As an ecotone, the region between the Amazon Rainforest and Tropical Savanna (Cerrado) biomes is, by definition, more susceptible to climate change. Therefore, understanding palaeoenvironmental dynamics is essential to address the future responses of such transition areas to climatic fluctuations. In this context, we present a new sediment record for the Late-Holocene retrieved from Barro-Preto, currently

This paper presents a reconstruction of the Holocene evolution of the Inskip Peninsula in SE Queensland. The peninsula links two major dune fields, the Cooloola Sand Mass to the south and K’gari (Fraser Island) to the north. Geomorphic features of this peninsula include remnant parabolic dunes, numerous beach ridges with foredunes, and a series of spits. Together these features provide insight into

The dynamics of the East Asian Summer Monsoon (EASM) and their link to past societies during the Holocene are topics of growing interest. In this study, we present results of pollen, geochemistry, and grain-size analyses from the STP18-03 core sampled from Miryang in the Korean Peninsula, which spans ca. 8.3–2.3 ka BP. In-phase relationships of these proxies revealed an imprint of the Holocene Climate

Relative sea-level (RSL) records from far-field regions distal from ice sheets remain poorly understood, particularly in the early Holocene. Here, we extended the Holocene RSL data from Singapore by producing early Holocene sea-level index points (SLIPs) and limiting dates from a new ~40 m sediment core. We merged new and published RSL data to construct a standardized Singapore RSL database consisting

Rice is among the world’s most important and ancient domesticated crops. However, the spatial and temporal pattern of the early rice domestication process remains unclear due to the lack of systematic study of wild/domesticated rice remains and corresponding dates during the early Holocene. Here, we collected 248 samples from five typical Shangshan cultural sites in the lower Yangtze region where is

Early studies on the evolution of glaciers argue that the warm Early Holocene transitioned into a Late-Holocene Neoglacial, with numerous glacial advances due to decreasing solar forcing in the boreal summer. The assumption of decreasing temperatures based on the glacier studies was supported by several proxy-based reconstructions as well as by simulations. Under the keyword “Holocene temperature conundrum”

This paper documents the Late-Holocene environmental changes and human presence in the northern Danube delta using a multidisciplinary approach that combines geoscientific data with archaeological findings, historical texts, and maps. It follows the formation and progression of the Chilia distributary and the reconfiguration of socioeconomic activities. Sedimentary facies identified on five new cores

The East Asian Winter Monsoon (EAWM) is a fundamental part of the global monsoon system that affects nearly one-quarter of the world’s population. Robust paleoclimate reconstructions in East Asia are complicated by multiple sources of precipitation. These sources, such as the EAWM and typhoons, need to be disentangled in order to understand the dominant source of precipitation influencing the past

Quantifying the relative influences of anthropogenic activities and climate change on soil erosion and deposition during the Holocene, when both forces have been interacting is a complex problem. Analysis of long-term patterns in soil erosion and lake deposition in a basin can provide the basis for untangling the complexities of climate and anthropogenic forcings. In this paper, sedimentary sequences

The paper is focused on changes in biodiversity, the environment, and human activity in the Uvs Nuur Basin during the last three millennia based on biological and geochemical proxies from the lake Bayan Nuur. Regions with high biodiversity and relatively low anthropogenic pressures are typically the most vulnerable to both climate change and human activities. One such area is the Uvs Nuur Basin located

Reconstructing pre-industrial hurricane activity and aridity from natural archives places modern trends within the context of long-term natural variability. The first reconstruction of Atlantic hurricane activity in Jamaica was based on a sediment record previously obtained from a coastal lagoon. Specifically, an Extended Hurricane Activity (EHA) index was developed from high-resolution geochemical

South American camelids (SAC) have occupied a central role in the development of Andean societies. They are widely distributed in South America and since ancient times are an important factor in Andean economies and social and ritual life. The archaeological site Punta de Peña 4 (PP4) is located in Antofagasta de la Sierra Basin (Southern Puna of Argentina). PP4 is a rock overhang and presents a large

