Inferences of the ecological habits of extinct giant sloths from the Brazilian Intertropical Region - Adaiana Marta Andrade Santos; H. Gregory Mcdonald; Mário André Trindade Dantas (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2024)
Three indices estimated from measurements of the humerus and ulna were used to suggest possible ecological habits of eight extinct giant sloths from the Late Pleistocene of the Brazilian Intertropical Region. To make these inferences, data from extant primates and xenarthras representing suspensory, climbing and digging forms were compared. The results indicate niche differentiation existed between these species; Ahytherium aureum , Australonyx aquae and Nothrotherium maquinense could have been climbers, Catonyx cuvieri , Ocnotherium giganteum and Glossotherium phoenesis were diggers, while Valgipes bucklandi and Eremotherium laurillardi were strictly terrestrial in their habits. These results suggest a general pattern in which members of the Megalonychidae and Nothotheriidae were mainly climbers, whereas mylodontines were mainly diggers, and scelidotheres were strictly terrestrial along with members of the giant Megatheriidae.

Mammal taphonomy from a singular Late Pleistocene debris‐flow tank deposit in northeastern Brazil - Luana Cardoso De Andrade; Édison Vicente Oliveira; Hermínio Ismael De Araújo Júnior; Fernando Henrique De Souza Barbosa (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2024)
An integrated taphonomic analysis was applied to a tank deposit from the Zabelê Palaeontological Site (ZPS) in northeast Brazil. The unique sedimentological evidence documents the origin of the mammal assemblage via debris flow. Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dates put the ZPS in the later Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 3, which was a time when it was colder and there were fewer trees. The study revealed that the Zabelê's periphery accumulation was the result of the short transport of specimens and their entrainment by debris flow. This hydraulic transport caused the preferential orientation of the bioclasts (north–southwest). Comparisons were made with other Pleistocene tank deposits, suggesting the occurrence of common megamammal taxa. Temporal mixing was evidenced by the long time interval recorded by OSL ages and the co‐occurrence of distinct degrees of fragmentation, weathering, and fossil diagenesis. Permineralization and staining of Fe 3+ and Mn colour patterns were identified as fossilization processes with preservation of the original bone hydroxyapatite without substitution. The comparison with other tank deposits revealed common signatures (disarticulated and fragmented with moderate abrasion) and signs of reworking. Finally, the savanna‐adapted herbivore megamammals from ZPS, such as Eremotherium , Notiomastodon, Toxodon , and Glyptotherium , are congruent with the forest decline from MIS 3 to the Last Glacial Maximum.

Record of a juvenile of Ahytherium aureum from the Late Pleistocene of the Brazilian Intertropical Region: radiocarbon dating, isotopic palaeoecology and evidence of predation by a Felidae - João Paulo da Costa; Hermínio Ismael de Araújo‐Júnior; Fernando Henrique de Souza Barbosa; Mário André Trindade Dantas (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2024)
Teeth and bone remains belonging to the juvenile Megalonychidae family were found in Engrunado cave (Nova Redenção, Bahia, Brazil). We propose an index between the mesiodistal/vestibulo‐lingual measurements of caniniforms and molariforms ( I md / vl ) to differentiate isolated teeth of Ahytherium aureum and Australonyx aquae , and based on this index, we suggest that the fossil material belonged to A. aureum . The diaphysis of the right humerus of A. aureum presents biogenic marks assigned to the ichnospecies Nihilichnus nihilicus , suggesting dietary interactions and potential predation by a large felid. Radiocarbon dating and carbon and oxygen isotopic analyses suggest that this individual lived in the region between 36 181 and 41 094 Cal yr bp , feeding on C 3 plant resources (fruit and leaves) in a low‐density forest. The revision of radiocarbon dating and carbon and oxygen isotopes for some species found in the Engrunado cave and in the nearby Marota cave enables a climate reconstruction and indicates the maintenance of a forested environment in the region between 15 and 40 kyr.

A thorny taxonomic issue of Quaternary deer (Cervidae: Mammalia) from the South American Highlands resolved based on the recognition of a paleopathology - Leonardo Santos Avilla; José Luis Román‐Carrión; Alline Rotti (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2024)
The diversity of South American deer genera during the Quaternary is considered one of the greatest in the world. However, this was established during the beginning of the twentieth century, when the recognition of new extinct deer taxa was based only on differences in antler morphology. Thus, South American extinct deer taxa need a detailed taxonomic revision, and this is the case of the Andean deer genera Agalmaceros and Charitoceros . First, both taxa are diagnosed by the presence of thorns in their antlers. Consequently, by taxonomic priority, Agalmaceros is a senior synonym of Charitoceros . Second, we recognize here that the thorns of the antlers of Agalmaceros are the symptom of a pathology that also affects some extant deer. Excluding the thorns of the antlers, the antler of Agalmaceros is identical to that of Odocoileus virginianus , indicating that Agalmaceros is a junior synonym to this extant deer. The recognition of epizootic hemorrhagic disease as the possible cause for the thorny antlers of Andean O. virginianus and the ample record of this affecting antlers in deer from the tropical Andes suggests that an epidemic occurred in this region in the Late Pleistocene. Before describing a new taxon, taxonomists must exhaust all possibilities to explain morphological variations. In this regard, this contribution provides an interesting, important and weakly explored area in paleontology, namely taxonomic revision under a paleopathology context. With the taxonomic invalidation of Agalmaceros and Charitoceros proposed here, the diversity of South American deer genera during the Pleistocene is poorer than previously established and includes 11 taxa – seven extant and four extinct.

Radiocarbon dating and isotopic palaeoecology of Glossotherium phoenesis from the Late Pleistocene of the Santa Elina rock shelter, Central Brazil - Thais Rabito Pansani; Mário André Trindade Dantas; Lidiane Asevedo; Alexander Cherkinsky; Denis Vialou; Águeda Vilhena Vialou; Mírian Liza Alves Forancelli Pacheco (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2024)
The Santa Elina rock shelter (Central Brazil) stands out with two human occupation layers with ground sloth fossil remains from the Late Pleistocene. Here, we explore the palaeontological aspect of this site. We update the taxonomic assignment of the ground sloth found in the shelter to Glossotherium phoenesis . Radiocarbon dating performed on bioapatite ( 14 C bioapatite ) from two tooth specimens reveal the minimum ages of 14 944–15 239 cal a bp (unit II2) and 22 339–22 534 cal a bp (unit III4), which were converted to collagen using a novel approach and presented the calibrated ages of 17 450–17 906 cal a bp ( 14 C collagen = 14 547 ± 40) and 25 994–26 396 cal a bp ( 14 C collagen = 22 042 ± 40). We reinforce the chronology of the oldest unit of Santa Elina with material culture in association with megafauna bones to the Last Glacial Maximum. Carbon isotopic signatures suggest a mixed feeding diet for both specimens. The most recent ground sloth presents a higher isotopic value ( δ 13 C = −1.8‰) and narrower niche breadth ( B A = 0.50) than the oldest one ( δ 13 C = −3.3‰; B A = 0.74). We conclude that G. phoenesis lived in an arboreal savanna habitat during the phases studied. Slightly different oxygen isotopic values ( δ 18 O = 26.2‰ and 27.9‰) might suggest a decrease in humidity over time. Our results provide insights into the palaeoecology of the tropical Pleistocene G. phoenesis and the palaeoenvironmental setting of Santa Elina when occupied by early humans and megafauna during the Late Pleistocene.

Reviewing the body size of some extinct Brazilian Quaternary Xenarthrans - FERNANDO H. DE S. Barbosa; Laís Alves‐Silva; Alexandre Liparini; Kleberson De Oliveira Porpino (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2024)
Here we estimate the body mass of 10 iconic species of extinct xenarthrans (cingulates and sloths) from the Quaternary of Brazil using two sets of predictive equations based on postcranial variables. Our results revealed that one of these methods is more reliable in estimating the body mass of the evaluated taxa, even though both methods provide accurate results. The body mass estimates for cingulates indicate that they would have been heavier than previously proposed. Among extinct sloths, the results appear to be within the range of previous estimates. Compared to previously proposed body mass estimates for the same species, we suggest that the results presented in this study are more robust due to using predictive equations with high predictive power and developed using a broader phylogenetic dataset, including extant relatives.

Advancing chronologies for Last Interglacial sequences - AMY M. MCGUIRE; IRENE M. WAAJEN; NATASHA L.M. BARLOW (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2024)
Studies of the Last Interglacial (ca. 129 to 116 ka BP) provide an opportunity to study the impact of high‐latitude warm temperatures on the Earth system. To build an accurate spatio‐temporal picture of climate and environmental variability during the Last Interglacial, building robust chronologies, through which the patchwork of terrestrial, marine, and ice core archives can be correlated, is paramount. In this review, we briefly evaluate the most common approaches used to date climate and environmental archives from the Last Interglacial, as well as the chronostratigraphic tools available for direct correlation between sequences, with a focus on terrestrial archives. We then present a case study on the use of pollen biostratigraphy for correlating sequences in NW Europe, highlighting its strength as a local correlation tool, and the challenges this approach presents in comparing sequences to global records of climate and environmental change. A move towards consistently dated sequences will improve our understanding of environmental responses to Last Interglacial climate variability across different elements of the global climate system and the rates at which different elements of the climate system respond to changes in global temperatures.

Seasonally dry tropical forests in the late Pleistocene of Mesopotamia, Argentina and their relationship to environmental changes during the Last Interglacial - L. Fernandez Pacella; J. Baez; A. Crisafulli; M. Roig; M. Di Pasquo; C.A. Luna; I. Fagúndez; M. Martinez; P. Cuaranta (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2024)
The concept of seasonal forests groups structural types of vegetation that are related to climatic seasonality in the tropics of South America. Consequently, this determines the physiognomy of the vegetation, from semi‐deciduous to strongly deciduous. The strongest link between seasonally dry tropical forests (SDTFs) is their floristic composition, where Leguminosae and Anacardiaceae dominate the woody flora. The fossil records of the Neogene of northwestern Argentina reveal a list of species found in various locations and formations of the Miocene–Lower Pleistocene obtained from studies of pollen, woods (logs), cuticles, impressions of leaves and fruits. The analysis of sediments and woody structures from the Tapebicuá, Toropí/Yupoí and El Palmar Formations (Upper Pleistocene) of the Mesopotamia region allowed us to identify several pollen taxa and silicified wood fragments (mineralized). The woody and shrubby association whose current relatives characterize the SDTF is composed of the 16 fossil species described here belonging to seven families. In our samples, Anadenanthera colubrina and Myracrodruon balansae are the most significant members of the families Leguminosae and Anacardiaceae, which are dominant in the SDTF. The paleobotanical species described in this study confirm the extension of the SDTF to the province of Corrientes, coinciding with various climatic events (dry subtropical, semi‐desert and warm‐humid climate) that would have favored the development of these forests during the Pleistocene in this region. The absolute dates obtained for the Toropí/Yupoí and Tapebicuá Formations confirm their synchronicity and correlation to Marine Isotope Stage 5. The palynological analysis, the presence of Menendoxylon and the sedimentological data allow us to infer the existence of a seasonally dry humid paleoclimate in northeastern Argentina during the Late Pleistocene favorable to the development of the SDTF.

Are human activities or climate changes the main causes of soil erosion in the South African drylands?: A palaeo‐perspective from three sites in the interior - Richard Lyons; Stephen Tooth; Geoff A. T. Duller; Terence McCarthy (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2024)
Soil erosion across South Africa's drylands occurs widely in the form of gullies and badlands (locally termed dongas) that have developed in colluvium and in valley fills along incised rivers. This erosion has commonly been attributed to land mismanagement, particularly since European settlement, but natural factors such as soil properties, local base level fall and climate change have also been invoked. To disentangle human and natural factors, we use optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating, supported by documentary and archaeological evidence, to constrain the timing and causes of donga formation at three widely spaced sites across interior South Africa. At all three sites, the exposed stratigraphy indicates that hillslopes and floodplains underwent net sediment accumulation during most of the late Quaternary, and that present‐day deep erosion is of a magnitude unprecedented probably within at least the past 100 ka. OSL ages indicate that the onset of erosion at each site significantly pre‐dates European incursion and instead was broadly coincident with abrupt climatic changes that occurred during the Medieval Climatic Anomaly (MCA, ~ ad 900–1300) and Little Ice Age (LIA, ~ ad 1300–1800). Based on correlation with palaeoclimate proxy records, we propose that erosion was triggered by abrupt hydroclimatic oscillations during the MCA, and continued during the LIA in response to climate‐driven, large floods. At these sites, soil type and local base level falls exert secondary controls on the specific locations, processes, rates and depths of erosion. In other areas of South Africa, clear links between land mismanagement and soil erosion have been demonstrated, but for sites where detailed investigations have yet to be undertaken, these findings challenge an often default assumption that soil erosion is necessarily attributable to human factors. Our findings have significant implications for soil erosion control strategies and assessment of South African dryland landscape response to future climate changes.

Stratigraphy and dating of Middle Pleistocene sediments from Rodderberg, Germany - Bernd Zolitschka; Frank Preusser; Junjie Zhang; Ines Hogrefe; Nikolaus Froitzheim; Philipp Böning; Patrick Schläfli; Felix Bittmann; Franz Binot; Manfred Frechen (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2024)
The stratigraphy and dating of lacustrine sediments and loess derivatives from Rodderberg, a crater of the East Eifel Volcanic Field in Germany, is based on luminescence dating and incorporates radiocarbon ages, fingerprinting of key tephra layers of the East Eifel Volcanic Field (Rieden Tephra, Hüttenberg Tephra, Laacher See Tephra), pollen stratigraphy, varve counting data, and a correlative age–depth model. These methods yield a robust age–depth model for the last 258 ka. Beyond this, luminescence ages differ from tephra‐derived ages. In light of the apparent presence of the Rieden Tephra, the lowermost interglacial is assigned to Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 11 or 420 ka. This provides a high‐resolution record of environmental conditions representing an analogue for the Holocene, characterized by a warming planet. However, new luminescence ages may indicate a younger age for basal sediments, with the lowermost interglacial representing MIS 9. Both age–depth models constrain regional environmental changes during the Middle Pleistocene controlled by global climate variations. For the hydrologically closed nature of the Rodderberg crater, with limited pathways for sediment inflow and erosional export, these results shed new light on the continuity of long Middle Pleistocene records.

Using pollen in turbidites for vegetation reconstructions - Laura S. McDonald; Lorna J. Strachan; Katherine Holt; Adam D. McArthur; Philip M. Barnes; Katherine L. Maier; Alan R. Orpin; Mark Horrocks; Aratrika Ganguly; Jenni L. Hopkins; Helen C. Bostock (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2024)
Turbidites, deposited by sub‐aqueous gravity flows, are common in sedimentary archives worldwide and present a unique challenge and opportunity when reconstructing past vegetation through pollen analysis. When sampling pollen from a sediment core for palaeovegetation records, it is common practice to target background sediments (i.e. pelagic sediment) and avoid sampling turbidites, as they are presumed to portray a misleading picture of past vegetation. This assumption stems from our limited understanding of pollen abundance and distribution through turbidites, meaning that palynologists overlook deposits that could potentially be used to reconstruct past vegetation and climate. We present pollen assemblage and sedimentological data from four recent (

Taxonomic and stable isotope analyses of mammal remains from the Lateglacial site of Grotta Polesini (central Italy): Paleoenviromental implications - Francesca Giustini; Alessio Iannucci; Giovanni Porcelli; Ileana Micarelli; Mauro Brilli; Raffaele Sardella; Beniamino Mecozzi (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2024)
Grotta Polesini is one of the most famous paleontological and archaeological sites of central Italy, which testifies to its human occupation during the Lateglacial. The site comprises a cave system where systematic excavation campaigns have been carried out since the 1950s. In 1974, 656 mammal remains were collected but never studied. This fossil collection is here described for the first time through taxonomic and stable isotope analyses of the enamel of selected mammal teeth. The aim is to reconstruct the paleoenvironmental and climatic conditions of the site and to offer new information on terrestrial ecosystems during the Lateglacial in central Italy. The faunal assemblage studied herein, in addition to other species reported in previous works, suggests cold climate conditions. We also describe a right radius of an adult individual of Homo sapiens , increasing the human fossil record of the site. Carbon isotope data point to a scenario dominated by C3 plants in open and dry habitats, such as grasslands and steppes, in accordance with the pollen data from central Italy. The oxygen isotope data suggest the use of water resources with a local origin, i.e. local precipitation and surface waters with a provenance from the nearby Apennine chain. The ecology of the taxa influenced the oxygen isotope values, especially in the case of semi‐obligate to non‐obligate drinker species.

A temperature snapshot from MIS 5c in southeastern Alaska - PAUL S. Wilcox; Christoph Spötl; R.L. Edwards (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2024)
Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5c, between ~106 000 and ~93 000 years ago, represents an important warm period in which the current anthropogenic warming can be contextualized. Although viewed as a pronounced interstadial, its climate expression is regionally disparate, with different regions on Earth showing evidence of either cooler or warmer conditions than modern‐day. It is therefore important to expand temperature reconstructions to different regions on Earth to gain a better picture of climate dynamics during MIS 5c. In Alaska, there are no quantitative temperature reconstructions for MIS 5c, limiting our knowledge of temperature changes in this climatically sensitive high‐latitude region. Here, we fill this gap by providing the first quantitative temperature estimates from MIS 5c in Alaska using hydrogen isotopes of fluid inclusions in precisely dated speleothems. We find that regional temperatures during MIS 5c were within error of the modern‐day reference period (1929–1989 ce ) temperatures, possibly representing the most recent time period that regional temperatures were as high as modern‐day.

Issue Information (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2024)

Not only domestic spaces: dismantling short‐term occupations in Level 497D of Cova Gran de Santa Linya (Pre‐Pyrenees, Spain) - Laura Sánchez‐Romero; Jorge Martínez‐Moreno; Alfonso Benito‐Calvo; Javier Sánchez‐Martínez; Rafael Mora Torcal (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2024)
The Early Upper Paleolithic Level 497D of Cova Gran (Pre‐Pyrenees, Spain) comprises large assemblages of lithics, fauna, hearths, ash accumulations and well‐preserved refitting sequences. This provides exceptional information to analyze spatial patterns and deepen our understanding of the socio‐economic behavior of these human groups. This large interdisciplinary dataset has allowed us to carry out a detailed spatial study based on density analysis, geostatistics, fabric analysis and orientation techniques, revealing a structuring of the activities performed within the rock shelter. The distribution and accumulation of lithic artifacts, fauna and refits, and their association with the 10 hearths and ash accumulations, show that different types of activities were developed at the site, as well as showing the different uses of the hearths. 497D is a palimpsest where several short‐term occupations and/or activities could have occurred in a relatively short period of time, avoiding prolonged exposure to biotic and abiotic post‐depositional factors that could have significantly disturbed this well‐preserved assemblage. This level shows a place visited several times in relation to the development of specific activities, with movements throughout the landscape for the exploitation of local and regional resources, and less so its use as a domestic space. This implies that the central settlement, or dwelling space, would have been located somewhere other than Cova Gran.

Hydrological and vegetation changes in North Africa over the past 23 000 years: a comparative study of watershed areas of the Nile River using remote sensing and compound‐specific δ 2 H and δ 13 C from the Eastern Mediterranean Sea - KHALED S. Sinoussy; Hiroshi Naraoka; Osamu Seki; MAHMOUD A. Hassaan; Yusuke Okazaki (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2024)
Hydroclimate variation and vegetation changes of the Nile River watershed area in northeast Africa since the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) were reconstructed based on n‐alkanes, their carbon isotope ratios (δ 13 C n‐alkanes ), and their hydrogen isotope ratios (δ 2 H n‐alkanes ) in sediments from ODP Site 967 in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea. The results were compared with the present vegetation cover in the watershed areas using ArcGIS. The average proportion of current grassland in the Equatorial Lake and Ethiopian Highland Plateaus watershed areas was 45.8 and 64.7%, respectively. δ 2 H n‐alkanes ranged from −199 to −127‰ and co‐varied with insolation change response to orbital forcing. Depleted δ 2 H n‐alkanes were found from deglaciation to the middle Holocene, suggesting increased precipitation during the African Humid Period (AHP) from 15 to 5 ka caused by northward migration of the Intertropical Convergence Zone. However, lower precipitation was inferred by enriched δ 2 H n‐alkanes during the LGM and late Holocene. δ 13 C n‐alkanes at Site 967 did not show a trend in harmony with δ 2 H n‐alkanes and instead exhibited millennial‐scale variations ranging from –25.9 to –33.2‰. These δ 13 C n‐alkanes values consistently indicated a C4 grass‐dominated environment in the watershed areas of the River Nile since the LGM, persisting through the AHP and into the present. Reconstructions demonstrated orbital and abrupt forcing of hydroclimate variability while maintaining generally grass‐dominated vegetation with weak precipitation feedback over the late Quaternary.

Issue Information (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2024)

Behavioural tendencies of the last British–Irish Ice Sheet revealed by data–model comparison - Jeremy C. Ely; Chris D. Clark; Sarah L. Bradley; Lauren Gregoire; Niall Gandy; Ed Gasson; Remy L.J. Veness; Rosie Archer (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2024)
Integrating ice‐sheet models with empirical data pertaining to palaeo‐ice sheets promotes advances in the models used in sea‐level predictions and can improve our understanding of past ice‐sheet behaviour. The large number of empirical constraints on the last British–Irish Ice Sheet make it ideal for model–data comparison experiments. Here, we present an ensemble of 600 model simulations, which are compared with data on former ice‐flow extent, flow geometry and deglaciation timing. Simulations which poorly recreate data were ruled out, allowing us to examine the remaining physically realistic simulations which capture the ice sheets' behavioural tendencies. Our results led to a novel reconstruction of behaviour in the data‐poor region of the North Sea, insights into the ice stream, potential ice‐shelf and readvance dynamics, and the potential locations of peripheral ice caps. We also propose that the asynchronous behaviour of the British–Irish Ice Sheet is a consequence of the geography of the British Isles and the merging and splitting of different bodies of ice through saddle merger and collapse. Furthermore, persistent model–data mismatches highlight the need for model development, especially regarding the physics of ice–ocean interactions. Thus, this work highlights the power of integrating models and data, a long‐held aim of palaeoglaciology.

Lake Wellington and West Walker River in Great Basin of western United States: History and genesis - STEVEN G. Wesnousky; Brad Sion (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2024)
Closed basins within the Great Basin of the western United States were home to numerous lakes during the Pleistocene. One of these paleolakes along the western edge of the Great Basin, Lake Wellington, once filled a 10 × 25‐km expanse of Smith Valley to depths approaching 90 m. This and other lakes that existed during the Pleistocene are generally considered to be pluvial , indicating contemporaneity with either or all a period of cooler climate, increased rainfall and snowmelt, and relatively reduced rates of evaporation as compared to today. Here we combine the results of 36 Cl terrestrial cosmogenic nuclide surface exposure dating with soils and geomorphic observations to suggest Lake Wellington was not a pluvial lake but instead the result of a large landslide prior to ~43 ± 15 ka along the West Walker River where it exited Smith Valley. The observations collected also reveal an ancestral course of the West Walker River ~85 m above the current river grade. Attributing the elevation difference to incision caused by active 0.05 ± 0.01 mm a −1 uplift of the underlying Singatse and assuming the ancestral course followed the same path as today places the age of the paleoriver course at ~1.7 Ma.

Holocene climate evolution and human activity as recorded by the sediment record of lake Diss Mere, England - Laura Boyall; Celia Martin‐Puertas; Rik Tjallingii; Alice M. Milner; Simon P. E. Blockley (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2024)
Lake sediments are ideal archives to evaluate the interactions between climatically driven environmental responses and human activity on seasonal to multi‐decadal timescales. This study focuses on the unique sediments of Diss Mere, the only lake in England providing an annually laminated (varved) record for most of the Holocene. We combine microfacies analysis with X‐ray core scanning data to explore the influence of natural and human‐led changes on sediment deposition over the past 10 200 years and evaluate the sensitivity of the lake sediments to climate variability through time. Variability of titanium (Ti), calcium (Ca) and silica (Si) explain most of the lithological changes observed in the sediment and we identify three stages with low (10 290–2070 cal a bp ), intermediate (2070–1040 cal a bp ) and intensified (1040 cal a bp – present) human influence. During the first stage, where varved sediments are preserved, Ti is low due to the minimal detrital input into the lake. Ca and Si during this stage reveal high‐amplitude variability responding to seasonal changes in sediment deposition. The termination of varved sediment preservation and increases in sedimentation rates coincide with a major rise in Ti after this first stage, marking the intensification of human activity around the lake. Ca is used here as an indicator of temperature‐included calcite precipitation, and the long‐term variability of the Ca profile resembles Holocene temperature evolution. This continues during periods of intensified human activity, suggesting that the Diss Mere sediments remain sensitive to climate through time.

Defining the Sheldon Creek Formation, a Middle Wisconsinan (MIS 3) till in Iowa, USA - STEPHANIE A. Tassier‐Surine; PHILLIP J. Kerr; SUSAN M. Kilgore; BRADLEY D. Cramer (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2024)
A pre‐Late Wisconsinan, post‐Illinoian, till sheet has long been recognized in north‐central Iowa, but has not been formally recognized or defined until now. Early researchers referred to these deposits as the ‘Tazewell’, and the term ‘Sheldon Creek’ was more recently used informally by the Iowa Geological Survey in guidebooks and reports. Recent mapping has extended the eastern margin significantly past previous interpretations. The Sheldon Creek Formation has similar lithologic characteristics to the overlying Alden Member of the Dows Formation, and the two units are distinguished mainly by stratigraphic position. Differentiation from underlying Pre‐Illinoian till units is accomplished using lithology, primarily matrix grain‐size and sand fraction lithology. A suite of 22 radiocarbon ages indicate two distinct, separate groupings within the Sheldon Creek data. These data strongly suggest ice advanced south to 42° N twice, once during Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 3 and again during late MIS 3 or possibly early MIS 2. The presence of the Laurentide Ice Sheet in northern Iowa during MIS 3 has significant implications for ice sheet reconstructions during this interval.

Rise and decline of Holocene tufas across Europe: exploring east/west and north/south similarities and differences in their development - Julie Dabkowski; Léa Beaumont (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2024)
An extended inventory of 82 well‐dated European calcareous tufas is used to discuss the timing and amplitude of their onset, maximum and decline; in particular differences from east to west and between the Mediterranean area and the rest of Europe. Eastern deposits start to develop and reach their maximum slightly earlier than western tufas. Strong east–west differences in the timing and intensity of the climatic improvement during the first half of the Holocene explain the earlier development of eastern tufas compared with the west. The strongest differences are observed between Mediterranean deposits and other European tufas both in their development and decline, whether all or only fluvial deposits are considered, reflecting the important decoupling between Mediterranean and mid‐latitude climate records. During the Late Holocene, the earlier and more pronounced tufa decline observed in European mid‐latitudes is likely to result from more intense and rapid deforestation compared with the Mediterranean region.

Incision and rock uplift along the Lower Seine River since Marine Isotope Stage 8 - Diana Chourio‐Camacho; Jean‐Louis Grimaud; Hélène Tissoux; Paul Bessin; Pierre Voinchet; Emmanuel Vartanian; Mark Noble; Pascal Bertran (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2024)
The study of alluvial terraces helps in reconstructing the past geometries of rivers and makes it possible to assess the rate and pattern of fluvial incision and bedrock uplift. The fluctuations of river base levels are particularly variable and complex during the Late Quaternary in the lower course of rivers due to the interplay of responses to sea‐level fluctuations, tectonics and glacio‐isostasy. In this paper, the geometry and chronology of Manoir Brésil, an outcrop of alluvial terraces of the Lower Seine River, northern France, are investigated through a multidisciplinary study. Fluvial incision during MIS 8 in the Lower Seine in relation to sea‐level drop is recorded by an erosional surface cut into the chalk bedrock. This surface is covered by MIS 7 tidal deposits and then by younger, mostly periglacial colluvium (head). Manoir Brésil is therefore considered to be a chronological equivalent of the nearby, well‐studied Tourville‐la‐Rivière outcrop. The deposits are affected by post‐MIS 7 cryoturbation processes. Based on the local elevation of MIS 7 tidal deposits and erosional surfaces at Manoir Brésil, a minimum bedrock uplift rate of 25–40 m/Ma and an erosion rate of 125 m/Ma during glacial periods can be proposed. A regional correlation of the MIS 8 erosional surface is increasingly deformed by uplift towards the North, making it difficult to correlate the fluvial deposits along the Seine without precise chronological control. We interpret this regional tilt as the result of isostasy rebound after glaciations, consistent with the distribution of the elevations of MIS 5e and MIS 7 marine deposits along the English Channel.

The Currey cycle of Great Salt Lake: an early Younger Dryas lake in the Bonneville basin, Utah, USA - Charles G. Oviatt; D. Craig Young; Daron Duke (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2024)
The highest cycle of post‐Lake Bonneville Great Salt Lake in the Bonneville basin, Utah, USA, was thought for many years to have formed the ‘Gilbert shoreline’ (quotation marks indicate lack of scientific support). Mapping of the ‘shoreline’ is not reproducible and the concept has multiple problems, including that the ‘shoreline’ cannot be correlated with the well‐documented major rise of Great Salt Lake during the terminal Pleistocene. To avoid confusion, we propose abandoning the name Gilbert, which previously had been applied informally to both the hypothetical shoreline and lake cycle, and instead we use the name Currey cycle for the lake rise. During the Younger Dryas Currey cycle, Great Salt Lake became fresh to brackish about 12 700 cal a bp , and rose roughly 15 m higher than the modern lake. The end of the Currey cycle marked the beginning of extensive human occupation of the Old River Bed inland delta.

