Temperature exerts a first order control on rock strength, principally via thermally activated creep deformation and on the distribution at depth of the brittle-ductile transition zone. The latter can be regarded as the lower bound to the seismogenic zone, thereby controlling the spatial distribution of seismicity within a lithospheric plate. As such, models of the crustal thermal field are important

The late Olenekian to early Ladinian marine carbonates of the epicontinental European (Germanic) Basin accumulated during the several-million-year-long biotic recovery following the Permian/Triassic (P/Tr) mass extinction. In this paper, we discuss the environmental and evolutionary controls on the temporal ichnodiversity and ichnofabric changes within Anisian open-marine limestones (called Muschelkalk)

The early Bajocian event was characterized by a protracted, ca. 4 Myr-long positive carbon isotope excursion that has been recognized in both marine and continental records. It is concomitant with a marine eutrophication event that led to regional demises of the neritic carbonate factory, as well as floral and faunal turnovers. The ultimate cause and modality of this event remains uncertain. In this

The end-Triassic mass extinction is often linked to environmental and climate change triggered by the activity of the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province ca. 201 Mya. In the German Triassic Basin, the transition from pre-extinction to the so-called extinction interval is documented from the fossil-rich Contorta Beds to the mostly barren Triletes Beds. However, despite the lack of macrofossils, plant

Understanding changes of water temperature in rivers is important for riverine environmental management. However, most land surface models make light of riverine system, which hampers our understanding of riverine status closely related to human living environment, from the perspective of climate system. In this study, we incorporated a parameterization of large-scale river water temperature computing

The early Toarcian (Early Jurassic) Oceanic Anoxic Event (T-OAE) or Jenkyns Event (~183 Ma) was marked by a globally synchronous negative carbon-isotope excursion, large-scale organic carbon burial and widespread oxygen depletion in the oceans. These features have been associated with volcanic activity of the Karoo and Ferrar large igneous provinces. The Jenkyns Event is well investigated in the Tethyan

The Late Devonian Period was a critical geological interval, affected by numerous significant global bio- and environmental events, including the Kellwasser, annulata and Hangenberg events, and a major climate transition leading to the Carboniferous ice ages. The timing and pattern of these events are unclear due to lack of the precise time scale. In this study, an analysis of calcium concentration

The most pronounced climate anomaly of the Holocene was the 8.2 ka cooling event. We present new 230Th/U-ages as well as high-resolution stable isotope and trace element data from three stalagmites from two different cave systems in Germany, which provide important information about the structure and climate variability of the 8.2 ka event in central Europe. In all three speleothems, the 8.2 ka event

Fluvial terraces are valuable records to study and characterize landscape evolution and river response to base level lowering, and to decipher coupled responses between fluvial incision and regional tectonics. The opening of closed basins has a strong impact on fluvial dynamics, as it involves an abrupt base level lowering that accelerates landscape fluvial dissection. This study focuses on the time

At the land surface, the availability of water controls the evolution of life as well as the morphological development. It is currently hardly known how far both evolutionary processes interact in water-limited environments. While it is well considered that biotic processes contribute to weathering and therewith also prepare the landscape for erosion, little is known to what degree different landforms

Woodland-specialist epiphytic bryophytes are both a threatened ecological guild of forest species as well as a precise bioindicator of conservation value of forest ecosystems. However, due to lack of data on distribution, there is no information about their potential reaction to predicted climate change. For that reason we aimed to evaluate impact of climate change and forest continuity on distributions

Since the early 1980s, large-scale revegetation has been implemented in Northwest China and has been found to be useful in desertification prevention. However, it remains unclear, how land cover changes affect local meteorological conditions, such as land surface temperature. In this study, the land surface temperature response to land-use changes was comparatively evaluated using micrometeorological

Late Miocene and Pliocene climate changes provide an analogue for understanding linkages between variations in precipitation, the intensity of the Asian Monsoon (AM) and vegetation in a warm world with high atmospheric CO2. This study presents a reconstruction of vegetation and paleoclimate based on a pollen sequence between ~10.8 and 7.2 Ma, in addition to an analysis of pollen assemblages of Pliocene

Understanding temporal variability of sea surface temperature (SST) patterns plays a crucial role in providing insights into the mechanisms causing extreme weather and climate events as well as oceanic and atmospheric teleconnections. This study presents an in-depth analysis of the SST patterns of the Arctic Ocean and its marginal seas on interannual and seasonal timescales from 1982 to 2018. The results