The Alps are an important hotspot of species diversity and endemism, as well as a presumed glacial refugium of several species’ groups including land snails. The recent ranges of Alpine endemics are well known, but their fluctuations during the postglacial period mirroring local climate changes are understudied. By analysing five Late Glacial and Holocene mollusc successions from two areas in the southernmost

The existence of freshwater ferromanganese concretions has been known for decades, but we are not aware of a generally accepted explanation for their formation, and there has been little research into their potential use as records of Holocene climate and paleohydrology. A conceptual model is presented to describe the environmental and geochemical processes which result in the formation and growth

In this study, Holocene humification records were derived from four ombrotrophic peatlands to investigate the millennial-scale and decadal-centennial-scale variability of peat decomposition and to explore the paleoclimatic and paleohydrological implications. After eliminating the species-specific and site-specific noise and removing the time-dependency effect for each of four peat sequences, the averaged

The paleolimnological record of diatoms and climate, spanning the last 2800 years, was investigated in a small subarctic lake (Pocket Lake) that from AD 1948 to 2004 was contaminated by gold smelting waste. An age-depth model was constructed using a combination of 210Pb, 14C, and tephra to determine a 2800 year history of lake ontogeny (natural aging), biological diversity, and regional climate variability

The scarcity of middle Holocene radiocarbon dates in different regions of the Andes has been interpreted as an indicator of discontinuity in human occupations in response to adverse environmental conditions due to marked aridity. In the subtropical Andes of north-central Chile and adjacent areas, this paucity has been detected in radiocarbon ages between 8000 and 6000 cal BP. A systematic programme

Paleoclimate reconstructions for the western US show spatial variability in the timing, duration, and magnitude of climate changes within the Medieval Climate Anomaly (MCA, ca. 900–1350 CE) and Little Ice Age (LIA, ca. 1350–1850 CE), indicating that additional data are needed to more completely characterize late-Holocene climate change in the region. Here, we use dendrochronology to investigate how

The European climate during the Holocene period is characterised by frequent changes of temperature and precipitation. The North Atlantic plays a major role as a driver for European climate and is a dominant precipitation source, particularly for the western European and north African realm. Atmospheric pressure gradients over the Atlantic (North Atlantic Oscillation, NAO), Atlantic circulation patterns

The Aneto, located on the Maladeta Massif (Central Pyrenees), is the largest glacier of the Pyrenees. The glacier is 675 m long, occupies an area of 48.64 ha and has a maximum altitude of 3269 m. In this study, we present a detailed area, volume, ice thickness, and Equilibrium Line Altitude reconstruction of the glacier for different periods (LIA, 1957, 1983, 2000, 2006, 2015, and 2017) and analyze

Rock varnish is a manganiferous dark coating accreted on subaerially exposed rocks in drylands. It often contains a layered microstratigraphy that records past wetness variations. Varnish samples from latest Pleistocene and Holocene geomorphic features in the Lake Turkana basin, East Africa display a regionally replicable microstratigraphy record of Holocene millennial-scale wetness variability and

Over the last few decades – at a range of northern sites – changes in tree-ring width and latewood density have not followed mean summertime temperature fluctuations. This discrepancy sharply contrasts an earlier correlation between those variables. As the origin of this inconsistency has not been fully deciphered, questions have emerged regarding the use of tree-ring width and latewood density as

Volcanic eruptions can have a significant influence on adjacent ecosystems; however, little is known about the long-term vegetation change related to eruptions. In this study, we examined phytolith records in paleosols at multiple sites in the southern Kyushu District, Japan, to assess the influence of the Kikai caldera eruption 7300 years ago on vegetation. Our results show the vegetational difference

Pollen analysis and radiocarbon dating of a 1.4 m deep lacustrine sediment profile from Chhattisgarh State, central India, in the core monsoon zone (CMZ), has revealed the vegetation history, associated climate change and the Indian Summer Monsoon (ISM) rainfall variability during the Late-Holocene. The pollen evidence suggests that between ca. 3000 and 2600 cal year BP, tree-savannah vegetation occurred

Typhoon is an important meteorological phenomenon that affects the living and development of human beings on the southern China coast. However, there is still lack of clarity in the paleo-typhoon history and its influence on the evolution of the ancient human settlement environment since the mid-Holocene. Here, we identify six typhoon-like deposits from a core retrieved from the northern South China

During the past decades, the elongated mud belt, 1000 km length, in the inner shelf of the East China Sea (ECS), has been extensively studied. Previous studies mainly focused on the northern part of the mud belt. There are still many arguments on various issues of the mud belt, including the provenance discrimination, the formation mechanism, and its evolution response to climate and environmental

Holocene paleoecological studies in tropical Africa are rare because most lakes either dried out at the termination of the African Humid Period or have since filled up. However, tropical sedge marshes can be an alternative to perform long-term ecological studies. The Lopé National Park (LNP) in Gabon is a mosaic of forest and savanna enclosed in the equatorial forest, where open areas facilitated the

The Garigliano alluvial-coastal plain, at the Latium-Campania border (Italy), witnessed a long-lasting history of human-environment interactions, as demonstrated by the rich archaeological knowledge. With the aim of reconstructing the evolution of the landscape and its interaction with human activity during the last millennia, new pollen results from the coastal sector of the Garigliano Plain were

To understand the resilience of African savannas to global change, quantitative information on the long-term dynamics of vegetation is required. Past dynamics can be reconstructed with the REVEALS model, which requires pollen productivity estimates (PPE) that are calibrated using surface pollen and vegetation data. Here we calculated PPE values for five savanna taxa using the extended R-value (ERV)

Glaciers on the Tibetan Plateau (TP) are reliable water sources for Asia. Continuously high-resolution and high-accuracy long-term glacier fluctuations have been examined to improve the reliability of predictions regarding future TP glacier behavior under global climate change. In this study, we analyzed physiochemical parameters in typical glaciolacustrine sediments to reconstruct multidecadal activities

Climate variability can induce rapid changes in peatland ecosystems, affecting both carbon cycling and vegetation succession. Diatoms are an important group of ubiquitous and diverse algae in peatlands. Until now, the responses of diatom communities to climate variability have rarely been explored in peatlands, especially in subtropical regions. In this study, monitoring and paleolimnological datasets

Various sediment properties, such as mean grain size, total organic carbon, total nitrogen, C/N ratio, CaCO3, and biogenic opal content, were analyzed for a box core (BC02; 45 cm long) and a gravity core (GC02; 628 cm long), which were collected from the western margin of the Hupo Trough located off the eastern coast of Korea. The study area has been affected by the East Korea Warm Current (EKWC),

Bucket dredging to mine and extract gold and tin from rivers is a global industry that has had a range of negative effects on physical environments. These include the destruction of riparian soil profiles and structures, artificial channel straightening and loss of in-stream biodiversity. In this paper we evaluate the immediate effects and long-term consequences of bucket dredging on rivers in Victoria

Imaging of charcoal particles extracted from lake sediments provides an important way to understand past fire regimes. Imaging of large numbers of particles can be time consuming. In this note we explore the effects of subsampling and extrapolation of area on estimates of sum charcoal area, using resampling of real and simulated data sets and propose a protocol in which all particles are counted with

Anthropogenic stressors to freshwater environments have perpetuated water quality and quantity challenges for communities across Arctic Canada, making drinking water resources a primary concern for northern peoples. To understand the ecological trajectory of lakes used as freshwater supply, we conducted a paleolimnological assessment on two supplemental sources in Igloolik, Nunavut, Arctic Canada.

Megafires in dry conifer forests of the Southwest US are driving transitions to alternative vegetative states, including extensive shrubfields dominated by Gambel oak (Quercus gambelii). Recent tree-ring research on oak shrubfields that predate the 20th century suggests that these are not a seral stage of conifer succession but are enduring stable states that can persist for centuries. Here we combine

Dawson AG, Kirkbride MP and Cole H (2021) Atmospheric effects in Scotland of the AD 1783–84 Laki eruption in Iceland. The Holocene. Published OnlineFirst 28 January 2021. doi: 10.1177/0959683620988052.

Pollen data were collected from a one-meter peat succession recovered from the top of the Tropea Promontory (Calabria), a territory continuously inhabited throughout Prehistory and Protohistory. The peat was deposited in a small pond/marsh that was gradually filled up. Six 14C dates allowed the peat growth to be constrained to between ca. 3000 and 1000 calBC. Considerable landscape and land use changes

We present results of multiproxy analysis of a sediment core collected from Billy Slope Meadow, a spring-fed wet meadow in Range Creek Canyon, Utah. Range Creek Canyon was the home to Fremont maize farmers between roughly 1200 and 800 cal BP (AD 750–1150). Stable carbon isotope analysis of core sediments from Billy Slope Meadow indicate the Billy Slope Meadow site was used as a field for maize agriculture

We used a high-resolution lacustrine pollen record from Étang Fer-de-Lance (45°21′21.9′N, 72°13′35.3′W), southeastern Québec, Canada, together with microcharcoal, to infer forest dynamics and human impacts over the past 2300 years. The lake is located in the eastern sugar maple-basswood forest domain of the Northern Temperate Forest of eastern North America. We found that the pollen percentages and

This article reports the results of a collaborative effort to estimate agricultural productivities in past societies using Seshat: Global History Databank. We focus on 30 Natural Geographic Areas (NGAs) distributed over 10 major world regions (Europe, Africa, Southwest Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, East Asia, Central Eurasia, North America, South America, and Oceania). The conceptual framework

Around 4000 cal yr BP, Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) suffered a widespread demise across the British Isles. This paper presents new information about P. sylvestris populations found in the Welsh Marches (western central Britain), for which the long-term history and origins are poorly known. Two new pollen records were produced from the Lin Can Moss ombrotrophic bog (LM18) and the Breidden Hill pond

Human Colonization of new lands implied historically the diffusion of new plant species and the exploitation of local plant resources and forests by human communities. Phoenician colonization in the 1st millennium BC had important consequences in Mediterranean agriculture and the exploitation of vegetation in colonized areas. Later, Roman agriculture introduced new changes. The anthracological analysis

Landslide mountain fens formed in landslide depressions are dynamic environments as their development is disturbed by a number of factors, for example, landslides, slopewash, and surface run-off. These processes lead to the accumulation of mineral material and wood in peat. Disturbed peatlands are interesting archives of past environmental changes, but they may be challenging for providing biotic proxy-based

Stable carbon isotope analysis is increasingly used in archaeology as an indicator of crop water status and/or water management regime. While the technique shows promise, robust modern baseline studies are required to inform and validate archaeological interpretations. Here, we test stable carbon isotope values as a crop water status proxy in a monsoonal climatic context for the first time. Specifically

High-resolution proxy-based paleoenvironmental records derived from peatlands provide important insights into climate changes over centennial to millennial timescales. In this study, we present a composite climatic index (CCI) for the Hani peatland from northeastern China, based on an innovative combination of pollen-spore, phytolith, and grain size data. We use the CCI to reconstruct variations of

This study illustrates the influences of sea-level on the depositional process during the last 1000 years of the southwestern delta, Bangladesh. Sediments of eight litho-sections from landward in upper delta plain to seaward in lower delta plain along the Rupsa-Pasur river were studied. Sedimentary facies, total organic carbon, total nitrogen, δ13C value, diatom assemblages, and radiocarbon dating

The first millennium AD was a transformative period when many of the medieval kingdoms of Europe began to take shape, but despite recent advances in palaeoecological and archaeological research there remains a shortage of interdisciplinary collaborative research targeting this period. For some regions we know relatively little about the societies who lived during this formative period. This current

