Glendonites are carbonate pseudomorphs after ikaite are used as indicators of near-freezing temperatures. We describe the first glendonites of Middle–Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous age from the Barents Shelf, including the first glendonites of Late Barremian–Early Aptian age ever discovered on Earth and provide the detailed mineralogical-geochemical and isotopic studies. Although Mesozoic glendonites

Located on the northern coast of Santa Maria Island (Azores Archipelago, central North Atlantic), the Lagoinhas section preserves a carbonate buildup correlated with Marine Isotope Substage (MIS) 5e, the warmest interval of the Last Interglacial. The buildup is formed mainly by crustose coralline algae (CCA) identified as Spongites sp., and some subordinate crusts of Lithophyllum sp. and Neogoniolithon

Knowledge of climatic change during the past 2000 years in southwestern China is important for understanding the evolution of the Indian summer monsoon (ISM). For this study, we conducted systematic analysis of magnetic minerals in sediments from Lugu Lake in northwestern Yunnan Province. Magnetic measurements suggest that magnetite dominated the studied magnetic mineral assemblages. Both natural origins

Multi-centennial–scale climate changes in the Asian monsoonal region significantly affect nearly half of the global population and they have also influenced the evolution of civilizations. However, the relationship between cyclic climate change and civilization remains unclear. Here we present a precisely-dated, high-resolution pollen record from the southern Tibetan Plateau (STP), which reveals ~500-yr

Many geological contexts lack suitable material for commonly applied absolute dating methods. Even if some regions contain potentially datable materials, they may be inappropriate for dating by existing geochronological techniques. Paleoanthropological localities on the Homa Peninsula, southwestern Kenya, have yielded important paleoanthropological material. These localities are, however, poorly constrained

The middle Miocene climate transition (MMCT), likely triggered by a decrease in atmospheric CO2 concentration and changes in the Earth's orbital configuration, entailed major expansion of the Antarctic ice-sheet and cooling of the global ocean at ~15–13 Ma. By comparing simulations that use boundary conditions representative of 15 and 13 Ma, we assess the response of ocean temperatures and deep ocean

Dust from interior Asia can be transported to a vast down-wind area by the Westerlies, exerting great influence on global climate and human health. However, the relative roles of natural climatic and anthropogenic processes on dust activity in interior Asia remain ambiguous. Here, we present new climatic records from an accurately dated aeolian sequence in the southern Tarim Basin (TB), an important

The Oquirrh-Wood River Basin is a Pennsylvanian to Permian clastic and carbonate basin in northwestern Utah and southern Idaho, USA. The basin is commonly considered the northwesternmost expression of the Ancestral Rocky Mountains (ARM). Basin fill is locally up to 9 km thick. Facies range from shelf carbonates to deep marine debrites, and generally deepen from basin initiation to the beginning of

The Fort Worth Basin in north-central Texas is a foreland basin of the Ouachita Orogen that was formed during the late Paleozoic Laurentia-Gondwana collision, and its Paleozoic strata contain key information about the tectonic processes on the southern margin of Laurentia. Here we study sandstone petrography, mudstone rare-earth element (REE) and Nd isotope geochemistry of the Paleozoic clastic rocks

The causes of the Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event (GOBE) remain a topic of debate. Recent studies indicate that global and regional oceanic oxygenation was a plausible trigger of the GOBE. The Ce anomaly of rare earth and yttrium (REY) elements in shallow marine carbonates is thought to be a powerful indicator of marine redox conditions of local waters. In this study, we analyzed REY, major

Benthic foraminiferal surface porosity (the mean percentage of surface area covered by pores; higher porosity: lower oxygenation) and iodine to calcium ratio (I/Ca, higher I/Ca: higher oxygenation) are both promising paleoceanographic proxies that will advance through testing in down-core studies. Here we report the first down-core comparison (~45 kyr) of these proxies for a core from the southern

Dental microwear texture analysis (DMTA) is a common wear proxy using dental wear features to reconstruct diet in extant and extinct taxa. Dietary reconstructions of extinct species can be biased due to post-mortem mechanical modification of the dental surface. These post-mortem surface alterations can be caused by material loss after death, or as the result of burial, excavation, or preparation processes

The main objective of this study is to reconstruct surface water dynamics occurring along the Western Iberian Margin (WIM) relating them to the position of the Subpolar Front and to the dynamics affecting the Subtropical gyre. The study, centred on changes in calcareous nannoplankton paleo-assemblages at IODP Site U1385 (37°34.285′N; 10°7.562′W), allows to reconstruct the regional surface water circulation

