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 (IBTI) lasts from October to the following February, the Tsoil−10 of TP is selected as the heat source index (HSI). Our

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 impact of SLR on altering both reef flat sediment transport and sediment delivery to island shorelines is poorly

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

Climatic and oceanographic processes in the Pacific Ocean have global implications. Reliable sedimentary proxies in this region are thus necessary to understand the magnitude of past climate variability. Radiolarian assemblages are of particular relevance in some regions of the Pacific Ocean where other proxies are either poorly preserved or are biased towards a specific season. Previously published

The glacier surface ice velocity (SIV) is important in understanding the glacier state. This study presents results on the SIV of the 18 glaciers spread over the Indian central Himalaya (ICH). The SIV was computed by applying Co-registration of Optically Sensed Images and Correlation (COSI-Corr) technique on the Landsat time series data (1993–2017). Results show that the average SIV of all glaciers

This paper presents an updated Taxa-PFTs-Biome scheme, based on 18 biomes, 30 Plant Functional Types (PFTs) and 590 pollen taxa from 1630 surface pollen sites in China. The biomization results reveal a total of 16 biome types comprising eight new biomes. By comparing the simulated biome types with modern potential vegetation, 80% of the sampling sites were correctly assigned, which is considerably

Seasonal changes in CO2 exchange determine the strength and dynamics of the carbon budget in terrestrial ecosystems. Knowledge about seasonal and spatial variations in carbon fluxes (net ecosystem productivity (NEP), gross primary productivity (GPP), and ecosystem respiration (RE)) is thus essential to support accurate modeling of carbon flux dynamics. To the best of our knowledge, this study represents

The Permo-Triassic marine mass extinction has been blamed on a range of culprits including anoxia, acidification, high temperature and increased sedimentation and nutrient influx, the last two being a direct consequence of terrestrial biomass die-off and climatic changes. In marine settings, the role of these kill mechanisms is likely to be depth-dependent with siltation and high temperatures potentially

Although the prime causation of the Late Devonian Frasnian–Famennian (F–F) mass extinction remains conjectural, such destructive factors as the spread of anoxia and rapid upheavals in the runaway greenhouse climate are generally accepted in the Earth-bound multicausal scenario. In terms of prime triggers of these global changes, volcanism paroxysm coupled with the Eovariscan tectonism has been suspected

East China Sea (ECS) is greatly influenced by East Asian Summer Monsoon (EASM), precipitation discharge and differential inflow of the warm and saline Kuroshio Current (KC). Any change in surface water conditions either due to variations in ocean currents or discharge from terrestrial rivers have pronounced effects on the population abundance of planktic foraminifera; therefore, planktic foraminifera

Better understanding of the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO) temporal evolution and the precise and reliable predictability of its phase-switching behaviour are of utmost importance in characterizing future climate change as well as its consequences. For the first time, this study investigated internal dynamics of the AMO in different warm/cold phases to examine whether this phenomenon is governed

Arctic climate changes are of global significance. This work investigates the influence of climate change on primary production and phytoplankton taxonomic composition in the western Spitsbergen fjords over the last century, using pigments in sediments. Nine sediment cores were analysed for chloropigment and carotenoid contents, and the five found to be richest in pigments were dated (210Pb, 137Cs)

Obliquity, as a factor controlling seasonality, has been considered a modulator of paleomonsoon evolution. However, in contrast to the clearly identified contribution of precession, East Asian proxy records rarely provide a robust signal of obliquity. By investigating climate simulations with extremely low versus high obliquity, this study examined the seasonal contribution of obliquity, finding that

Stable isotope compositions of oxygen (δ18O) and carbon (δ13C) of the aragonite skeleton of the reef-building gastropod Dendropoma petreaum provide high-resolution records of the Mediterranean climate over the last millennium. In particular, the isotopic composition of vermetid cores collected from the west and east Mediterranean reveals that the different regions have had distinct thermal and primary

As a transitional region between arid and semi-arid areas, and the climatic junction where the Asian summer monsoon and the Westerlies interact strongly, the climatic pattern of northeastern Tibetan Plateau has always been the focus of paleoclimate research. In this study, the changes in the lake depth of Lake Qinghai on the northeastern Tibetan Plateau were reconstructed from analyses of biomarkers

The latest Eifelian – Frasnian strata of the Mackenzie Valley, NW Canada, provide an excellent archive of paleoceanographic signals imprinted in oxic and anoxic facies deposited in close proximity. Fondoformic black-shale strata preserve fingerprints of four global anoxic events (Kačák, Frasnes, Middlesex, and Rhinestreet), which receives confirmation with δ13Corg data. The discovery of 2,3,6- and

A wide range of various proxies (e.g., mineralogy, organic carbon, inorganic geochemistry, C and Mo isotopes, and framboidal pyrite) were applied for interpretation of changing oceanic redox conditions, bioproductivity, and the regional history of volcanic activity. This resulted in internally consistent interpretation of the late Famennian Hangenberg Crisis in subtropical deepest water sites of the

Widespread public and scientific interest in the recent global warming hiatus and related multidecadal climate variability stimulated a surge in our understanding of key metrics of global climate change. While seeking explanations for the nearly steady global mean temperature from late 1990s through the early 2010s, the scientific community also grappled with concomitant and seemingly inconsistent

A more than 300 m thick succession of thick-bedded pink to grey limestone of the Norian – Rhaetian Khodz Group in the NW Caucasus serves to document the development of a temperate carbonate ramp during the final stages of the Cimmerian orogeny. Limestone samples were collected on the west side of Mt. Kolokolnia. The lower part of the Khodz Group contains bioclastic packstone microfacies composed largely