A Late Pleistocene/Holocene paleoenvironmental record was obtained from the Rouer peatland (5°54′E, 49°45′N; 270 m a.s.l.), located in the Gutland area of southern Luxembourg. A total of six sediment samples were AMS radiocarbon-dated to obtain an age-depth model. XRF analyses and analyses of geochemical proxies of organic matter (TOC, TN, δ13C, δ15N) were conducted to identify major paleoenvironmental

The Pampas of Argentina is a large grassland ecosystem located in the oriental region southern of South America. As a study case, we present the results of the paleoclimatic analysis of the Tixi Cave site. This is a paleontological and archeological locality that shows a long chronologic sequence, with radiocarbon dates ranging from the Late Pleistocene to historical times, and one of the best records

Runoff harvesting agriculture was prevalent in ancient times across the southern Levant. In modern Israel, remnants of this agricultural adaptation strategy are widespread mostly in the semi-arid and arid Negev. Extensive literature has thoroughly described the farming systems of this region. However, runoff agriculture in the dryer, hyper-arid regions of the Arava Valley and southern Negev (excluding

The Çukurova Delta Complex, formed by the Seyhan, Ceyhan, and Berdan rivers, is the second-largest delta system in the Mediterranean. The delta complex is a major depocenter that contains sediments transported from the Taurus Mountain belt since the Miocene. Studies on the Quaternary landscape evolution of the Çukurova Delta Complex are scarce, and in particular, the Holocene evolution of the Seyhan

A better understanding of past long-term environmental changes in the subarctic region is crucial for mitigation of the possible negative effects of climate warming in this vulnerable region. This study provides a new multi-proxy reconstruction of regional vegetation changes and peatland development for north-eastern Fennoscandia (Russia) during most of the Holocene. To that purpose, we performed plant

Daily weather diaries and meteorological records from Scotland reveal complex weather patterns following the 1783–84 fissure eruption of the Laki volcano, Iceland. Four diarists in eastern and northern Scotland describe the near-simultaneous occurrence of discrete groups of days characterised by ‘foggy’, ‘gloomy’ and ‘hazy’ conditions during June and July 1783. The weather records suggest that an ash-rich

Zion National Park preserves a rich geological record of Holocene landslide-dammed canyons in its deeply incised topography, with 11 hypothesized valley-blocking deposits within the park boundaries. Despite consistent stratigraphic, tectonic, and climatic settings, the occurrence of and subsequent landscape response to these natural dams varies. As such, the region provides a unique natural laboratory

Fire histories of mid-elevation mixed-conifer forests are uncommon in the eastern Cascades, limiting our understanding of long-term fire dynamics in these environments. The purpose of this study was to reconstruct the fire and vegetation history for a moist mid-elevation mixed-conifer site, and to determine whether Holocene fire activity in this watershed was intermediate to fire regimes observed at

Fire has a long history in Australia and is a key driver of vegetation dynamics in the tropical savanna ecosystems that cover one quarter of the country. Fire reconstructions are required to understand ecosystem dynamics over the long term but these data are lacking for the extensive savannas of northern Australia. This paper presents a multiproxy palaeofire record for Marura sinkhole in eastern Arnhem

The Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) is a major mode of interannual climate variability, but its response to external climate forcings (i.e. solar forcing, volcanic radiative forcing (VRF) and greenhouse gas (GHG) radiative forcing) remains elusive. To improve our understanding of the variability of the IOD, it is necessary to investigate the IOD’s response to external forcings through multi-model simulations

In this study we aim to investigate millennial-scale dynamics of Isoëtes, a type of macrophyte well adapted to oligotrophic and clear-water lakes. Despite its wide distribution during the Early Holocene, nowadays Isoëtes is considered as vulnerable or critically endangered in many Central European countries. Using a multi-proxy palaeoecological reconstruction involving Isoëtes micro- and megaspores

Peatlands are natural ecosystems that provide archives of the hydrological cycle, ecological processes and terrestrial carbon dynamics. In the north-central region of Quebec (eastern Canada), patterned peatlands developed in topographic depressions of the Precambrian Shield following the Laurentide Ice Sheet retreat. These peatlands display characteristics similar to appa mires and other peatlands