“Pelycosaur”-grade synapsids were a successful group of terrestrial tetrapods that lived during the Carboniferous and Permian, utilising a wide diversity of ecological niches. They are considered the trackmakers of the ichnogenera Dimetropus and possibly also Dromopus and Tambachichnium, found in upper Palaeozoic deposits of North America, North Africa and Europe. Here we describe a new morphotype

Neogene sediments of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in northern Indian Ocean, specifically the lower Miocene (Burdigalian) to lower Pliocene (Zanclean) sequences, were analysed for calcareous nannofossils that yielded well-preserved and diverse assemblages. The majority of samples contained stratigraphic marker taxa that allowed us to identify successions within the Burdigalian-Langhian (uppermost

The Silurian climate was volatile and punctuated by multiple short-lived climate events, each associated with biotic crisis and perturbations to the global carbon cycle. In total, seven positive carbon isotopic excursions are globally recognized in the Silurian with the large excursions of the Wenlock-Ludlow interval in the Baltic succession garnering the most research; these excursions are recorded

Late Boda warming was the last warm episode in the Late Ordovician, and little is known about its cause. Volcanism was a hypothetical candidate that triggered this warming event owing to its potential to enhance the atmospheric CO2 level. Here, we conducted a high-resolution petrographic and geochemical study on the bentonite beds-bearing intervals from the Upper Ordovician Wufeng Formation in South

Early Paleogene events of the Alpine Tethys were considerably upgraded for the Western Carpathians. The Kršteňany KRS-3 core section provides high-resolution data from the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K/Pg) transition to Lutetian/Bartonian boundary. The Upper Cretaceous sequence started from terrestrial red-beds superposed by transgressive sediments with Abathomphalus mayaroensis. The K/Pg transition is inferred

The development of modern drainage patterns in eastern Tibet is closely related to uplift of the Tibetan Plateau. The Yangtze River is the longest river in Asia. When and how this river formed is still vigorously debated. Here we compile published detrital zircon UPb ages from the Chuxiong, Sichuan, Jianghan, Jianchuan, Simao, Vientiane, Song Hong-Yinggehai basins, marginal sea basins in East China

It is important to understand the historical precedents of current situations to be able to anticipate where the current global environmental and climatic change may lead. Geo-historical data provide information beyond the limitations of instrumental data. This study aims to reconstruct components of the palaeoclimatic and palaeoenvironmental history of the Beagle Channel (BC) during the Late Holocene

Studies of conodonts from the ribbon-banded radiolarian cherts and siliceous siltstones in the Burubaital Formation in the Buruntau area (SW Balkhash region, Kazakhstan) made it possible to characterize the conodont fauna from deep-water environments in the Ordovician. The conodont assemblages from chert successions at times of high diversity document at least 53 taxa (39 species and 14 taxa identified

Post-middle Miocene changes in climate and ecology in the northern Tibetan Plateau have been attributed to tectonic uplift and global climate change. However, the relative roles of tectonism and global climate change have been a long-standing debate. To untangle the complex influences of global climate change versus the tectonism on regional climate and ecology in the northern Tibetan Plateau, we studied

The Late Miocene Batallones-10 site (Madrid Basin, Spain) contains several authochthonous multitaxic assemblages. A total of 15 large-mammal species are documented, including hipparionine horses (Hipparion sp.), giraffes (Decennatherium rex) and moschids. Three discrete fossiliferous levels have been identified with the aid of artificial intelligence systems. Although there are some statistical differences

Concurrent expansion of grassland habitat in the Americas and first appearances of immigrant taxa to Mexico via the Great American Biotic Interchange (GABI) during the Late Miocene to Early Pliocene suggest a possible link between the timing of migrations and changes in the environmental conditions. However, the causes and environmental context of GABI migrations are not well understood. This study

Pollen analysis provides a key technique for the reconstruction of post-glacial vegetation. Modern observation of the plant-pollen relationship, through the use of surface pollen studies, is an instrumental process for informing these reconstructions. However, results from surface pollen studies suggest that the diversity of pollen assemblages is rarely a faithful representation of the diversity of

The Eocene sediment successions of the East Pisco Basin (southern Peru) host an exceptionally rich and well-preserved assemblage of vertebrate fossils. However, due to the dearth of geochronological and biostratigraphic controls as well as of stratigraphic correlations, our understanding of these rocks and their fossil content remains elusive. This paper provides a comprehensive calcareous nannofossil

The late Pliensbachian–early Toarcian δ13Corg in the Mochras Core (UK) consists of segments (rising and falling limbs, valleys, plateaus) that correlate to coeval segments in Europe and America. The Mochras global δ13Corg segments were dated with cyclostratigraphic analysis and U-Pb dating and found to be anti-correlated to eustatic cycles and model cycles predicted by the orbital scale of glacio-eustasy

