High-resolution shallow seismic information supported by sedimentological and geochemical data from sediment cores has been used for reconstruction of Holocene sea-level changes along the northern coast of the Persian Gulf. These investigations in the area of the North Qeshm Island Waterway (NQIW) near the Strait of Hormuz reveal a series of five prominent sea-level fluctuations starting with the second

Studies of the abrupt climate events that punctuated the warm Holocene epoch allow us to understand the climate system, forecast future climate change, and interpret the cultural transformations. Paleoclimate records around the world show manifestations of prominent climate anomalies between 6000 and 5000 calibrated years before present (cal BP). However, a comprehensive review of these anomalies remains

Here are described the analyses of sediments from the lower slope of the Pelotas Basin in the southern Brazilian continental margin, southwestern Atlantic. The samples were obtained from the core SIS-249, collected adjacent to the Rio Grande Terrace (RGT) at a water depth of 2091 m, an area poorly known in terms of sedimentary characteristics compared to the oil and gas-rich basins to the north. The

In the northernmost of Rio Grande do Sul coastal plain, southern Brazil, the first comparative palynological study of the sedimentary profiles of two present-day Atlantic rainforests was conducted in Torres municipality: Pirataba forest (29°15′ S, 49°51′ W), 17 km from the coastline, and Faxinal forest (29°21′ S, 49°45′ W), 2 km from the coastline. Ten radiocarbon dates and additional grain influx

The spatial distribution of groundwater exploitation potential is crucial to the sustainable management of groundwater resources in arid regions. In this study, an effective approach is developed using a geographical information system (GIS) associated with the Dempster-Shafer (D-S) theory to explore the groundwater exploitation potential based on eight factors (i.e., slope, topography, distance to

Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) was calibrated and validated using multi-site streamflow data, and water balance was assessed in the Betwa river basin of central India. Sequential Uncertainty Fitting version-2 (SUFI-2) algorithm available in the SWAT-Calibration and Uncertainty Program (SWAT-CUP) was utilized for sensitivity analysis, calibration, validation and uncertainty analysis on the monthly

This review serves as an explanatory note to the sketch map of loessoids, i.e. loess and various loess-like deposits. The map is a byproduct of the ongoing project of Quaternary Map of the Russian Federation, scale 1:2,500,000 in GIS-format. The primary information is derived from the standard National Geological Map scale 1:1,000,000 of the last two generations supplemented by literary data. The map

The Ciota Ciara cave is a Middle Palaeolithic site located in Piedmont (north-western Italy) and it is the only one systematically investigated in the region. It opens at 670 m a.s.l. on the west side of Monte Fenera and its archaeological deposit has a stratigraphic sequence documenting several and repeated human frequentations. Four archaeological layers have been identified (103, 13, 14 and 15)

Droughts in the orography dominated mid-to-high elevation Himalaya have serious impact on the agrarian economy and biodiversity of the region. Temporally and spatially limited weather records from the Himalaya restrict our understanding on the socioeconomic impact of droughts in long-term perspective. In view of this, high-resolution proxies are required to develop long-term drought records from the

Spatial-diurnal variability in the snow/glacier melt isotope signature and their influence on hydrograph separation based on mixing model received less attention. We present isotope data from a high elevation catchment (glacierized area: 286 km2) in the central Himalaya (India) and investigated the spatialdiurnal variability of snow/glacier meltwater alongwith inferences of groundwater dynamics. Isotope

The “giant” beaver, Trogontherium cuvieri Fischer, 1809, is an extinct species that was widely distributed from the late Pliocene to the late Pleistocene all over the Palaearctic Realm. The global environment during this period is characterized by periodic and extreme climate changes, and most mammalian groups experienced rapid evolution during this period. However, the morphology of T. cuvieri shows

Paleoclimatic reconstruction is critical for understanding present-day climate and for testing models that are currently used to predict future climatic changes. Different climatic conditions produce different clay minerals that can be recorded in geological archives providing insights into past weathering scenarios. However, in southern South America, scarce information is available from clay mineral