Over the past few decades, mean summer temperatures within the Carpathian Mountains have increased by as much as 2 °C leading to a projected increased forest fire risk. Currently, there are no paleofire records from the Western Carpathians that provide the long-term range of natural variability to contextualise the response of upper-montane forests to future environmental change and disturbance regimes

The Middle Eocene Climatic Optimum (MECO; 40.5–40.0 Ma) was a pronounced climatic reversal during a long-term global cooling period. Despite conspicuous signals of warming and ocean acidification in global marine sedimentary records, changes in upper ocean thermal stratification and productivity have been less comprehensively understood across the MECO. Here we examined stratigraphic records of the

The occurrence of endorheic basins on the Tibetan Plateau, both in its Pleistocene history and (fewer in number) at the present day, has been attributed to the ‘basin-and-range’ character of the orogen; the understanding of their conversion to exorheic drainage is key to interpreting the evolution of the Yellow River and other river systems of the plateau. However, such basins also occur in areas of

Calcareous nannofossils are considered to be the most productive calcifying organisms, but the impact of their emergence on the chemistry of the ocean in the Late Triassic is not understood yet. Evolutionary details of this bio-event are missing due to the scarcity of well-preserved outcrops worldwide. The current study focuses on the calcareous nannofossil assemblage of the middle Norian to lower

Planktonic foraminifera represent a major component of global marine carbonate production, and understanding environmental influences on their calcification is critical to predicting marine carbon cycle responses to modern climate change. The present study investigated the effects of different environmental influences on calcification of the planktonic foraminifer Pulleniatina obliquiloculata. By correcting

Transitions to terrestrial ecosystems attributable to land cover and land use change (LCLUC) and climate change can affect the climate at local to regional scales. However, conclusions from most previous studies do not provide information about local climate effects, and little research has directly quantified how LCLUC intensity within different ecoregions relates to climate variation. In this study

Global warming may increase the frequency of climate extremes, but systematic examinations at different temperature thresholds are unknown over the Tibetan Plateau (TP). Changes in surface temperature and precipitation extreme indices derived from a multi-model ensemble mean (MMEM) of the Coupled Model Inter-comparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5) models are examined under global warming of 1.5 °C (RCP2

Temperature and sea level changes in the Pleistocene are uncertain. This leads to uncertainty in the associated response of the thermal state of the subsea sediments. We quantified the upper bound of the latter uncertainty in idealised simulations with a model for thermophysical processes in the sediments. At the coast and at the shallow and intermediate–depth shelves and except during relatively isolated

The establishment of the Late Triassic time scale has given rise to considerable controversy, particularly regarding the Rhaetian duration and the inferred absolute age models. In this respect the astronomical polarity time scale (APTS) established from the continental successions of the Newark Basin (eastern North America) is considered as a reference record, although its completeness is questioned

This work focuses on the Olenekian-Anisian (Early-Middle Triassic) continental record of the Central-Eastern Pyrenean basin (NE Spain), a near-equator (10°-14°N) basin located in the western peri-Tethys margin, inside the Variscan fold-belt. Due to the mass mortality of the end-Permian and the subsequent Smithian-Spathian Boundary (SSB) crisis, the Early Triassic and its transition to the Middle Triassic

The Late Triassic time interval witnessed several important biological turnovers, extinctions and onset of new life forms. Therefore, it is crucial to better constrain the tectonic, climatic and oceanographic framework at this time. The radiogenic strontium isotopic composition (87Sr/86Sr) of seawater, recorded in marine carbonates is sensitive to variations in continental weathering and oceanic spreading

Numerous palaeoclimatic and prehistoric reconstructions have been reported at both the local scale and across the very large area of tropical Central Africa, clearly highlighting the Late Holocene Rainforest Crisis (LHRC) which mainly developed from ca. 2500 to 2000 yr BP. The broad synchroneity of this interval is striking and has been revealed in many different deep lakes from humid or montane forest

Mid-oceanic shallow water carbonate platforms are usually characterized by long-term deposition due to the continuous subsidence of the underlying volcanic edifices and thus provide good records of biotic evolution and environmental changes. However, since most of the pre-Jurassic oceanic crust has been subducted, very few remains of Triassic atoll-like platforms are preserved in the Circum-Pacific

