Editorial: Quaternary revolutions

PublishedEditorialJournalEditorialThe QRA@50 meeting was organized by a team of people including the editors, John Catt, Catherine Souch, Tom Hill, Danni Pearce and a team of postgraduates and staff from the Royal Geographical Society-Institute of British Geographers (RGS-IBG). It was made possible by support from a number of sponsors, including RGS-IBG, van Walt, Beta Analytic Ltd, the Natural History Museum, Wiley-Blackwell and C3W (Climate Change Consortium of Wales). We would like to thank the reviewers of all the papers for their comments and suggested improvements to the papers

Muscle damage response in female collegiate athletes following repeated sprint activity

Exercise induced muscle damage (EIMD) is a well-investigated area, however there is a paucity of data surrounding the damage response in females. The aim of this study was to examine the damage responses from a sport-specific bout of repeated sprints in female athletes. Eleven well-trained females (mean ± SD; age 22 ± 3 y, height 166.6 ± 5.7 cm, mass 62.7 ± 4.5 kg) in the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle completed a repeated sprint protocol designed to induce EIMD (15 × 30 m sprints). Creatine kinase (CK), countermovement jump height (CMJ), knee extensor maximum voluntary contraction force (MVIC), muscle soreness (DOMS), 30 m sprint time and limb girth were recorded pre, post, 24 h, 48 h and 72 h post exercise. CK was elevated at 24, 48 and 72 h (p < 0.05), peaking at 24 h (+418%) and returning towards baseline at 72 h. CMJ height was reduced immediately post, 24 and 48 h (p < 0.05). Sprint performance was also negatively affected immediately post, 24 h, 48 h and 72 h post exercise. Muscle soreness peaked at 48 h (p<0.01) and remained significantly elevated at 72 h post exercise (p<0.01). Limb girth and MVIC did not alter over time. The current study provides new information on the EIMD response in trained females following a sport specific bout of repeated sprints. Importantly, this damage response has the potential to negatively affect performance for several days post-exercise

Terrestrial implications for the maritime geoarchaeological resource: A view from the Lower Palaeolithic

Stone tools and faunal remains have been recovered from the English Channel and the North Sea through trawling, dredging for aggregates, channel clearance, and coring. These finds highlight the potential for a maritime Lower Palaeolithic archaeological resource. It is proposed here that any Lower Palaeolithic artefacts, faunal remains, and sediments deposited in the maritime zone during dry, low-stand phases were once (and may still be) contextually similar to their counterparts in the terrestrial Lower Palaeolithic records of north-western Europe. Given these similarities, can interpretive models and analytical frameworks developed for terrestrial archaeology be profitably applied to an assessment of the potential value of any maritime resource? The terrestrial geoarchaeological resource for the Lower Palaeolithic is dominated by artefacts and ecofacts that have been fluvially reworked. The spatio-temporal resolution of these data varies from entire river valleys and marine isotope stages to river channel gravel bar surfaces and decadal timescales, thus supporting a variety of questions and approaches. However, the structure of the terrestrial resource also highlights two fundamental limitations in current maritime knowledge that can restrict the application of terrestrial approaches to any potential maritime resource: (i) how have the repetitive transgressions and regressions of the Middle and Late Pleistocene modified the terrace landforms and sediments associated with the river systems of the English Channel and southern North Sea basins?; and (ii) do the surviving submerged terrace landforms and fluvial sedimentary deposits support robust geochronological models, as is the case with the classical terrestrial terrace sequences? This paper highlights potential approaches to these questions, and concludes that the fluvial palaeogeography, Pleistocene fossils, and potential Lower Palaeolithic artefacts of the maritime geoarchaeological resource can be profitably investigated in future as derived, low-resolution data sets, facilitating questions of colonisation, occupation, demography, and material culture

Luminescence Dating in Fluvial Settings: Overcoming the Challenge of Partial Bleaching

Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating is a versatile technique that utilises the two most ubiquitous minerals on Earth (quartz or K-feldspar) for constraining the timing of sediment deposition. It has provided accurate ages in agreement with independent age control in many fluvial settings, but is often characterised by partial bleaching of individual grains. Partial bleaching can occur where sunlight exposure is limited and so only a portion of the grains in the sample was exposed to sunlight prior to burial, especially in sediment-laden, turbulent or deep water columns. OSL analysis on multiple grains can provide accurate ages for partially bleached sediments where the OSL signal intensity is dominated by a single brighter grain, but will overestimate the age where the OSL signal intensity is equally as bright (often typical of K-feldspar) or as dim (sometimes typical of quartz). In such settings, it is important to identify partial bleaching and the minimum dose population, preferably by analysing single grains, and applying the appropriate statistical age model to the dose population obtained for each sample. To determine accurate OSL ages using these age models, it is important to quantify the amount of scatter (or overdispersion) in the well-bleached part of the partially bleached dose distribution, which can vary between sediment samples depending upon the bedrock sources and transport histories of grains. Here, we discuss how the effects of partial bleaching can be easily identified and overcome to determine accurate ages. This discussion will therefore focus entirely on the burial dose determination for OSL dating, rather than the dose-rate, as only the burial doses are impacted by the effects of partial bleaching

Growth and retreat of the last British–Irish Ice Sheet, 31 000 to 15 000 years ago: the BRITICE-CHRONO reconstruction