Drowning unconformities are surfaces characterized on seismic data by high amplitude contrast between deepwater and shallow water facies. Such surfaces are created by the covering of the platform by onlapping siliciclastic sediments or other non-platform material. The key aspect of this paper is the application of the drowning unconformity concept, commonly used in marine settings, to a more restrictive

A Rapoport effect is a pattern in which species' geographic range sizes increase toward the poles. Previous work suggested that Pleistocene glaciation caused the extinction of small-ranging species at higher latitudes, resulting in a Rapoport effect among North American mammals. If caused by glaciation, Rapoport effects should be apparent in Pleistocene Europe, where glaciers advanced relatively far

The Late Mississippian-Permian Anadarko Basin formed in Texas and Oklahoma, USA as the result of inversion of Neoproterozic and Cambrian rift structures. Subsidence was driven by flexural loading of the Amarillo-Wichita Uplift, and this uplift may represent the easternmost element of the Ancestral Rocky Mountains system. The northwestern part of this basin has generally been interpreted to have been

Abundant conodonts occur in the Naqing section, southern Guizhou, South China, which has been selected as the candidate of the Carboniferous Kasimovian GSSP. Swadelina subexcelsa, Idiognathodus heckeli, I. turbatus and I. sagittalis, which are potentially index taxa for the Moscovian-Kasimovian boundary, are all recorded in the Naqing section. The lineages from their ancestors have been discussed in

Quantifying the timing and extent of late Quaternary glaciations across the Tibetan Plateau (TP) is critical to understanding regional and global climate changes. Despite significant advancements in our knowledge of glacial histories of the TP over the past several decades, chronological constraints are still lacking for the high glaciated mountain ranges on the northern TP, including the Altyn Tagh

Carbon isotope stratigraphic records across the Triassic-Jurassic (Tr-J) boundary show carbon isotope excursions in both marine and terrestrial sections, indicating frequent perturbations of the global carbon cycles, which are linked to the ~600 kyr pulsed emplacement of the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province (CAMP). However, few detailed carbon isotope stratigraphic reports from high-latitude terrestrial

During the middle Eocene to early Oligocene Earth transitioned from a greenhouse to an icehouse climate state. The interval comprises the Middle Eocene Climatic Optimum (MECO; ~40 Ma) and a subsequent long-term cooling trend that culminated in the Eocene-Oligocene transition (EOT; ~34 Ma) with the Oi-1 glaciation. Here, we present a refined calcareous nannofossil biostratigraphy and an orbitally tuned

The late Oligocene is an important deep-time analog for understanding future changes in the strength of the East Asian monsoon: it represents a climate warmer than today, yet follows the nascent uplift of the Tibetan–Himalayan orogeny during the Eocene Epoch. Here we quantify monsoon strength based on new oxygen isotope measurements on cellulose (δ18Ocell) extracted from modern and fossil wood from

Oxygen and carbon isotope ratios of calcareous tests of foraminifera can serve as a tool for reconstructing seawater temperatures and bioproductivity. The foraminiferal isotope studies are, however, largely limited to Neogene, Paleogene and Cretaceous strata. In the current study are presented δ18O and δ13C values of well-preserved Jurassic representatives of different groups of benthic foraminifera:

A growing body of work from upper Paleozoic records along the western margin of Laurentia has shown that the margin was subjected to ongoing deformation from at least Late Devonian through early Permian (Cisuralian) time. However, the geographic extent of this deformation and its effect on basin subsidence along the western Laurentian margin remains poorly constrained. Here, we present geologic mapping

New high-resolution organic (δ13Corg) and carbonate (δ13Ccarb) carbon isotope data from middle shelf deposits in southeastern Iowa demonstrate decoupled signals during the onset of the Hangenberg Event and across the Devonian-Carboniferous Boundary. High-resolution sampling captures a transient negative excursion in δ13Corg during the initiation of rising δ13Ccarb values at the onset of the Hangenberg

The Yellow River is the 2nd longest river in China and the 6th longest river in the world. However, the timing and mechanism of its integration remains debated. During the establishment of its present geometry, the Yellow River captured and deeply incised into a series of local drainage basins along its Upper and Middle Reaches. The termination of basin filling, therefore, can be linked to the development

The study of alpine lake ecosystem ontogeny provides an understanding of how climate dynamics and the associated catchment changes impact on lake functioning. Here, a high-resolution subfossil Cladocera sedimentary record, together with geochemistry proxies, from an alpine, treeline lake (Cuoqia Lake) in SW China were analyzed to understand the lake ecosystem response to changes in the regional Indian