Late Pleistocene to Holocene vegetation changes in southeastern Patagonia (49° S): landscape changes related to disturbances - Víctor Merino‐Campos; Gonzalo David Sottile; María Eugenia de Porras; Marcela Sandra Tonello (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2024)
Southeastern Patagonia's (49° S) post‐glacial history inferred from high Andean lake sediments provides new insights regarding Late Pleistocene and Holocene vegetation dynamics at the eastern margin of the Southern Patagonian Icefield. The fossil records of pollen, charcoal and geochemical data from tephra layers from Laguna Chiquita and Laguna Gemelas Este were analysed to reveal past landscape dynamics related to vegetation changes, fire and volcanic events from ca . 15 200 cal a bp to the present. Nothofagus forest expanded over shrubland communities sometime between 15 200 and 4600 cal a bp , along with at least three disturbance sources related to the volcanic eruptions of Lautaro, Aguilera and Hudson, important local fire episodes, and neoglacial advances. Major charcoal deposition reveals moderate fire activity during the Late Pleistocene related to an open landscape characterised by a grass/shrub steppe. Local glacier advances may have affected the Laguna Gemelas Este sedimentation. Tephra deposition events do not correlate to vegetation changes inferred from the Laguna Gemelas Este and Laguna Chiquita pollen records. Late Holocene eastern Andean forest changes and fire activity at 49° S match other southern palaeoenvironmental records (50–52° S) suggesting that changes in the Southern Westerly Wind latitudinal position and intensity drove major palaeovegetation and fire dynamics before the European settlement. In the last centuries, fire and vegetation changes have been closely related to an increase in local ignition sources and the introduction of alien species.

Marine and terrestrial environmental change during the MIS 5–4 transition (southern North Sea area) - Irene M. Waajen; Francien Peterse; Frank P. Wesselingh; Freek S. Busschers; Friederike Wagner‐Cremer; Sytze van Heteren; Timme H. Donders (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2024)
The Late Pleistocene Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5 – MIS 4 transition (at ca. 75 ka) is globally known to correspond to a period of strong cooling and sea‐level lowering. Terrestrial records indicate the transition had a large impact on terrestrial environments, but the impact on coastal and shallow‐marine areas is poorly documented due to a lack of well‐dated, continuous archives caused by erosion during succeeding glacial lowstands. The extensive offshore deposits of the Brown Bank Formation in the southern North Sea yield a valuable record of this transition in a shallow‐marine environment. We show that the southern North Sea experienced subarctic marine conditions with a high input of terrestrial material during the MIS 5–4 transition. These continued marine conditions, which have not been described earlier for northwestern Europe, show that sea level remained relatively high, and lagged cooling on land inferred from lipid‐biomarker palaeothermometry. The time‐lag between terrestrial cooling and sea‐level fall created a sediment preservation window during the onset of MIS 4 in a shallow‐marine environment. Our record captures changes in both the terrestrial and shallow‐marine environments, and allows for linking terrestrial and marine records of the MIS 5–4 transition in NW Europe.

Submerged imprint of glacier dynamics in the NW sector of Lago Viedma (southern Patagonia, Argentina) - F. B. Restelli; J. G. Lozano; D. M. Bran; S. Bunicontro; E. Lodolo; A. A. Tassone; J. F. Vilas (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2024)
Lago Viedma is a proglacial lake into which the Viedma Glacier flows from the Southern Patagonian Ice Field. This glacier has rapidly lost mass in recent times, and its deglacial history is reflected in the lake's subsurface. New high‐resolution multi‐channel seismic profiles acquired in the northwestern sector of the lake have allowed us to reconstruct the bathymetry of the area and identify several small sub‐basins, which have a maximum depth of 240 m in this sector. Four seismic facies have been recognized, separated by erosional unconformities, reflecting the depositional conditions in this sector of the basin during different Quaternary sedimentation phases. There is a transitional phase from ice‐contacted deposits to subglacial deposits, probably associated with a subglacial fan, and finally a phase of lacustrine sedimentation. In addition, three depositional stages were identified within the lacustrine deposits, indicating a different sedimentary input, and the morphologies observed at the lake bottom suggest the existence of at least ten stagnations of the glacial margin. This study helps to improve the history of the retreat of the Viedma Glacier in this area during the Pleistocene/Holocene and provides a basis for further geophysical measurements aimed at mapping this remote lacustrine environment.

An interactive visualization and data portal tool (PALTIDE) for relative sea level and palaeotidal simulations of the northwest European shelf seas since the Last Glacial Maximum - James Scourse; Sophie Ward; Adam Wainwright; Sarah Bradley; Jerome Keaton Wilson; Jessica Guo (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2024)
Relative sea level (RSL) predictions based on glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA) simulations and palaeotidal predictions generated by hydrodynamic models using GIA‐generated palaeotopographies are available in the published literature, and datasets are available via data repositories. However, these data are often difficult to extract for specific locations or timeslices, requiring users to request datasets from corresponding authors. To overcome the intractability of these data and to enable users to interrogate datasets themselves without requiring offline requests, we have developed PALTIDE, an online visualization tool with intuitive user interface accessible at https://shiny.bangor.ac.uk/paleotidal/ . The model domain for this interactive visualization tool is the northwest European continental shelf, covering the period from the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) to the present day, and is based on previous GIA simulations by Bradley and colleagues and hydrodynamic simulations using Regional Ocean Modelling System (ROMS) published by Ward and colleagues. The tool is developed in R and utilizes a number of packages including shiny and bslib for the frontend, and arrow , raster and the tidyverse for backend data processing. The tool enables visualizations and data downloads for RSL, tidal amplitude and tide‐dependent parameters for any location within the model domain over 1000‐year timesteps from the LGM to the present.

Environmental conditions in the Massif Central during the Upper Palaeolithic using stable isotope tracking ( 13 C, 15 N) of bone collagen from large herbivores - Dorothée G. Drucker; Laure Fontana (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2024)
The environmental conditions experienced by hunter‐gatherers during the second part of the Upper Palaeolithic (ca. 28 000–15 000 cal bp ) are poorly known in the mid‐elevation volcanic mountains of the Massif Central in southern France. The stable isotope ratios of carbon and nitrogen ( 13 C/ 12 C and 15 N/ 14 N expressed as δ 13 C and δ 15 N values) in bone collagen of large herbivores can track their diet and habitat, reflecting local abiotic conditions (temperature, aridity, altitude). Due to poor preservation of skeletal organic matter in the region, new radiocarbon dating was conducted on a limited number of quality‐controlled collagen samples, based on a minimum carbon content of 30%. They document three main phases of occupation corresponding to the Final Gravettian, the Badegoulian and the Magdalenian, each of which is represented in different regions of the Allier and Loire valleys. Over time, a decrease in horse δ 15 N values, the best documented species of large herbivores, is found between the Final Gravettian (ca. 26 700–25 600 cal bp ), around the Last Glacial Maximum and the Badegoulian (ca. 21 900–19 200 cal bp ), followed by an increase in δ 15 N and δ 13 C values during the Magdalenian (ca. 19 100–16 600 cal bp ). During the Badegoulian, the δ 15 N values of the horses were lower than those of their counterparts in southwestern France, testifying to harsh climatic conditions favourable to a tundra‐like landscape, also reflected in the higher horse and reindeer δ 13 C values in the Allier valley compared to those in southwestern France. The relatively high δ 13 C and low δ 15 N values of a Final Gravettian wolf from the Allier valley suggests reindeer as a preferred prey, in line with their high abundance in the archaeological sites. Game access, rather than climatic conditions or lithic resources, seems to have motivated human groups to occupy the Massif Central during the Upper Palaeolithic.

Tephra identification without pre‐separation in ashed peat - LUCY C. Blennerhassett; PAUL C. Guyett; EMMA L. Tomlinson (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2024)
Cryptotephras in peat and sediment samples are traditionally separated for geochemical characterization using chemical or density floatation techniques following initial tephra identification and shard counting through analysis of ashed residue via light microscopy. However, these practices can be time consuming, subject to practitioner experience and material type, with a potential for sample loss. We present an alternative approach to identify cryptotephra in peat and sedimentary samples, where ashed material is mounted directly in epoxy resin and analysed through back‐scattered electron (BSE) imaging via scanning electron microscopy–energy dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy (SEM‐EDX). Semi‐quantitative, unsupervised chemical maps of epoxy mounts are created within 120 min using ‘Feature Analysis’ on AZtec software by Oxford Instruments. These maps locate grains of higher atomic mass and categorize phases based on geochemistry. We create a tephra identification method using an ombrotrophic peat sample doped with bimodal Vedde Ash, where recovery of the known tephra proportion in wet peat is 96%. We also propose an automated alternative to optical shard counting, whereby tephra counts identified via Feature Analysis can be ratioed to total grain counts acquired through ImageJ software and extrapolated to the inorganic fraction in wet peat. We apply the method to a minerotrophic peat from Brackloon Wood, Mayo, Ireland, where the Laki ad 1783–84 cryptotephra is successfully identified.

Early occurrence of lion ( Panthera spelaea ) at the Middle Pleistocene Acheulean site of Notarchirico (MIS 16, Italy) - Alessio Iannucci; Beniamino Mecozzi; Antonio Pineda; Raffaele Sardella; Marco Carpentieri; Rivka Rabinovich; Marie‐Hélène Moncel (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2024)
The long sedimentary sequence of Notarchirico has yielded evidence of one of the earliest Acheulean manifestations in Europe and of recurrent hominin occupation, spanning from the end of the interglacial MIS 17 to the glacial MIS 16 (~695–610 ka). Here, we report the new discovery of a lion, Panthera spelaea , from the site, based on a metatarsal from layer A. This part of the sequence dates to ~660–612 ka (MIS 16, 40 Ar/ 39 Ar age). Therefore, Notarchirico's lion represents the earliest confirmed occurrence of the species in southwestern Europe, although older findings are known from adjacent areas. Lions and several other large mammal species dispersed into Europe during the Early–Middle Pleistocene Transition, which also witnessed the spread of the Acheulean. Ecological and behavioural adaptability was probably key, for hominins and other species, to cope with the intense and recurrent environmental fluctuations that occurred during this period.

The onset of Pliocene–Early Pleistocene fluvial aggradation in the Southeastern Alpine Foreland (Velenje Basin, Slovenia) and its paleoenvironmental implications - Eva Mencin Gale; Petra Jamšek Rupnik; Naki Akçar; Marcus Christl; Christof Vockenhuber; Flavio S. Anselmetti; Andrej Šmuc (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2024)
In this study, we focused on the Pliocene–Early Pleistocene fluvial terraces in the Velenje Basin and reconstructed the morphostratigraphy, sedimentary depositional environment, provenance and age of the gravel deposits using geomorphological, sedimentological, petrographic and chronological analyses. Geomorphological mapping revealed the presence of two main river‐terrace groups. The terraces in the older terrace group are severely degraded and preserved only as remnants capping high ground, while in contrast the younger group is better preserved. Detailed lithofacies analyses of four selected stratigraphic sections of the older terrace group show that the gravel was deposited in a meandering and wandering environment. The gravel consists of metamorphic, igneous, volcaniclastic, clastic and carbonate lithologies derived from the north, east and west from the Paka River catchments. To determine the timing of deposition, we performed isochron‐burial dating using cosmogenic 26 Al and 10 Be. Our new age constraints date the deposition of the older terrace group to 2.7 ± 0.3 Ma. Establishing the aggradation and incision model of the Velenje Basin documents pronounced regional tectonic uplift during the Pliocene–Early Pleistocene, which led to incision and the subsequent formation of a terrace staircase.

Holocene geoecohydrological floodplain dynamics in NE Belgium: regional drivers of local change - Renske Hoevers; Nils Broothaerts; Gert Verstraeten (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2024)
During the Late Holocene, the majority of lowland river systems in temperate Europe transformed from low‐energy multi‐channel rivers in strongly vegetated marshy floodplains to more open floodplains characterised by single‐channel meandering rivers with overbank deposits. While the general framework of this transformation in floodplain geomorphology, ecology and hydrology (i.e. geoecohydrology) is widely recognised many uncertainties remain as its timing varies significantly, both among different river catchments and within them. To unravel whether the observed differences in floodplain response can be attributed to differences in the timing and nature of the driving forces or to a difference in sensitivity towards them, we compare long‐term and large‐scale reconstructions of the geoecohydrological floodplain dynamics and of the (climatically and anthropogenically driven) land cover change for two contrasting regions: the central Belgian loess belt and the sandy Campine region. By using a combination of cluster analysis, ordination and Ellenberg indicator scores on a large multi‐proxy and multi‐site dataset, we revealed the major trends in the past geoecohydrological evolution of northeastern Belgian floodplains. These trends are probably determined by changes in floodplain wetness, which can in turn be linked to variations in upland forest cover. The Early and Late Holocene floodplain transformations appear synchronous with the respective increases and decreases in upland forest cover in the vicinity of the sites, largely determining the water availability in the river catchments and thereby their local geoecohydrological conditions. Initially, these evolutions were determined by climate, but during the Middle and especially Late Holocene anthropogenic influence became a far more important factor, causing the evolutions in the two studied regions to increasingly diverge. While marshy floodplains with forested margins can still be found in the sandy Campine region today, these have become rare in the central Belgian loess belt due to the combination of a higher level of human impact and greater erodibility of the soils in this area. Despite the strong spatiotemporal variability of the floodplain transformations, we observe a trend towards increasingly rapid floodplain responses to upland land cover changes over the course of the Holocene, probably related to the growing hillslope–floodplain connectivity. We conclude that the (dis)similarities in Holocene geoecohydrological floodplain change can be largely attributed to the (dis)similarities in (climatically or anthropogenically driven) land cover change in the uplands, although the differences in inherent sensitivity of the locations – linked to factors such as soil type and topography – further complicate the already non‐linear impact–response relationships.

Stratigraphy and OSL chronology of the Middle–Upper Pleistocene sedimentary sequence and vegetation history during Late MIS6–MIS5e in the Neva Lowland (St. Petersburg region, Russia) - Maksim V. Ruchkin; Ekaterina S. Nosevich; Mikhail V. Sheetov; Dominik Brill (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2024)
The quarry of the Sverdlov (Etalon) Factory stands out as a unique site in the northwest of the East European Plain since it exposes an almost complete Upper Pleistocene stratigraphic succession. Previous investigations have revealed a sequence of marine sediments deposited during the whole Mikulino Interglacial [Eemian, Marine Isotope Stage (MIS)5e], but the chronology of the Late Pleistocene deposits remains incomplete and requires further update. We present a study of the Middle–Upper Pleistocene units exposed in the Sverdlov Factory quarry by using geological methods, optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating and pollen analysis. The lower part of the Sverdlov Factory section comprises glaciomarine/glaciolacustrine varves, which accumulated during degradation of the Late Moscow (Late Saalian, Late MIS6) glaciation and correspond to pollen zone M 1 (lower peak of Picea ). They are covered by interglacial marine clayey silt that includes all Mikulino regional pollen zones M 2 –M 8 . According to a Bayesian model based on K‐rich feldspar luminescence ages, the interglacial marine deposition started 133 ± 8 ka ago and ended 109 ± 7 ka ago. The marine sediments are overlain by lacustrine silt with a K‐rich feldspar age of 119 ± 7 ka, lacustrine/alluvial sand with plant detritus formed 47–41 ka ago, and lacustrine sand and silt without organic matter accumulated ~39 ka ago. The upper part of the section is composed of subglacial till formed during the Late Valdai (Late Weichselian, MIS2) under the Scandinavian Ice Sheet and glaciolacustrine varved deposits of the Baltic Ice Lake. Two ages were acquired using quartz OSL from these varves, 16.9 ± 1.6 and 15.7 ± 1.0 ka, which are assumed to slightly overestimate the true age.

Issue Information (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2024)

The preservation of storm events in the geologic record of New Jersey, USA - Kristen M. Joyse; Jennifer S. Walker; Linda Godfrey; Margaret A. Christie; Timothy A. Shaw; D. Reide Corbett; Robert E. Kopp; Benjamin P. Horton (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2024)
Geologic reconstructions of overwash events can extend storm records beyond the brief instrumental record. However, the return periods of storms calculated from geologic records alone may underestimate the frequency of events given the preservation bias of geologic records. Here, we compare a geologic reconstruction of storm activity from a salt marsh in New Jersey to two neighboring instrumental records at the Sandy Hook and Battery tide gauges. Eight overwash deposits were identified within the marsh's stratigraphy by their fan‐shaped morphology and coarser mean grain size (3.6 ± 0.7 φ) compared to autochthonous sediments they were embedded in (5.6 ± 0.8 φ). We used an age–depth model based on modern chronohorizons and three radiocarbon dates to provide age constraints for the overwash deposits. Seven of the overwash deposits were attributed to historical storms, including the youngest overwash deposit from Hurricane Sandy in 2012. The four youngest overwash deposits overlap with instrumental records. In contrast, the Sandy Hook and Battery tide gauges recorded eight and 11 extreme water levels above the 10% annual expected probability (AEP) of exceedance level, respectively, between 1932/1920 and the present. The geologic record in northern New Jersey, therefore, has a 36–50% preservation potential of capturing extreme water levels above the 10% AEP level.

Mineral magnetism and palaeoenvironment recorded in loess in southern England - Dominika Niezabitowska; Thomas Stevens; Balázs Bradák; Martin Chadima; Yunus Baykal; Daniele Sechi; Ramona Schneider (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2024)
Extensive research has focused on the loess deposits in southern England, aiming to unravel their stratigraphic and palaeoenvironmental significance. However, no systematic mineral magnetic study on these deposits has yet been undertaken. Here we address this by investigating the magnetic mineral composition and alignment of loess at two sites in southern England, Lowland Point (LP) on the Lizard Peninsula of Cornwall, and Pegwell Bay (PB) in eastern Kent on the Isle of Thanet. A set of rock magnetic analyses was conducted to understand mineral magnetism within the studied sections. In addition, the primary depositional origin of the magnetic fabrics as well as their overprinting caused by various possible post‐depositional processes were examined through anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS). The magnetic mineral composition is similar at both sites, derived from both sedimentary (aeolian) and post‐depositional processes. The AMS results show magnetic foliation that varies between the two sites, aligning with the bedding plane, indicating deposition from gravitational dust fall at the PB site, and a stronger wind transport energy at the LP site. Although the magnetic lineation of bulk AMS is relatively weak, there is a noticeable tendency towards alignment in most samples, with flow directions from the SE indicated at both sections if a strong wind is assumed at LP, although with a possible SW direction if a weaker wind is assumed. These observations may imply the preservation of palaeowind directions during dust transport, with a substantial southerly component, which contradicts previous assertions of dominant northerly or northeasterly winds. Indeed, a possible dominant southeasterly wind direction between 25 and 18 ka would suggest a limited influence of katabatic, westerly or polar northeasterly winds during dust transport, and rather may imply the effect of low‐pressure systems passing through the English Channel during that period.

Earliest Records of Holocene Cetaceans in the Black Sea - Magie Aiken; Elena Gladilina; Canan Çakirlar; Serhii Telizhenko; Luminita Bejenaru; Maia Bukhsianidze; Morten Tange Olsen; Pavel Gol'din (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2024)
The timing of the Holocene transition of the Black Sea from a brackish lake to a marine sea has long been debated. Here, we report on the earliest records of cetaceans in the Black Sea region as a proxy for the connection with the Mediterranean and the transition from a brackish to marine environment. We base our analysis on cetacean skeletal finds and archival data on cetacean skeletal remains from the Bosphorus, the western, northern and eastern Black Sea, and the Kerch Strait. We find that all three contemporary cetacean species in the Black Sea – the harbour porpoise, bottlenose dolphin and common dolphin – had migrated out of the Mediterranean to the Bosphorus and the Black Sea at least 8000–7000 years ago and reached the northern Black Sea by 5500 years ago at the latest. Our study suggests the establishment of a Mediterranean–Black Sea biogeographical connection for marine vertebrates at least 7000 years ago. The early presence of cetaceans in the Black Sea has implications for understanding its Holocene transition, as well as the evolutionary and ecological history of these species more generally.

Issue Information (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2024)

Inherited terrestrial cosmogenic nuclides in landscapes of selective glacial erosion: lessons from Lochnagar, Eastern Grampian Mountains, Scotland - Adrian M. Hall; David E. Sugden; Steven A. Binnie; Andy Hein; Tibor Dunai; Benedikt Ritter; Margaret Stewart (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2024)
Inheritance from prior exposure often complicates the interpretation of terrestrial cosmogenic nuclide (TCN) inventories in glaciated terrain. Lochnagar, a mountain in eastern Scotland, holds a clear geomorphological record of corrie glaciation and the thinning of the last Scottish ice sheet over the last ~15 ka. Yet attempts to date the main stages in deglaciation after sampling of 21 granite boulders for 10 Be, 26 Al and 14 C from corrie moraines, an ice sheet lateral moraine and boulder spreads revealed widespread, but variable, TCN inheritance. Only the youngest boulder ages fit within the range of expected deglaciation ages. To identify the sources of geological uncertainty, we provide simple models of ice cover duration and erosion histories for plateau, corrie and strath landscape domains, identify the variable nuclide inheritance that derives from different sources for boulders in these domains, and outline the effects of rotation, splitting and erosion of boulders during glacial transport. The combined effects increase clustering around arbitrary mean TCN values that exceed deglaciation ages. A further implication is that boulders have survived beneath overriding ice sheets. Such boulder trapping at Lochnagar may have resulted from topographic controls on katabatic winds and surface ablation acting on a thinning, cold‐based ice sheet.

Chronology of drill cores and the inferred coastal environmental evolution on Haitan Island, South China - Junjie Qiu; Jianhui Jin; Xinxin Zuo; Xuechun Fan; Junjie Wei; Daiyu Xu; Chenyang Hou (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2024)
Southeastern China's coastal region is considered one of the key areas for studying prehistoric human–land relationships in the Western Pacific region. This region, which is rich in records of marine civilization, provides an ideal location for recording coastal environmental evolution. In this study, the chronological framework of three borehole cores recovered from Haitan Island, South China, near the Keqiutou group of sites, was established using both optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) and accelerator mass spectrometry radiocarbon (AMS 14 C) dating techniques. Various analyses, including lithologic characteristics, chroma, clay–water electric conductivity (EC), grain size and elemental geochemistry, were conducted to elaborate the sedimentary sequence and its paleoenvironmental implications. The findings suggest that (i) since the late Quaternary, the Haitan Island sedimentary sequence can be divided into three deposition stages: Old Red Sand formed during Marine Isotope Stage 3 (MIS3), intermittent sedimentation during the Last Glacial Maximum and coastal aeolian deposition during the Holocene. Furthermore, the study reveals that terrestrial debris was significant as a material source for Haitan Island. (ii) Due to the absence of tectonic uplift, Haitan Island has no thick marine sedimentary record during the Holocene period of high sea level. The Luyangpu coastal sand sheet can be dated to 2.78 ka, which is consistent with previous reports giving dates of 2.4 ka. Prior to the formation of the sand sheet, the sedimentary environment in the area was characterized by lagoon or marsh facies. (iii) Paleoanthropological activities were influenced by sedimentary environmental evolution and geomorphic processes, among others. The Keqiutou Culture experienced high sea levels, which created an intertidal environment near the site and facilitated fishing. However, regression at 5.7 ka led to terrestrial environments, which prompted the inhabitants to migrate. Approximately 3 ka ago, sea levels rose again, coinciding with the initiation of rice cultivation. These factors may have influenced the transition from the Neolithic to Bronze Age culture. This study reconstructs evolution of the sedimentary sequence since the late Quaternary, enhancing our understanding of past human–terrestrial relationship in the region.

Seasonal climate variations during Marine Isotope Stages 3 and 2 inferred from high‐resolution oxygen isotope ratios in horse tooth enamel from Lower Austria - Lilian Reiss; Christoph Mayr; Kerstin Pasda; Michael M. Joachimski; Thomas Einwögerer; Marc Händel; Andreas Maier (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2024)
We present sequential oxygen isotope records (δ 18 O phosphate vs. VSMOW) of horse tooth enamel phosphate of six individuals from two adjacent Palaeolithic sites in Lower Austria. Three molars from the site Krems‐Wachtberg date to 33–31k cal a bp , and three molars from Kammern‐Grubgraben to 24–20k cal a bp. All teeth show seasonal isotope variations, which are used to reconstruct the annual oxygen isotope composition of drinking water (δ 18 O dw ) and palaeotemperatures. Measured δ 18 O phosphate values ranged from 8.6 to 13.0‰ and from 10.8 to 13.9‰ at Krems‐Wachtberg and Kammern‐Grubgraben, respectively. An inverse modelling approach was used to reconstruct summer and winter temperatures after a correction for glacial oceanic source water δ 18 O. Reconstructed annual δ 18 O dw was −16.4 ± 1.5‰ at Krems‐Wachtberg and −15.3 ± 1.4‰ at Kammern‐Grubgraben, resulting in annual temperatures of −5.7 ± 3.1 and −3.5 ± 2.9°C, respectively. Summer and winter temperatures reconstructed from individual teeth exhibit high seasonal variations with moderate summer temperatures and extremely low winter temperatures typical for a polar tundra climate. Isotopic differences between individuals are attributed to interannual climate variability or to different drinking water sources. Our reconstructed temperatures are, overall, consistent with previously reported values from European horse teeth, when taking regional differences into account.

The timing and magnitude of the British–Irish Ice Sheet between Marine Isotope Stages 5d and 2: implications for glacio‐isostatic adjustment, high relative sea levels and ‘giant erratic’ emplacement - J. D. Scourse (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2024)
The extent, chronology and dynamics of the pre‐Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 2 last British–Irish Ice Sheet (BIIS) are not well known. Although the BRITICE‐CHRONO Project has detailed the maximum extent and retreat phases of the last BIIS for the period after 30 ka and into the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), the Project identified several pre‐existing datasets and generated new data that implied glaciation pre‐dating the LGM but which post‐dated the Last Interglacial (Eemian; MIS5e); these data are reviewed here. There are no dated till units but are other indicators clearly indicative of glaciation: deep‐sea ice‐rafted detritus flux into the adjacent NE Atlantic, cosmogenic rock‐exposure age dating from glaciated surfaces in Wales and the island of Lundy (Bristol Channel), and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) ages of proximal glacifluvial sequences on the Isle of Lewis (Outer Hebrides) and in the Cheshire Basin. Taken together these indicate BIIS inception during MIS5d, growth into MIS4 and evidence for dynamic retreat–advance phases during MIS3. OSL evidence for high relative sea level indicated by raised beaches in southern Ireland during MIS4 and 3 at a time of lowered glacio‐eustatic sea level indicates substantial glacial isostatic loading, explained by the early growth of the BIIS during the last cold stage. High relative sea level during MIS4 and 3 coincident with adjacent calving ice sheet margins provides an explanation for the rafted giant erratics found around the shores of southern Britain and Ireland.

Postglacial flooding and Holocene climate shifts in the Persian Gulf - Abdolmajid Naderi Beni; Guillaume Leduc; Morteza Djamali; Arash Sharifi; Nick Marriner; Kazuyo Tachikawa; Frauke Rostek; Rik Tjallingii; Hamid Lahijani; Mahboubeh Molavi Arabshahi; Marta Garcia; Laetitia Licari; et al. (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2024)
Postglacial flooding of the Persian Gulf (PG) was important in shaping human history and driving landscape changes in the region. However, there is a paucity of data regarding the postglacial transgression. The position of the PG at the edge of major synoptic systems of the Indian Ocean Summer Monsoon (IOSM) and Mid‐latitude Westerlies (MLW) makes the environment particularly sensitive to Holocene climate shifts. To investigate the timing of the flooding and to detect the impacts of significant climate shifts on the regional environment during the Holocene, a multiproxy study was conducted on three short sediment cores from two deep sites in the PG. Sedimentological, palynological and geochemical analyses were performed on the cores. The results show that inundation of the western part of the PG that started from ca. 11.5 ka bp continued with successive prominent phases of transgression centered on 10.4 and 9.2 ka cal bp , and definitive marine conditions were established around 8.8 ka cal bp. The IOSM was the dominant system in the region until about 9 to ~6.3 ka cal bp. After that time, the intensity of the IOSM declined, as MLW dominated the region after ~6.3 ka cal bp. These climatic shifts induced significant changes in regional vegetation and hydrology, and possibly triggered socio‐cultural transformations.