The BRITICE-CHRONO consortium of researchers undertook a dating programme to constrain the timing of advance, maximum extent and retreat of the British?Irish Ice Sheet between 31?000 and 15?000?years before present. The dating campaign across Ireland and Britain and their continental shelves, and across the North Sea included 1500?days of field investigation yielding 18?000?km of marine geophysical data, 377 cores of sea floor sediments, and geomorphological and stratigraphical information at 121 sites on land; generating 690 new geochronometric ages. These findings are reported in 28 publications including synthesis into eight transect reconstructions. Here we build ice sheet-wide reconstructions consistent with these findings and using retreat patterns and dates for the inter-transect areas. Two reconstructions are presented, a wholly empirical version and a version that combines modelling with the new empirical evidence. Palaeoglaciological maps of ice extent, thickness, velocity, and flow geometry at thousand-year timesteps are presented. The maximum ice volume of 1.8?m sea level equivalent occurred at 23?ka. A larger extent than previously defined is found and widespread advance of ice to the continental shelf break is confirmed during the last glacial. Asynchrony occurred in the timing of maximum extent and onset of retreat, ranging from 30 to 22?ka. The tipping point of deglaciation at 22?ka was triggered by ice stream retreat and saddle collapses. Analysis of retreat rates leads us to accept our hypothesis that the marine-influenced sectors collapsed rapidly. First order controls on ice-sheet demise were glacio-isostatic loading triggering retreat of marine sectors, aided by glaciological instabilities and then climate warming finished off the smaller, terrestrial ice sheet. Overprinted on this signal were second order controls arising from variations in trough topographies and with sector-scale ice geometric readjustments arising from dispositions in the geography of the landscape. These second order controls produced a stepped deglaciation. The retreat of the British?Irish Ice Sheet is now the world?s most well-constrained and a valuable data-rich environment for improving ice-sheet modelling

Optically stimulated luminescence dating as a geochronological tool for late quaternary sediments in the Red Sea region

This chapter concerns the use of luminescence methods as geochronological tools for dating Late Quaternary sediments in the Red Sea region. The dating methods all use stimulated luminescence to register signals developed in mineral systems in response to long term exposure to ionising radiation in the environment. The principles of luminescence dating are outlined followed by discussion of its application to the Arabian Peninsula, where, particularly in SE Arabia and parts of the interior, a growing corpus of work is emerging, which is helping to define past arid or humid periods of importance to palaeoclimatology and to archaeology. Turning to the Red Sea, studies conducted within the DISPERSE project are presented both in marine and terrestrial settings. The motivation for much of this work concerns definition of the environmental conditions and chronologies for hominin and human dispersion through Arabia. Data are presented which identify, for the first time, late Pleistocene evidence on the inner continental shelf near the Farasan Islands, using material from the 2013 cruise of RV AEGAEO . Results are also presented from the littoral fringe of southwest Saudi Arabia, identifying units associated with MIS5 which have palaeo-environmental and archaeological significance. It is to be hoped that further research in coming decades will continue to extend the regional chronology for the littoral fringe of the Red Sea. In this respect luminescence dating has potential to help define the environmental history of this important area, to assist with assigning marine and terrestrial features into unique stages of Quaternary climate cycles, and to promote better understanding of human-environment interactions in this dynamic area

Combining ground penetrating radar surveys and optical dating to determine dune migration in Namibia

Ground penetrating radar (GPR) profiles across a complex linear dune in the Namib Sand Sea have been used to image sets of cross-stratification and their bounding surfaces. A combination of radar facies analysis and radar stratigraphy has been used to interpret the radar profiles and define a relative chronology. Thick sets of cross-stratification indicate when the dune was most active, whereas thin sets of cross-stratification are interpreted to indicate the increased prevalence of wind reversals and lower rates of dune migration, with bounding surfaces formed during periods of stabilization, non-deposition or erosion. A drilling and dating campaign was designed on the basis of the dune stratigraphy as defined by the GPR survey. Sampling was targeted at large sets of cross-stratification formed when the dunes were most active, and avoiding bounding surfaces formed when the dune was stable or even eroded. The results from optical dating give ages between 0.34 ± 0.02 ka and 1.57 ± 0.07 ka, indicating a time-averaged dune migration rate of 0.12 m a−1 over the past 1600 years

Apparent OSL ages of modern deposits from Fåbergstølsdalen, Norway : implications for sampling glacial sediments

This work was funded by NERC, grant number F008589/1The application of optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating within glacial settings can be limited where sediments have not had their OSL signal fully reset by sunlight exposure. Heterogeneous bleaching can result in age overestimations, and although it is recognized that certain depositional settings are more likely to have experienced sufficient sunlight exposure to bleach the OSL signal, no comprehensive study has empirically investigated the processes of sediment bleaching, or the variability in bleaching between deposits of the same type and within the same glacial catchment. A suite of modern glacial and glaciofluvial sediments from Fåbergstølsdalen, southern Norway, have been analysed to explore the controls that sedimentary processes and depositional setting have on bleaching of the OSL signal of quartz. There is considerable variability in the residual OSL ages of similar modern deposits, which reflects high sensitivity of the OSL signal to sediment source, sedimentary process, transport distance and depositional setting. Overdispersion values are greatest for the sediments which have been most heterogeneously bleached and these sediments have the lowest residual ages. Sampling strategies that incorporate sufficient consideration of the depositional framework of sample settings can minimize the effects of unbleached residuals on OSL age determinations.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe