>2</sup>) buried bedrock valley cut into the underlying crystalline strata of the Fennoscandian Shield at Kurikka in west-central Finland hosts a complex aquifer system that will be used for municipal water for some 150 000 people. This paper briefly reports ongoing hydrostratigraphic and hydrogeological modelling work, the largest current groundwater investigation of its kind on Finland, aimed at improved management of this strategic water supply. This study integrates geological and downhole geophysical data (resistivity, susceptibility, natural gamma/gamma-gamma density) from some 211 boreholes including seismic reflection profiling, to develop a 3D hydrostratigraphic model of the valley fill based on some 1412 km of geological cross-sections. 18 unconformity-bounded depositional systems are recognized within the fill that record successive phases of deposition during the penultimate glaciation (Saalian till: DS4, ca. 191–130 ka) resting on an older sediment unit of indeterminate age (DS1–DS3, >200 ka), Saalian ice-marginal deposits (DS5), Saalian composite (DS6 ca. 191–130 ka), a thick composite Late Saalian-Eemian-Early-Weichselian sediment package (DS7, ca. 130–74 ka), Weichselian succession (DS9–DS14, ca. 74–12 ka), Late Weichselian deglaciation (DS15, ca. 11 ka) and Holocene postglacial sediments (DS16–18, 11ka – present day). The modelling approach used here provides a framework for investigation of groundwater resources elsewhere in Finland where detailed studies are needed to address the impacts of future climate change on water resources.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49644,"journal":{"name":"Quaternary International","volume":"755 ","pages":"Article 110080"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2026-02-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145799195","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}
Pub Date : 2026-02-15Epub Date: 2025-12-19DOI: 10.1016/j.quaint.2025.110088
Levi Caires Nascimento , João Paulo da Costa , Annie Schmaltz Hsiou , Gabriela Alves Lage , André Vieira Araújo , Luciano Artemio Leal , Alexander Cherkinsky , Mário André Trindade Dantas
This study presents a detailed analysis of fossilized remains of Boa sp. from the Late Pleistocene, recovered from Toca do Angico in the municipality of Campo Formoso, Bahia, Brazil. The material consists of 29 precloacal vertebrae, representing one of the most numerous Pleistocene assemblages described for the genus in the country. The morphological analysis allowed for a confident taxonomic identification at the generic level, based on a diagnostic set of vertebral characters typical of Boidae and consistent with Boa, although specific-level resolution was not possible due to the lack of reliable osteological differences among species of the genus. Body-size estimates indicate a moderately large individual, with a mean snout–vent length of approximately 2.67 m and an estimated total body length of about 2.96 m, values that exceed the average recorded for most modern individuals but remain within the known limits for the genus. Radiocarbon dating of the specimen yielded a calibrated age between 42,422 and 42,701 cal yr BP. The δ13C value (−7.5 ‰), associated with a low piC3 (0.25), indicates that the individual inhabited open environments dominated by C4 vegetation and fed predominantly on prey isotopically linked to this type of plant cover. Together, these data reinforce the presence of open savanna environments in the interior of northeastern Brazil during the Late Pleistocene. This study expands current knowledge on the distribution, ecology, and paleoenvironmental context of Boa sp., while also highlighting the importance of karst systems for the preservation of the Quaternary fossil record.
本研究对巴西巴伊亚州Campo Formoso市Toca do Angico市发现的晚更新世Boa sp.化石遗骸进行了详细分析。该材料由29个腔前椎骨组成，代表了该国描述的该属最多的更新世组合之一。形态学分析基于Boidae典型的椎体特征诊断集，并与Boa一致，在属水平上进行了自信的分类学鉴定，尽管由于缺乏可靠的骨学差异，特定水平的分辨率是不可能的。体型估计表明这是一个中等大小的个体，平均口鼻长度约为2.67米，估计总体长约为2.96米，这些值超过了大多数现代个体的平均记录，但仍在该属的已知范围内。该标本的放射性碳定年得出的校准年龄在42,422至42,701 calyr BP之间。δ13C值（- 7.5‰）与较低的piC3值（0.25）相关，表明个体生活在以C4植被为主的开阔环境中，主要以与C4植被相关的猎物为食。总之，这些数据加强了晚更新世期间巴西东北部内陆开放稀树草原环境的存在。本研究扩展了对蟒蛇分布、生态和古环境背景的现有认识，同时也强调了喀斯特系统对保存第四纪化石记录的重要性。
{"title":"Fossil record, radiocarbon dating (14C AMS) and isotopic paleoecology (δ13C) of Boa sp. Linnaeus, 1758 from the Late Pleistocene of Bahia, Brazil","authors":"Levi Caires Nascimento , João Paulo da Costa , Annie Schmaltz Hsiou , Gabriela Alves Lage , André Vieira Araújo , Luciano Artemio Leal , Alexander Cherkinsky , Mário André Trindade Dantas","doi":"10.1016/j.quaint.2025.110088","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.quaint.2025.110088","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study presents a detailed analysis of fossilized remains of <em>Boa</em> sp. from the Late Pleistocene, recovered from Toca do Angico in the municipality of Campo Formoso, Bahia, Brazil. The material consists of 29 precloacal vertebrae, representing one of the most numerous Pleistocene assemblages described for the genus in the country. The morphological analysis allowed for a confident taxonomic identification at the generic level, based on a diagnostic set of vertebral characters typical of Boidae and consistent with <em>Boa</em>, although specific-level resolution was not possible due to the lack of reliable osteological differences among species of the genus. Body-size estimates indicate a moderately large individual, with a mean snout–vent length of approximately 2.67 m and an estimated total body length of about 2.96 m, values that exceed the average recorded for most modern individuals but remain within the known limits for the genus. Radiocarbon dating of the specimen yielded a calibrated age between 42,422 and 42,701 cal yr BP. The <em>δ</em><sup>13</sup>C value (−7.5 ‰), associated with a low <em>p</em><sub><em>i</em></sub>C<sub>3</sub> (0.25), indicates that the individual inhabited open environments dominated by C<sub>4</sub> vegetation and fed predominantly on prey isotopically linked to this type of plant cover. Together, these data reinforce the presence of open savanna environments in the interior of northeastern Brazil during the Late Pleistocene. This study expands current knowledge on the distribution, ecology, and paleoenvironmental context of <em>Boa</em> sp., while also highlighting the importance of karst systems for the preservation of the Quaternary fossil record.