Investigating the Upper Holocene palaeoenvironment and human subsistence strategy in the Khor Rori coastal area by studying mollusc remains from the Inqitat plateau (Dhofar, Sultanate of Oman) - Gaia Crippa; Silvia Lischi; Mauro Cremaschi (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2024)
Archaeological shells have a great potential for reconstructing past environments and human–environment interactions. The Inqitat plateau (Khor Rori Archaeological Park, Oman) shows rich mollusc assemblages, present in the HAS1 settlement and in a shell midden nearby (Iron Age). By analysing the environmental requirements of the species identified in the assemblages, we reconstruct the past coastal environment and investigate its exploitation by the local population and human activities during the settlement occupation. This is the first multidisciplinary investigation of Iron Age molluscs from Dhofar. Our results indicate that the environment surrounding the site was characterised by rocky shores and shallow‐water sandy to sandy‐muddy substrates, where locals collected shells. Mangrove species were recovered in few numbers, indicating that this environment was restricted or not exploited. Furthermore, a different use of shells between circular houses within the settlement and the midden was observed; in the former, species used as ornaments are more abundant, whereas, in the latter, species used for food purposes are found, confirming the primary use of the midden as a dump. The presence of easily accessible settings for mollusc collection in the site's vicinity and the richness in food resources due to a coastal upwelling makes this region very attractive for human populations.

Refining Holocene sea‐level variations for the Lofoten and Vesterålen archipelagos, northern Norway: implications for prehistoric human–environment interactions - Nicholas L. Balascio; William J. D'Andrea; Roger C. Creel; Leah Marshall; Moussa Dia; Stephen Wickler; R. Scott Anderson; Jacqueline Austermann; Kristian Vasskog; Pål Ringkjøb Nielsen; Svein Olaf Dahl (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2024)
The Lofoten and Vesterålen archipelagos are located off the outer coast of northern Norway far from the center of the former Fennoscandian Ice Sheet and near the continental shelf edge. Existing relative sea‐level (RSL) data indicate a pronounced mid‐Holocene transgression and interesting connections with the region's prehistoric human settlement history. Here we present seven new sea‐level index points from isolation basins and five terrestrial limiting points from a coastal sedimentary sequence to refine the region's RSL history. Ingression and isolation contacts in isolation basin sediment cores are identified using sedimentary geochemical data, scanning X‐ray fluorescence profiles and phytoplankton analysis. The ages of these contacts are determined using radiocarbon‐based age models. Our index points range from 11.2 to 1.5k cal a bp and are combined with previously published data to predict the spatiotemporal evolution of sea level in this region using an ensemble of spatiotemporal empirical hierarchical models (STEHME). The new RSL curve constrains the timing of the mid‐Holocene transgression, which occurred from c. 9 to 6k cal a bp when sea level increased from −4 to 7 m above present day. From c. 6 to 5k cal a bp , RSL rapidly fell to c. 4 m above present values, and more gradually declined at an average rate of c. 0.8 m ka −1 over the last 5k cal a bp. Isobase maps derived using the STEHME show a decrease in the regional shoreline gradients since the transgression maximum from 0.25 to 0.07 m km −1 . Our data also better define how RSL variations influenced the location and preservation of coastal settlement locations and harbors from the early Stone Age through historic intervals, improving understanding of regional human–environment interactions.

Late Quaternary ostracode stratigraphy of Mono Lake (California, USA): evidence for benthic ecosystem sensitivity to climate change - BAILEE N. Hodelka; MICHAEL M. Mcglue; MANUEL R. Palacios‐Fest; ADAM J. Benfield; SARAH J. Ivory; SCOTT W. Starratt; SUSAN R. H. Zimmerman (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2024)
The response of aquatic ecosystems in the Sierra Nevada (California, USA) to late Quaternary hydroclimate changes remains mostly unknown. Mono Lake, a large endorheic lake just east of the Sierra Nevada, contains an expanded archive of laminated sediments that can be used to examine the response of benthos to environmental changes. Fossil ostracodes from a radiocarbon‐dated core were used to examine paleoecologic changes from ~16.6 to 4.3k cal a bp. Seven species were identified, with the co‐occurrence of Limnocythere ceriotuberosa and Limnocythere staplini indicating a large SO 4 2− ‐rich lake in the Pleistocene. The Younger Dryas was complex, with Fabaeformiscandona caudata reflecting a cold and deep lake ~13.0–12.2k cal a bp , followed by an interval of extensive littoral habitat from ~12.2–11.6k cal a bp. Ostracode diversity, valves g –1 and the ratio of adult:juvenile valves declined after ~10.7k cal a bp due to regression, altered hydrochemistry and seasonal anoxia. Strong seasonality during the Early Holocene is suggested by the presence of reworked ostracodes and macrocharcoal, delivered to Mono Lake by erosion of ancient lake beds in the basin. A depauperate ostracode fauna in the Middle Holocene suggests a strong sensitivity to drought in this ecosystem, which has implications for biodiversity in the future.

Holocene hydroclimate in highland Costa Rica: new evidence from hydrogen and carbon isotopes in n ‐alkanes of terrestrial leaf waxes in a 10 000‐year sediment profile - Matthew T. Kerr; Sally P. Horn; Chad S. Lane (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2024)
We conducted compound‐specific stable hydrogen (δD) and carbon (δ 13 C) isotope analysis on n ‐alkanes from terrestrial leaf waxes preserved in a 10 000‐year sediment profile from Lago de las Morrenas 1 (9.4925° N, 83.4848° W, 3480 m), a glacial lake on the Chirripó massif of the Cordillera de Talamanca in Costa Rica. Our results demonstrate millennial‐scale variations in hydroclimate across the Holocene, with drier than average conditions in the highlands during the early Holocene, but with gradually increasing precipitation; mesic conditions during the middle Holocene with a gradual drying trend; and highly variable conditions during the late Holocene. This general pattern is punctuated by several centennial‐scale manifestations of global climate events, including dry conditions during the 8200, 5200 and 4200 cal a bp events and the Terminal Classic Drought (1200–850 cal a bp ). Our δ 13 C analyses demonstrate that carbon isotope signals are responding to changes in hydroclimate at the site and reinforce prior interpretations of a stable páramo plant community that established following deglaciation and persisted throughout the Holocene. The shifts in hydroclimate inferred from analyses of n ‐alkanes in Lago de las Morrenas 1 sediments show correspondence with charcoal records in multiple lakes, with fires most common during drier intervals.

The bay barnacle Amphibalanus improvisus (Darwin, 1854) in the Pleistocene of Europe? A review of Pleistocene Balanidae of northern Central Europe - Stefan Meng; Jaqueline Strahl; Andreas Börner; Kay Krienke; MICHAEL L. Zettler; Claudia Wrozyna (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2024)
The bay barnacle Amphibalanus improvisus (Darwin, 1854) has been found in Northern Germany in brackish marine sediments of the Holsteinian interglacial. Whereas the cause of the contemporary distribution of this species is anthropogenic and there is evidence that it has resulted mainly from shipping, the fossil findings demonstrate that A. improvisus had also already reached Europe naturally during the Pleistocene in Europe, probably via the Gulf Stream system of the Atlantic. Today, A. improvisus is considered one of the most successful aquatic invasive species worldwide and it is characterized by a high environmental tolerance. The ingression of the Holsteinian Sea, during the Pleistocene, took place during the climate optimum from the North Sea into the ‘Elbe Estuary’ through the Hamburg region and far to the south‐east into Brandenburg. It has been possible to reconstruct the palaeo‐ecological conditions based in particular on molluscs. Accordingly, environmental conditions ranged from normal marine in the north, via brackish in the transitional area to limnic–fluviatile in the Berlin region. The morphological features of the bay barnacles and their ecological parameters are described here in detail. In addition, we provide a general review of the known Pleistocene Balanidae in northern central Europe.

Mechanism of organic matter enrichment in a basin with shallow biogenic gas: a case study of Pleistocene shale in the Qaidam Basin - Xiaoxue Liu; Zhenxue Jiang; Xianglu Tang; Zeyu Shao; Mingshuai Xu (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2024)
Organic matter is the material basis of shale gas. The Qaidam Basin is a key exploration and development area for shallow biogenic shale gas in China. In this study, we have focused on Quaternary Pleistocene shale in the Qaidam Basin, and the mechanism of organic matter enrichment was investigated in terms of water column stratification and paleoclimate. The results show that the K9–K7 section has greater biological productivity than the K5–K4 section. During the early–middle Pleistocene (K9–K7 deposition period), due to a warm and humid climate, the water column was strongly stratified and herbaceous plants developed, resulting in increased biological productivity. Stronger stratification also led to a reducing environment in the lower layer, which was conducive to the preservation of organic matter from the upper layer. During the late Pleistocene (K5–K4 deposition period), with a dry and hot climate, stratification became weaker and the vegetation evolved into woody plants, reducing biological productivity. Weaker stratification led to destruction of the reducing environment, which was not conducive to enrichment of the sedimentary organic matter. Moreover, the increased temperatures increased the activity of methanogenic bacteria, which consumed a lot of the organic matter.

First reported fossil occurrences of Phrynosoma sp. from the Columbia Plateau (Washington State, USA) dated to the Late Pleistocene - Audra J. Richter; Brian J. Pickles; Bax R. Barton (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2024)
Reptiles, squamates in particular, can be extremely valuable as indicator species due to their commonly small fundamental niche ranges. Yet these taxa are often overlooked in North American Cenozoic palaeoecological studies in favour of mammalian specimens. At the Coyote Canyon Mammoth Site (CCMS) on the Columbia Plateau (eastern Washington State, USA) excavation has focused on the collection and subsequent identification of all diagnostic fossil specimens, whether associated directly with the mammoth remains or not, including small non‐mammalian vertebrates and invertebrates. Here we show that with appropriate excavation techniques, microvertebrate fossils are recoverable and can be identified to at least the genus level. We place the identification of two fossils of Phrynosoma at the CCMS, dated to ~13 and 15 ka, in the context of all recorded fossils identified to this genus in North America since the Middle Miocene. These specimens represent the first fossils of Phrynosoma adequately described and reported from the Columbia Plateau and the greater Pacific Northwest.

Climate and community in Central Mesa Verde - Sean Field; Donna M. Glowacki (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2024)
Periods of acute climate stress – the convergence of low subsistence yields due to poor climate conditions and ineffective buffering strategies due to climate variability – critically reduces peoples’ ability to subsist and mitigate food shortages, thereby creating conditions that could result in profound social change. Here, paleoclimate reconstructions are used to identify periods of acute stress at three large Ancestral Pueblo villages in the US Southwest. These periods are examined in relation to occupation histories at each village showing that in certain instances, acute climate stress played a primary role in people's decisions to leave communities. However, not all of the communities reacted to stress in the same way indicating that distinct patterns of climate and social context played an important role in influencing how acute climate stress was experienced by different groups. Results from this study highlight the importance of community‐specific histories when considering the impact of climate stress on past people.

Preservation of plant‐wax biomarkers in deserts: implications for Quaternary environment and human evolutionary studies - Deepak Kumar Jha; Robert Patalano; Jana Ilgner; Hema Achyuthan; Abdullah M. Alsharekh; Simon Armitage; James Blinkhorn; Nicole Boivin; Paul S. Breeze; Ravindra Devra; Nicholas Drake; Huw S. Groucutt; et al. (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2024)
Analysis of plant‐wax biomarkers from sedimentary sequences can enable past environmental and hydrological reconstruction and provide insights into past hominin adaptations. However, biomarker preservation in desert contexts has been considered unlikely given the sparse nature of the vegetation within the landscape. Here we evaluate the preservation of n ‐alkanes and fatty acids collected from four depositional sequences associated with archaeological contexts in the Nefud Desert, Saudi Arabia, and the Thar Desert, India. Pleistocene and Holocene samples were selected to understand the effects of age on preservation. The results of molecular distribution patterns and indices, particularly the high carbon preference index and average chain length, show the preservation of plant‐wax biomarkers in both the Holocene and Pleistocene desert sequences, while δ 13 C values and organic content provide insights into the vegetation contributing to the plant‐wax organic pool. This study provides a baseline for understanding human–environment interactions and for reconstructing changes in arid land habitats of relevance to hominins during the Quaternary.

Configuration and timing of the postglacial marine incursion along the eastern Ungava Peninsula (Nunavik, Canada): implications for deglaciation models - Claudie Lefebvre‐Fortier; Martin Roy; Hugo Dubé‐Loubert; Etienne Brouard; Joerg M. Schaefer (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2024)
The final deglaciation stages of the Laurentide Ice Sheet in northern Quebec–Labrador were marked by the incursion of the d'Iberville Sea into the coastal areas of Ungava Bay. Remote and field mapping of raised marine strandlines along the Ungava Peninsula east coast show that the maximum marine limit decreases from south (165 m) to north (100 m), reflecting differential uplift linked to an ice mass remnant located to the southwest of the bay. Reconstruction of the uppermost marine limit in two east–west transects extending into the Peninsula interior reveals distinct sea‐level stands with limited extents towards the west, indicating that the early stages of the marine incursion occurred in contact with the ice margin. The reconstruction also identifies the maximum eastward extent of ice‐dammed lakes that occupied the Arnaud River and Aux‐Feuilles River valleys. 10 Be surface exposure dating of marine strandlines yielded consistent 10 Be ages that indicate a rapid deglaciation of Ungava Bay between 8900 ± 200 a (north) and 7900 ± 200 a (south). These results provide constraints on the position of the Labrador Sector eastern and western ice margins during the late deglaciation, in addition to the timing of ice and meltwater discharges from the Ungava Bay region.

Late MIS5a in the southern North Sea: new chronostratigraphic insights from the Brown Bank Formation - Irene M. Waajen; Freek S. Busschers; Timme H. Donders; Sytze Van Heteren; Ruth Plets; Jakob Wallinga; Rick Hennekam; Gert‐Jan Reichart; Tim Kinnaird; Friederike Wagner‐Cremer (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2024)
The Brown Bank Formation (BB Fm) is a clay‐rich sedimentary unit that is distributed over a large area in the southern North Sea. It is easily recognisable in 2D acoustic reflection profiles, forming sets of subparallel high‐amplitude reflections. Previous studies have provided only fragmentary information on the facies, and a variety of interpretations on the depositional environment and age of the BB Fm. In this study we combine high‐resolution 2D acoustic reflection profiles and multiproxy sedimentological, geochemical and geochronological analyses of three vibrocores, to provide a detailed description and a new age assessment for the BB Fm at its type locality, adjacent to the Brown Bank ridge. At the study site, the BB Fm shows morphologically well‐preserved submarine sand dunes, deposited in a high‐energy shelf setting, overlain by organic‐rich silty clays that were deposited under lower‐energy conditions in an increasingly compartmentalised marginal marine environment. Elevated terrestrial organic input shows that the Rhine–Meuse delta was situated relatively close‐by. Luminescence ages indicate that the sediments of the BB Fm in our cores were deposited during the Weichselian Odderade interstadial (MIS5a, ca. 80 ka) and earliest parts of the Early Pleniglacial (MIS4, ca. 70 ka), which is later than previously reported in the literature.

From oligotrophy to dystrophy: the ontogeny of a humic lake in an extrazonal boreal taiga in Central Europe - Peter Bitušík; Tímea Chamutiová; Marina Vidhya; Šárka Horáčková; Radovan Pipík; Dušan Starek; Rastislav Milovský; Lucia Žatková; Ladislav Hamerlík (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2024)
While humic lakes are common in northern Europe, in central Europe they are rare and our understanding of their ontogeny is insufficient. Here, we present the reconstruction of the development of a humic lake in the Tatra Mountains (Slovakia) over the last 8000 years using chironomids along with diatoms, pollen and non‐pollen palynomorphs. The compositional changes in aquatic proxies suggest three developmental stages. Since its formation the lake has been oligotrophic (phase 1), and its chemistry was controlled by subsurface waters rich in base cations buffering the effect of acid humic substances from forest and peat that were already present in the catchment. The beginning of the transition to phase 2 (~4400 cal a bp ) is marked by simultaneous alterations in all proxies. Climate change combined with the local geochemistry was able to alter the limnological conditions supporting unique chironomid assemblages that have no analogues in recent Carpathian lakes. At ~ 3400 cal a bp the lake shifted to a phase when acidophilic/acidotolerant taxa indicate characteristic humic lake conditions (phase 3). Some chironomid taxa appearing ~ 2000 years ago for the first time indicate a dystrophic state in which the lake has remained until now. Human activities have been detected in the area since the Aeneolithic but had no direct influence on the lake.

Holocene overflow events of the lower Yellow River recorded in Huangdun ancient lake, northern Jiangsu Plain, China - Rui Zhang; Li Xing; Shi‐Yong Yu; Junsheng Nie; Jinjia Wu; Zhao Wang; Shiyue Chen; Zhanfang Hou; Guodong Zhang; Denghui Zhang (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2024)
Overflow events are important embodiments of the evolutionary characteristics of the lower Yellow River. Lakes in the lower reaches of the Yellow River have the capacity to record these events. Due to the complex provenance and transport pathways of sediments in local lakes, it is difficult to extract reliable information on sediments delivered by the Yellow River based on conventional methods and proxies. Here, we show results from a genetically meaningful end‐member (EM) decomposition of sediment grain‐size data from Huangdun ancient lake. The grain‐size of the sediments can be decomposed into three end‐members. Comprehensive analysis combining environmental magnetism and geochemical indicators clarifies the significance of each end‐member. EM1 represents mixed signals of various proximal fluvial sediments and the Yellow River materials. EM2 is similar to terrestrial fine‐grained debris in conjunction with local pedogenic materials, aeolian inputs and some Yi River materials. EM3 represents a component that is mainly derived from long‐distance transport by the lower Yellow River. End‐member analysis successfully identified overflow events of the lower Yellow River on a southward‐flowing path during the Holocene. This study provides a meaningful attempt to reconstruct the evolutionary history of the lower Yellow River from sedimentary records.

The southern Brazilian tropical forest during the penultimate Pleistocene glaciation and its termination - Adriana Mercedes Camejo Aviles; Marie‐Pierre Ledru; Fresia Ricardi‐Branco; Gisele C. Marquardt; Denise de Campos Bicudo (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2024)
To describe the composition of the penultimate glacial Brazilian Atlantic forest, we analyzed pollen, charcoal and diatoms deposited in the section from 871 to 1400 cm of core CO14 drilled in the Colônia basin in southeastern Brazil. The landscape was characterized by a cool grassland with three conifer genera: Araucaria , Podocarpus and Ephedra . Total arboreal pollen frequency did not change during the transition from glacial to interglacial conditions. Changes in Podocarpus frequency and concentration showed out‐of‐phase responses with austral summer insolation at an orbital scale while, at a millennial scale, both northern and southern hemisphere ice volume controlled the interplay between positions of the Inter‐Tropical Convergence Zone and South Tropical Front (STF), which in turn defined the latitudinal distribution of rainfall. The disappearance of Podocarpus and the decrease of Araucaria observed between ~167 and 160 ka were related to a dry interval which was not observed elsewhere. During Termination II a progressive decrease in conifer pollen taxa was in phase with a southward shift in the STF and increase in Atlantic sea surface temperatures. Our results show that southern hemisphere conifer distribution is strongly linked to austral summer insolation and winter precipitation and will be threatened by the southward expansion of the summer rainfall boundary.

Issue Information (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2024)

The past is uncertain: alternative responses of cloud forest mammals to the Last Glacial Maximum in the Oaxacan Highlands, Mexico - Lázaro Guevara (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2024)
The Last Glacial Maximum (LGM; 26,000–19,000 years before the present) altered the distribution of species worldwide. Its effect is poorly known in tropical regions because the cooling and drought reached during that period are uncertain. Here, I generated hypotheses regarding the possible responses of cloud forest mammals in the Oaxacan Highlands (OH) of Mexico, a region with one of the most extensive cloud forests in the Neotropics. First, I used three General Circulation Models (GCMs: CCSM3, MIROC‐ESM and MPI) to characterize probable climates during the LGM. Then, I used ecological niche models to estimate the current and LGM potential distributions of four cloud forest species. As in other locations, the results show that GCMs are consistent with cooler conditions relative to today; however, the three GCMs estimate precipitation regimes with notable variations in the region. MPI indicates that the LGM could have been even wetter than present. Consequently, the MPI scenario allowed more widespread potential distributions of mammals. The paleodistributions show how mid‐ and lowlands were essential for the long‐term survival of these ‘high‐mountain mammals’ throughout the last glacial–interglacial cycle. The paleodistributions presented here are precise hypotheses that can be tested based on paleoecological and genetic evidence.

Vertical acoustic blanking in seismic data from the German North Sea: a spotlight to shallow gas‐bearing incised channels - Niklas Ahlrichs; Axel Ehrhardt; Michael Schnabel; Christian Berndt (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2024)
Seismic data from the North Sea commonly show vertical acoustic blanking (VAB) often interpreted as fluid conduits with implications for Quaternary development. The robustness of this interpretation has long been controversial as the infill of tunnel valleys can also cause vertical blanking. Using 2D and 3D seismic data and sediment echosounder data from the German North Sea, we investigate VAB to determine a geological or imaging origin of these anomalies. We detected multiple VAB occurrences throughout the North Sea. 3D data from the Ducks Beak (‘Entenschnabel’) reveal a correlation of VAB with bright spots in incised channels directly below the seafloor. Large source–receiver distances allow imaging the subsurface below the channel without signal penetrating through it (undershooting). This method removes the blanking. Energy absorption by shallow biogenic gas trapped within the channels explains the observed VAB. Hence, the blanking represents an imaging artifact, highlighting the need for careful seismic processing with sufficient offset before interpreting such anomalies as fluid pathways. The channels belong to a postglacial channel system related to the now submerged lowlands of Doggerland. This work demonstrates the usability of mapping VAB to detect shallow features for paleo‐landscape reconstruction and identification of shallow gas for hazard assessments, for example.

Forest fires in southwest Western Siberia: the impact of climate and economic transitions over 9000 years - N. E. Ryabogina; M. I. Nesterova; R. R. Utaygulova; E. D. Trubitsyna (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2024)
Here we compare the long‐term dynamics of fires in the southern taiga of Western Siberia with changes in the environment and ancient economies. Utilizing charcoal particles extracted from peat sediments, we assess charcoal accumulation rates to identify the neighborhood level of fires. Comparison of changes in vegetation, climate and land‐use history with fire dynamics reveals that wildfires were climate‐dependent but inconsequential during the first half of the Holocene (9.0–4.1k cal a bp ) in the hunter‐gatherer period. Critical changes and a notable increase in fires were observed in the Late Holocene when pyrogenic events correlate poorly with changes in vegetation cover and climate. Nevertheless, after 4.1k cal a bp , a direct relationship between fire frequency and economic features emerged, primarily linked to the introduction of animal husbandry and metallurgy, along with an increase in the number of settlements. Subsequently, fire activity increased, remaining higher even during periods of cooling and increased humidity, and this appears to have been related more closely to the economic strategies and periods of depopulation. Thus, even in Siberia, where agriculture had not been practised until the last few centuries, the transition to a productive economy in the Bronze Age brought decisive changes in the dynamics of forest fires.

Evaluating the impact of the Storegga tsunami on Mesolithic communities in Northumberland - Patrick D Sharrocks; Jon Hill (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2024)
The Holocene Storegga tsunami, 8120–8175 cal a bp , resulted in run‐up heights of up to 3–6 m around mainland UK and coincided with a suggested large population decline in the coastally focused Mesolithic population in Northern Britain. At Howick, Northumberland, the site of a Mesolithic settlement, a nearby sediment deposit may be of tsunamigenic origin, but this is uncertain. Here, a numerical model was used to simulate the Storegga tsunami in Northumberland. Two scenarios of relative sea‐level change, and a third incorporating high tide, were simulated with mortality estimated within the intertidal zone for the Mesolithic sites in the region. The results showed that only with the addition of high tide could the sediment deposit site have been inundated by the tsunami. At Howick, mortality estimates varied but were up to 100% within the resource‐rich intertidal zone. The tsunami inundated a large area and would have led to the loss of key resources such as hazelnuts prior to the winter months. These combined effects would have probably been replicated throughout coastal settlements in Northern Britain, possibly leading to the contemporary population decline estimated to have occurred at this time.

Where did the water come from? Wetlands and shallow lakes in semi‐arid dunefields from South America during the Pleistocene–Holocene transition - Alfonsina Tripaldi; Ivana L. Ozán; Guillermo Heider; María J. Orgeira; Steven L. Forman (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2024)
Stabilized and active dunes and sand sheet deposits abound in a small lake‐dotted semi‐arid region of the Western Pampean Dunefield, Argentina. Here, a multi‐scale and multi‐proxy study of three sites, across a hydrologic gradient from lakes to a dryland with groundwater levels at more than 25 m depth, analyzes calcareous and ferruginous rhizoliths, calcareous crusts, hypocoatings, pedogenic carbonate and amorphous Mn‐oxide precipitates within blowout dunes. These palustrine‐related features indicate significantly wetter conditions that allowed the development of shallow lakes and expanding wetlands during the Pleistocene–Holocene transition, limited by associated optically stimulated luminescence ages between ca. 14.7 and 11.6 ka. These wetter conditions, also identified in other nearby proxy records, may be associated with a strengthened South American Monsoon System, potentially during the Younger Dryas Chronozone, though other geological, ecological and climatic forcings cannot be ruled out with available data. Such a scenario lacks a modern analogue, since current hydrologic excess, evidenced in the formation of lakes and new rivers, is not observed in the localities which record paleolakes. This study underlines the variable conditions for pronounced hydrologic excess in semi‐arid eolian environments in western Argentina with complex ecological, anthropogenic and climatic linkages.

Issue Information (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2024)

Equids ( Equus sp .) in southern Spain from the Palaeolithic to the Bronze Age - Eloísa Bernáldez‐Sánchez; Esteban García‐Viñas; Fernando Sanguino; David Villalón; Jennifer A. Leonard (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2024)
The genus Equus was represented on the Iberian Peninsula by four species during the late Quaternary: the wild, now extinct, E. ferus (wild horse) and E. hydruntinus (European wild ass) and the extant, domestic E. caballus (horse) and E. asinus (donkey). The distribution and timing of the extinctions of the wild species and arrival of the domestic species is important to understand the changing environment and cultures through this dynamic period in one of the three southern Pleistocene glacial refugia in Europe. Here we collected data from all zooarchaeological studies that meet basic completeness criteria from the Palaeolithic to the Bronze Age (45–3.2 ka bp ) and analysed the equine data in light of other large mammals at the same sites in order to document the species turnover and distributions through this culturally and ecologically dynamic period. The vast majority of Palaeolithic Equus were confidently identified as E. ferus , and by the Bronze age as E. caballus , with much uncertainty in between. Over time the larger equids (horses) were much more common than the smaller equids (asses). Equids were not common, but they were distributed across the southern Iberian peninsula through the Chalcolithic, and then appear to have become restricted to the drier eastern region in the Bronze Age. These analyses indicate that both E. ferus and E. hydruntinus went extinct by the end of the Pleistocene/Palaeolithic in Andalucia. Not all communities maintained equal numbers of equids, and their distribution changed with the changing climate through time, most notably between the Chalcolithic and the Bronze Age when confidence in species identification and local density of horses increase, but the distribution is restricted to the drier eastern region.

A response to the comment on the article: Plant—insect interactions … (Pokorný and Borges, 2023), by Góis‐Marques, Madeira and Menezes de Sequeira - Richard Pokorný; Paulo A. V. Borges (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2024)

The recent evolution of the salt marsh ‘Pantano Grande’ (NE Sicily, Italy): interplay between natural and human activity over the last 3700 years - Jordan Palli; Lorenzo Monaco; Monica Bini; Emanuela Cosma; Biagio Giaccio; Adam Izdebski; Alessia Masi; Scott Mensing; Gianluca Piovesan; Veronica Rossi; Laura Sadori; Bernd Wagner; et al. (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2024)
Combined natural processes and human activities shaped the late Holocene landscape history in many Mediterranean regions. This is especially true with areas subjected to specific human interest, such as coastal areas morphologically suitable to the establishment of harbours. Here, we test the hypothesis on the location of the Roman harbour Portus Trajectus in Peloro Cape (NE Sicily, Italy) and describe the evolution of the area over the last 3700 years through lithostratigraphic, geochemical, meiofauna and microfossil analyses performed on a new sediment core recovered from the coastal salt marsh Pantano Grande (aka Lago di Ganzirri ). The age–depth model was developed on radiocarbon dates and geochemical fingerprinting of two tephra layers. Results indicate that the area underwent dramatic changes ca . 650 bce. The anthropogenic impact of Greek colonies may have contributed to modifying the coastal environment of Peloro Cape due to their widespread impact on natural resources. This happened at many localities in the Mediterranean, indicating the magnitude of impact of the Greek colonies over the landscape. According to our results, it is unlikely that the current Pantano Grande basin was used as a harbour in Roman times, although the presence of a harbour in the nearby Pantano Piccolo marsh cannot be excluded. Pantano Grande had been isolated from the sea for more than 2000 years. Human intervention in the 19 th century halted that isolation and provided the background for the ecological, economic and social functions the salt marsh performs today.

Late Wolstonian and Ipswichian (MIS 6/5e) sediment fill in a limestone sinkhole, Askham Fell, northern England - Paul A. Carling; David J. A. Evans; Mahmoud Abbas; Xianjiao Ou; Zhongping Lai (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2024)
In 2019 a sinkhole (doline) occurred in Late Devensian till above fissured limestone in northern England. Most sediment plugging the fissure was evacuated down into a karstic drainage system. The residual sedimentary fill comprises three main lithofacies, dated using optically stimulated luminescence to between 170.7 ± 40.0 and 56.1 ± 13.5 ka. The earliest date demonstrates fissures were present in the limestone pavement at the time of Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 6, or shortly thereafter. The fissure filled with fine sand and silt due to surface runoff and aeolian processes probably at the MIS 6 to MIS 5e transition after Wolstonian glacial ice had retreated. The deposits then collapsed into the karst system. Further fine sand and silt deposition occurred during MIS 3; this deposit filled the central cavity surrounded by residual MIS 6/5e deposits. The sequence was capped by till as Late Devensian (MIS 2) ice transgressed the area. Solution fissures in the karst surfaces of northern England may pre‐date the Late Devensian glaciation. Moreover, fissures are repositories of pre‐Devensian sediment deposits which survived the Late Devensian glaciation and the Ipswichian interglacial. Such sites should provide information on the nature and timing of pre‐Devensian glacial–interglacial events and shed light on basal ice conditions and glaciokarst drainage behaviour.

Coastal Lagoonal Evolution within the Early Holocene Humber Estuary, eastern England - M. J. Grant; T. Hill; S. Evans; M. Law (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2024)
Rapid sea‐level rise during the Early Holocene around the North Sea coastal lowlands provided conditions under which estuarine and coastal features, with no modern equivalents, could be created. Investigation of nearshore sediments within the Outer Humber Estuary, UK, has identified a tidal lagoonal system, created between c. 9000 and 7800 cal a bp . These sequences show the initial flooding of a carr woodland, prior to the establishment of more saline conditions as the tidal lagoonal system developed. Inter‐core comparisons, based on diatom and pollen analyses, suggest variations in the structure of a tidal lagoon setting, which probably lasted for only a brief period before being submerged by rising sea levels. The absence of an erosive contact in several of the sequences studied has permitted the creation of the oldest sea‐level index points for the Outer Humber Estuary, providing validation for the current glacial isostatic adjustment models for the region.

Radiocarbon dates from the Netherlands and Doggerland as a proxy for vegetation and faunal biomass between 55 and 5 ka cal bp - B. Van Geel; J. Van Der Plicht; C. Kasse; D. Mol (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2024)
Three hundred forty‐one radiocarbon dates from the Groningen radiocarbon database are compiled in this study. They show for the first time that organic sediment samples from the eastern Netherlands and mammal bones from Doggerland reflect shifts in the presence and the density of vegetation (food for herbivores) and mammal biomass during the last ice age (Weichselian Stage, ~119–14.7 ka cal bp ). Comparison with oxygen isotope curves of Greenland ice cores and geomorphological data shows that cold climate, in particular during the younger part of the Weichselian Middle Pleniglacial and during the Late Pleniglacial, and related scarcity or even absence of vegetation, were limiting factors for the carrying capacity of the landscape and thus for the population density of large herbivores during the period covered by 14 C dating (last ca. 55 000 years). A ‘fossil gap’ during the Late Pleniglacial lasted ca. 13 000 years from ca. 28 to 15 ka cal bp . Previous research from the nearby Eifel region in Germany shows that environmental conditions were less extreme (‘refugium conditions’) than in the Netherlands, taking into account the continuous presence of spores of coprophilous fungi in the Eifel, indicating uninterrupted food supply for herbivores.

Rapid terrace incision and Quaternary landscape evolution in central Patagonia - Varyl Robert Thorndycraft (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2024)
The debate over isostatic uplift versus discharge as drivers of Quaternary river incision is explored here through geospatial analysis of a ~250‐m‐relief terrace sequence from the Río Pinturas (Argentine Patagonia). The geomorphic setting of the Cañadon Caracoles reach allows evaluation of discharge as a driver of terrace incision because advancing ice during Pleistocene glaciations blocked Pacific drainage and routed meltwater from an expanded ~10 4 ‐km 2 catchment to the Atlantic through the dryland steppe of the study area. Twenty‐two terrace levels, some assigned to previously dated ice margins [Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 32–36, MIS 16, MIS 8 and MIS 2], were identified. Average net incision since 800 ka (~0.34 m ka −1 ) exceeded regional uplift rates. The MIS 2 terraces, with ante quem and post quem age constraint on the timing of terrace formation, show that terrace incision was episodic and faster still during a transitional warming climate. Glacier recession and proglacial lake formation at ~18 ka led to rapid incision of ~11.7 m ka −1 over a few millennia. River capture and negligible flow from ~15.0 ka caused fan‐dammed lake formation on the valley floor and vertical stability during MIS 1. The Pinturas terraces demonstrate rapid incision can be driven by discharge and sediment dynamics.

Comment on: Plant–insect interactions in the Quaternary fossil record of the Azores Archipelago (Portugal). Pokorný and Borges (2023). Journal of Quaternary Science 38(4), 597–607 - Carlos A. Góis‐Marques; José Madeira; Miguel Menezes de Sequeira (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2024)

Influence of flooding variability on the development of an Amazonian peatland - D. Sassoon; W. J. Fletcher; K. H. Roucoux; P. Ryan; I. T. Lawson; E. N. Honorio Coronado; J. Del Aguila Pasquel; T. Bishop; C. M. Åkesson; A. Hastie (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2024)
Peat in the Pastaza–Marañón Foreland Basin (PMFB), northern Peru, forms beneath open wetlands, palm swamps, pole forests and seasonally flooded forests. These vegetation communities may represent different successional stages of peatlands, but the spatiotemporal patterns of peatland development in Amazonia are still poorly understood. We present a new geochemical and palaeoecological record spanning the last c. 4330 years from an open peatland (San Roque, core SAR_T3_03_B). Our results suggest the persistence of predominantly herbaceous vegetation communities at the core site since the start of peat accumulation (c. 3180 cal a bp ). Micro‐X‐ray fluorescence core scanning provides evidence for episodes of fluvially derived minerogenic input and simultaneous increases in flood‐tolerant taxa relating to intervals of increased frequency and depth of riverine flooding. The establishment of Mauritia flexuosa palms from around 440 cal a bp coincided with a shift to lower flooding depth and frequency which continues to the present day. This study reveals the role of flooding variability in shaping peatland development and influencing vegetation succession in the PMFB, underlining the need to understand natural environmental variability for the conservation of these ecosystems due to their vital contributions to ecosystem services and carbon storage.

Rapid deglaciation of the La Vega gorge (Sierra de Gredos, Iberian Peninsula) at the end of the global Last Glacial Maximum - Jesús Alcalá‐Reygosa; Néstor Campos; Irene Schimmelpfennig; Jorge Sanjurjo‐Sánchez; Laetitia Léanni; José Juan Zamorano (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2024)
Previous studies from the Iberian Central System and other mountains of the Iberian Peninsula and Europe suggest that deglaciation in this area occurred at the end or immediately after the global Last Glacial Maximum (LGM, 26.5–19 ka). In this research, we investigate the timing and speed of deglaciation of the palaeoglacier in La Vega gorge (Iberian Central system) since the global LGM, dating the outer moraines, glacially polished bedrock and glaciofluvial deposits by means of in situ cosmogenic 10 Be and optically stimulated luminescence. The results show that one intermediate arc located at the outer frontal moraine system has an age of ~21 ka, being consistent with the global LGM. Deglaciation began at ~21–19 ka, speeding up at ~19 ka. We estimate that around 4–5 km of the palaeoglacier receded in ~1–2 kyrs since ~19 ka, leaving La Vega gorge probably ice‐free at ~18 ka. Therefore, our data confirm that deglaciation in Sierra de Gredos began at the end of the global LGM, characterised by a rapid and massive retreat of glaciers.

A tale of two islands: tectonic and orbital controls on marine terrace reoccupation, Channel Islands National Park, California, USA - Daniel R. Muhs; Lindsey T. Groves; Kathleen R. Simmons; R. Randall Schumann; Stephen B. DeVogel (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2024)
In areas of low uplift rate on the Pacific Coast of North America, reoccupation of emergent marine terraces by later high sea‐stands has been hypothesised to explain the existence of thermally anomalous fauna (mixtures of warm and cool species) of last interglacial age. If uplift rates have been low for much of the Quaternary, it follows that higher (older) terraces should also show evidence of reoccupation. Strontium isotope analyses of fossils from a high‐elevation marine terrace on Anacapa Island, California, yield ages ranging from ~2.4–2.3 Ma to ~1.4–1.5 Ma. These results indicate that terrace reoccupation and fossil mixing on Anacapa Island could have taken place over several interglacial periods in the early Pleistocene. Terrace reoccupation over this time period is likely a function of both a low uplift rate and the timing of orbital forcing of glacial–interglacial cycles. Climate change in the early Pleistocene was modulated by the 41 ka obliquity cycle, and glacial–interglacial cycles were much shorter than later in the Pleistocene. Nearby San Miguel Island also has evidence of terrace reoccupation, with Sr isotope ages of shells from several high‐elevation terraces ranging from ~1.21–1.25 Ma to ~0.43–0.50 Ma. However, the frequency of terrace reoccupation was lower than on Anacapa Island. The uplift rate of San Miguel Island is higher than that of Anacapa Island and terraces formed when glacial–interglacial cycles were longer. The frequency of marine terrace reoccupation is controlled by the rate of tectonic uplift and the timing of orbital forcing of sea level change during glacial–interglacial cycles.

The importance of terrestrial carbon sequestration during Termination 1 - GEORGE L. Jacobson; STEPHEN A. Norton; KIRK A. Maasch (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2024)
During the transition from the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) to the Holocene, terrestrial carbon sequestration occurred primarily in boreal forests and forest soils largely on landscapes that had been covered by ice sheets. Major processes operating during this period included radiative warming from rising concentrations of atmospheric CO 2 (degassing oceans and oxidation of permafrost); increased seasonal warming associated with axial precession; melting of alpine glaciers and ice sheets; exposure of new land surfaces; and sequestration of carbon in expanding terrestrial vegetation and soils. We examine mechanisms of warming that melted glacial ice; temporal and spatial availability of newly exposed landscapes; rates at which plant colonization and soil development occurred; estimates of terrestrial carbon sequestration; and how those processes interacted with one another. Data from the West Antarctic Ice Sheet Divide ice core show that from 18 to 11 cal ka bp the concentration of atmospheric CO 2 rose by ≈80 ppmv (≈170 Gt C); published estimates of net terrestrial carbon sequestration (following photosynthesis) are considerably higher (450–1250 Gt C). Thus, accumulation of carbon in terrestrial vegetation and soils played an important role in modulating atmospheric CO 2 and, indirectly, Earth's climate during Termination 1, and possibly during earlier Quaternary ice ages.

Issue Information (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2024)

On the Anthropocene Event: a response to Thomas (2023) - Matthew Edgeworth (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2024)

Reef‐wide and long‐term skeletal growth records of the mountainous star coral ( Orbicella faveolata ) from Belize barrier and atoll reefs (Central America) - Simon Felix Zoppe; Eberhard Gischler (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2024)
Coral reefs are vulnerable marine ecosystems and reef‐building corals are especially sensitive to the impacts of environmental change. Skeletal growth records of corals (Scleractinia) can be used as archives of ecological and climatological change. This study focusses on massive Orbicella faveolata coral skeletons from the Belize barrier and atoll reefs. In total, 11 drill cores from 10 coral colonies were studied. Their skeletal growth records range from 17 to 186 years and span time windows from the early 19th century to the beginning of the 21st century. Based on these records, master chronologies have been compiled for the entire 20th century. The data indicate uniform skeletal growth across the various reef environments of offshore Belize. Skeletal density is increasing reef‐wide, whereas linear extension is declining, accompanied by a slightly declining calcification rate. Apparently, a more densely packed coral skeleton does not compensate for the reduced linear growth and calcification sufficiently in O. faveolata populations across the Belize reefs. The longest analysed coral sample contains >186 years of skeletal growth, which exhibits periodicities of 40–80 years. Such cycle lengths likely reflect the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation, lending further support to coral skeletal records being valuable archives for long‐term oceanographic change.

Long‐and short‐term vegetation change and inferred climate dynamics and anthropogenic activity in the central Cerrado during the Holocene - Katerine Escobar‐Torrez; Marie‐Pierre Ledru; Raquel Franco Cassino; Paula Ribeiro Bianchini; Elder Yokoyama (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2024)
A paleoecologic analysis of pollen, macrocharcoal and trace elements from a lacustrine sediment core located at Lake Feia, central Cerrado (Goiás State, Brazil), was used to evaluate the relationship between vegetation, fire and climate during the Holocene. The development of cerrado vegetation appears to have begun 6000 years ago, initially with the establishment of an open cerrado, followed from 4800 cal a bp by a change to a woody cerrado driven by an increase in summer insolation. The increases in precipitation levels in the central Cerrado during the last 5000 years are related to the increased influence of the Amazon in central Brazil, which has facilitated biomass burning and anthropogenic activities in the region of Lake Feia. Multi‐centennial‐scale changes in water level‐related and gallery forest pollen assemblages indicate three main dry episodes, at 3440–2760, 2700–1690 and 1330–1150 cal a bp , linked to regional shifts between northern and southern South American summer monsoon boundaries. The presence of low continuous fire activity does not appear to have affected vegetation recovery, whereas two intervals with increased fire activity, at ~3300 and ~1300 cal a bp , indicated a slower recovery.

Limited extension of the MIS 2 proglacial lake in the Severnaya Dvina valley, south‐eastern margin of the last Scandinavian Ice Sheet - Nataliya Zaretskaya; Anna Utkina; Dmitrii Baranov; Andrei Panin; Svetlana Trofimova; Aleksandra Simakova; Redzhep Kurbanov (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2024)
The Severnaya Dvina River valley crosses the former south‐eastern margin of the last Scandinavian Ice Sheet. Despite a long research history, there remains considerable controversy about the maximum ice‐sheet extent and the expansion of proglacial lakes within the Severnaya Dvina fluvial system. The goal of this study was to address these issues using new material from the valleys of the Severnaya Dvina and the lower Vychegda, thereby contributing to an understanding of the history of the south‐eastern sector of the last Scandinavian Ice Sheet and its periglacial areas. We studied a number of geological sections using radiocarbon and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating, pollen and carpological analyses, and found that the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) proglacial lake occupied the Severnaya Dvina valley between 20–19 ka and about 15.5 ka. The lake was localized within the proglacial isostatic depression and occupied only the Severnaya Dvina valley extending no further than the confluence of the Vychegda River, no more than 110 km from the edge of the ice sheet. The lake formation did not cause any drainage reorganization within and outside the Vychegda fluvial system. Given the small size of the lake and presence of the oldest OSL ages along the entire length of the former lake, we suggest that the onset of the proglacial lake marks the maximum extent of the ice sheet in the area. Consequently, the onset of the local LGM may be dated to 20–19 ka, somewhat earlier than assumed by most previous researchers. The LGM ice sheet boundary was located in the Severnaya Dvina valley downstream from the Vychegda confluence and did not extend into the Vychegda valley, despite previous suggestions. During deglaciation, the lake disappearance together with crustal rebound caused an incision episode in the Vychegda – Severnaya Dvina system and the formation of the Lateglacial alluvial terrace with relative height rising downstream due to the uneven rates of the postglacial uplift.

Palaeoenvironmental reconstruction of Loch Duart (NW Scotland, UK) since the Last Glacial Maximum: implications from a multiproxy approach - Jennifer Taylor; David Selby; Jeremy M. Lloyd; Luca Podrecca; Andrew L. Masterson; Bradley B. Sageman; Sönke Szidat (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2024)
A sediment core from the salt marsh fringing Loch Duart, NW Scotland, UK, containing Lateglacial to Holocene sediments, was analysed using a multi‐element geochemical approach to elucidate the relative sea level (RSL) and palaeoenvironmental changes associated with the deglaciation of the British and Irish Ice Sheet. Elemental and isotopic measurements of rhenium, osmium, carbon and nitrogen, X‐ray fluorescence scanning, radiocarbon dating, and foraminiferal analysis produced a suite of data that complements the existing biostratigraphic framework. This suite of bio‐, litho‐ and chemostratigraphic analyses permits discussion of RSL changes that reflect the interplay between post‐glacial eustatic rise and glacio‐isostatic adjustment. The osmium‐isotope ( 187 Os/ 188 Os) data, coupled with a new age–depth model, depict an RSL fall between 16.8 and 14.1 ka cal bp at an average rate of 2 mm a −1 . Falling RSL culminates in basin isolation and is followed by subsequent marine inundation from 11.6 ka cal bp . This RSL record preserves the local interaction between glacial isostatic adjustment and glacio‐eustatic sea‐level change, a relationship that is reflected in the sediment's 187 Os/ 188 Os signature. This is the first known application of the osmium isotope system in an isolation basin that is shown to be a viable proxy for RSL change, a technique that could be applied to glacially influenced isolation basins globally.

A critical re‐analysis of constraints on the timing and rate of Laurentide Ice Sheet recession in the northeastern United States - Christopher T. Halsted; Paul R. Bierman; Jeremy D. Shakun; P. Thompson Davis; Lee B. Corbett; Jason S. Drebber; John C. Ridge (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2024)
We review geochronological data relating to the timing and rate of Laurentide Ice Sheet recession in the northeastern United States and model ice margin movements in a Bayesian framework using compilations of previously published organic 14 C ( n = 133) and in situ cosmogenic 10 Be ( n = 95) ages. We compare the resulting method‐specific chronologies with glacial varve records that serve as independent constraints on the pace of ice recession to: (1) construct a synthesis of deglacial chronology throughout the region; and (2) assess the accuracy of each chronometer for constraining the timing of deglaciation. Near the Last Glacial Maximum terminal moraine zone, 10 Be and organic 14 C ages disagree by thousands of years and limit determination of the initial recession to a date range of 24–20 ka. We infer that 10 Be inherited from pre‐glacial exposure adds 2–6 kyr to many exposure ages near the terminal moraines, whereas macrofossil 14 C ages are typically 4–8 kyr too young due to a substantial lag between ice recession and sufficient organic material accumulation for dating in some basins. Age discrepancies between these chronometers decrease with distance from the terminal moraine, due to less 10 Be inherited from prior exposure and a reduced lag between ice recession and organic material deposition. 14 C and 10 Be ages generally agree at locations more than 200 km distal from the terminal moraines and suggest a mostly continuous history of ice recession throughout the region from 18 to 13 ka with a variable pace best documented by varves.

Mid–late Holocene palaeoclimate and biogeochemical evolution of Wular Lake, Kashmir Valley, India - Rayees Ahmad Shah; Abdur Rahman; M. G. Yadava; Sanjeev Kumar (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2024)
Continuous multiproxy data were generated to understand the mid–late Holocene palaeoenvironmental history of the Kashmir Valley and the biogeochemistry of Wular Lake, India. For this purpose, geochemical and stable isotopic analyses were carried out on sediment samples retrieved from a 160 cm long trench excavated on the eastern bank of Wular Lake located in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, India. The chronology of the sediment strata developed using 14 C dating by accelerator mass spectrometry covered the last ~5600 yr bp. Our results indicated the occurrence of an extended dry climate phase from 4600 to 3800 yr bp , which coincided with the widely recognised Meghalayan Stage, when major civilisations like the Harappa and the Akkadian were known to collapse. The lake biogeochemistry revealed dominance of the emergent macrophytes during this stage. Another dry phase was observed between 3100 and 2200 yr bp. This dry phase peaked at around 2900 yr bp, coinciding with Bond Event 2. Wular Lake faced nutrient limitation due to low runoff around 2500 yr bp caused by the persistent dry and cold climate. Geochemical signatures revealed that anthropogenic activities during the last two millennia might have significantly influenced erosion in the catchment area.

Climate and atmospheric circulation during the Early and Mid‐Holocene inferred from lake‐carbonate oxygen‐isotope records from western Ireland - Jonathan A. Holmes; Julia Tindall; Matthew Jones; Max Holloway; Neil Roberts; Ingo Feeser (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2024)
The Early to Mid‐Holocene experienced marked climate change over the northern hemisphere mid‐latitudes in response to changing insolation and declining ice volume. Oxygen isotopes from lake sediments provide a valuable climate proxy, encoding information regarding temperature, hydroclimate and moisture source. We present oxygen‐isotope records from two lakes in western Ireland that are strongly influenced by the North Atlantic. Excellent replication between the records suggests they reflect regional, not local, influences. Carbonate oxygen‐isotope values peaked at the start of the Holocene, between 11.2 and 11.1 cal ka bp , and then decreased markedly until 6 cal ka bp at both sites. Palaeoecological evidence supports only modest change in temperature or hydroclimate during this interval and we therefore explain the decrease primarily by a reduction in the oxygen‐isotope composition of precipitation (δ 18 O ppt ). We show a similar decrease in δ 18 O values in a forward model of carbonate isotopes between 12–11 and 6–5 cal ka bp. However, the inferred reduction in δ 18 O ppt between the Early and Mid‐Holocene in the model is mainly linked to a decrease in the δ 18 O of the ocean source water from ice sheet melting whereas the lake carbonate isotope records are more consistent with changes in the transport pathway of moisture associated with atmospheric circulation change as the dominant cause.

The Anthropocene's stratigraphic reality and the humanities: a response to Finney and Gibbard (2023) and to Chvostek (2023) - Julia Adeney Thomas (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2024)
The Anthropocene Epoch is a crucial conceptual breakthrough not only for stratigraphy but also for the humanities. The question, raised by Chvostek (2023), is how best to create engagement between the sciences of the Anthropocene and the study of values, hopes and power in the world's many cultures past and present. In response, this piece makes three points. First, it discusses some of the collaborations that have already taken place between humanists of various kinds and the scientists providing the stratigraphic evidence for the Anthropocene Epoch. Second, it notes that the ‘Anthropocene’ remains, at core, a stratigraphic concept and that the new epoch is now well supported by physical evidence. Third, it shows that the recent idea of an Anthropocene ‘event’ (Gibbard, 2022) does not invite engagement with the humanities. The overall argument is that the integrity of expertise must be maintained even while we encourage the cross‐disciplinary understanding crucial to addressing our global environmental challenge.

A 1500‐year record of North Atlantic storm flooding from lacustrine sediments, Shetland Islands (UK) - Katharina Hess; Max Engel; Tasnim Patel; Polina Vakhrameeva; Andreas Koutsodendris; Eckehard Klemt; Thor H. Hansteen; Philipp Kempf; Sue Dawson; Isa Schön; Vanessa M. A. Heyvaert (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2024)
Severe storm flooding poses a major hazard to the coasts of north‐western Europe. However, the long‐term recurrence patterns of extreme coastal flooding and their governing factors are poorly understood. Therefore, high‐resolution sedimentary records of past North Atlantic storm flooding are required. This multi‐proxy study reconstructs storm‐induced overwash processes from coastal lake sediments on the Shetland Islands using grain‐size and geochemical data, and the re‐analysis of historical data. The chronostratigraphy is based on Bayesian age–depth modelling using accelerator mass spectrometry 14 C and 137 Cs data. A high XRF‐based Si/Ti ratio and the unimodal grain‐size distribution link the sand layers to the beach and thus storm‐induced overwash events. Periods with more frequent storm flooding occurred 980–1050, 1150–1300, 1450–1550, 1820–1900 and 1950–2000 ce, which is largely consistent with a positive North Atlantic Oscillation mode. The Little Ice Age (1400–1850 ce ) shows a gap of major sand layers suggesting a southward shift of storm tracks and a seasonal variance with more storm floods in spring and autumn. Warmer phases shifted winter storm tracks towards the north‐east Atlantic, indicating a possible trend for future storm‐track changes and increased storm flooding in the northern North Sea region.

Quaternary alluvial paleosols of the Atbara River, eastern Sudan: description and paleoenvironments - M. Mohammednoor; F. Bibi; A. Eisawi; S. Tsukamoto; R. Bussert (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2024)
Quaternary climatic changes in the Nile Basin and their effects on the evolution of African mammals and vegetation are poorly understood, particularly for the last 1 Ma. Pleistocene (~230 to Homo , potentially facilitating dispersals out of Africa through the Nile corridor.

Glacier changes since the Last Glacial Maximum on two slopes of Mt Noijin Kang‐Sang, Southern Tibetan Plateau - Jinhua Liu; Yingkui Li; Chaolu Yi; Haiping Hu; Baihui Ma; Li Wan (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2024)
In recent decades, most glaciers have been melting, thinning and retreating globally in response to continuously increasing temperatures. We simulated ice thicknesses and volumes on the east and west slopes of Mt Noijin Kang‐Sang, Southern Tibetan Plateau (TP), since the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), using a glacial flowline model. The simulated average ice thicknesses during the LGM and Lateglacial (LG), Early Holocene, Neoglacial and the Little Ice Age (LIA) periods were 1.4, 1.3, 1.1 and 1.2 times greater than those of modern glaciers in the Gangbu (eastern slope) and western valleys, respectively. In the Gangbu Valley, areas from the LGM‐LG to LIA periods were 1.7, 1.5, 1.4 and 1.2 times greater than the modern glacier area, and the volume expansion indexes were 2.2, 1.9, 1.5 and 1.4. In the western valleys, the area expansion indexes were 2.2, 1.9, 1.5 and 1.4 times greater than the modern glacier, and volumes were 5.4, 4.4, 3.4 and 2.9 times greater, respectively. Glaciers in the western valleys retreated more extensively than those on the eastern slopes of Gangbu Valley after the LGM‐LG, probably due to the smaller glaciers on the leeward western slopes with lower elevations. Equilibrium‐line altitudes dropped ~425 m in Gangbu Valley and ~385 m in the western valleys during the LGM‐LG, corresponding to a 3.8–4.1 °C temperature decrease in this region, which was consistent with cooling on the central Tibetan Plateau, but lower than cooling at the south‐eastern edge of the Tibetan Plateau.

Assessing Pleistocene–Holocene climatic and environmental change in insular Near Oceania using stable isotope analysis of archaeological fauna - Patrick Roberts; Sean Hixon; Rebecca Hamilton; Mary Lucas; Jana Ilgner; Sara Marzo; Stuart Hawkins; Sindy Luu; Chris Gosden; Matthew Spriggs; Glenn Summerhayes (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2023)
In comparison to temperate and arid regions, environmental responses to the Last Glacial Maximum and the Terminal Pleistocene and Holocene boundary remain poorly known for many parts of the tropics, making it challenging to unravel human–landscape interactions across this timeframe. This is particularly the case in insular Near Oceania, where sea‐level fluctuations and potential changes in forest cover may have had major impacts on hunter–gatherer populations. Here, we apply stable carbon and oxygen isotope analyses to small‐mammal teeth from four Pleistocene–Holocene (spanning from 29 000 years ago to the late Holocene) sequences in the Bismarck Archipelago to reconstruct changes in environments directly exploited by human populations in this part of the world. Our results show a subtle response of tropical habitats in Near Oceania to relatively arid conditions during the late‐glacial period, something that has also been observed at sites in South and Southeast Asia, followed by a Terminal Pleistocene–Holocene expansion of tropical forest cover. Nevertheless, site‐based variability in environmental responses across this period highlight the need for more multidisciplinary studies of human occupation sequences in a region that is becoming increasingly central to exploring human adaptations, environmental modifications and social network development over the past 20 000 years.

Issue Information (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2023)

Herbivore enamel carbon and oxygen isotopes demonstrate both Homo sapiens and Neanderthals exploited similar habitats in the Zagros Mountains - Michaela Ecker; Nemat Hariri; Saman Heydari‐Guran; Elham Ghasidian; Noreen Tuross; Melinda Zeder; Cheryl A. Makarewicz (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2023)
The extinction of Neanderthal populations has been attributed to the onset of cold and dry climatic conditions during Marine Isotope Stage 3 or their competition with anatomically modern humans for large game resources. However, decoupling climate from competition has long proved difficult. Loess sequences and pollen cores provide regional‐scale environmental information but are less well‐suited to providing local‐scale habitat information contemporaneous with hominin habitation of occupation sites. The relationship between climate and resource availability is particularly unknown in the Zagros mountain range where archaeological evidence for both Neanderthals and Homo sapiens occupation is documented. Here, we analyse carbon (δ 13 C) and oxygen (δ 18 O) stable isotopes measured from herbivore tooth enamel carbonates recovered from the Neanderthal and modern human occupation sites of Bawa Yawan Rockshelter and Shanidar Cave to trace local‐scale floral biome dynamics and climate conditions that influence the distribution and availability of large prey targeted by both hominin species. Shared isotopic composition of herbivorous fauna, largely represented by wild goats, from both sites spanning Neanderthal and Homo sapiens occupation indicate both hominin species exploited similar habitats during climatically similar phases.

Body mass estimate of Anancus arvernensis (Croizet and Jobert 1828): comparison of the regression and volumetric methods - Marco Romano; Luca Bellucci; Matteo Antonelli; Fabio Manucci; Maria Rita Palombo (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2023)
In this contribution, we estimate the possible living body mass (BM) of the anancine gomphotheriid Anancus arvernensis , by testing a recently proposed volumetric method based on hyper‐realistic in vivo 3D reconstructions and comparing the results with the BM obtained by using regression formulas. The analysis, conducted starting from two articulated skeletons, showed that the performance of regression formulas varies considerably from taxon to taxon, with plausible estimates obtained only when the mean of all the formulas on the individual bones is available and considered. Differently, formulas applied to single bones can lead to underestimations or overestimations of up to 300%, with BM ranging from 54 kg to 26 metric tonnes. By using the volumetric method, the in vivo reconstruction of Anancus arvernensis made it possible to estimate a BM between 5.2 and 6 t, a figure close to that of an extant adult male African elephant. The obtained results show that estimating BM in terrestrial tetrapods from single or fragmented bones might lead to highly improbable and misleading conclusions. Thus, in the presence of adequately complete mounted skeletons, it is always preferable and recommended to estimate the BM using the volumetric approach, which is based on an in vivo 3D reconstruction.

Paleofires and vegetation in a Late Pleistocene paleolake (>43 ka bp ) of the savannas of central Brazil - Gabriela Luiza Pereira Pires Follador; Raquel Franco Cassino; Angélica F. Drummond C. Varajão; Jonathas S. Bittencourt (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2023)
This study investigates paleoenvironmental changes at the Paleolagoa Seca site, an Upper Quaternary locality of lacustrine origin in central Brazil. We present charcoal and pollen analyses of this sedimentary sequence, and assess how they compare with previously published fossil macroflora and paleoclimatic reconstructions of the same site and adjacent localities. We identified a mosaic of savannas, forests and flooded environments before 43 ka bp with the presence of evergreen forest formations. For this period, we found charcoal particles resulting from natural fires that represent the oldest Quaternary record of fire in the Cerrado. By conducting a morphological analysis of charcoal particles, we were able to identify that the primary constituents of fire fuel were grasses, which suggests that surface fires were prevalent. During this Pleistocene wet phase, fire probably played a vital role in preserving areas of open vegetation. In contrast, at ~43 ka bp , an open landscape and a drier‐than‐present climate characterized the Paleolagoa Seca site.

Postglacial environmental change inferred from carbonate‐ and organic‐rich sediments of groundwater‐fed Kelly Lake, Kenai Peninsula, south‐central Alaska - Emmy A. Wrobleski; Ellie Broadman; Al Werner; Donald T. Rodbell; Darrell S. Kaufman (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2023)
Major shifts in hydroclimate have been documented during the last deglacial period and the Holocene in south‐central Alaska. Rare freshwater calcium carbonate (marl) deposits in lakes on the Kenai Peninsula can be used to reconstruct past changes in hydroclimate, including the influence of groundwater inflow to lakes. Here, the postglacial sediment sequence from groundwater‐fed Kelly Lake (60.514°N, 150.374°W) was analyzed for multiple proxies including isotopes of carbon and oxygen in marl calcite (δ 13 C marl and δ 18 O marl ), and isotopes of carbon (ẟ 13 C OM ) and abundances of C and N in organic matter. Bulk sediment analyses include organic matter and calcium carbonate (CaCO 3 ) contents, visual stratigraphy and sediment flux. These analyses extend those of a previous paleoenvironmental reconstruction from Kelly Lake, which focused on sedimentary diatom oxygen isotopes and mass balance modeling over the past 10 000 years. Here, we show that Kelly Lake was deglaciated prior to 14.6 ka, and that by 14.0 ka marl dominated the sediments, with CaCO 3 precipitation probably driven by groundwater input and mediated by shallow‐water charophytes. Marl accumulation decreased as organic and clastic inputs increased between ~12.2 and 11.5 ka. This shift, together with an increase in both δ 13 C marl and δ 18 O marl values and a decrease in CaCO 3 content, indicates an increase in the influence of meteoric water on the hydrologic budget under wet conditions, possibly driven by a strengthened Aleutian Low atmospheric pressure cell. A shift to lower δ 13 C marl and δ 18 O marl values at ~11.5 ka is interpreted as an increase in the proportion of groundwater relative to meteoric water in the lake. Beginning around 9 ka, the proportion of meteoric water input continued to increase, the surrounding coniferous forest was established, and by 8 ka, CaCO 3 accumulation ended. Our results elucidate the environmental conditions under which marl was deposited during the Lateglacial and early Holocene in this part of Alaska, and demonstrate how a variety of synoptic‐ and local‐scale climatic variables can converge to influence sedimentation in a groundwater‐fed lake.

Changing food webs before and during the Last Glacial Maximum based on stable isotopes of animal bone collagen from Lower Austria - Lilian Reiss; Christoph Mayr; Kerstin Pasda; Thomas Einwögerer; Marc Händel; Andreas Lücke; Andreas Maier; Holger Wissel (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2023)
We investigated palaeofood web structures using stable isotope analyses on animal bone collagen from four Upper Palaeolithic sites dated to the Early Gravettian (Krems‐Hundssteig and Krems‐Wachtberg: 33–31k cal a bp , Langenlois: 31–29k cal a bp ) and to the Early Epigravettian (Kammern‐Grubgraben: 24–20k cal a bp ). In both periods, δ 13 C values show niche partitioning between hare, horse and mammoth on one side, and reindeer and ibex on the other, indicating different diets and habitats between both herbivore groups. The δ 15 N differences between carnivores and herbivores suggest a difference of one trophic level during the pre‐Last Glacial Maximum (pre‐LGM) period at the Early Gravettian sites and a tendency towards secondary carnivores during the LGM at Kammern‐Grubgraben. δ 15 N values of pre‐LGM mammoths are elevated in relation to other herbivores but shifted to the level of other herbivores in the LGM. A general δ 15 N value shift in herbivores of 3.3‰ from the pre‐LGM to the LGM is related to climatic deterioration. This may have led to the disappearance of certain ecological niches and to a shift from broader to overlapping ecological herbivore niches shortly before the LGM, as demonstrated by SIBER analyses.

Last Interglacial–Glacial sequence of palaeosols and calcareous slope deposits at Verteuil (Charente, southwest France) - Jules Puyrigaud; Pascal Bertran; Brice Lebrun; Christelle Lahaye; Guillaume Guerin; Nicole Limondin‐Lozouet (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2023)
The 12 m thick sequence of calcareous slope deposits and palaeosols exposed in a quarry at Verteuil (southwest France) has been studied and dated by optically stimulated luminescence. Emphasis was given to the identification and characterisation of palaeosols through geochemistry and micromorphology. The main clastic units, separated by major unconformities, were dated to MIS 6, MIS 5–4 and MIS 3–2. Stratified deposits (‘grèzes litées’), consisting of alternating diamictic and matrix‐free clastic beds and attributed to stacked stone‐banked solifluction lobes, developed mainly after ca . 40 ka, i.e. during late MIS 3 and MIS 2. MIS 3 is recorded as a palaeosol complex including two humic A horizons overlying a chromic cambisol associated with burrows of ground squirrels, while MIS 5 corresponds to a reworked rubified chromic cambisol. Overall, this sequence shows similarities with the clastic deposits found in regional cave porches and rock shelters, strongly suggesting that anthropogenic activities did not significantly modify the climate‐driven sedimentary and soil‐forming processes at the Palaeolithic sites.

Vegetation and climate dynamics at the dawn of human settlement: multiproxy palaeoenvironmental evidence from the Hashilan Wetland, western Iran - Reza Safaierad; Roger Matthews; Lydie Dupont; Bernd Zolitschka; Elena Marinova; Morteza Djamali; Christoph Vogt; Ghasem Azizi; Hamid A.K. Lahijani; Wendy Matthews (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2023)
The scarcity of high‐resolution palaeoclimate records from the interior of West Asia has limited our understanding of the mechanisms of past climate change and their potential impacts on early human societies of the Eastern Fertile Crescent. Here, we present a multiproxy sedimentological, geochemical and palynological record from the Hashilan Wetland in the central Zagros Mountains, spanning the time interval from 22 to 2.2 kcal bp. Our results indicate a cold, dry climate for the last deglaciation (22 to 10 kcal bp ) with amplified aridity during the Last Glacial Maximum, Heinrich Stadial 1, the Younger Dryas and the 8.2 and 3.2 ka events. The Early Holocene (11.6 to 7.8 kcal bp ) is characterised by prolonged dry summers, frequent spring/summer dust storms and restricted oak woodlands that gradually expanded as summers shortened toward the second half of the Holocene ( bp ). We show an out‐of‐phase Holocene moisture variation between the interior of West Asia and the Indian Summer Monsoon domain and conclude that summer insolation‐driven latitudinal shifts of the Hadley cell played a key role in seasonality changes in the interior of West Asia by modulating the strength and pathway of the subtropical high‐pressure cells. Finally, we explore possible impacts of these changes on regional prehistoric human communities.

On the varied impact of the Storegga tsunami in northwest Scotland - Sarah A. Woodroffe; Jon Hill; Emmanuel Bustamante‐Fernandez; Jerry M. Lloyd; Jake Luff; Sarah Richards; Ian Shennan (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2023)
In this paper we evaluate new data and those from previous studies in northwest Scotland and perform a modelling study to test the hypothesis that the Storegga tsunami (submarine slope failure off the continental shelf of Central Norway dated to 8120–8175 bp ) impacted this region. The model used is a 2D non‐linear, non‐conservative, Shallow Water Equation solver incorporating inundation and realistic glacial isostatic adjustment‐corrected palaeobathymetry, with horizontal resolution down to 30 m at sites of interest. The 15 coastal study sites analysed range from south of the Isle of Skye to Assynt. We predict run‐up between 2.7 and 9.4 m above contemporaneous mean tide level across the region, with the highest on the west coast of the Outer Hebrides, the east coast of Skye and at the head of long sea lochs east of Skye. We re‐evaluate evidence from previously studied open coastal marshes, isolation basins and barrier locations for the tsunami and suggest that in many locations the Storegga tsunami is the most likely cause of erosion, deposition and changes in microfossil assemblages in the early Holocene. The predictions of wave height and inundation produced by the tsunami modelling fit well with the range of available field evidence in the region. We predict significant wave heights at least as far south as Mull on the west coast.

Lacustrine evidence reveals spatially and temporally distinct Holocene ruptures on the Sawtooth Fault, Central Idaho, USA - M. Shapley; G. D. Thackray; E. Johnson; B. Finney (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2023)
The Sawtooth Fault in central Idaho, USA, is a range‐bounding normal fault with a Late Pleistocene–Holocene scarp near the up‐valley ends of several range‐front lakes. Cores from Redfish Lake, which spans the fault, exhibit evidence of catastrophic sediment re‐mobilization in two sequences consisting variably of intraclastic mud‐clast conglomerate, massive homogenite, and graded silt and clay. Event strata of the younger sequence are in unconformable contact with Pleistocene sediments in two cores on the northern lake‐basin slope, suggesting transport from the down‐valley portion of the lake toward the basin center. A silt cap associated with the event strata is preserved at all coring sites. The event sequence, distributed lake‐wide, dates to ca. 4300 cal a bp , while additional event strata in two Redfish Lake cores pre‐date the 7627 cal a bp Mazama ash. We propose seismic triggering of the sediment disruptions. Asynchronous event stratigraphy in Pettit Lake, 15 km south of Redfish Lake, suggests distinct ruptures along two portions of the Sawtooth Fault. The sedimentology and geochemistry of remobilized sediments in both lakes indicates that sources included Late Pleistocene and early Holocene lake‐floor sediments and suggests failures that cut deeply into the sedimentary sequence. Cores collected from Stanley Lake (17 km northwest of Redfish Lake) following the nearby 2020 M6.5 Stanley earthquake exhibit a thin, sandy event horizon associated with documented delta collapse. Subaerial slope failures associated with the 2020 event left no widespread disturbance stratigraphy in Redfish Lake. We conclude that the large‐magnitude lake‐floor sediment remobilization events probably required rupture of fault sections proximal to Redfish and Pettit lakes.

A new extinct species of Scybalophagus dung beetle supports the collateral extinction hypothesis at the Chilean South American Pleistocene–Holocene boundary - Francisco Tello; Mario Pino; Fernando Vaz‐De‐Mello; Fernando A. B. Silva (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2023)
The extinction of megaherbivores (weighing over 1000 kg) at the Pleistocene–Holocene boundary caused drastic changes at multiple trophic levels. However, few examples of Pleistocene insect extinction have been reported in the literature. Here we describe a new extinct dung beetle species, Scybalophagus brellenthinae sp. nov., based on fossil remains recorded from an Upper Pleistocene sequence from Chilean Northern Patagonia (Osorno city: 40°34′S, 73°07′W) dated between ~16 400 and ~12 800 cal a bp. S. brellenthinae is shown to be a species of the genus Scybalophagus based on the following morphological characters: a bidentate clypeus, teeth separated by U‐shaped emargination; protibiae with three major denticles on the external margin, separated by minor denticles, present at the base of the protibiae; and mesotibiae with prominent transverse carinae. Additionally, this new species can be clearly distinguished from extant species of the genus by its shiny green color. Extant Scybalophagus are true dung beetle species that depend on fresh mammal dung for their nest development. Therefore, we suggest that the mass extinction of the megaherbivores during a period of drastic environmental change at the Pleistocene–Holocene boundary in southern South America induced the collateral extinction of S. brellenthinae . Thus, this study provides new insights into dung beetle diversity of the past.

Valley morphology and Quaternary seismic stratigraphy of the Manicouagan impact crater lake (Eastern Canada) - Kai‐Frederik Lenz; Andrea Catalina Gebhardt; Patrick Lajeunesse; Arne Lohrberg; Felix Gross; Sebastian Krastel (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2023)
Lakes in formerly glaciated regions can provide valuable paleoclimate archives. Lake Manicouagan (Manikuakan, according to Innu toponymy), formed in the basin of the ~214‐Ma Manicouagan impact crater of eastern Québec, is a key area for reconstructing long‐term environmental change, as it was directly affected by the Pleistocene glaciations and the waxing and waning of the Laurentide Ice Sheet. Here, we present high‐resolution seismic data revealing an overdeepened bedrock valley filled with a sedimentary sequence. We assess its potential to serve as a paleoclimate archive. The varying shape of the overdeepened valley indicates complex erosional processes. A lower narrow V‐shaped gorge is indicative of either pressurized subglacial meltwater or pre‐Quaternary fluvial erosion, or a combination of both. Three scenarios are discussed regarding deposition of the sedimentary sequence: (i) deposition only during and after retreat of the last glacial episode; (ii) deposition during multiple glacial–interglacial cycles; and (iii) deposition mainly during a subglacial lake stage. We suggest subglacial followed by proglacial sedimentation as the most probable scenario for deposition of the sedimentary succession. We recommend considering the sediments of Lake Manicouagan as a paleoclimate archive reaching back at least to 7.5 ka, but the lake also probably contains sediments deposited before the last deglacial period.

Palaeoenvironmental history of the Middle Pleistocene deposits at Gilson, Warwickshire, England: part of the High Speed Two railway route alignment - Sebastian M. Gibson; Michael H. Field; Philip L. Gibbard (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2023)
The investigation of a hillside at Gilson (Lat. 52.510341, Long. ‐1.718313), southwest of Coleshill, Warwickshire (within the High Speed Two railway ‘Delta Junction’ compound), England, has yielded evidence of sedimentation during a temperate stage. The site's stratigraphy starts with the aggregation of cold‐climate sand and gravels deposited during the Anglian Stage within the proto‐Tame and proto‐Blythe palaeovalleys. A warm‐climate period is recorded by the infill of organic material representing the second half of the Hoxnian interglacial Stage. Picea, Abies and Pinus dominate vegetation within a swamp‐like environment, before a Pinus forest develops in the upper part of the organic sequence. The following cold‐climate period saw incision and aggregation of the surrounding region throughout much of the Wolstonian and Devensian Stages, where much of the overlying silt, sand and gravel were reworked under intense periglacial conditions. Presented here is a geophysical examination of the shallow basin by ground‐penetrating radar undertaken to understand the spatial distribution and stratigraphical history of the basin. The deposits at Gilson provide a valuable stratigraphic marker in the glacial sequence of the English West Midlands and are correlated to similar deposits at neighbouring Quinton and Nechells. At these regional sites organic accumulation occurred for most of the temperate stage, infilling lake basins. These sequences indicate an environment dominated by pollen of Abies, Quercus, Ulmus and Corylus woodland vegetation. These assemblages differ markedly from those typically found in the last interglacial and confirm correlation to the Middle Pleistocene Hoxnian interglacial Stage ( c . MIS 11c).

Climatic control on the retreat of the Laurentide Ice Sheet margin in easternmost Québec–Labrador (Canada) revealed by cosmogenic nuclide exposure dating - Pierre‐Olivier Couette; Jean‐François Ghienne; Patrick Lajeunesse; Jérôme Van der Woerd (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2023)
The Laurentide Ice Sheet (LIS) was the largest ice sheet in the Northern Hemisphere during the last glacial cycle. The effects of its demise on global climate and sea‐level changes during the subsequent deglaciation are unequivocal. Understanding the interplay between ice sheets and long‐term or short‐term (e.g. abrupt) climatic events is therefore crucial for predicting future rates of ice sheet melting and their potential contribution to sea‐level changes. Here, we present 37 new 10 Be surface exposure ages from easternmost Québec–Labrador that allow us to identify close ties between regional deglaciation history and climate. These results reveal that the LIS was disconnected from the Newfoundland Ice Cap by ~14.1 ka. Samples collected from moraine boulders indicate that this event was followed by five major stillstands and/or readvance stages of the LIS margin. Integrating our new moraine ages with those of earlier studies allows us to depict a temporal framework including events at ~12.9, ~11.5, ~10.4, ~9.3 and ~8.4–8.2 ka. These moraine ages highlight a strong sensitivity of the LIS to temperature changes in the Northern Hemisphere, as the documented continental ice margin stabilizations coincide with abrupt cooling events recorded in Greenland ice cores. These observations support the idea of a negative feedback mechanism induced by meltwater forcings into the North Atlantic Ocean which, in turn, provoked repeated cold reversals during the Younger Dryas and early Holocene.

Foraminifera assemblages from Fantangisña serpentinite mud seamount in the NW Pacific Ocean during the Pleistocene (IODP Expedition 366) - Arianna V. Del Gaudio; Werner E. Piller; Gerald Auer; Walter Kurz (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2023)
The Mariana forearc system, in the northwestern Pacific, is known as the only convergent margin setting with currently active serpentine mud volcanism. The Fantangisña serpentinite mud volcano lies 62 km west of the Mariana trench, within the influence of the North Equatorial Current (NEC). Cores recovered by International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Expedition 366 contain pelagic sediments overlying layered serpentinite mud deposits. At the bottom of the sequence, nannofossil‐rich forearc deposits were recovered from under the seamount edifice. In this study, we investigated 47 samples from Site U1498A on the southern flank of the seamount for benthic and planktonic foraminifera assemblages. Statistical analyses on planktonic assemblages differentiated two sample groups related to the ratio between thermocline/mixed layer taxa, which indicate fluctuations in the depth of the thermocline (DOT) during the Pleistocene. Variations in the DOT reflect changes in the intensity of the NEC associated with El Niño/La Niña conditions. Mudflows do not influence the ecology of planktonic foraminifera but possibly enhance their preservation against dissolution, which was instead detected in the pelagic deposit as suggested by common Globigerinoides conglobatus . Benthic foraminifers were rare in serpentinite mud deposits as they are severely affected by mudflows. Conversely, they showed high diversity pre‐/post‐mud‐volcanism, and indicate oligotrophic bottom‐water conditions.

High‐resolution stable isotope profiles from shells of the land snail Placostylus reveal contrasting patterns between snails originating from New Zealand and New Caledonia - Mathieu Quenu; Emily J. Judd; Mary Morgan‐richards; Steven A. Trewick; Katherine Holt; Jonathan Tyler; Andrew M. Lorrey (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2023)
The stable oxygen (δ 18 O shell ) and carbon (δ 13 C shell ) isotope ratios retrieved from the carbonate shell of terrestrial gastropods can be used as an environmental proxy and are thought to reflect dietary composition and ambient climatic conditions (e.g. precipitation amount, humidity, temperature). Here, we generate high‐resolution isotopic profiles of nine modern land snails of the genus Placostylus , collected from two locations in New Caledonia and one location in New Zealand. We found that snails from New Zealand had, on average, higher δ 18 O shell values than their counterparts in New Caledonia, which surprisingly runs counter to the expected relationship based on the isotopic composition of rainwater between these two regions. Specimens from New Caledonia exhibit ephemeral decreases in their δ 18 O shell values, which could be linked to extreme precipitation events in this region, while snails from New Zealand have less variation in their δ 18 O shell values. Snails from New Zealand had, on average, slightly higher δ 13 C shell than their counterparts in New Caledonia, but a large difference in carbon isotopes was sometimes observed between snails collected at the same location. Most snails exhibit a temporal trend in their δ 13 C shell values, indicating potential shifts in diet through to maturity.

Timing and extent of glaciation since the Last Glacial Maximum in the upper Kalguty basin, Russian Altai Mountains - Philip Deline; Ludovic Ravanel; Jean‐Jacques Delannoy; Melaine Le Roy; Aster Team; Laëtitia Léanni; Dimitri V. Cheremisin; Lydia V. Zotkina; Catherine Cretin; Jean‐Michel Geneste; Hugues Plisson; Vyacheslav I. Molodin (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2023)
The mountains systems of Central Asia are primary targets to study late Pleistocene climate evolution given their location at the crossroads of several atmospheric circulation systems. The timing of glacier extent during this period remains understudied, especially in the Altai Mountains. Here, we have reconstructed glacier extent during three main Late Pleistocene stadials in the upper Kalguty basin (south‐eastern Russian Altai) based on field‐based geomorphic analysis. Additionally, surface exposure dating with 10 Be and 26 Al at a key site was used to infer a minimum‐limiting age for the outermost well‐preserved Pleistocene frontal moraine system and to date the inception of glacier withdrawal. According to our data, around 20.6 ± 1.8 ka Kalguty Glacier was still 200 m thick at the key site, 10 km upstream of the outermost moraine, and the site was totally deglaciated shortly after 20.4 ± 0.4 ka. These results point to a rapid retreat of this low‐gradient valley glacier after its probably MIS 2 maximum which was prior to 21 ka and probably prior to 22.5 ka. Two other glacier stages have been identified upvalley, characterized by a depression of the equilibrium‐line altitude of 420 and 314 m with respect to the Little Ice Age, thus corresponding to Lateglacial advances. Our glacier reconstruction further provides a geomorphological and geochronological background to put into context archaeological findings in this area.

Alvania acida sp. nov., a new late Quaternary gastropod adapted to the shallow‐marine CO 2 seep of Vulcano Island - Vittorio Garilli; Agatino Reitano; Danilo Scuderi; Daniela Parrinello (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2023)
Submarine CO 2 emissions are a recent (probably younger than about 5 ka) expression of volcanism at Vulcano Island (off NE Sicily), a Mediterranean natural laboratory for the study of ocean acidification. An impoverished molluskan association is known from the naturally acidified waters of Vulcano, at Levante Bay, where pH drops to 5.64. Here we describe a new gastropod, Alvania acida sp. nov., living in the bay, and found at the nearby site of Capo Milazzo (NE coast of Sicily) within a Late Pleistocene paleocommunity related to vegetated bottoms. The study species underwent a habitat change during its short evolutionary history, resulting in the recent adaptation to the CO 2 seep at Vulcano. Similarly to the gastropods Tritia corniculum and T. neritea from the same seep, A. acida was up to 24% smaller than fossil shells from Milazzo, showing a further probable case of adaptation to high‐CO 2 waters through dwarfing. The new species shows distinctive features: an inflated shell; very convex, axially ribbed whorls; weak spiral cords. Because of its current distribution, limited to Levante Bay, and anthropogenic pressure from tourism affecting the site, A. acida deserves protection.

Multi‐disciplinary study of a late Pleistocene woolly rhinoceros found in the Pannonian Basin and implications for the contemporaneous palaeoenvironment - Mihály Gasparik; István Major; Zsuzsa Lisztes‐Szabó; Enikő Magyari; Bence Szabó; Luca Pandolfi; Antony Borel; István Futó; Anikó Horváth; Gabriella Ilona Kiss; Mihály Molnár; Attila Csík; et al. (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2023)
Excavation campaigns conducted at the Pécel‐Kis hársas site (Hungary) between 2014 and 2017 yielded the remains of a mature female woolly rhinoceros ( Coelodonta antiquitatis ) and six lithic artefacts. Radiocarbon dating confirmed that the rhinoceros died ca. 20.4k cal a bp , at the very end of the Last Glacial Maximum and, considering the position of the artefacts when found, it was probably killed by Epigravettian hunters. Based on dental analyses of the specimen, a vigorous lichen‐ (and possibly moss‐)consuming diet could be inferred for the end of the animal's lifetime. Based on Sr results, we can exclude the possibility of long‐range migration. In accordance with the optimum environmental demands of the foraging lichen, the low δ 18 O value of osseous material implies a relatively cold contemporaneous climate with a calculated mean annual air temperature of around 0.7 °C. Meanwhile, the extremely low δ 15 N value may have resulted from the proximity of the discontinuous permafrost zone and some intensive soil dislocation. Consequently, poor vegetation and an open, tundra‐like habitat can be assumed to have been dominant at the site at that time, which is also supported by palaeoenvironmental modeling experiments.

Surface microtextures of quartz grains and minor sedimentary components across the Paleolithic Jeongok‐ri sediments, Yeoncheon, South Korea - Soyoung Baek; Kyoung‐nam Jo (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2023)
The Jeongok‐ri Paleolithic site in the central Korean peninsula is known as the first findspot of Acheulean‐type hand axes in East Asia. Although many previous studies have investigated the depositional environments of Jeongok‐ri sediments across the Paleolithic occupation, they remain controversial. In this study, we collected an 11‐m‐long core to obtain evidence from systematic surface microtextures of quartz grains (SMQs) concerning depositional environments in the Jeongok‐ri archeological site. SMQs in the Jeongok‐ri sediments are characterized by dominant angular to subangular outlines and small to large conchoidal fractures with arcuate steps, as well as sparse V‐shaped percussion cracks; these features suggest short distances and subaqueous transportation with grain‐to‐grain collisions and violent impacts of quartz grains. On the basis of simultaneous sedimentation of the hosting silt deposits, our SMQ results suggest that Jeongok‐ri sediments were originally fluvial, regardless of their intermediate sedimentary history. This evidence from quartz grain microtextures is consistent with minor sedimentary components found in the Jeongok‐ri core sediments, such as diatom grains as microfossil constituents, along with macroscopic charcoals and titanium‐bearing detrital magnetite grains. The geological and geomorphological conditions of the Jeongok‐ri site are also favorable for floodplain environments given the position adjacent to river terraces formed by the previous lateral erosion of a meandering channel in the nearby Hantan River. Our findings will help to understand environmental conditions during the development of Paleolithic cultures in East Asia.

Relative sea‐level changes in southeastern Australia during the 19 th and 20 th centuries - S. L. Williams; E. Garrett; P. T. Moss; S. Dangendorf; F. D. Hibbert; N. R. Atkinson; V. Pashley; I. L. Millar; M. H. Garnett; A. Zawadzki; W. R. Gehrels (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2023)
Rates of global and regional sea‐level rise between ~1850 and 1950 were high compared to those in preceding centuries. The cause of this sea‐level acceleration remains uncertain, but it appears to be pronounced in a small set of relative sea‐level proxy records from the Southern Hemisphere. Here we generate three new proxy‐based relative sea‐level reconstructions for southeastern Australia to investigate spatial patterns and causes of historical sea‐level changes in the Tasman Sea. Palaeo sea‐level estimates were determined using salt‐marsh foraminifera as sea‐level indicators. Records are underpinned by chronologies based on accelerator mass spectrometry 14 C, radiogenic lead ( 210 Pb), stable lead isotopes and palynological analyses. Our reconstructions show that relative sea level rose by ~0.2–0.3 m over the last 200 years in southeastern Australia, and rates of sea‐level rise were especially high over the first half of the 20 th century. Based on modelled estimates of the contributing components to sea‐level rise, we suggest that the episode of rapid sea‐level rise was driven by barystatic contributions, but sterodynamic contributions were dominant by the mid‐20 th century. Significant spatial variability in relative sea level indicates that local to sub‐regional drivers of sea level are also prominent. Our reconstructions significantly enhance our understanding of the spatiotemporal pattern of early 20 th century sea‐level rise in the region.

A 600‐year marine record associated with the dynamics of the eastern Penny Ice Cap (Baffin Island, Nunavut, Canada) - María‐Emilia Rodríguez‐Cuicas; Jean‐Carlos Montero‐Serrano; Guillaume St‐Onge; Alexandre Normandeau (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2023)
Two composite sedimentary sequences sampled in the ice‐proximal (12CS) and ice‐distal (02CS) areas of Coronation Fjord (Baffin Island, Nunavut, Canada) were investigated in order to reconstruct the effect of climate variability on 600 years of changes in sediment transfer from the eastern Penny Ice Cap (PIC). Detrital proxies, and physical and sedimentological analyses revealed that glacial meltwater discharges led to frequent rapidly deposited layers (RDLs) in ice‐proximal settings. RDLs in ice‐distal settings involved the sudden release of a large quantity of sediment‐laden water during floods probably originating from adjacent fjords with large sandur deltas. Laminated sediments with ice‐rafted debris throughout the Little Ice Age interval in the ice‐proximal environment suggest that colder conditions promoted glacier growth, leading to successive episodes of turbid hyperpycnal meltwater plumes and iceberg calving in Coronation Fjord. Since 1850 ce , the accelerated Coronation retreat in response to modern warming has led to increased sedimentation rates, abrupt mineralogical and grain size proxy variations and more frequent RDLs. Similar trends between the detrital proxies of the ice‐proximal core and Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation record and Arctic surface air temperature suggest high connectivity between atmospheric and sea surface temperature variations and PIC dynamics over the last 600 years.