Kinematic source process models using tele-seismic waveform inversion of three stable continental region (SCR) earthquakes from India (1993 Mw 6.2 Latur, 1997 Mw 5.8 Jabalpur and 2001 Mw 7.6 Bhuj) are presented in this paper to demonstrate the slip evolution and stress drop. These finite-fault models are methodologically unique to constrain the source dimensions, compared with assumptions and quasi-observations

In the Mesoamerican region, arid or hydrological variable conditions are commonly interpreted from 4 ka onwards. It is not well known how these changes modified the Mesoamerican monsoon system, which were the main atmospheric-oceanic forcings involved and their effect in the Pre-Classic Mesoamerican societies' history. Here, we study the possible link between paleoclimatic changes and decreased social

Aeolian deposits, widely distributed in the Qinghai Lake area, provide independently palaeoclimatic information. Herein we report the detailed investigation results of Gangcha (GC) and Reshui (RS) sections, located at the northern Qinghai Lake area. The chemical index of alteration (CIA) and Al2O3–(CaO*+Na2O)–K2O (A−CN–K) ternary diagram suggest that most of the sediments experienced the degree of

The site of Goa Topogaro (Topogaro Caves) on Sulawesi Island in Eastern Indonesia yields numerous osseous and lithic artefacts in association with anatomically modern humans (AMH) from the late Pleistocene and Holocene. Sulawesi is the largest island in Wallacea and could have been located along the early AMH migration routes to Sahul that required sea crossings between the past Sunda and Sahul-continents

Deep-seated relict permafrost was identified in borehole Udryn PIG-1 (north-eastern Poland) at depths from +450 to 357 m. In potential its extant provides an opportunity to expand the known effective realm of grain weathering. Specifically, uncertainty exists as to whether or not glacial-period frost weathering could even occur at such considerable depths, which is well outside an active-layer range

The complex urban geology of the historic center of Naples is characterized by the emplacement of products from two adjoining volcanic areas that were reworked by alluvial and coastal processes. To expand the geologic knowledge of this densely populated area, multidisciplinary research was carried out on the recently drilled San Marcellino borehole, as part of a larger borehole collection project.

The giant short-faced hyena, Pachycrocuta brevirostris, was the largest and most spectacular bone-cracking hyena that ever existed. Although already extinct long ago, it was extensively distributed across Early and Middle Pleistocene localities throughout Eurasia. P. brevirostris is remarkable for a series of iconic craniodental adaptations in sway with a commitment to scavenging off carcasses of other

This study is an application of the ideal free distribution (IFD) model to understand settlement patterns during the Mauretanian and Roman periods in northwest Morocco. We use proxies for potential agricultural productivity and distance from a viable harbor for each of the locations of known settlement sites. There is a clear relationship between the distance from harbors and habitat suitability, with

The ancient Loulan kingdom in northwest China was a key transportation hub along the ancient Silk Road. What determined the burial practice in Loulan is a mystery as many of the tombs were constructed atop approximately 20-m-high yardangs in the north of the ancient city of Loulan. This paper includes the first attempt to provide a geoarchaeological perspective on this problem. A representative section

This paper presents new field and laboratory data combined with previously published materials on interglacial sediments underlying two upper tills of northern European Russia and West Siberia. The emphasis is on the structure and chronometric data of marine strata with shells of boreal molluscs of Cyrtodaria genus indicative of the Atlantic marine invasion into these sedimentary basins during the

Since the excavations at Franchthi Cave in the 1960s and 1970s, the possibility of finding a submerged Neolithic site in the Bay of Kiladha has been discussed. Initial research, based on marine geophysical survey and core sampling, brought contrasted results. Starting in 2012, new parts of the Bay were investigated, using different techniques and improved methods, such as geological-geophysical survey

Areas around Bhavnagar and Jamnagar in eastern and northern parts of Saurashtra respectively, are identified previously as prone to recurrent earthquake swarm activity. Sparse seismotectonic studies so far have not revealed any linkage with known faults in Bhavnagar area while no structures are known to occur in the area around Jamnagar. We carried out detailed tectono-geomorphic studies with contrasting

Geomorphic evolution of the frontal parts of active mountain belts is strongly influenced by tectonic processes, usually manifested in fluvial, structural and morphotectonic parameters of the landscape. Geomorphic indices have long been used for understanding the tectonic imprints in river basins. However, their applicability and validation from field observations in the Himalayan basins have often

River floodplains are amongst the most dynamic features which are continuously changing their shape and structure in relation to climate, vegetation, human pressure and base-level variability. In this study, we focus on the lower reach of Danube (upstream of its delta) and investigate the formation and transformations of wetlands and lakes during the last 8000 years using a multi-proxy methodology

Pollen, sediment texture, moisture, organic/inorganic carbon content and geochemical analyses of a 1.2m in-depth sediment profile from upper Tundabhuj Lake in the Parvati Valley show that the region supported alpine-scrub vegetation. The forest elements largely consisted of Betula and its broad-leaved allies viz., Quercus, Corylus and Carpinus interspersed with meadow grasses, Asteraceae, Impatiens

In the Mâconnais, southern Burgundy, a number of paleolithic sites are concentrated along the river Saône. One of these is the prehistoric open-air site La Sénétrière. This contribution gives an overview of recently conducted research and its results, focusing on stone artifacts from surface finds attributed to the Upper Paleolithic, including a considerable amount of blade cores. This paper summarizes

In this paper, the first results of charcoal analyses carried out at Cova des Moro (Manacor, Mallorca, Spain) are presented. This cave is an archaeological but also palaeontological site that provides information on endemic fauna (the extinct caprine Myotragus balearicus) before the arrival of humans and, later, the relationship between the first farmers and the landscape. Several human occupations

Data on litho- and biostratigraphy of major sedimentary sequences and their geochronological records were compiled and summarized to describe the Late Pleistocene–Holocene marine and glacial events in the Kola-Northern Karelia region. In the coastal Kola Peninsula and its inner part, three marine units and two glacial events were identified in the Upper Pleistocene sequences. The first marine unit

There is an inherent contradiction in the position of birds within the Ghassulian culture of the Late Chalcolithic Southern Levant. Whilst they are almost completely absent from the zooarchaeological record, they appear as the second most common animal representation within Ghassulian iconography, with only caprids appearing more often. This has led some scholars to posit that birds played a significant

The article describes the results of research of traces of ancient and medieval agriculture in the vicinity of the settlement Podkumskoe-3 of the Alan culture (5th-8th centuries) in the Northern Caucasus, Russia. Methods of soil science, soil microbiology, archaeology, and archaeobotanical analysis were used. Soil sections were made at different distances from the settlement (up to 1200 m). It is shown

The northern edge of the East Asian monsoon region is also a transition zone of temperate continental and monsoon climate, which is a sensitive zone of global climate and ecological environment change. It is an urgent problem to find out the long-term climate change rules of this region. Using 101 tree core samples obtained from 54 trees, a 343-year tree-ring width chronology of the Platycladus orientalis

During the past several decades, the paleoecology of the Mammuthus-Coelodonta Faunal Complex in the Palearctic has been thoroughly explored, especially using stable isotope analysis. Numerous studies have documented high ecological plasticity and regional heterogeneities for this fauna. However, very limited attention has focused on Northeast Asia, at the southeastern edge of the distribution of the

The main objective of the study was to reconstruct palaeoenvironmental changes recorded in lake and peatland sediments from the peatland located in the western part of Lublin Polesie, where no former palaeoecological research had been conducted, and to compare findings to changes reconstructed for other sites in the eastern part of this region. Climate changes were considered, as well as the effects