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49644,"journal":{"name":"Quaternary International","volume":"755 ","pages":"Article 110088"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2026-02-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145799196","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}
Pub Date : 2026-02-15Epub Date: 2025-12-25DOI: 10.1016/j.quaint.2025.110087
Brian T. Wygal , Kathryn E. Krasinski , Lillian Barber , Charles E. Holmes , Barbara A. Crass
In the middle Tanana Valley of central Alaska, the Holzman archaeological site is located along Shaw Creek's west bank. For the last three decades, the Tanana Valley has been the focus of intense Late Pleistocene archaeological and geological investigations into the interaction between the First Alaskans and Ice Age megafauna, particularly woolly mammoth. Archaeological excavations at the Holzman site have uncovered expedient tools on local quartz with well-preserved hearths, avifauna, and megafauna. Evidence for cooking and ivory tool manufacture dated to 14,000 years ago (14 ka) in component 5b (C5b) has been demonstrated—making Holzman among the earliest sites in the Americas. In the 13.7 ka C5a, an extensive workshop event left abundant local quartz artifacts behind, the by-product of mammoth ivory reduction and manufacture of ivory blanks or preforms, and the earliest known ivory rod tools in the Americas. The Holzman site contributes new information to a growing archaeological record of the middle Tanana Valley during the Late Glacial period. Based on current evidence, the confluence of Shaw Creek with the Tanana River was especially active during the initial arrival of Indigenous people. The subsequent selection of local quartz, cherts, and siltstone occurred with a particular focus on the harvest of woolly mammoth ivory. The evidence suggests a late southern migration by ancestral Clovis people south of the continental ice sheets into the mid-continental North America sometime between 14-13 ka.
在阿拉斯加中部的塔纳纳山谷中部，霍尔兹曼考古遗址位于肖溪西岸。在过去的三十年里，塔纳纳山谷一直是晚更新世考古和地质调查的焦点，研究第一阿拉斯加人和冰河时代巨型动物，特别是长毛象之间的相互作用。在霍尔兹曼遗址的考古发掘中，发现了当地石英上的权宜之计工具，这些石英上有保存完好的壁炉、鸟类和巨型动物。在14000年前（14ka）的第5b部分（C5b），已经证明了烹饪和象牙工具制造的证据-使霍尔兹曼成为美洲最早的遗址之一。在13.7 ka C5a，大规模的车间活动留下了大量的当地石英文物，这是猛犸象牙还原和制造象牙坯或预制件的副产品，以及美洲已知最早的象牙棒工具。霍尔兹曼遗址为晚期冰川期中部塔纳纳山谷的考古记录提供了新的信息。根据目前的证据，肖溪与塔纳纳河的汇合处在土著居民最初到达时特别活跃。随后对当地石英、燧石和粉砂岩的选择特别侧重于长毛象象牙的收获。证据表明，克洛维斯人的祖先在14-13 ka之间的某个时间，从大陆冰盖以南向北美大陆中部迁移。
{"title":"Stone and mammoth ivory tool production, circulation, and human dispersals in the middle Tanana Valley, Alaska: Implications for the Pleistocene peopling of the Americas","authors":"Brian T. Wygal , Kathryn E. Krasinski , Lillian Barber , Charles E. Holmes , Barbara A. Crass","doi":"10.1016/j.quaint.2025.110087","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.quaint.2025.110087","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In the middle Tanana Valley of central Alaska, the Holzman archaeological site is located along Shaw Creek's west bank. For the last three decades, the Tanana Valley has been the focus of intense Late Pleistocene archaeological and geological investigations into the interaction between the First Alaskans and Ice Age megafauna, particularly woolly mammoth. Archaeological excavations at the Holzman site have uncovered expedient tools on local quartz with well-preserved hearths, avifauna, and megafauna. Evidence for cooking and ivory tool manufacture dated to 14,000 years ago (14 ka) in component 5b (C5b) has been demonstrated—making Holzman among the earliest sites in the Americas. In the 13.7 ka C5a, an extensive workshop event left abundant local quartz artifacts behind, the by-product of mammoth ivory reduction and manufacture of ivory blanks or preforms, and the earliest known ivory rod tools in the Americas. The Holzman site contributes new information to a growing archaeological record of the middle Tanana Valley during the Late Glacial period. Based on current evidence, the confluence of Shaw Creek with the Tanana River was especially active during the initial arrival of Indigenous people. The subsequent selection of local quartz, cherts, and siltstone occurred with a particular focus on the harvest of woolly mammoth ivory. The evidence suggests a late southern migration by ancestral Clovis people south of the continental ice sheets into the mid-continental North America sometime between 14-13 ka.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49644,"journal":{"name":"Quaternary International","volume":"755 ","pages":"Article 110087"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2026-02-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145841923","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}
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