On the origins of Cyprideis torosa (Jones, 1850) and a short biography of Professor T.R. Jones

The original description and taxonomic attribution of Cyprideis torosa (Jones, 1850) is reviewed with reference to the type locality at Grays, Essex, SE England and several of the original specimens are re-illustrated. A short biography of its author, the geologist T.R. Jones, is provided

Reconciling diverse lacustrine and terrestrial system response to penultimate deglacial warming in southern Europe

Unlike the most recent deglaciation, the regional expression of climate changes during the penultimate deglaciation remains understudied, even though it led into a period of excess warmth with estimates of global average temperature 1–2 °C, and sea level ∼6 m, above pre-industrial values. We present the first complete high-resolution southern European diatom record capturing the penultimate glacial-interglacial transition, from Lake Ioannina (northwest Greece). It forms part of a suite of proxies selected to assess the character and phase relationships of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystem response to rapid climate warming, and to resolve apparent conflicts in proxy evidence for regional paleohydrology. The diatom data suggest a complex penultimate deglaciation driven primarily by multiple oscillations in lake level, and provide firm evidence for the regional influence of abrupt changes in North Atlantic conditions. There is diachroneity in lake and terrestrial ecosystem response to warming at the onset of the last interglacial, with an abrupt increase in lake level occurring ∼2.7 k.y. prior to sustained forest expansion with peak precipitation. We identify the potentially important role of direct input of snow melt and glacial meltwater transfer to the subterranean karst system in response to warming, which would cause rising regional groundwater levels. This explanation, and the greater sensitivity of diatoms to subtle changes in temperature, reconciles the divergent lacustrine and terrestrial proxy evidence and highlights the sensitivity of lakes situated in mountainous karstic environments to past climate warming

Vegetation and climate change on the Bolivian Altiplano between 108,000 and 18,000 years ago

A 90,000-yr record of environmental change before 18,000 cal yr B.P. has been constructed using pollen analyses from a sediment core obtained from Salar de Uyuni (3653 m above sea level) on the Bolivian Altiplano. The sequence consists of alternating mud and salt, which reflect shifts between wet and dry periods. Low abundances of aquatic species between 108,000 and 50,000 yr ago (such as Myriophyllum and Isoëtes) and marked fluctuations in Pediastrum suggest generally dry conditions dominated by saltpans. Between 50,000 yr ago and 36,000 cal yr B.P., lacustrine sediments become increasingly dominant. The transition to the formation of paleolake “Minchin” begins with marked rises in Isoëtes and Myriophyllum, suggesting a lake of moderate depth. Similarly, between 36,000 and 26,000 cal yr B.P., the transition to paleolake Tauca is also initiated by rises in Isoëtes and Myriophyllum; the sustained presence of Isoëtes indicates the development of flooded littoral communities associated with a lake maintained at a higher water level. Polylepis tarapacana-dominated communities were probably an important component of the Altiplano terrestrial vegetation during much of the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) and previous wet phases

Selective adsorption of sulfur dioxide in a robust metal-organic framework material

Selective adsorption of SO2 is realized in a porous metal–organic framework material, and in-depth structural and spectroscopic investigations using X-rays, infrared, and neutrons define the underlying interactions that cause SO2 to bind more strongly than CO2 and N2

Middle and Late Pleistocene environmental history of the Marsworth area, south-central England

To elucidate the Middle and Late Pleistocene environmental history of south-central England, we report the stratigraphy, sedimentology, palaeoecology and geochronology of some deposits near the foot of the Chiltern Hills scarp at Marsworth, Buckinghamshire. The Marsworth site is important because its sedimentary sequences contain a rich record of warm stages and cold stages, and it lies close to the Anglian glacial limit. Critical to its history are the origin and age of a brown pebbly silty clay (diamicton) previously interpreted as weathered till. The deposits described infill a river channel incised into chalk bedrock. They comprise clayey, silty and gravelly sediments, many containing locally derived chalk and some with molluscan, ostracod and vertebrate remains. Most of the deposits are readily attributed to periglacial and fluvial processes, and some are dated by optically stimulated luminescence to Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 6. Although our sedimentological data do not discriminate between a glacial or periglacial interpretation of the diamicton, amino-acid dating of three molluscan taxa from beneath it indicates that it is younger than MIS 9 and older than MIS 5e. This makes a glacial interpretation unlikely, and we interpret the diamicton as a periglacial slope deposit. The Pleistocene history reconstructed for Marsworth identifies four key elements: (1) Anglian glaciation during MIS 12 closely approached Marsworth, introducing far-travelled pebbles such as Rhaxella chert and possibly some fine sand minerals into the area. (2) Interglacial environments inferred from fluvial sediments during MIS 7 varied from fully interglacial conditions during sub-stages 7e and 7c, cool temperate conditions during sub-stage 7b or 7a, temperate conditions similar to those today in central England towards the end of the interglacial, and cool temperate conditions during sub-stage 7a. (3) Periglacial activity during MIS 6 involved thermal contraction cracking, permafrost development, fracturing of chalk bedrock, fluvial activity, slopewash, mass movement and deposition of loess and coversand. (4) Fully interglacial conditions during sub-stage 5e led to renewed fluvial activity, soil formation and acidic weathering

A tale of two lakes: droughts, El Niños and major cultural change during the last 5000 years in the Cuzco region of Peru

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Historical biogeography and Late Quaternary environmental change of Lake Pamvotis, Ioannina (north-western Greece): evidence from ostracods

Aim: The purpose of this study is to (1) investigate the Quaternary history of Lake Pamvotis using fossil ostracod faunal and isotopic analyses, and (2) use this fossil evidence to assess the pedigree of the lakes fauna and place it within a regional palaeobiogeographical context. Location: Lake Pamvotis, situated in the Ioannina Basin, NW Greece. Methods: Fossil samples were recovered from a 319 m-long, 500 ka core drilled on the eastern shore of the current lake. Stable isotopic analyses were carried out on ostracod shell calcite. Results: A total of 17 ostracod taxa were recovered, of which 13 occur in the modern lake. Fossil assemblages and corresponding isotopic profiles from the Last (Eemian) Interglacial and Last Glacial-Holocene transition are presented and compared with modern-day data. Some taxa (e.g. Leptocythere sp. A) appear to be lake basin endemics. Main conclusions: The ostracod fauna is typical of temperate, carbonate-rich standing waters and includes both European and Balkan endemic elements. The fossil fauna, coupled with the isotopic data, provides evidence for past lake-level change, including a progressive deepening throughout much of the Last Interglacial and a gradual shallowing throughout the subsequent glacial. This culminated in a distinct interval of low lake-levels at the height of the last glaciation. The Lateglacial witnessed a partial recovery in lake depth, though shallowing occurred once again during the Holocene. The biogeographical affinities of the ostracod fauna, whilst not unequivocal, nevertheless suggest that speciation in the region has been by vicariance and hydrological isolation, probably within the Pleistocene

Duration of last interglacial conditions in northwestern Greece.

A new astronomical calibration method for long pollen records from southern Europe is applied to the last interglacial interval of the Ioannina sequence, northwest Greece. This shows that the last interglacial in this region, as defined by the presence of forest communities, lasted c. 15,500 years, from 127,300 to 111,800 yr B.P. Interglacial conditions developed within marine isotope sub-Stage (MIS) 5e and persisted into MIS 5d, lagging changes in global ice volume

Comparison of two Late Quaternary interglacials using stable isotopes: the record from Lake Pamvotis, Ioannina, NW Greece

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