Bird bones are rare finds in Bronze Age excavations in Greece, though, the presence of bird representations in art of the same period is remarkable. This paper examines this paradox from a zooarchaeological perspective. It records and presents the osteological evidence for bird exploitation by Bronze Age communities in Greece and examines the characteristics of the bird bone assemblages, emphasizing

Panthera spelaea was recorded in Poland from 18 open-air and 42 cave sites dated in the range 750–28 ka. Most of these records are located in southern Poland (Silesia) and neighbouring areas. Among them, the find of Panthera spelaea in Kozi Grzbiet mentioned here for the first time is one of the oldest European records of the species. Most of the obtained AMS dates are concentrated on the second half

The aim of this study is to present the anthracological results from three archaeological sites located in the North, North West and South East of Sri Lanka. The study is based on the observation and analysis of 1689 charcoal fragments using for support the reference collection of South Indian wood at the Institute of Archaeology ( UCL), Inside Wood (2004-onwards) and several wood anatomy atlases.

Modern human dispersal to Asia is drawing more researchers' attention as more Asian records become available in archaeology, paleoanthropology and genetics. The ecocultural range expansion model, based on ecological competition between archaic and modern humans and on a population-culture feedback loop, predicts two types of modern human range expansion, namely the first wave and the second wave. This

An extinct thermophile European water buffalo Bubalus murrensis was recorded in the interglacials of the Middle and Late Pleistocene in Central and Western Europe. The species was unknown after the Eemian Interglacial (c. 123 ka) there and have never been found in Eastern Europe. Here we report on an unexpected record of this exotic species in the center of East European Plain near the Kolomna town

Permafrost is considered to be one of the important sources of additional water for the vast Late Quaternary Caspian Sea transgressions. The insufficiency of proxy evidence on landscape and climate dynamics during the long Atelian regression (MIS-4 – MIS-3) complicates the analysis of changes in the Caspian water balance. Traces of Late Pleistocene cryogenesis structures were catalogued in the alluvial

Human-environmental interaction studies typically focus on large-scale landscape modifications of vegetation or soils and rarely address smaller-scale human alterations to site settings. This approach is based on a broad concept of environment as “set” having spatially dispersed and regionally defined attributes, as opposed to something that is mutable at the scale of individual groups of humans living

In the Himalayan foreland basin of the Tista-Jaldhaka system of North Bengal, the presence of Main Boundary Thrust (MBT) and Himalayan Frontal Thrust (HFT) along an E-W direction has been reanalysed in the context of tectonic instability especially along the 17.93 km stretch of the Kurti River. It is a small rain-fed stream that originated in the piedmont zone near the Samsing scarp (lineament trending

To investigate the Lateglacial and early Holocene climatic and environmental dynamics in the Eastern Baltic we analysed chironomid and pollen data from Lieporiai palaeolake, North Lithuania. The first quantitative mean July air temperature reconstruction from Lithuania based on fossil chironomid assemblages was performed using expanded Fennoscandian calibration model. Our study suggests that sedimentation

From at least the Iron Age up to the Hellenistic period, the Etruscan culture flourished in a large portion of the Italian peninsula, extending from the Po delta and the eastern Alps in the north to Campania in the south. It was characterised by a magnificent and original artistic production that took its inspiration from aspects of the natural environment inserted into mythological contexts of various

Pollen-based vegetation, biodiversity, and biome reconstructions over the last 15,500 years from sediment core data at Mbi Crater in the Cameroon highlands (6.089273° N, 10.348549° E; 2015 m above sea level) are used to discuss the behavior of the lower edge of the Afromontane forest facing climate change. The data reveal that the post-glacial forest change gradually happened at Mbi and that the forest-wooded

We use a sedimentological approach to examine the formation and deformation processes associated with the accumulation of shell deposits in two major clusters of shell mounds, the Weipa group in the monsoonal environment of Albatross Bay in the Cape York Peninsula of northern Queensland, Australia, and the Farasan Islands group in the semi-arid environment of the southern Red Sea sector of Saudi Arabia