This study presents a process-based-empirical model for the assessment of ionic fluxes derived from chemical weathering of rocks (ICWR) at a global scale. The equations are designed and the parameters fitted using riverine transport of dissolved major ions Ca2+, Mg2+, K+, Na+, Cl−, SO42−, and alkalinity at a global scale by combining point sampling analysis with spatial descriptions of hydrology, climate

Day-to-day temperature change is what people can directly perceive and is associated with human health. Although many studies have investigated the temperature extremes and variations, the global spatiotemporal variations of temperature change between two consecutive days remain unknown. In this study, we define the days with the daily average temperature increased or decreased more than 10 °C compared

Heinrich events (HEs) are climatic changes, occurring during the Pleistocene, related to massive discharge of freshwater from the Laurentide Ice Sheet, through the Hudson Strait, recognized in the sedimentary record through distinctive layers of ice-rafted detritus (IRD), the so-called Heinrich layers (HLs). Environmental changes during HEs influence significantly in marine biota (i.e. modifications

In the late Miocene, a large inland sea known as the Eastern Paratethys stretched out across the present-day Black Sea – Caspian Sea region. The basin was mostly endorheic and its water budget thus strongly dependent on regional climate. The basin was therefore prone to high-amplitude water-level fluctuations and associated turnovers in water chemistry and fauna. Profound palaeoenvironmental changes

The response of the climate system to astronomical parameters is an important scientific issue, but the internal processes and feedbacks need to be better understood. This study investigates the differences of the climate response to the astronomical forcing between the Northern (NH) and Southern (SH) hemispheres based on a more than 90,000-year long transient simulation using the model LOVECLIM. The

Blue carbon (BC) ecosystems provide important and multiple ecosystem services, including climate change mitigation through carbon storage. However, these ecosystems are under the pressure of numerous anthropogenic stressors, such as population growth and industrialization, which jeopardize the benefits they provide. Although the common methodology is based on the use of a linear depth scale, this work

In this study, the heat source effect of the Tibetan Plateau (TP) on the India-Burma Trough (IBT) is investigated with multi-layer soil temperatures. Because the significantly positive correlation between the soil temperatures at 10 cm (Tsoil−10) and the India-Burma Trough intensity index (IBTI) lasts from October to the following February, the Tsoil−10 of TP is selected as the heat source index (HSI)

At present, the Southern Ocean plays an important role in the global climate system and in modern Antarctic ice sheet dynamics. Past Southern Ocean configurations are however poorly understood. This information is yet important as it may provide important insights into the climate system and past ice-sheet behavior under warmer than present day climates. Here we study Southern Ocean dynamics during

A better understanding of the past dynamics of local sectors of the Greenland ice sheet (GIS) with regards to ocean circulation and climate changes can be developed from proxy records derived from marine sedimentary archives. Here we investigate the post 9.1 cal. Kyr BP history of the western sector of the GIS from the XRF core scanner-derived geochemistry of a sediment core retrieved from Upernavik

Multiple stable isotope investigations from upper Eocene to lower Oligocene deep-water marine sequences record the transition from global greenhouse to the icehouse conditions (Oi-1 glacial). While Southern Ocean high latitude deep sea records of this transition are well known, their shallow marine equivalents are rare and have the potential to record the eustatic and oceanic consequences of Paleogene

Thirty-nine shale samples of the Lower Jurassic Beipiao Formation from drill core ZK01 in the Jinyang Basin, NE China were investigated by comprehensive organic geochemical methods in this study. A prominent negative excursion in δ13Corg values (~ 2‰) was observed in the Beipiao Formation, which is most likely associated with Toarcian Oceanic Anoxic Event (T-OAE) negative carbon isotope excursion (CIE)

Globally the sediment supply from rivers to estuaries is decreasing and the mean sea level is rising, while the effects of these changes on the long-term estuarine morphodynamics have not been fully explored. An idealized one-dimensional model was utilized to investigate the long-term morphodynamics of a large estuary subject to the changes in the sediment supply and sea level. Simplifications involved

The Caribbean Sea level increased rapidly by about 6.55 cm in the period 2010–2016. This dramatic rise occurred concurrently with a step change in basin mass (freshwater equivalent) of about 1.09 cm (relative to 2006–2009) and an increase in surface freshwater loss of about 5.96 cm. Using re-analysis and satellite-derived atmosphere and ocean physics datasets, we investigate the driver for this episode

Deltas host large urban centers and expanses of coastal wetlands worldwide. As such, their future will play an important role in the economic and ecological health of many coastal communities. Although threats to deltas from drowning due to subsidence and accelerating sea-level rise are well-studied, far less is known about the physical effects of climate change on deltas. Here we map the location