Issue Information (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2023)

Biomarker proxies for reconstructing Quaternary climate and environmental change - Erin L. McClymont; Helen Mackay; Mark A. Stevenson; Thale Damm‐Johnsen; Eleanor Maedhbh Honan; Claire E. Penny; Yasmin A. Cole (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2023)
To reconstruct past environmental changes, a range of indirect or proxy approaches can be applied to Quaternary archives. Here, we review the complementary and novel insights that have been provided by the analysis of chemical fossils (biomarkers). Biomarkers have a biological source that can be highly specific (e.g. produced by a small group of organisms) or more general. We show that biomarkers are able to quantify key climate variables (particularly water and air temperature) and can provide qualitative evidence for changes in hydrology, vegetation, human–environment interactions and biogeochemical cycling. In many settings, biomarker proxies provide the opportunity to simultaneously reconstruct multiple climate or environmental variables, alongside complementary and long‐established approaches to palaeoenvironmental reconstruction. Multi‐proxy studies have provided rich sets of data to explore both the drivers and impacts of palaeoenvironmental change. As new biomarker proxies continue to be developed and refined, there is further potential to answer emerging questions for Quaternary science and environmental change.

Energy regimes help tackle limitations with the prehistoric cultural‐phases approach to learn about sustainable transitions: Archaeological evidence from northern Spain - Alexandre Martinez; Sjoerd Kluiving; José Muñoz‐Rojas; César Borja Barrera; Pablo Fraile Jurado; María Esperanza Roldán Muñoz; Juan Carlos Mejías‐García (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2023)
Human societies face challenges in transitioning towards low‐carbon economies and sustainable management of land use and natural resources. Documenting and learning from past transitions helps policy‐makers cope with such challenges. The agricultural revolution in Cantabrian Spain ( ca . 7000 cal a bp ) was one major adaptation of hunter‐gatherers to a changing environment that started with the Last Glacial Maximum ( ca . 24 000 cal a bp ) and lasted until the Mid‐Holocene ( ca . 5300 cal a bp ). Classic approaches to documenting prehistoric cultural timelines are based on manufacturing and technology, thus limited in their ability to describe the sustainability of past societies. Energy regimes, a functional societal approach independent from time, investigate and consider patterns of resource and energy use in various cohabiting and cooperating cultural phases. To examine past energy regimes, a database of archaeological remains was compiled to document four indicators: mobility, economy, overexploitation and societal complexity. Statistical analyses were conducted to elucidate trends, changes and continuity in subsistence strategies by hunter‐gatherers and sedentary societies. Results show that energy regimes act as a complement to cultural phases, adding novel functional analyses of past societies to cultural stratigraphy units common in archaeology, shedding light on the sustainability of past societal transitions.

Geographical variation in cool and warm season responses of earlywood and latewood tree‐ring chronologies in Athrotaxis selaginoides - Andrew Adriaanse‐Tucker; Kathryn J. Allen; Nathan B. English (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2023)
Our understanding of land‐based cool season temperature variability over the past millennium is limited by the relative lack of annually resolved temperature proxies, especially in the Southern Hemisphere. Here, we develop the first earlywood (EW) and latewood (LW) width chronologies from Australia based on the Tasmanian endemic conifer Athrotaxis s elaginoides in the far southeast of Australia. We also develop total ring width (RW), EW and LW chronologies from a new site in the far south. We compare the climate responses of RW, EW and adjusted LW chronologies of three A. selagnoides sites near the southern extent of the species with three sites of the species near the northern extent of the species. RW and EW at the southern sites are strongly and positively related to cool season temperature (July–October), but in the north, RW and EW are more strongly and positively related with summer (December–February) temperatures. Once adjusted for the influence of the same growing season EW, LW in the north is very strongly negatively correlated with January–February temperatures across southeastern Australia. The new southern RW and EW chronologies can be used to extend one of only two annually resolved regional cool season temperature reconstructions in the Southern Hemisphere back a further 180 years.

Developing a South Pacific tephra framework: Initial results from a Samoan Holocene sequence - Anna J. Bourne; David A. Sear; Pete G. Langdon; Shane J. Cronin (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2023)
Tephra preserved in sediments form useful isochronous marker layers, linking disparate geological, palaeoenvironmental and archaeological records. The application of tephrochronology is greatly enhanced through the detection of macroscopically invisible tephra (cryptotephra). Here, we identify two discrete cryptotephra in Samoan lake sediments, the first identification of cryptotephra in the region outside of New Zealand. Geochemical data suggest one ash layer is from a local Samoan source, providing the first data on an eruption of this age, adding to knowledge of the local volcanic record. The second has a distinctive rhyolitic glass composition, which matches either that of Raoul Island in the Kermadec Arc (1800 km south of Samoa), or two currently submarine volcanoes in the Tongan Arc, ‘Volcano F’ and Lateiki/Metis Shoal (550 and 700 km south of Samoa, respectively). In all possible source cases, this points to a regionally significant eruption of a Kermadec–Tongan volcano at ca. 10 000 a bp . The study marks the first step in the establishment of a South Pacific tephra framework that can be used to answer questions about the synchronicity of changes in hydroclimate, vegetation and early Polynesian migration patterns, as well as providing more information on the volcanic history of Pacific island volcanoes.

Shifting potential tree species distributions from the Last Glacial Maximum to the Mid‐Holocene in North America, with a correlation assessment - Brice B. Hanberry (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2023)
Pollen reconstructions of tree genera in North America since glaciation are available, but species distributions predicted for paleoclimate based on tree inventories may inform knowledge gaps. Here I examined the distributions of 25 species or species groups from 20 000 years ago (ka) to 5 ka to give potential paleoecological ranges of boreal and temperate tree species. I also assessed the effects of correlated climate variables on species distribution models for current and past climate, which were modeled with the non‐linear random forests classifier. Climate change alone was enough to create unique, species‐specific paths that did not run directly north. At 20 ka, black spruce ( Picea mariana ) occurred as far north as the ice sheet and most boreal species generally may have extended as far south as 32°N, or the northern southeastern United States. Temperate eastern species may have extended as far north as 39°N in low‐elevation locations and temperate eastern species displayed both continuous and clustered distributions across the southeastern United States. Rate of movement was 5.5 km per century between 20 and 14 ka, 13.3 km per century between 14 and 10 ka, and 3.25 km per century between 10 and 5 ka. Species retreated southward between 7 and 5 ka. Regarding correlation, models with all variables had greater accuracy than models with the two most important variables, which had greater accuracy than models with two variables of intermediate importance, demonstrating both reduced accuracy with omission of relevant variables and isolation of important variables that improve accuracy in models with correlated climate variables. Models from different climates identified the same two most important variables and ranked the remaining variables similarly, revealing robustness in the models over time. Distribution models agreed with pollen reconstructions regarding timing and rate of change, while generating detailed species‐specific information about movement trajectories and velocities, latitudinal extents, and distribution continuities.

Middle Palaeolithic occupation of the southern North Sea Basin: evidence from the Sandscaping sediments emplaced on the beach between Bacton and Walcott, Norfolk, UK - Rob Davis; Nick Ashton; Rachel Bynoe; John Craven; Rob Ferguson; Ian Gardner; Tim Grimmer; Claire Harris; Marcus Hatch; Colin Johnson; Joanne Leonard; Simon Lewis; et al. (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2023)
During the summer of 2019, the Bacton to Walcott Coastal Management Scheme involved the emplacement on to the foreshore of 1.8 million cubic metres of sand and gravel dredged from the submerged sediments of the Palaeo‐Yare in the southern North Sea 11 km off Great Yarmouth. During the following 2‐year period, an active group of collectors identified Palaeolithic artefacts eroding from these sediments, including Levallois cores and flakes, and cordiform handaxes. In this paper, we present an analysis of the lithic artefacts, and consider the relationships between the different elements of the assemblage. We discuss its significance in the context of the Middle Palaeolithic record of northwest Europe and the light it shines on the human occupation of the submerged landscape of the southern North Sea during the later Middle Pleistocene. Interrogation of beach survey data shows the reworking of these sediments to the southeast towards Happisburgh where archaeologically significant exposures of the Cromer Forest‐bed Formation are located. The implications of the introduction of a Middle Palaeolithic assemblage to this stretch of the North Norfolk Coast are considered, highlighting the importance of continuing dialogue between researchers, local authorities and local communities for capturing information and monitoring this critical Palaeolithic resource.

Issue Information (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2023)

Geophysical reconstruction of the late Holocene proximal proglacial landsystem at Skeiðarársandur, southeast Iceland - Devin Harrison; Neil Ross; Andrew J. Russell; Stuart J. Jones (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2023)
Sandur plains are extensive sedimentary bodies formed in proglacial settings by glaciofluvial processes. Icelandic sandar have been hypothesised to be comprised of thick alluvial successions that provide critical insight into the processes that contributed to their formation and evolution. However, to‐date, most sandar research has focused on the analysis of sedimentary successions associated to topographically‐confined and small‐scale systems. These, however, do not capture the variety or scale of processes that influence sandar architecture. Therefore, detailed subsurface analysis of large‐scale and unconfined sandar is vital to understand how these systems respond to fundamental drivers, such as: (i) glacier oscillations, and (ii) episodic sediment flux from glacier outburst floods (aka. jökulhlaups). We report an extensive, low‐frequency (40 & 100 MHz) ground‐penetrating radar (GPR) survey of the ice‐proximal component of a large‐scale () active sandur in southeast Iceland. A bright and continuous reflection (PR1) is identified within all radargrams and provides a boundary between pre‐LIA and LIA to present‐day sedimentation. GPR data reveals a ~50 m thick ice‐proximal sediment wedge that is attributed to jökulhlaup and surge‐related glaciofluvial activity during the Little Ice Age (LIA). An approximate rate of deposition of 0.2–0.65 m has been calculated for the sediment wedge above PR1. Furthermore, we propose an extensive, sandur‐wide, pre‐LIA ice marginal limit of Skeiðarárökull, southeast Iceland, based on observations reported here and in previous work.

Chronological constraint of Neanderthal cultural and environmental changes in southwestern Europe: MIS 5–MIS 3 dating of the Axlor site (Biscay, Spain) - Martina Demuro; Lee J. Arnold; Jesús González‐Urquijo; Talia Lazuen; Manuel Frochoso (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2023)
The cave site of Axlor (Biscay, Spain) preserves one of the most informative Middle Palaeolithic (MP) records for the North Atlantic Iberian region, though its age remains poorly known. Here we use single‐grain optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) and single‐grain thermally transferred OSL (TT‐OSL) dating of sediments to improve the age constraint of Axlor's MP succession (levels N–B). Our new ages are consistent with the previously published terminus ante quem 14 C ages for the site (>42.9 cal ka bp ), and suggest the sequence accumulated during a period of ~50 kyr. Axlor's levels N–F were deposited ~100–80 ka, probably during marine isotope stage (MIS) 5d–a, while levels D and B were deposited ~70 and ~50 ka, respectively, during MIS 4 and mid‐MIS 3. Our results indicate that major faunal and technological turnovers occurred towards the end of MIS 5, potentially coinciding with broader environmental and climatic changes. Axlor's Quina record, dated here to the onset of MIS 4, is one of the oldest in Europe. Comparisons with neighbouring sites point to complex regional chronologies and development for this particular behaviour, though detailed correlations with other MP sequences remain difficult due to their poor chronological attributes. The present study highlights the important role that single‐grain optical dating can play in elucidating the broader evolution of the MP across southwestern Europe.

Dire wolf ( Canis dirus ) from the late Pleistocene of southern Canada (Medicine Hat, Alberta) - Ashley R. Reynolds; Talia M. Lowi‐Merri; Alexandria L. Brannick; Kevin L. Seymour; C. S. Churcher; David C. Evans (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2023)
The dire wolf ( Canis dirus ) had a broad geographic range in Pleistocene North and South America. Its northernmost occurrence has been reported from late Pleistocene deposits in Medicine Hat, Alberta, representing the only record of the taxon in Canada. However, the dentary upon which these reports were based has never been described or illustrated. The Medicine Hat specimen is badly crushed and appears to be from an old individual, which precludes the observation of adult diagnostic morphological characters. Geometric morphometrics were used to test the previous identification of the Medicine Hat dentary. A landmark‐based principal component analysis and a canonical variates analysis suggests that the specimen more strongly resembles dire wolf specimens than grey wolf ( Canis lupus ). Identification of the Medicine Hat specimen as C. dirus supports it as the northernmost occurrence of this species in North America. However, we note the potential for allometric relationships that may confound differentiation between grey and dire wolves based on the morphology of the dentary. This study concludes by identifying future work needed in the areas of canid allometry and the biogeography of late Pleistocene North America and Beringia.

Reconstruction of the palaeo‐sea level of Britain and Ireland arising from empirical constraints of ice extent: implications for regional sea level forecasts and North American ice sheet volume - SARAH L. Bradley; JEREMY C. Ely; CHRIS D. Clark; ROBIN J. Edwards; Ian Shennan (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2023)
Reconstructions of palaeo‐sea level are vital for predicting future sea level change and constraining palaeo‐ice sheet reconstructions, as well as being useful for a wide array of applications across Quaternary Science. Previous reconstructions of the palaeo‐sea level of Britain and Ireland relied on a circular tuning of glacio‐isostatic models: input ice sheet thicknesses and extents were iteratively altered to fit relative sea level data. Here we break that circularity by utilizing new data from the BRITICE‐CHRONO project, which constrains the position of the British–Irish ice sheet margin through time, and we compare derived glacio‐isostatic modelling to the rich relative sea level record. We test a combination of plausible ice thickness scenarios which account for the uncertainty of ice margin position over the North Sea, demonstrating the region where regional sea level data could distinguish between different glaciation scenarios. Our optimal reconstruction is then combined with several global‐scale reconstructions. As the signal of the British–Irish Ice Sheet is constrained, we demonstrate how the relative sea level record of Britain and Ireland can be used to test reconstructions of far‐field ice sheets (e.g. Antarctica, Eurasia and the Laurentide). The derived palaeo‐topography data are likely to be useful for multiple disciplines. Finally, our improved method of sea level reconstruction impacts predictions of contemporary vertical land motion.

Differing local‐scale responses of Bolivian Amazon forest ecotones to middle Holocene drought based upon multiproxy soil data - James Hill; Stuart Black; Daniel Soto; Ezequiel Chavez; Vincent Vos; Francis Mayle (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2023)
Uncertainty remains over local‐scale responses of ecotonal Amazonian forests to middle Holocene drying due to the scarcity, and coarse spatial resolution, of lacustrine pollen records. This paper examines the palaeoecological potential of soil phytoliths, stable carbon isotopes and charcoal for capturing local‐scale ecotonal responses of different types of Bolivian Amazonian forest to middle Holocene climate change. Soil pits 1 m deep were dug at ecotones between rainforest, dry forest, Chaco woodland and savannah, and sampled at 5–10 cm resolution. Both phytolith and stable carbon isotope records indicate stability of dry forest–savannah ecotones over the last ca. 6000 years, despite middle Holocene drought, revealing the dominance of edaphic factors over climate in controlling this type of ecotone. In contrast, δ 13 C data reveal that rainforest–savannah ecotones were more responsive to climate change, with rainforest likely replaced by drought‐tolerant dry forest or savannah vegetation during the mid‐Holocene, consistent with regional‐scale lacustrine pollen records. However, such shifts are not apparent in most of our phytolith records due to insufficient taxonomic resolution in differentiating rainforest from dry forest. Charcoal data show that ecotonal dry forests experienced greater fire activity than rainforests and that recent high fire activity at all forest sites is unprecedented since at least the middle Holocene.

Pleistocene environments, climate, and human activity in Britain during Marine Isotope Stage 7: insights from Oak Tree Fields, Cerney Wick, Gloucestershire - Joshua T. Hogue; Keith N. Wilkinson; Enid Allison; Thomas Hill; Monika V. Knul; Matthew Law; Marta Perez‐Fernandez; Hannah Russ; Danielle Schreve; Jennifer E. Sherriff; Philip Toms; Daniel Young; et al. (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2023)
Investigations at Oak Tree Fields, Cerney Wick, Gloucestershire, in western England have revealed a sequence of fluvial deposits dating from Marine Oxygen Isotope Stage (MIS) 7 to 5. At the base of the sequence, a series of gravel and sand facies were deposited, initially as part of a meandering river. Reductions in flow energy of the latter and avulsion led to the development of short‐lived channels and episodic backwater environments, the deposits of which are recorded as Facies Associations 1–3. Poorly sorted, probably colluvial deposits formed beyond the limit of the channel (Facies Association 4). Mollusca, Coleoptera, plant macrofossils, pollen and vertebrates recovered from the channel facies indicate broadly similar climatic conditions throughout accretion. Temperature ranges derived from mutual climatic range analysis of the Coleoptera almost completely overlap with those of Cerney Wick at the present day, albeit that winters may have been cooler when the channel was active. Further, the floral and faunal data suggest that the meandering river flowed through an open grassland environment, the latter heavily grazed by large vertebrates, most notably mammoth. Most of the botanical and faunal remains, together with four optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) age estimates ranging from 225 ± 23 to 187 ± 19 ka, suggest correlation of the channel deposits with MIS 7. The basal deposits (Facies Association 1) yielded the majority of vertebrate remains and all the lithic artefacts, most of which seem likely to have travelled only a short distance. Although only a few artefacts were recovered, they add to the relatively limited evidence of human activity from the upper Thames. The channel deposits are overlain by sheet gravels (Facies Association 5) which are attributed to the Northmoor Member of the Upper Thames Formation. These were likely to have been deposited as bedload in a braided stream environment, while two OSL age estimates of 129 ± 14 and 112 ± 11 ka suggest accumulation during MIS 5.

Low‐cost technologies in a rich ecological context: Hotel California open‐air site at Sierra de Atapuerca, Burgos, Spain - Marta Santamaría; Marta Navazo; Lee J. Arnold; Alfonso Benito‐Calvo; Martina Demuro; Eudald Carbonell (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2023)
Hotel California is part of a network of open‐air Neanderthal sites located in the Sierra de Atapuerca (Burgos, Spain). In this study, we examine the technology of the lithic assemblages recovered from this site's archaeological levels 3 to 7, which are characterised by the use of local raw materials, non‐hierarchical centripetal exploitation systems, systematic production of flakes and few retouched items. This type of expedient technology is repeated throughout the entire sequence, which spans Marine Isotope Stages (MIS) 3 to 4. Through a comparison with the technocomplexes and occupation histories of surrounding sites – including a re‐evaluation of the published chronology for the nearby site of Fuente Mudarra, which is now dated exclusively to MIS 5 – we examine whether the detected pattern is applicable to the rest of the Atapuerca Mousterian record and if this expedient behaviour has equivalents in other sites in the region. Our findings show that the lithic procurement, exploitation and configuration strategies employed at the Sierra de Atapuerca open‐air sites were constant over broad time periods spanning MIS 5 to 3, in contrast to the technological sequences observed at other nearby sites on the Northern Iberian Plateau. The recurrent settlement of these open‐air Neanderthal sites over tens of thousands of years and the consistent use of expedient technologies during different occupation periods is likely attributable to the rich ecological context of the Sierra de Atapuerca environs.

Response of diatom assemblages to orbital‐ and millennial‐scale climatic variability since the penultimate glacial maximum in the northern limit of the Neotropics - Diana Avendaño; Margarita Caballero; Beatriz Ortega‐Guerrero; Socorro Lozano‐García (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2023)
Lake Chalco, in Central Mexico, has a long diatom record which provides an excellent opportunity to document the biotic and hydrological responses of this ecosystem to orbital‐ and millennial‐scale climatic variability during the last 150 ka. Detrended correspondence analysis was used to evaluate the ecological turnover and to identify diatom species associations throughout the sequence. Millennial‐scale climatic fluctuations were identified as peaks in freshwater (mostly small Fragilariaceae spp.) or as peaks in salt‐tolerant species. At orbital scales, species turnover involved changes between freshwater assemblages dominated by Stephanodiscus spp. – small Fragilariaceae spp. – Cocconeis placentula , present during low‐evaporation, cool intervals [late Marine Isotope Stage (MIS)6, MIS5d, MIS2] against salt‐tolerant taxa, dominated by Stephanocyclus and Cyclotella spp., in higher evaporation, higher salinity conditions (MIS5e, MIS5c–a, MIS4, MIS3, early MIS1). Comparatively, MIS6 and MIS5d seem to have been cooler (~ −6 to −7 °C) and wetter than MIS2 (~ − 4 to −5 °C). In contrast, MIS5e and early MIS1 (11.5–6 ka) had similar warmer, low lake level, saline conditions. In addition, MIS5 was a period of intense climatic change associated with wide‐amplitude orbital forcing that favored a Stephanocyclus – Cyclotella spp. ecological succession ( S. meneghinianus, C. tlalocii, C. poyeka, S. quillensis ). In contrast, smaller temperature changes were inferred during MIS4 and MIS3.

Issue Information (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2023)

Paleoenvironmental changes in the Brazilian Pampa based on carbon and oxygen stable isotope analysis of Pleistocene camelid tooth enamel - Renato Pereira Lopes; Carolina Saldanha Scherer; Jamil Corrêa Pereira; Sérgio Rebello Dillenburg (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2023)
Here we present paleoenvironmental and paleoclimatic reconstructions of the Brazilian Pampa based on stable isotopes (δ 13 C, δ 18 O) in tooth enamel of the Pleistocene camelids Lama guanicoe and Hemiauchenia paradoxa from the Chuy Creek fossil assemblage, including one H. paradoxa from a stratigraphic level within a loess unit deposited during the Last Glacial Maximum (26.5–19 ka b2k). The δ 13 C results show that both species fed mostly on C3 plants, although the mixed diets of L. guanicoe included ~30% C4 or CAM plants. H . paradoxa had C3 diets with 18 O and aridity indexes compared to other mammals from the assemblage, consistent with ingestion of 18 O‐enriched water from plants growing in arid/semi‐arid conditions. A comparison with δ 13 C of camelids from Argentina indicates the camelids from Chuy Creek fed on vegetation similar to that of Dry Pampa, Monte and Patagonic xerophytic steppes. Aridification and expansion of dry steppes in southern Brazil suggest a climate‐driven northeastwards shift of the Arid Diagonal of South America that may have contributed to local extinction of the Pleistocene megafauna. These Lateglacial environmental changes are reflected in the characteristics of the plant and mammalian assemblages of the modern Brazilian Pampa.

Macaque fossils (Cercopithecidae: Papionini) from the Kumok Cave, Sungho County, North Hwanghae Province, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea - Kum Sik Han; Kwang Sik So; Jae Nam Ri; Pin Ri; U Chol; Jin Gon Kang (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2023)
The recently discovered macaque fossils, including mandible, maxilla fragments and isolated teeth, from the Kumok Cave, Sungho County, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea can be identified as Macaca mulatta . They represent the first recognised occurrence of fossil M. mulatta in the Kumok Cave. The Kumok Cave sediments include seven layers, of which the macaque fossils were found only in the third layer. Thermoluminescence dating on a calcite sample from Layer 3 is about 86.1 ± 7.7 ka, and geochronology by the accompanying mammal fauna belongs to the Late Pleistocene, Thus, it indicates that Layer 3 was represented by a warm phase at the end of the pre‐Würm interglacial Epoch. The Kumok fossils also contribute to the growing primate fossil record in DPRK, and indicate the need for increased research into fossil primates in that country.

Palaeogeographic reconstruction of the Late Weichselian ice sheet in north‐central Poland based on relief analysis - Artur Teodorski (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2023)
North‐central Poland was originally shaped by the Płock lobe of the ice sheet formed during the Weichselian Glaciation. The majority of the studied area comprises the Dobrzyń Lakeland, where numerous terminal moraine hills preserve a record of recession of the ice sheet from the maximum extent of the last glaciation (LGM). Analysis of a digital elevation model enabled the determination of a network of morpholineaments, referring to the formation of linear glacial forms. Recession of the ice sheet from the LGM extent in north‐central Poland was uneven and proceeded in stages. Ice‐sheet recession stages were interspersed with local or regional ice‐sheet advance stages. During these individual periods of ice‐sheet behaviour, ice‐sheet movement changed direction from WNW–ESE to NNW–SSE. Transgression of the ice sheet into the central part of the study area as well as the Kujawy–Dobrzyń subphase may be related to cooling of the climate during 18.5–17.7 ka before ad 2000.

Late Pleistocene and Holocene transgression inferred from the sediments of the Gulf of San Jorge, central Patagonia, Argentina - Pierre‐Arnaud Desiage; Guillaume St‐Onge; Mathieu J. Duchesne; Jean‐Carlos Montero‐Serrano; Miguel J. Haller (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2023)
This study presents the first detailed description of the upper sedimentary succession of the late Pleistocene and Holocene deposits in the Gulf of San Jorge (Patagonia) based on several hundred kilometers of high‐resolution seismic (sparker) profiles and numerous sediment cores. High‐resolution seismic stratigraphy confirms the existence of a paleo‐fluvial network formed during sea‐level lowstands and buried by central basin estuarine deposits during the last marine transgression. Analyses of lithostratigraphy and radiocarbon ages indicate the onset of subtidal sedimentation at ~14 cal ka bp . Before the onset of subtidal conditions, the first steps of marine incursion seem to have led to the development of lagoonal/wind–tidal flat environments, advocating for a sea‐level stillstand. An abrupt increase in the log(Ti/Ca) ratio in a distinct multi‐centimeter‐thick layer and the identification of a wave‐ravinement surface suggest rapid sea‐level rise in the gulf prior to ~14 cal ka bp , consistent with Meltwater Pulse 1A. Overall, this study highlights the significant impact of sea‐level rise on sedimentation in the gulf from the onset of marine incursions to the mid‐Holocene, as well as the reduced contribution, as currently observed, of riverine inputs due to the progressive diminution and withdrawal of glacial drainage starting before the Holocene.

Droughts during the last 2000 years in a tropical sub‐humid environment in central Mexico - Margarita Caballero; Socorro Lozano‐García; Mercedes Vázquez Romero; Susana Sosa (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2023)
High‐quality records of hydroclimate variability in central Mexico during the last 2000 years are necessary to better understand human–environment interactions in Mesoamerica. Of particular interest are the climatic conditions during the Epiclassic period ( ad 600–900), as droughts have been associated with a cultural demise occurring around ad 900–1000. We reconstruct the hydroclimate history of the last 2000 years based on a sediment record from a drought‐sensitive lake located near one of the most important Epiclassic city‐states in Mesoamerica. Titanium concentrations, pollen and diatoms give a consistent environmental signal of five droughts occurring at about: (i) ad 50–250, (ii) ad 700–950, (iii) ad 1200–1300, (iv) ad 1450–1550 and (v) ad 1760–1820. Some droughts were associated with cooler climatic conditions, and all of them framed major historical events. Our results show that the great cultural development of the Epiclassic period ( ad 600–900) was framed by a scenario of drought conditions followed by abandonment at ad 900–1000. A brief return to moister conditions is recorded before another drought during the time of the fall of the city‐state of Tula (1200). European contact (1521) and the War of Independence (1810–20) also occurred during times of drought.

Impacts of Early Holocene environmental dynamics on open‐air occupation patterns in the Western Mediterranean: insights from El Arenal de la Virgen (Alicante, Spain) - Javier Fernández‐López De Pablo; Ana Polo‐Díaz; José Ramón Rabuñal; Magdalena Gómez Puche; Yolanda Carrión Marco; Ana Cantó; Rowan Mclaughlin; Carlos Ferrer; Francesc Burjachs (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2023)
Open‐air sites represent a fundamental proxy of the Early Holocene adaptive systems in the Iberian Peninsula. However, its research potential for the study of human–environmental interactions has been minimally explored. In this work, we present the results of an integrated research programme focused on open‐area excavations at the Mesolithic site of Arenal de la Virgen (Alicante, Spain). Novel multi‐scalar geoarchaeological and archaeo‐stratigraphic studies, coupled with featured‐based palaeobotanical analysis, were used to design an extensive radiocarbon dating programme and produce different Bayesian chronological models. Our results distinguish two different Mesolithic occupation phases, dating to 9.3–9.1 and 8.6–8.3k cal a bp respectively, consisting of combustion features and lithic scatters. The comparison of occupational dynamics with the nearby palaeoecological records of Salines and Villena indicated that both Mesolithic phases occurred under relatively stable environmental conditions. The second Mesolithic phase, however, ended during the onset of the 8.2k cal a bp climatic event, when sedimentation processes shifted from soil formation to accretion of aeolian sands. We demonstrate that the end of the Mesolithic occupations at Arenal de la Virgen coincides with the cessation of radiocarbon‐dated activity in other open‐air Postglacial sites in the central Mediterranean region of Iberia.