There is ongoing debate in northeastern Pacific coast archaeology over the degree to which humans impacted pinniped ecologies, and how ancient oceangoing canoes and pinniped hunting influenced social complexity. This study presents the analysis of vertebrate fauna from the West End site (CA-SCAI-106) on Santa Catalina Island, California that is characterized by an abundance of eared seals (e.g., California

The environmental evolution and provenance of the sediments since 1.2 Ma penetrated by the borehole of JXC-1 in Northwestern Liaodong Bay are studied in this paper using the data from accelerator mass spectrometry 14C dating, optically-stimulated luminescence dating, paleomagnetic dating, qualitative and quantitative analysis of benthic foraminifera, and the geochemistry analysis. Based on regional

Two Pleistocene sections in the middle reaches of the Volga River – Spasskoe and Yagodnoe – have been described in details and analyzed, small mammal remains being recovered and identified. The fauna includes remains of open landscape species: Eolagurus luteus (Eremin and Moloskovsky, 1981), Lagurus lagurus Pallas, 1773, Lasiopodomys (Stenocranius) gregalis (Pallas, 1779) and others. Bone remains of

The aim of this work is to deepen our knowledge about the use of wood as raw a material among Patagonian hunter-gatherers, to identify the woody species used in the manufacturing of artifacts and to assess the shifts or continuities in the wood techonology of these societies during the Holocene. For this purpose we analyzed 10 wood artifacts coming from two Patagonian archeological sites Cerro Casa

A new Pleistocene site in the Pabbi Hills of Pakistan, and deposits to the east near Bhimbar provide important additions to the Upper Siwalik fauna of South Asia. The mammalian fauna of 10 species from Panjan Sher Shahana at the southwestern tip of the Pabbi Hills is a rich mammalian assemblage dating to the early to Middle Pleistocene of the Upper Siwalik Subgroup. The Panjan Sher Shahana assemblage

A buried travertine deposit, identified in a well at Prima Porta (to the north west of Rome, Italy), was investigated using a multidisciplinary approach that included stable isotope geochemistry, mineralogy, petrography and radiometric dating. The travertine body is located just along the western boundary of the Tiber valley, a morpho-tectonic depression of extensional origin; it is associated with

Magnetite is typomorphic, and its crystal textures and chemical fingerprint form unique signatures that can be used to determine sediment provenance. Determination of the provenance of sediments in the upper Yangtze River is critical for understanding its evolution and the uplift of the Tibetan Plateau. In this study, petrographic analysis and electron-probe microanalysis (EPMA) of 800 detrital magnetite

The Himalayan-Tibetan orogen has a great influence on regional and global atmospheric circulation and, hence, it is important for understanding the dynamics of global environmental change. The Kashmir valley, located in the northwestern Himalaya, provides a unique sequence of continuous sedimentary records of unconsolidated sediments of more than a km thickness, dated back to 4 Ma. There are number

Himalayan river basins are exposed to continuous erosion and deformational processes. The main goal of this paper is to characterize the tectonic activity, as it acts as a controlling factor in the development of landforms in the tectonically active terrains. Research was carried out in the Aripal basin, which lies to the South East of Kashmir Valley, one of the right bank tributary of river Jhelum

The East Antarctic Ice Sheet (EAIS) is the largest glacial system in the world, and the evolution history of the EAIS strongly affects global climate change. As one of the most extensive ice-free areas in coastal East Antarctica, the Larsemann Hills represent an important site for understanding the glacial evolution of East Antarctica. Generally, the last exposure process in the Larsemann Hills was

The Ayyalon - Nesher Ramla (ANR) system combines hypogenic karst with endemic subterranean fauna. The unique faunal assemblage utilizes chemosynthetic food web based upon H2S within the ascending plumes of hydrothermal water. We attempt to constrain the regional biogeography and the age of the hypogene system using subterranean extant ‘living fossils’, combined with related taxa in the Dead Sea Rift