The Rhaetian (~201–209 Ma, the latest stage of the Triassic) is an important time-interval for the study of environmental changes preceding the End-Triassic Mass extinction. A detailed sedimentological and chemostratigraphic study was conducted in the lower Kössen Formation at Hochalm (Austria), the type-section of the Hochalm Member (Mb). This section exposes mid-Rhaetian sediments deposited in an

A positive carbon stable isotope excursion of about 3‰ is documented in the topmost lower Frasnian at Padberg, eastern Rhenish Massif, as a muted record of the worldwide early−middle Frasnian isotopic perturbation (punctata Event; up to 6–8‰ shift in both δ13Ccarb and δ13Corg elsewhere), comparable with the Appalachian δ13C curve. This German isotopic signature occurs in a 12 m thick calciturbidite

Low-lying coral reef islands will be significantly impacted by future sea-level rise (SLR). It is generally expected that SLR will destabilise reef islands because increasing reef submergence allows larger waves, and therefore greater energy transmission, across reef flats. However, the potential impacts of SLR on reef flat sediment transport and sediment delivery to island shorelines are poorly understood

Glaciers are a key indicator of changing climate in the high mountain landscape. Glacier variations across a mountain range are ultimately driven by regional climate forcing. However, changes also reflect local, topographically driven processes such as snow avalanching, snow wind-drifting, and radiation shading as well as the initial glacier conditions such as hypsometry and ice thickness. Here we

Anthropogenic climate change, particularly through increased greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, is projected to impact 21st century precipitation distribution, altering fluvial processes such as riverine water discharge and sediment dynamics, worldwide. Changes in fluvial water and sediment discharges can have profound impacts on the functioning and connectivity of earth's natural systems. In this paper

Early Danian environmental perturbations related to carbon isotope negative excursions (CIEs) were recognized at Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP) Hole 516F, Rio Grande Rise. Within the first ~160 kyr of the Danian, environmental stability is evidenced by well‑oxygenated bottom waters, good carbonate preservation, and relatively high primary production. The preservation of carbonates and the oxygenation

Dry lands are expected to cover about half of the terrestrial surface in the near future due to climate change. Drought events, which are recurrent over dry lands, are also projected to increase in both frequency and severity. There is a strong need to better monitor droughts over dry regions, and satellite-based indicators such as the Vegetation Health Index (VHI) have been operationally used worldwide

This study focuses on integrated water vapor (IWV) which is the main source for precipitation, fog and dew formation in the Atacama desert in northern Chile. In order to study its long-term variability, a consistent meteorological record is needed. Here, we utilize the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts' reanalysis ERA-20C which provides IWV among other atmospheric variables over the

Unicellular eukaryotes, also called protists, are potentially fast evolving organisms. The small size of protists, their fast reproduction rate and ability to form cysts as well as their adaptability to extreme conditions allow them to associate to endemic animals, plants, saline lakes and soil even in extremely arid systems. These properties make unicellular eukaryotes ideal model organisms to combine

Flat clams are ubiquitous in marine Triassic and Jurassic deep-water environments, where they are often recovered as mono- or pauci-specific assemblages. Their abundance in deep-water facies deposited under oxygen-depleted conditions suggests a potentially unique, but nevertheless debated, paleoecology. The distribution of Halobia cordillerana in an Upper Triassic hemipelagic succession outcropping

Over the last several decades a number of studies have attempted to reconstruct the rise of the Himalaya and Tibet since India-Asia collision began in the early Cenozoic, with rather contradictory results. Here, we evaluate the efforts at reconstructing the history of this major mountain-building event as archived in oxygen, carbon, and clumped isotope records from carbonates exposed on the southern

Previous studies have suggested a relation between the variability of the climate and flood events, a conclusion supported by recent findings. Indeed, evidence has emerged that the atmospheric variability modulated by solar activity could play a role in driving the flood dynamic. The aim of this paper is to analyse summer paleoflood variability in the Alpine Hasli-Aare catchment (Switzerland) by simulating

Sea surface temperature (SST) has important local and remote influence on global climate through the distribution and transport of heat and moisture, which in turn affect precipitation and air temperature patterns across the globe. Thus, this work aims to assess the worldwide regionalization of the SST evolution for the 21st century under the influence of climate change by means of: 1) division of