The western tropical Atlantic (WTA) supplies warm and saline waters to the upper-limb of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) and may store excess heat and salinity during periods of AMOC slowdown. Since previous sea surface temperature (SST) reconstructions from the WTA typically focus on the Last Glacial Maximum and the last deglaciation, additional long-term records spanning multiple

We examine the possibility of making useful climate extrapolations in inner basins. Stressing the role of the local geographic features, for a practical example we focus our attention on the Red Sea. We observe that in spite of being an enclosed and relatively small Sea, its climate conditions are heavily affected by those of the larger neighboring regions, in particular the Mediterranean and the Arabian

The Yellow River Estuary (YRE), which is famous for its abundant sediment, rapid accretion, and frequent migration, has experienced a remarkable decrease of sediment transported by the Yellow River (YR) during the past 60 years. By taking the west coast (Yellow River Delta, YRD) and the south coast of Laizhou Bay (LZB) as a unified coastal unit, this paper has analyzed the evolution of shorelines,

Forest-steppe ecotones are generally regarded as very sensitive to climate change. However, it is still unclear whether they can be used to track past climate changes due to the combined effects of climate forcing and topographic factors. We first explored shifts of the whole forest-steppe ecotone in northern China during the Holocene by collecting 383 topsoil pollen samples to establish discriminant

An evaporite enriched sediment archive from the dry Sandia Basin located in the water-stressed western foothills of the Sierra Madre Oriental Mountains (northeast Mexico) was studied to reconstruct depositional histories of vegetation and rainfall intensity in orbital to millennial-scales over the last ~32.5 cal ka. Surrounding vegetation had more C3 plants during the late last glacial and deglaciation

Determining the extrinsic (physical) factors controlling speciation and diversification of species through time is of key interest in paleontology and evolutionary biology. The role of sea-level change in shaping species richness patterns of marginal marine species has received much attention, but with variable conclusions. Recent work combining genetic data and Geographical Information Systems (GIS)-based

The hydrogen (δD) and oxygen (δ18O) isotopic compositions in the water molecule have been widely used as tracers for studying the global water cycle. In 1961, the Global Network of Isotopes in Precipitation (GNIP) was established to measure D and 18O isotopes contents in precipitation around the world. However, on the spatial scale, the long-term arithmetic and/or long-term precipitation weighted mean

The temperature and humidity dependent formation of different crystalline phases CaSO4·xH2O with 0 ≤ x ≤ 2 was investigated by in situ X-ray powder diffraction using a Bruker D8 diffractometer equipped with an Anton Paar CHC+ cryo−/ humidity chamber. By isothermal measurements over time ranges up to 60 h at temperatures between 76 °C and 140 °C the dehydration of gypsum (CaSO4·2H2O) to bassanite (CaSO4·½H2O)

Recent climate changes have elicited diverse phenological shifts in the ecosystems of the Northern Hemisphere (NH), with changes in the end growth of season (EOS) varying considerably with time. Due to the anthropogenic forcing (e.g. anthropogenic radiative forcing, et al.), both the climate conditions and EOS greatly changed since 2000, but the relationship between the two remains unclear. To better

The Oceanic Anoxic Event 2 (OAE2, ca. 94.6 Ma) is one of the major perturbations in the global carbon cycle during the Phanerozoic. Stable carbon isotopes (δ13C) from marine and continental sedimentary environments document this carbon cycle perturbation with a pronounced (> 2‰) positive carbon isotope excursion (CIE). Although the OAE2 stratigraphic interval has been intensively studied in terms of

The Late Jurassic was a period of major global carbon cycle perturbations with episodes of anoxia leading to regional accumulation of organic matter in sediments worldwide. The Tubiegatan section (SW Gissar Mountains, Uzbekistan) located in the Northern Tethys, shows atypical organic-rich limestone and marl deposits (up to 6% of total organic carbon) marked by pronounced negative excursions of δ13Ccarb

The widespread demise of the Urgonian rudistid-platform ecosystem in the Mediterranean Tethys was so far considered as a progressive phenomenon starting at the Barremian–Aptian transition and culminating in the mid-early Aptian in concert with the Oceanic Anoxic Event (OAE) 1a. The re-assignment of the final demise of the Urgonian-type peri-Vocontian rudistid platforms to the latest Barremian by means

Low-lying coastal zones are increasingly exposed to flood risks due to global change including sea level rise, increasing storm intensity and growing coastal population densities. Local to regional-scale studies have demonstrated that conservation or restoration of coastal wetland ecosystems, such as salt marshes and mangroves, provides nature-based risk mitigation, as these wetlands have the natural

Geomorphic archives, particularly longitudinal river profiles, are increasingly used as a proxy to reconstruct uplift rates in mountainous regions. Within the Atacama Desert, Northern Chile, slow, long-term erosion creates exceptional preservation of fluvial and alluvial surfaces. This enables river incision patterns to be used on a continental-scale (>250 km) along the western margin of the Andes

The entrance of Earth's climate into the present icehouse state during a time of rapid temperature decline in the late Pliocene was intensively investigated during the past decade. Even though it is well documented in marine archives, a detailed reconstruction of the Pliocene-Pleistocene climatic evolution of Central Europe is hampered by a general lack of data. The work presented here is based on

The 318-m long sediment record from Lake El'gygytgyn, NE Russia situated in the present-day herb tundra zone, provides a unique archive of high Arctic environmental changes since ca 3.6 million years ago (Ma). This paper focuses on pollen-derived vegetation change during the mid-Pliocene Warm Period (mPWP) and in particular during Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) M2, which is known to represent the coldest