Early anthropic occupation and geomorphological changes in South America: human–environment interactions and OSL data from the Rincão I site, southeastern Brazil - Pedro Michelutti Cheliz; Paulo Cesar Fonseca Giannini; João Carlos Moreno de Sousa; Francisco Sergio Bernardes Ladeira; Juliana Alves Rodrigues; Gabriela Sartori Mingatos; Fabiano Nascimento Pupim; Thays Desiree Mineli; Danilo Galhardo; Robson Antonio Rodrigues (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2023)
This article aims to refine the description of the artefacts and the geomorphological, geological, pedological and chronological (optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) analyses of sedimentary deposits) characterisation of the Rincão I site (southeastern Brazil) to contribute to the understanding of early human–environment interactions. The archaeological site occupation took place on hillslopes truncated by the Mogi‐Guaçu River's lateral (~1200 m) and vertical (~5 m) movements during the Late Quaternary, in an area where in situ bedrock outcrops are uncommon. This geological context favoured human groups simultaneously having access to the resources provided by the alluvial plain and hillslopes. Here we describe how about three hundred lithic artefacts are associated with soils that originated from sandy colluvium with OSL ages between 20.3 and 5.5 thousand years. These ages are consistent with the local palaeopedological and geomorphological contexts of landscape changes, and partly controversial from the perspective of models currently in vogue for the human occupation of southeastern Brazil. The vestiges of past human presence amid the hillslope sandy colluvium deposits include: 1) a set of flakes and formal artefacts (one stemmed point and three convex artefacts) made of sandstone obtained from hillslopes near (

Chironomid (Insecta: Chironomidae) community structure response to hydrological changes in the mid‐1950s in lake Nam Co, Tibetan Plateau - Paula Echeverría‐Galindo; Sonja Rigterink; Julieta Massaferro; Liseth Pérez; Bernd Wünnemann; Philipp Hoelzmann; Wengang Kang; Nicole Börner; Anja Schwarz; Andreas Laug; Ping Peng; Junbo Wang; et al. (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2023)
The recent rise in air temperatures detected at high altitudes of the Tibetan Plateau has accelerated glacier melt and retreat. Moreover, enhanced monsoonal precipitation has increased runoff and transport of allochthonous material to the lakes. Consequently, water levels are rising, modifying the spatial distribution and composition of local aquatic biota. To infer these environmental and biological changes in recent decades, a 30‐cm‐long sediment core, representing the past ~160 years, from Nam Co, an endorheic lake, was analyzed for subfossil chironomid assemblages and sediment geochemistry. In total, 25 chironomid morphotypes were identified. Nineteen were considered as non‐rare taxa (abundances ≥2%) and six as rare taxa (abundances ce , higher chironomid richness ( S = 19) is evident compared to the previous 100 years. The simultaneous decrease in the abundance of profundal Micropsectra radialis ‐type and increase of both Chironomus and Procladius , taxa adapted to more eurytopic and slightly warmer water bodies, indicate increasing water temperatures and intensified primary productivity. The dominance of littoral chironomid assemblages reflects increasing lake water levels, flooded shorelines and expansion of littoral areas driven by increased precipitation and glacial meltwater input both resulting from the increase in air temperatures. This scenario is confirmed by increases in total nitrogen and Zr/Rb ratios, indicating higher productivity and coarser grain size as a consequence of increased runoff via the Niya Qu. These hydrological changes have resulted in a positive water balance that can be linked to an increase in moisture supply from the Indian summer monsoon and glacier melt, reflecting increasing temperatures and precipitation since 1956 ce , ultimately driven by anthropogenic warming.

Millimetre‐scale pollen analysis of non‐varved lacustrine sediments from Onepoto maar palaeolake, Auckland, reveals distal vegetation responses and landscape recovery following the ~25.5‐ka Ōruanui supereruption, New Zealand - Stephen B. Piva; Simon J. Barker; Rewi M. Newnham; Andrew B. H. Rees; Colin J. N. Wilson; Lionel Carter; Nels A. Iverson; Benjamin Läuchli; Paul C. Augustinus (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2023)
The ~25.5‐ka Ōruanui supereruption (Taupō volcano, New Zealand) erupted >1100 km 3 of pyroclastic material during the Last Glacial Maximum. The impacts of this event on climate and the New Zealand environment remain unresolved, particularly on ecological timescales. Using sediment cores from Onepoto maar palaeolake, Auckland (~240 km upwind from source), we have analysed pollen assemblages at contiguous 1‐mm intervals, around an intact 3‐cm layer of the Kawakawa‐Ōruanui Tephra to resolve and assess post‐eruption vegetation impacts and landscape recovery. Sediments immediately above the tephra record a decline in the relative abundance of the dominant canopy species of Fuscospora , and concurrent increase in the abundances of grasses, herbs, ferns and shrubs. These changes reflect a brief (

Issue Information (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2023)

The ‘Anthropocene’ is most useful as an informal concept - Graeme T. Swindles; Thomas P. Roland; Alastair Ruffell (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2023)

Early glacier advance in New Zealand during the Antarctic Cold Reversal - Levan G. Tielidze; Shaun R. Eaves; Kevin P. Norton; Andrew N. Mackintosh; Joel B. Pedro; Alan J. Hidy (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2023)
Glacial landscapes preserve records of past climate change. Investigating the glacier–climate system over the Late Quaternary provides information about past climate change and context for present‐day glacier response to climate warming. Using 28 beryllium‐10 ( 10 Be) surface exposure dates and snowline reconstructions, we present glacier fluctuations and climate changes for the Antarctic Cold Reversal in the Ahuriri River catchment, Southern Alps of New Zealand (44°7′50″S, 169°38′29″E). Prominent terminal and lateral moraine features from the upper right tributary of the Ahuriri River valley have exposure ages of 14.5 ± 0.3, 13.6 ± 0.3 and 12.6 ± 0.2 ka, suggesting retreat of the glacier during the Antarctic Cold Reversal. Maximum elevation of lateral moraines (MELM) and accumulation area ratio (AAR) suggest snowline elevations at these ages were ≤700, ≤630 and ~360 m lower than today, respectively. This equates to air temperatures ≤3.9, ≤3.5 and 2.3 ± 0.7 °C lower than today (1981–2010), assuming no changes in past precipitation. Ice‐sculpted bedrock surfaces bound by a lateral moraine at nearby Canyon Creek have an age of 13.1 ± 0.3 ka, indicating the moraine correlates with those in the Ahuriri upper right tributary. MELM and AAR reconstructions from the Canyon Creek suggest that snowline elevations at 14.5–13.6 ka were ≤500 or ~380 m lower than today, corresponding to air temperatures ≤2.8 or 2.4 ± 0.7 °C lower than the present‐day (1981–2010). Our results provide insight into the structure of the Antarctic Cold Reversal in the Southern Alps, showing that the largest glacier advance occurred at the start of this interval at c . 14.5 ± 0.3 ka and was followed by gradual retreat. We hypothesize that the early cooling and glacier readvance in New Zealand at the onset of the Antarctic Cold Reversal were triggered by a latitudinal shift of the Southern Hemisphere westerly wind belt.

The Anthropocene as an epoch is distinct from all other concepts known by this term: a reply to Swindles et al. (2023) - Martin J. Head; Colin N. Waters; Jan A. Zalasiewicz; Anthony D. Barnosky; Simon D. Turner; Alejandro Cearreta; Reinhold Leinfelder; Francine M.G. McCarthy; Daniel de B. Richter; Neil L. Rose; Yoshiki Saito; Davor Vidas; et al. (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2023)

The Humanities are invited to the Anthropocene Event but not to the Anthropocene Series/Epoch: a response to Chvostek (2023) - Stanley C. Finney; Philip L. Gibbard (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2023)

Neanderthal subsistence, taphonomy and chronology at Salzgitter‐Lebenstedt (Germany): a multifaceted analysis of morphologically unidentifiable bone - Karen Ruebens; Geoff M. Smith; Helen Fewlass; Virginie Sinet‐Mathiot; Jean‐Jacques Hublin; Frido Welker (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2023)
Pleistocene faunal assemblages are often highly fragmented, hindering taxonomic identifications and interpretive potentials. In this paper, we apply four different methodologies to morphologically unidentifiable bone fragments from the Neanderthal open‐air site of Salzgitter‐Lebenstedt (Germany). First, we recorded zooarchaeological attributes for all 1362 unidentifiable bones recovered in 1977. Second, we applied zooarchaeology by mass spectrometry (ZooMS) to 761 fragments, and calculated glutamine deamidation values. Third, we assessed the collagen preservation of 30 fragments by near‐infrared spectroscopy (NIR) and, finally, we pretreated 10 bones with high predicted collagen values for radiocarbon dating. All returned dates at, or beyond, the limit of radiocarbon dating, indicating an age of older than 51 000 years ago. The ZooMS faunal spectrum confirms a cold environment, dominated by reindeer, alongside mammoth, horse and bison. The low occurrence of carnivore modifications (1%) contrasts with an abundance of human modifications (23%). Cut marks and marrow fractures were observed across reindeer, horse and bison. The mammoth remains are less well preserved and show a lower degree of human modifications, indicating, perhaps, a different taphonomic history. Overall, this study illustrates the importance of retaining, studying and incorporating the unidentifiable bone fraction to optimize interpretations of site formation and subsistence behaviour at Palaeolithic sites.

Glacial fluctuations during the Last Glacial Maximum and Lateglacial in the Zhuxi and Songlong valleys, eastern Nyainqêntanglha Range, southeastern Tibet - Jinming Xie; Taibao Yang; Shangzhe Zhou; Liubing Xu; Xianjiao Ou; Gang Hu (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2023)
This study outlines the paleoglacial history and paleoclimatic conditions that were present during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) and Lateglacial (LG) in the Songlong and Zhuxi valleys in the eastern Nyainqêntanglha Range, southeastern Tibet. Two sets of moraines were identified at the valley mouths, and were dated using cosmogenic 10 Be exposure and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating. The ages suggest that two glaciations occurred at ~20–21 and ~14–16 ka, respectively, coinciding with the LGM and LG. Using glacier–climate modeling, temperature drops were calculated to have ranged from 6.3 to 7.8 °C during the LGM–LG, with precipitation being 40–60% of the present‐day value. The results in the modeled domain appear generally consistent with other climatic records from the Tibetan Plateau. Glacial advances in monsoon‐dominated southeastern Tibet during the LGM–LG were probably driven by low temperatures rather than by high precipitation, which was usually produced by an enhanced Indian Summer Monsoon during periods of climatic warming.

The patchwork loess of Central Asia: Implications for interpreting aeolian dynamics and past climate circulation in piedmont regions - Aditi K. Dave; Lenka Lisá; Giancarlo Scardia; Saida Nigmatova; Kathryn E. Fitzsimmons (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2023)
Reconstruction of mass accumulation rates (MARs) in loess deposits are widely used for interpreting long‐term aeolian transport and climate dynamics in terrestrial environments. However, these interpretations are often driven by a preponderance of reconstructions from individual or selected sites, which can bias our understanding of past climate, especially in the absence of other proxy information. Recent studies on MARs from multiple loess sites in Arid Central Asia (ACA) reveal disparities in the timing of peaks in accumulation between sites, as well as asynchronies with loess flux in the Chinese Loess Plateau (CLP). We investigate this issue by (1) dating five new sites from the western Ili Basin, therefore extending the spatial cover of loess chronologies across ACA and (2) combining that with MARs from >30 sites across ACA and the CLP over the last 60 ka. Our results indicate spatio‐temporal inhomogeneity in the timing and rate of loess deposition across the ACA, and highlight the importance of interrogating local and regional influences on dust supply and transport. Our synthesis of MARs from ACA and the CLP suggests that the timing of peak dust flux as an indicator of large‐scale climate dynamics is best derived from an aggregate of sites; this removes site‐specific bias where local processes or topographic settings outweigh the climate signature.

Invite the Human(ities) to the Anthropocene - Ida‐Maria Chvostek (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2023)

Corrigendum (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2023)

Plant–insect interactions in the Quaternary fossil record of the Azores Archipelago (Portugal) - Richard Pokorný; Paulo A. V. Borges (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2023)
The fossil record of the Azores still lacks evidence of terrestrial invertebrates. Based on a study of the collections of Quaternary fossil plant imprints from the Azores, located in the depositories of public collections and also newly conducted field research, several samples of fossil leaves with traces of plant–animal interactions were found. These are evidence of marginal feeding ( Phagophytichnus ekowskii ) and anophionome mine ( Cuniculonomus isp.). One specimen with traces of boring in fossil wood ( Xylonichnus trypetus ), previously only briefly mentioned in the literature, was also described in detail. In addition to a detailed description of the found traces, the present study also discusses the possible trace‐makers, using a comparison with the recent phytophagous fauna in relation to the original vegetation of the Azores (that includes laurisilva forest). It is thus possible to consider butterfly caterpillars (group Macrolepidoptera) or locust larvae (Orthoptera/Caelifera) as possible originators of marginal feeding. The ophionome mine could have been caused by the larvae of leaf‐miner flies (Agromyzidae) or moths from the group Microlepidoptera (Gracillariidae). Wood‐destroying beetles could be the cause of the boring in fossil wood.

Revisiting the late Quaternary fossiliferous infills of Cathedral Cave, Wellington Caves (central eastern New South Wales, Australia) - Diana A. Fusco; Lee J. Arnold; Grant A. Gully; Vladimir A. Levchenko; Geraldine E. Jacobsen; Gavin J. Prideaux (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2023)
The Wellington Caves were the first Australian locality from which Europeans collected and analysed vertebrate fossils. Within this system, Cathedral Cave contains Australia's stratigraphically deepest sequence of fossil‐bearing infill sediments, the age and depositional history of which has been poorly understood. Here we present results from a new excavation of the upper 4.2 m of the deposit, reanalysing the stratigraphy, petrography, sedimentology and geochemistry, and employing optically stimulated luminescence dating, radiocarbon dating and Bayesian age modelling to establish a robust chronology. We recognise 13 sedimentary layers and sublayers in two stratigraphic units. Unit 2 accumulated between 72 000 ± 5000 and 38 000 ± 7000 years ago as sediments and animals entered through a now‐blocked ceiling hole. Accumulation halted for around 30 000 years when the hole closed. Unit 1 accumulated when deposition was reinitiated around 7000 ± 2000 years ago, continuing through to a few hundred years ago. Our chronology refutes earlier dating of the deposit, which suggested that extinct Pleistocene megafauna taxa persisted locally until the Last Glacial Maximum. It confirms the deposit as one of the few in Australia that formed during the interval of major environmental upheaval marked by the arrival of humans, variable climate and the extinction of many megafaunal species.

Homo floresiensis and Homo luzonensis are not temporally exceptional relative to Homo erectus - David L. Roberts; Ivan Jarić; Stephen J. Lycett; Dylan Flicker; Alastair Key (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2023)
The presence of Homo floresiensis and Homo luzonensis in southeast Asia 90,000 to 60,000 years ago is considered surprising by many, and has been used to support their designation as unique species and the islands they were discovered on as refugia. Here, we statistically test the null hypothesis that H. floresiensis and H . luzonensis represent temporally uninterrupted occurrences relative to Homo erectus . We do this using the ‘surprise test’ for the exceptionality of a new record. Results demonstrate that H. floresiensis and H. luzonensis are not temporally distinct relative to H. erectus . Their late persistence should, therefore, not be considered surprising, they cannot reliably be inferred to be outside of H. erectus ’ temporal range, and – temporally – the islands of Luzon and Flores are not supported as refugia. Similarly, late H. erectus at Ngandong, Java, is not demonstrated to be temporally distinct relative to earlier, principally mainland‐Asian, H. erectus . Further, we demonstrate that substantial numbers of fossil discoveries would be needed before H. floresiensis and H. luzonensis are outside of H. erectus’ expected temporal range. If H. floresiensis and H. luzonensis are descended from H. erectus populations, our results point toward either geographic processes of allopatric speciation or behavioural processes leading to a sympatric speciation event.

Deglaciation and postglacial evolution of the Cère Valley (Cantal, French Massif Central) based on geomorphological mapping, 36 Cl surface exposure dating and glacier modelling - Arthur Ancrenaz; Stéphane Pochat; Vincent Rinterknecht; Laura Rodríguez‐Rodríguez; Emmanuelle Defive; Alexandre Poiraud; Vincent Jomelli; Irene Schimmelpfennig; Aster Team (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2023)
The landform assemblage in the Cère Valley (Cantal, France) provides one of the most complete sequences for Late Pleistocene glacial fluctuations in the French Massif Central. However, the associated glacial chronology has been debated since the 1980s. This paper aims to improve the glacial chronology of the Cère Valley using 36 Cl surface exposure ages. Geomorphological results define two glacier stadials with reconstructed equilibrium line altitudes of 1078 ± 43 and 1152 ± 34 m above sea level. These results are comparable to those obtained in the Alps or the Pyrenees during the Last Glacial Maximum (26–19.5 ka). However, 36 Cl surface exposure ages are centred around the Younger Dryas (YD), between 13 and 11 ka ( n = 4). We suggest that these 36 Cl ages are not related to a standstill during the YD but rather to the effects of the postglacial evolution of the Cère Valley. We investigate two geomorphological end‐member scenarios to explain the postponed exposure of sampled boulders: the Aurillac Lake scenario and the later fluvial incision scenario. While the nature of the geomorphological events leading to the boulder exhumation is not fully resolved, we highlight a long phase of postglacial evolution in the Cère Valley.

Site formation processes at Cenjiawan (Nihewan Basin, North China): a case study on the structure of the Early Pleistocene archaeological record in lakeshore environments - DONGDONG; SHUWEN PEI; FEI XIE; IGNACIO DE LA TORRE; XIN DING; ZHI YE (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2023)
Lakeshore environments offer an excellent opportunity to explore how early humans adapted to changing landscapes and environments. The Nihewan fluvio‐lacustrine sequence in North China contains one of the densest concentrations of Early Pleistocene Palaeolithic sites outside of Africa. Among these, the Cenjiawan site, dated at 1.1 Ma, draws attention due to the large number of stone tool refits. We present here Cenjiawan's sedimentary context, artefact spatial patterns, size distribution and taphonomic features, which are complemented by an experimental programme to better understand archaeological debitage size patterns, thus enabling a detailed analysis of formation processes at the site. The Cenjiawan assemblage is also interpreted in the light of its geographical and geological context, where a synsedimentary fault induced a minor topographic relief across the lacustrine lakeshore. This resulted in a shallow‐water setting in the down‐thrown hanging wall of the fault compartment, and a fluvial environment in the uplifted footwall. Our results indicate that Cenjiawan, situated in the hanging wall of the fault, underwent minimal disturbance, constituting a remarkable example of optimal preservation of archaeological assemblages in Early Pleistocene lakeshore environments.

Issue Information (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2023)

Reassessing the phylogeny of Quaternary Eurasian Rhinocerotidae - Luca Pandolfi (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2023)
The phylogenetic relationships within Eurasian Quaternary rhinoceroses is reassessed for the first time by means of Bayesian analysis. The results show Stephanorhinus as a monophyletic clade, with Pliorhinus as a sister taxon and Coelodonta as their closest relative. A new scenario on the origin, evolution and paleobiogeography of Quaternary rhinoceroses is therefore provided. Stephanorhinus originated in the Mediterranean Basin, dispersing towards Eastern Eurasia during the Early Pleistocene and leading to S. kirchbergensis. S. hemitoechus probably originated in Europe.

Drumlin formation within the Bustarfell drumlin field, northeast Iceland: integrating sedimentological and ground‐penetrating radar data - Nína Aradóttir; Ívar Örn Benediktsson; Ólafur Ingólfsson; Erik Sturkell; Skafti Brynjólfsson; Wesley R. Farnsworth; Emrys Phillips (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2023)
Drumlins are important bedforms of former glaciated landscapes as they demonstrate past ice‐flow directions and elucidate processes that operated at the ice/bed interface. Recently mapped drumlins and other streamlined subglacial bedforms in northeast Iceland reveal the flow‐sets of cross‐cutting palaeo‐ice streams that were active within the Iceland Ice Sheet (IIS) during and following the Last Glacial Maximum. Here we study the Bustarfell drumlin field within the Vopnafjörður–Jökuldalsheiði flow‐set. The internal architecture of two drumlins was investigated using sedimentological analysis and ground‐penetrating radar (GPR, 50 and 100 MHz) to illuminate subglacial processes that contributed to drumlin formation, as well as the history and dynamics of the IIS. On the stoss side of one of the drumlins, two subglacial traction till units were identified, separated by a thick unit of deformed glaciofluvial sand and gravel. The core of glaciofluvial material suggests that the drumlin formed around well‐drained patches (sticky spots) in the subglacial bed that retarded the ice flow locally through increased basal drag and encouraged till deposition. Furthermore, our GPR data indicate a combination of erosional and depositional processes. We suggest that the glaciofluvial sediments were deposited as small ice‐marginal fans on the Bustarfell plateau, possibly during the Bølling–Allerød interstadial, and that the drumlins were formed around these fans during a subsequent readvance during the Younger Dryas.

Reassessing the age of the Early Pleistocene Longgupo fauna, southern China: An updated magnetostratigraphic perspective - LU SUN; CHENGLONG DENG; CAICAI LIU; JUNYI GE; SHIXIA YANG; SHUAI ZHANG; FEI HAN; JEAN‐JACQUES BAHAIN; MICHEL RASSE; ÉRIC BOËDA; YAMEI HOU; GUANGBIAO WEI; et al. (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2023)
As the northernmost locality yielding one of the most representative Early Pleistocene Gigantopithecus – Sinomastodon faunas in southern China, the Longgupo site has preserved valuable geological archives that have significantly improved our understanding of Pleistocene biostratigraphy and biogeography. A convincing chronological framework of this locality is therefore important to elaborate on the evolution of Quaternary faunas as well as paleoenvironment. To reconcile the existing geochronological results with new advances in geochronology and biochronology, we present here a revised magnetostratigraphic age model based on detailed rock magnetic and paleomagnetic data and strengthened by biochronology as well as recently published electron spin resonance and uranium series (ESR/U‐series) age data. Two geomagnetic polarities were identified from the Longgupo sequence: the upper one is thin and normal, corresponding to the Olduvai normal subchron; and the lower one is distinctly thick and reversed, corresponding to the pre‐Olduvai Matuyama Chron. The age of the Longgupo fauna constrained by this refined magnetochronological framework is therefore estimated to be about 2.5–2.0 Ma, consistent with the newly published ESR/U‐series age of 2.5–2.2 Ma.

Late Quaternary carbonate microbialite complex on the west shore of Great Salt Lake, Utah, USA - Vicki A. Pedone; Charles G. Oviatt; David McGee (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2023)
A Late Pleistocene carbonate microbialite complex at Death Point on the western shore of Great Salt Lake, UT, USA, coats Paleozoic bedrock over an area 70 × 40 m. The complex largely formed while Lake Bonneville flooded the basin. Three distinct stratigraphic units separated by minor unconformities have been identified. The oldest unit (Unit 1) occurs over the entire outcrop area and ranges from 10 cm to 2.5 m in thickness. It precipitated as aragonite in the wave‐agitated shoreline environment during the early transgressive phase of Lake Bonneville and was subsequently pervasively dolomitized. Some near‐vertical faces of Unit 1 are overlain by an 8‐cm‐thick calcite microbialite (Unit 2) precipitated in deeper water of the regressive phase of Lake Bonneville. The youngest microbialite unit (Unit 3) overlies the calcite layer and precipitated as aragonite when the lake had dropped to levels similar to those of modern Great Salt Lake. The elevation, stratigraphy, distinct mineralogical layers, diagenetic history and long depositional span distinguish the Death Point microbialite complex from other microbialites in the Lake Bonneville/Great Salt Lake lacustrine system. The geochronology of Death Point microbialite will lead to modifications of the Lake Bonneville hydrograph, showing significantly lower lake levels in the early‐transgression stage.

Lateglacial and Early Holocene palaeoenvironmental change and human activity at Killerby Quarry, North Yorkshire, UK - Samuel M Hudson; Clive Waddington; Ben Pears; Natalie Ellis; Luke Parker; Derek Hamilton; Inger Greve Alsos; Paul Hughes; Antony Brown (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2023)
The hunter‐gatherers that entered the British peninsula after ice‐retreat were exploiting a dynamic, rapidly changing environment. Records of vegetation change and human occupation during the Lateglacial to Early Holocene in northern Britain are more commonly found at upland and cave sites. However, recent research highlights many areas of the Swale–Ure Washlands that preserve extensive environmental sequences in low‐lying ice‐wastage basins, channels and depressions. The Lateglacial–Early Holocene environment of Killerby Quarry, North Yorkshire, is investigated here using a multi‐proxy approach of sedimentary ancient DNA ( seda DNA), pollen, sedimentological (geochemistry and portable optically stimulated luminescence), and rare and well‐preserved archaeology (Lavvu structures and lithics). Results show that the wetland basins and kettleholes were small lakes or ponds in the Lateglacial surrounded by sedge‐fen and birch woodland. A gradual (centennial scale) succession to reed‐swamp and then marsh is seen by the Early Holocene. This environment formed the resource‐scape for hunter‐gatherer transitory settlement in both the Lateglacial (Late Upper Palaeolithic) and Holocene (Early Mesolithic), attracted by the rich communities of pond‐related flora and fauna as well as easy strategic landscape access by way of the River Swale, an arterial route through the landscape connecting the North Sea Basin with the Pennine uplands via the palaeolakes around Killerby.

Orbital‐ to millennial‐scale variation of the speleothem δ 18 O record during Marine Isotope Stages 5 to 3 on the southeast Chinese Loess Plateau and its climatic and environmental implications - YANJUN CAI; HAI CHENG; XING CHENG; ZHENGGUO SHI; YANBIN LU; LE MA; CARLOS PÉREZ‐MEJÍAS; HAIWEI ZHANG; YINGYING WEI; GANG XUE; HANYING LI; MEI HE; et al. (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2023)
The Chinese Loess Plateau (CLP) is located in northern China, a region climatically dominated by the East Asian monsoon. Speleothem records from this region are crucial to fully understand the variability of the East Asian summer monsoon (EASM) and reconcile the disparity seen between loess records and speleothem δ 18 O records for the EASM. Here, we present an absolutely dated stalagmite isotope record spanning most of Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5 to MIS 3 from Xiaotian Cave, southeast CLP. The Xiaotian speleothem δ 18 O record is dominated by precessional variations and punctuated by notable millennial‐scale oscillations; in particular, the δ 18 O values in MIS 5e, 5c and 5a were in the same range, consistent with other speleothem δ 18 O records from the EASM region within quoted errors, verifying the difference between speleothem δ 18 O and loess records (e.g. magnetic susceptibility) and the proposition that those two archives may record different aspects of the EASM changes. The similar values in MIS 5e, 5c and 5a observed from the speleothem δ 18 O records in EASM regions, incompatible with the relatively higher North Hemisphere Summer Insolation (NHSI) during MIS 5e, were probably caused by an equivalent or even increased contribution of 18 O‐enriched moisture from the South China Sea and North Pacific, implying that an El Niño‐like state existed during MIS 5e. The Xiaotian δ 18 O values increased abruptly at ~121.7 thousand years (kyr) before the present ( bp , present refers to ad 1950), consistent with the trend seen in previously reported Chinese speleothem δ 18 O records, indicating an abrupt regime shift in atmospheric circulations or hydroclimate conditions in the Asian monsoon systems. It cannot be definitely ruled out that an increase in sea ice extent in the northern North Atlantic, responding to a decrease of NHSI, reached a threshold to have led to abrupt changes in the Asian summer monsoon (ASM) through rapid shifts in the position of circulation of the westerlies and/or in the position of Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ). Here, we hypothesized that sea surface cooling in the tropical Indian and Pacific Ocean caused by the decreased summer insolation reached a threshold that eventually resulted in an abrupt shift to more positive precipitation δ 18 O, either through weakened convection over the tropical ocean, or through abrupt shifts in moisture transport and cycling of tropical moisture sources for the ASM. The Xiaotian speleothem δ 18 O record also shows centennial‐scale variability with amplitude up to 3‰ within MIS 5e. These changes are similar to variations recorded by the speleothem δ 18 O record from Tianmen Cave on the south‐central Tibetan Plateau and Shangxiaofeng Cave in Shandong Province, northern China, suggesting a heightened sensitivity of precipitation δ 18 O to climate changes at the marginal zone of the ASM even during the warm and humid MIS 5e interglacial. Climatic oscillations during MIS 5e appear to be comparable to those typical of the Holocene, implying rather unstable climate conditions during the Last Interglacial.

Mud redeposition during river incision as a factor affecting authigenic 10 Be/ 9 Be dating: Early Pleistocene large mammal fossil‐bearing site Nová Vieska, eastern Danube Basin - Michal Šujan; Régis Braucher; Andrej Chyba; Martin Vlačiky; Kishan Aherwar; Barbara Rózsová; Klement Fordinál; Juraj Maglay; Alexander Nagy; Martina Moravcová; Aster Team (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2023)
This study examines the suitability of the authigenic 10 Be/ 9 Be dating method to the dating of the deposits of an incising river, taking as an example the Nová Vieska river terrace, which accumulated during the neotectonic inversion of the Danube Basin (western Slovakia). The succession was formed by a wandering river with minor preservation of proximal floodplain muds. The frequent occurrence of mud intraclasts reflects significant input of eroded material from underlying, older successions. The ages of 13 authigenic 10 Be/ 9 Be dating samples formed three groups: (1) samples from below the base of the river terrace yielded dates of ~4.13–3.70 Ma (including uncertainties); (2) muddy intraclasts from the river terrace gave an age range of ~2.79–1.96 Ma; and (3) in situ muddy layers had ages in the range of ~1.91–1.39 Ma. The large mammal fossil assemblage from channel thalweg deposits yielded a biostratigraphic age of ~3.6–2.2 Ma, matching the age of intraclasts, and thus emphasising the redeposited origin of those fossils. The relatively wide range of authigenic 10 Be/ 9 Be dating ages is interpreted as a result of the redeposition of mud from older strata on three scales: decimetre‐scale intraclasts, millimetre‐scale rip‐up clasts mixed into the newly formed beds, and formation of two authigenic rims with different age and 10 Be/ 9 Be records around individual particles. Considering these observations, an age range of in situ layers of ~1.91–1.39 Ma is proposed as the depositional age of the river terrace, with the most probable age falling within the most recent part of this interval. The effect of redeposition is thus shown to be potentially limiting to the application of authigenic 10 Be/ 9 Be dating to incising rivers, and stands in marked contrast to aggrading river settings, where redeposition of older sediments is limited and the degree of 10 Be/ 9 Be variability is low.