The changes in the geometry, density and distribution of the fluvial reservoir sand-bodies have been modelled both in the laboratory and from outcrop analogues. On the other hand, fine-grained floodplain deposits, often called “background” sedimentation, have not been in the spotlight. However, they provide a very important database for fluvial architecture reconstruction and therefore constitute a

High-resolution proxy records are needed to evaluate models simulating past, present and future climatic conditions. Before such records can be reliably employed, calibration studies have to be conducted to assess the confidence intervals of the proxies. Here, we use shells of the fast growing Pacific oyster Magallana gigas from the Central Wadden Sea, North Sea, a temperate barrier island-backbarrier

The origin and evolution of the Yangtze River drainage system play a crucial role in the palaeogeographic and palaeoenvironmental evolution of East Asia. The source-to-sink history of this major Chinese river provides information on the initiation of a topographic gradient in East Asia driven by far-field and near-field effects of plate tectonics and elucidates the subsidence and depositional history

We here estimate past temperature and hydroclimate variations in eastern Anatolia for marine isotope stages 4 to 1 (MIS4 to MIS1) respectively using branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers (brGDGTs) and the hydrogen isotopic composition of n-C29 leaf-wax n-alkanes (δ2Hwax) stored in the sedimentary record of Lake Van (Turkey). Our millennial-scale lipid biomarker records reflect warm and wet

It has been disputed whether volcanic activity promotes the enrichment of organic matter in geological periods. In a biostratigraphic framework, this study divided the volcanic eruption periods during the Ordovician-Silurian transition in western Hubei Province based on the longitudinal differentiation of the bentonite development, analyzed the sedimentological and geochemical characteristics of each

The North Alpine Foreland Basin (NAFB) comprises one of the most complete sedimentary records of the Oligocene and Miocene. Driven by global sea-level fluctuations, vast sedimentary influx and tectonic movement. The locality of Unterrudling near Eferding (Upper Austria) exposes the largest succession of sedimentary deposits from the late Oligocene in the eastern NAFB. Additionally, this section shows

The Eastern tropical Pacific holds extensive oxygen minimum zone (OMZ) areas where pelagic denitrification occurs. Sedimentary nitrogen isotopes are believed to record their denitrification history, which provides indirect evidence for the past extent of the upper ocean oxygen depletion. We present a new high-resolution sedimentary δ15N record of ODP Site 1242 located in the Eastern Equatorial Pacific

Hydrogen isotope compositions of leaf wax lipids are widely applied to reconstruct changes of hydroclimate in sedimentary archives. However, whether the δ2H signals from different classes of n-alkyl lipids yield consistent information is an important but poorly explored issue. In this study, we investigated seasonal variations in the molecular distributions and hydrogen isotope compositions of n-alkanes

The Cretaceous Period is considered the archetypical greenhouse interval, yet there is mounting evidence for intermittent cooler climatic phases throughout this geologic span. Few continental climate histories exist for the Cretaceous south of the paleoequator, and fewer still for Africa during this time. The Cretaceous Galula Formation is one of the few exposed fossiliferous continental sedimentary

Detailed analyses of benthic foraminiferal fauna and planktonic foraminiferal stable carbon isotopes at IODP Site U1391 were performed to reconstruct orbital-scale variability in primary productivity off the Portuguese margin over the last 1.3 Myr. Q-mode factor analysis of benthic foraminiferal census data from the >250 μm fraction reveals four assemblages, which is mainly controlled by the organic

Groundwater, rather than regional precipitation, is critical to the development and maintenance of lakes in arid regions. We selected a sedimentary section in the Badain Jaran Desert, northwestern China, where the lakes are mainly groundwater-recharged, to reconstruct past vegetation development and environmental evolution, and to address the driving mechanisms of lake evolution by applying lithological

Land snails are widely distributed animals whose clumped isotope (∆47) in shell carbonates can serve as a proxy for temperature in terrestrial environments. However, it is unclear whether the ∆47 values of snail shells are affected by biological processes known as “vital effects.” Here, we report ∆47 values of whole Achatina fulica snail shells cultured at different temperatures at different growth

The lacustrine Dameigou organic-rich shale of the northern Qaidam Basin is a particularly promising play for recent unconventional oil and gas exploration in China. Deposition was associated with arid intervals during the otherwise humid Middle Jurassic, but the depositional mechanism and organic matter enrichment processes are poorly understood. This study integrates high-resolution organic and inorganic