Stalagmite evidence of Last Glacial Maximum to early Holocene climate variability in southwestern Iran - MOJGAN SOLEIMANI; ALIREZA NADIMI; GABRIELLA KOLTAI; YURI DUBLYANSKY; STACY CAROLIN; CHRISTOPH SPÖTL (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2023)
Glacial periods and their terminations are useful for assessing the full scale of natural climate variability in the diverse climate regions of West Asia (i.e. deserts, mountains, alluvial plains, coastal zones). In this study, we report the first stalagmite stable isotope (δ 18 O and δ 13 C) records from the southern Zagros Mountains in southwest Iran. The records partially span the period from the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) to the early Holocene, 24.2–9.6 thousand years before the present. The southwest Iran stalagmite δ 18 O and δ 13 C records indicate that climate and environment in the area differed substantially between the LGM and early Holocene. High stalagmite δ 13 C values are found at the LGM (7‰ greater compared to the early Holocene), and are attributed to sparse vegetation and reduced soil bio‐productivity, and possibly a greater degree of prior calcite precipitation in the epikarst, as a result of a cold and dry climate. Stalagmite δ 18 O values are also high at the LGM (4‰ greater compared to the early Holocene), and are attributed to lower temperatures (larger water–calcite isotope fractionation) and higher δ 18 O values of the moisture sources (Mediterranean and Red Seas). Through the deglaciation, stalagmite δ 18 O, δ 13 C and/or growth features coincide with the North Atlantic Heinrich Stadial 1, the Bølling–Allerød warm period and the Younger Dryas cold event, supporting a relationship between southern Zagros climate and the North Atlantic millennial events.

Holocene wet shifts in NW European bogs: evidence for the roles of external forcing and internal feedback from a high‐resolution study of peat properties, plant macrofossils and testate amoebae - MATS RUNDGREN; ULLA KOKFELT; KRISTIAN SCHONING; STEFAN WASTEGÅRD (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2023)
Two conspicuous wet shifts in the peat stratigraphy of Store Mosse in southern Sweden, associated with bog‐wide changes in vegetation and degree of peat decomposition, were analysed at high resolution. The bog‐surface wetness (BSW) proxy data (organic matter bulk density, C/N ratio, plant macrofossils and testate amoebae) highlight the importance of interactions between vegetation composition, microtopography and degree of peat decomposition, and show that the bog system operated consistently during the two wet shifts (dated to c . 2700 and 1000 cal a bp ) despite different internal and external conditions. A sensitive bog‐system state, associated with a degraded microtopography and well‐decomposed surface peat with low hydrological conductivity developed during sustained dry conditions, probably contributed to the large BSW amplitudes registered. Comparable bog systems are expected to operate in the same way, and regionally high sensitivity that developed in response to atmospheric circulation changes may partly explain synchronous registration of wet shifts. The wet shifts in Store Mosse were attributed to solar and volcanic forcing, respectively, and wet shifts of similar magnitude registered in other NW European bogs are likely to also have been externally forced.

Holocene shore‐level changes, southern Lolland and the Femern Belt, Denmark - Ole Bennike; Bente Philippsen; Daniel Groẞ; Catherine Jessen (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2023)
We propose a new shore‐level displacement curve for southern Lolland and the Femern Belt in south‐eastern Denmark based on 94 new and four published radiocarbon ages of organic material and shells of marine molluscs. Mires existed in the deeper parts of the Femern Belt during the Early Holocene, and a large lake formed as the water level gradually rose. The lake phase was followed first by a brackish‐water phase from c . 8500 cal a bp and by a marine phase after c . 7800 cal a bp when the relative sea level was ~8 m lower than at present. Over the past 6500 years the sea level has gradually risen by ~2 m and reached its highest level in recent times. There are no indications of a higher than present sea level in the area and no indications of 1–2 m sea‐level oscillations as reported from other parts of the region. The relative sea‐level curve for southern Lolland differs from relative sea‐level curves from northern parts of Denmark, which are more influenced by glacio‐isostatic uplift. Southern Lolland has been uplifted by 4–5 m over the last 8000 years, whereas the Limfjord region in northern Denmark has been uplifted by around 12 m during the same period.

Deglacial dynamics of the Foxe–Baffin Ice Sheet, Frobisher Bay, Nunavut, Canada revealed by submarine landform mapping - Brian J. Todd; Julian A. Dowdeswell; John Shaw; D. Calvin Campbell; David J. Mate (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2023)
Previous interpretation of the nature and distribution of subaerial glacial landforms established that Frobisher Bay in southeastern Baffin Island was glaciated in the Late Wisconsinan by ice flowing southeast from the Foxe–Baffin Ice Dome. New seafloor mapping within the bay has revealed submarine glacial landforms that are described and interpreted in the context of their subglacial, ice‐marginal, glaciomarine and marine process environments. Interpretation of the evidence confirms that ice occupied Frobisher Bay, flowing from the northwest to southeast, parallel to the orientation of the bay. Relatively rapid ice velocities are indicated by the presence of ice‐moulded bedrock and megaridges flanking a deep trough (>700 m) along the faulted southern flank of Frobisher Bay. In shallower regions, areal scouring and channelisation indicate the widespread presence of glacial ice. As ice retreated to the northwest towards the Foxe Ice Dome, De Geer and recessional moraines were deposited at the ice front. The latter correlate spatially with the extensive Frobisher Bay Moraine System on land. Two iceberg ploughmark populations are evident, with smaller relict features in shallow water in rare locations in the northwest of the bay, and larger relict and modern ploughmarks in deeper water in outer Frobisher Bay.

Potential critical sources of error in the analysis of microcharcoal in Greenlandic palynological samples – an initial study - S. Krüger; B. Schnetger; A. Strunk; C. Jessen (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2023)
It is common practice to count charcoal particles alongside pollen and non‐pollen palynomorphs in palynological samples. The classification of material as charcoal is dependent upon a number of morphological criteria which, in certain geological zones, could be misclassified. In a preliminary study we tested the effects of different preparation techniques on the count result of charcoal from the same samples of Greenland lake sediments. We demonstrate that the use of hydrofluoric acid has a major impact on the number of recorded charcoal particles. We show that detrital biotite is responsible for a large fraction of the particles misclassified as charcoal and suggest that by using a neodymium magnet any inaccuracy can be minimised. This protocol was then applied to further samples which removed the biotite fraction from the total charcoal count.

Issue Information (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2023)

Large‐scale mass movements recorded in the sediments of Lake Hallstatt (Austria)–evidence for recurrent natural hazards at a UNESCO World Heritage site - Stefan Lauterbach; Michael Strasser; Kerstin Kowarik; Hans Reschreiter; Gerhard W. Mandl; Christoph Spötl; Birgit Plessen; Achim Brauer (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2023)
The Bronze to Iron Age underground salt mining complex of Hallstatt (Austria) is widely recognised for its cultural importance and wealth of archaeological artefacts. However, while the daily life in the salt mines is archaeologically well documented and environmental effects of the mining activity have been investigated recently, the impact of natural hazards on the prehistoric mining community is still poorly understood. For instance, while it is well established that the prehistoric underground mines have repeatedly been destroyed by large‐scale mass movements, only little is known about the characteristics and extent of these events as well as about mass‐movement recurrence during more recent times. To shed light on past mass‐movement activity in the vicinity of the Hallstatt salt mines, we investigated sediment cores from adjacent Lake Hallstatt. Within the regular lake sediments we identified three large‐scale event deposits, which are interpreted to originate from spontaneous or seismically induced mass movements in the mid‐19th and late 9th century ce and the mid‐4th century bce. While the age of the latter event is in good agreement with the abandonment of the famous Iron Age cemetery at Hallstatt, the younger events indicate that large‐scale mass movements also occurred repeatedly during the Common Era.

Late Pleniglacial – Late Glacial climate oscillations detected in the organic lacustrine succession at the Lipowo site, north‐eastern Poland - Joanna Rychel; Robert J. Sokołowski; Dominika Sieradz; Anna Hrynowiecka; Joanna Mirosław‐Grabowska; Elwira Sienkiewicz; Monika Niska; Marcin Szymanek; Łukasz Zbucki; Urszula Ciołko; Anna Rogóż‐Matyszczak (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2023)
The profile of the Lipowo palaeolake (NE Poland) preserves a record of environmental and climate changes from the Last Glacial Termination (16.5k cal ka BP), stretching from the Oldest Dryas to the youngest Allerød warm oscillation. In this interdisciplinary study of the lacustrine succession at Lipowo, we used biological and geochemical indicators and multiproxy analyses to reconstruct environmental changes in the lake ecosystem, such as mollusc, zooplankton and vegetation development, trophic state, water temperature and water level. Four cold and four warm climate oscillations of different durations were identified on this basis: the Older Dryas climate deterioration and two short‐term coolings within the Allerød Interstadial, separated by warm periods in the Bølling and Allerød. The covering of the lake series by diamicton deposits from the melting of dead‐ice blocks is a particularly interesting and rare phenomenon for a postglacial area. The hydrological system of the catchment was generally closed, with a periodically opening and existing flow‐through lake. Over the period of the lake's existence, vegetation changed in general from steppe tundra to forest with birch and pine. For most of this time, the palaeolake was mainly oligotrophic, with increased productivity and a higher trophic level only notable during the middle Bølling.

Rapid glacier recession at Monte San Lorenzo (Patagonia) in response to abrupt Southern Hemisphere warming 13.0–12.0 ka BP - Julian R. V. Martin; Varyl R. Thorndycraft; Bethan J. Davies; Ángel Rodés (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2023)
Mid‐latitude Patagonian glaciers are sensitive to changes in the complex coupled ocean–atmospheric climate system of the Southern Hemisphere. Here, we investigate glacier response to a period of rapid climate warming immediately post‐dating the Antarctic Cold Reversal (ACR). We analyse a sequence of 13 ice margins, four of them dated, from an outlet valley of the Monte San Lorenzo ice cap (47.3°S). We constrain glacier recession of 31.7 km over a period of ~1 kyr from 13.2 ± 0.4 to 12.1 ± 0.4 ka. The average rate of recession was 35.2 m a −1 over this 1‐kyr period, increasing from 12.75 m a −1 at the start of the record (moraines M1 to M4) to 50 m a −1 from M9 to M12. This recession occurred during a period of rapid warming when the austral westerlies shifted polewards. It is likely that ice extent stabilized during the Holocene, with ice occupying the M13 moraine during repeated Holocene neoglacials, before anthropogenic warming caused recession at a rate of 55.5 m a −1 from 1985 to 2016. We conclude that 20th century rates of recession were higher than those during post‐ACR warming, though of a similar order of magnitude.

Record and paleoecological insights of a sub‐adult specimen of Smilodon populator Lund, 1842 found in a cave in Bahia, Brazil - Ana Paula Andrade de Lima; Fernando Henrique de Souza Barbosa; Hermínio Ismael de Araújo‐Júnior; Laís Alves Silva; André Vieira Araújo; Mário André Trindade Dantas (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2023)
The present paper describes new fossil materials (skull and some postcranial elements) collected in November 2020 in Engrunado cave in Nova Redenção municipality, Bahia, Brazil. This material was attributed to a sub‐adult specimen of Smilodon populator Lund, 1842, estimated to be 17–18 months old and with a body mass of 185 kg when it died. Based on its body mass, this individual could have hunted animals with a typical and maximum potential prey body mass of 302 and 1004 kg, respectively. Furthermore, it may have had a high dietary niche overlap with adult specimens of S. populator and other large carnivorans, such as Panthera onca (Linnaeus, 1758), probably hunting different species to avoid competition with them.

Worldwide research trends on Neanderthals - José Luis Guil‐Guerrero; Francisco Manzano‐Agugliaro (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2023)
Research on Neanderthals is a topic of growing interest and it may even be considered that this subject will get more attention in the future. The demise and diets of the various Neanderthal populations are controversial issues that promote heated debates. In this work, a bibliometric study of all the publications contained in the Scopus database until 2021 has been conducted, analysing more than 3800 of them. The main authors, institutions and countries researching this subject have been identified, and their future development. Furthermore, the links between the authors, the countries and the topics researched have been analysed through communities detection. The most frequent keyword on this topic is ‘fossil’. Three clearly focused research clusters in this area have been detected: those focused on molecular evolution, those focused on Neanderthal biology, and those focused on palaeoanthropology. Furthermore, it has been noted that the most central countries to the networks of collaboration are the United States, Spain, France and Germany. Research on Neanderthals is in its infancy and the appearance of new clusters is expected, such as those related to the diet and the demise of Neanderthals, considering the growing number of works recently developed on these topics.

A step back to move forward: a geological re‐evaluation of the El Castillo Cave Middle Palaeolithic lithostratigraphic units (Cantabria, northern Iberia) - David M. Martín‐Perea; José‐Manuel Maíllo‐Fernández; Juan Marín; Xabier Arroyo; Raquel Asiaín (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2023)
El Castillo Cave is one of the most important sites for understanding the Middle and Upper Palaeolithic in Europe. Despite its importance, the absence of a widely used stratigraphic section with detailed lithostratigraphic descriptions and correlations between the different geological and archaeological interpretations has led to confusion in the correct identification of lithostratigraphic units in the lowermost, Middle Palaeolithic sequence. This study establishes a new lithostratigraphic framework for the site, which can be accurately correlated to previous geological and archaeological studies and generates a solid working basis for framing the Mousterian of El Castillo Cave in the Cantabrian region and southwestern Europe. The geological re‐evaluation of Unit XX (‘Mousterian Alpha’) has expanded its chronology, now ranging from 49 130–43 260 cal bp to 70 400 ± 9600 bp. Unit XXII (‘Mousterian Bet’) would consequently yield an age older than 70 400 ± 9600 bp and younger than the underlying speleothem (Unit XXIIIb), dated to 89 000 +11 000/‐10 000 bp.

Late Holocene interaction of natural processes and human activity at two archaeological sites in the Ten Thousand Islands area of southwest Florida, USA - Randall W. Parkinson (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2023)
Palaeoenvironmental analysis of Late Holocene stratigraphic sequences recovered from two southwest Florida archaeological sites reveal a synchronous evolution of events caused by natural processes (e.g. sea‐level rise) and human activity (e.g. construction of shell works). Basal mangrove peats indicate that a transition from a terrestrial to coastal landscape started ~4000 cal bp in conjunction with the Late Holocene sea‐level rise. Continued sea‐level rise ultimately submerged the area to create estuarine conditions. Commensurate with submergence was the construction of relatively large (0.5 to 1.0 km 2 ) shell mounds from 1500 to 1050 cal bp. These activities started in the estuarine environment and over time produced emergent landscape features with significant local relief (>7 m). The overlap in radiocarbon ages of oysters collected from the estuarine interval and the overlying shell mounds suggests construction material was locally harvested. About 1120 cal bp and during the waning of an indigenous presence in the area, red mangrove forests re‐emerged along the margins of each site and within the adjacent estuary to create an expansive mangrove‐dominated landscape within which both shell works are now embedded. This palaeoenvironmental reconstruction contradicts the prevailing notion that the two sites were purposely constructed on the mainland and adjacent to tidally influenced rivulets.

Causes of decadal distributions of Indian summer monsoon rainfall during the last 1500 years - Zhiyuan Wang; Jianglin Wang; Xiaoyi Shi; Jia Jia; Mi Yan (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2023)
Understanding the distribution of Indian summer monsoon rainfall (ISMR) and the relationships with external forcing factors (EXFs) and internal climate variability (ICV) is crucial for improving the prediction accuracy of ISMR. Here, we explore and quantify the influence of EXFs and ICV on the distribution of ISMR at decadal timescales over the past 1500 years using the Community Earth System Model (CESM). We identified the major ICV and EXF modes of ISMR distributions in simulations from 501 to 1850 ad and 1851 to 2000 ad. The results show that ICV plays a dominant role in decadal ISMR changes during the pre‐industrial and the current periods. Simulations show east–west contrasts over the Indian subcontinent, with a center of rainfall variability in the high‐latitude regions around 28°N. The EXF mode, calculated from the leading mode of the singular value decomposition analysis, exhibits a nearly uniform increase (or decrease) in the distribution of ISMR over the study region. From 501 to 1850 ad , the signals of greenhouse gases (GHGs), and land use and land cover (LULC) in the ISMR at the decadal timescale are weak and difficult to isolate from the ICV. Our numerical analyses show that natural forcing was a dominant contribution (~64.1%) to the forced ISMR distribution. From 1851 to 2000 ad , natural forcing, GHGs and LULC all contributed to the forced ISMR distribution. GHGs represent a key external forcing factor affecting the distribution of ISMR and could explain 22.3% of the total variance. LULC and natural forcing factors contribute 17.5 and 16.4% to the total variance, respectively. Our results contribute to a better understanding of the mechanisms controlling decadal variability of the Indian summer monsoon.

Rinikerfeld Palaeolake (Northern Switzerland) – a sedimentary archive of landscape and climate change during the penultimate glacial cycle - Lukas Gegg; Flavio S. Anselmetti; Gaudenz Deplazes; Maria Knipping; Herfried Madritsch; Daniela Mueller; Frank Preusser; Hendrik Vogel; Marius W. Buechi (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2023)
While timing and ice extent of the last glacial maximum are generally well known, the courses of earlier glaciations have remained poorly constrained, with one of the main reasons being the scarcity of sedimentary archives. This study introduces a new palaeolake record from a Mid‐Pleistocene glaciofluvial channel system in the Lower Aare Valley (Northern Switzerland). The record of Rinikerfeld comprises a >40 m long succession of Quaternary deposits that are targeted by multi‐method sedimentological analysis. Sedimentary facies together with geochemical and geotechnical parameters, pollen content, as well as luminescence ages allow the reconstruction of the establishment, evolution and infilling of the early Marine Isotope Stage 6‐aged Rinikerfeld Palaeolake. A drastic change in lake sediment composition and structure indicates cessation of the initial glacially derived input, which is explained by landscape modification and drainage rerouting during the Penultimate (Beringen) Glaciation. Geochemical and palynological data further reveal cold, initially periglacial but slightly ameliorating, climate conditions, while the lake was progressively filled up by local runoff, before being buried by periglacial colluvial diamicts, and potentially overridden by ice. It is therefore concluded that the onset of the Beringen Glaciation was an environmentally as well as geomorphically dynamic time period in the Northern Alpine Foreland.

Late Pleistocene montane forest fire return interval estimates from Mount Kenya - Colin J. Courtney Mustaphi; Stephen M. Rucina; Rob Marchant (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2023)
Past forest fire events and fire frequencies are reconstructed with sediment–charcoal records at lake catchment spatial scales. Few quantitative palaeofire analyses exist in tropical montane forests, where fire return intervals are long (decadal and centennial scales) because of the infrequency of fire weather and fuel conditions. Fire return intervals are a key characteristic of fire regimes and changing fire frequencies rapidly alter land cover compositions and vegetation structure. Charcoal records from small lakes with relatively small catchments covered with dense forest provide an opportunity to reconstruct low‐frequency, high‐severity fires through a time series decomposition approach to identify charcoal peaks above a varying background rate as a proxy for palaeofire events. The sediment core from Rumuiku wetland on Mount Kenya, equatorial eastern Africa, accumulated a nearly linear age–depth model and provided a high temporal resolution (10 years cm –1 ) sieved charcoal count record (>125 µm). Pollen analysis showed a significant change in montane forest assemblage occurred at 21 200 cal a bp from a montane forest with abundant Podocarpus and Juniperus to a forest with more abundant Hagenia . This change in forest altered the vegetation composition and structure with concomitant changes to the fire regime. Forest biomass in the Hagenia forests decreased and it is likely that fire activity qualitatively changed toward lower intensity and lower severity fires. The quantitative fire event reconstruction focuses on the interval from 27 000 to 16 500 cal a bp and the older montane forest that experienced higher severity fires from 27 000 to 21 200 cal a bp, which reconstructed a temporally heterogeneous fire regime with fire return intervals that ranged from 30–430 years and a mean of 120 years (median 160 years) in the catchment. These are the first estimates of fire return intervals of mountain forests in eastern Africa. We then explore the potential for further comparative research and incremental research contributions to improve quantitative and qualitative palaeofire research in tropical forest ecosystems. We discuss the potential to use these types of data for characterizing variables of fire regimes prior to ostensibly significant modification by anthropogenic activity as well as during the recent past as human land use pressures increased within Afromontane forests.

Issue Information (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2023)

Lateglacial and Holocene palaeoenvironments at Sierra La Madera, northwestern Mexico: Sharp signals of Younger Dryas and North American monsoon - Carlos Alberto Galaz‐Samaniego; M. Cristina Peñalba; Francisco Abraham Paz‐Moreno; Iván Rosario Espinoza‐Encinas; Kinardo Flores‐Castro; Rogelio Monreal; Carlos Lizárraga‐Celaya (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2023)
During the last glacial termination, the climate system experienced intense global variations whose causes and impacts are not fully defined, particularly for low latitudes. The northwestern Mexico Sky Islands present a climate‐sensitive ideal setting to record palaeoecological and palaeoclimatic changes due to their physiographic complexity and location in the ecotone between temperate and tropical ecosystems. High‐resolution pollen analysis and a detailed sedimentological study were conducted at the Ciénega Tonibabi tropical thorn scrub site. The 15 540–0 cal a bp nearly continuous record shows that the North Atlantic Ocean did have a cold and humid climatic influence during the glacial stages of the end of the Pleistocene, including a sharp pulse during the Younger Dryas. However, a shift to the Pacific Ocean influence occurred during the Holocene, which led to the development of the El Niño conditions prevailing today. Colder and warmer phases follow one another with higher or lower winter precipitation, including a sharp Bølling–Allerød and development and intensification of the North American monsoon. They are reflected in hydrological changes as well as in the advances, retreats and intermingling of coniferous forests and tropical thorn scrub.

San Quirce (Palencia, Spain): new chronologies for the Lower to Middle Palaeolithic transition of south‐west Europe - Marcos Terradillos‐Bernal; Martina Demuro; Lee J. Arnold; Jesús F. Jordá‐Pardo; Ignacio Clemente‐Conte; Alfonso Benito‐Calvo; J. Carlos Díez Fernández‐Lomana (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2023)
San Quirce is an open‐air archaeological site situated on a fluvial terrace in the Duero basin (Palencia, northern Iberia). This paper presents new and consistent chronologies obtained for the sedimentary sequence using post‐infrared infrared stimulated luminescence (pIR‐IR) dating of K‐feldspars and single‐grain thermally transferred optically stimulated luminescence (TT‐OSL) dating of quartz. The new dating results indicate that the sequence is older than ~200 000 years and place San Quirce Level III within marine isotope stages (MIS) 8 and 7, between 274 ± 13 ka and 238 ± 13 ka. The main lithic assemblage at San Quirce comes from Level III. The predominant tool types found in this level are hammerstones, manuports and flakes, with a small proportion of cores and a significant presence of denticulates. Adaptation to local environmental conditions resulted in distinctive cultural habits, which were embedded in the cultural tradition of hominins occupying the site during the final third of the Middle Pleistocene. San Quirce preserves a simple cultural tradition that was employed by local hominins to engage in a diverse array of activities, and highlights the cultural diversity that appears to have been a characteristic feature of the Lower to Middle Palaeolithic transition 300–200 ka.

Quaternary Science in the time of Covid‐19 - Neil Roberts (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2023)

Multi‐proxy reconstruction of the Holocene vegetation and land use dynamics in the Julian Alps, north‐west Slovenia - Nina Caf; Pierre Sabatier; Andrej Šmuc; Nives Ogrinc; Matej Dolenec; William Rapuc; Doris Potočnik; Ulrich von Grafenstein; Maja Andrič (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2023)
Small mountain lakes are natural archives for understanding long‐term natural and anthropogenic impact on the environment. This study focused on long‐term (last ca. 13 000 years) vegetation changes and sedimentary processes in the catchment area of Lake Planina pri jezeru (1430 m a.s.l.) by using mineralogical, geochemical and palynological methods. Palynological results suggest that regional vegetation between 12 900 and 11 700 cal a bp was a herbaceous–forest tundra ( Pinus , Artemisia , Poaceae ). Climate warming at the beginning of the Holocene (ca. 11 700 cal a bp ) caused the transition from a wetland (Cyperaceae) to an eutrophic lake with alternating anoxic (pyrite) and oxic conditions (gypsum). In addition, the surrounding area became forested ( Picea, Larix, Ulmus ). Fagus expanded at 10 200 cal a bp and Abies at 8200 cal a bp. Between 7500 and 4300 cal a bp , human impact on the environment was barely noticeable and mostly limited to grazing. During 4300–430 cal a bp human impact became more evident and gradually increased. The greatest influence was observed from 430 cal a bp onwards, when excessive exploitation of the surrounding area (logging and grazing) severely eutrophicated the lake.

Holocene carbon storage and testate amoeba community structure in treed peatlands of the western Hudson Bay Lowlands margin, Canada - Marissa A. Davies; Jim W. Mclaughlin; Maara S. Packalen; Sarah A. Finkelstein (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2023)
The Hudson Bay Lowlands (HBL) stores a significant proportion of the northern peatland carbon pool, and constraints on the factors controlling local‐scale variation are needed to better predict soil carbon stocks. We investigated two treed peatland sites, a fen and a bog, to understand how local ecohydrological factors impacted long‐term carbon storage. Ecohydrological conditions were reconstructed using quantitative water table depth reconstructions from testate amoebae (TA) and broad peat type classifications. We also linked these factors and carbon storage to changes in TA community structure through the investigation of morphological and functional traits. Both sites have high rates of peat vertical accretion during the warmer Middle Holocene. A shift to a drier, Sphagnum ‐dominated habitat after 7400 cal a bp at the bog site, however, led to lower apparent carbon accumulation rates (aCARs) than at the fen site. aCARs decreased with the transition to a cooler Late Holocene climate at both sites. Both sites have higher total carbon masses (kg m −2 ) than other more open and younger HBL localities, demonstrating the potential importance of treed peatlands in regional carbon storage. Shifts in the frequency of TA traits corresponded to changing ecohydrological conditions and provided insights into the role of TA in carbon storage.

Coherent changes in wood charcoals, site occupation and lithic technology across the MIS 4/3 transition at Klein Kliphuis rock shelter, South Africa - Alex Mackay; Caroline R. Cartwright (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2023)
We explore the correspondence between changing palaeoenvironments, patterns of site use, and lithic technology at the rock shelter site Klein Kliphuis (South Africa) across the interval 65–55 000 years before present. This period coincides with the termination of Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 4, and the disappearance of an iconic late Pleistocene archaeological unit known as the Howiesons Poort. Wood charcoals indicate sufficient soil moisture around Klein Kliphuis throughout the Howiesons Poort to support diverse tree species at a time when site occupation was relatively intense. At least some fuelwood‐gathering in this period may have been undertaken to support heat treatment of silcrete, which was the dominant lithology in tool production. A coherent set of changes occurs across the MIS 4/3 transition: occupational intensity declines, tracked by declining diversity of fuelwood species, an increase in the proportion of charcoals from shrubs and small flowering plants, lower prevalence of silcrete, and less heat treatment. While declining soil moisture is implied, there appears to be a significant change in behaviour relating to site usage, whereby foraging for dense fuelwoods was replaced by the construction of ‘fast fires’ that may reflect briefer visits and increased forager mobility in early MIS 3.

Millennial‐ to centennial‐scale anti‐phase relationship between the Westerlies and the East Asian summer monsoon and its cultural response along the Silk Roads after a great earthquake in southern Altay ~ 3500 cal a BP - Jiawei Fan; Hongyan Xu; Hanchao Jiang; Xiaotong Wei; Wei Shi; Qiaoqiao Guo; Siqi Zhang; Xianzhou Bai; Xingqi Liu; Jule Xiao (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2023)
It is strongly debated whether the Westerlies and the East Asian summer monsoon (EASM) are in‐phase, anti‐phase or out‐of‐phase, and how hydroclimatic changes in the above two climate systems affected trans ‐Eurasian cultural exchanges during the late Holocene. In this study, we establish a 3500‐a‐long paleoclimatic sequence based on high‐resolution analyses of sedimentological and geochemical data of a well‐dated sediment core from Yileimu Lake in southern Altay. High percentages of the >63‐µm fraction and high values of Zr/Rb and Rb/Sr ratios indicate strong transport of weakly weathered, coarse sediments into the depocenter of the lake caused by enhanced surface runoff and catchment erosion associated with a wet climate, and vice versa. High values of Ca and total inorganic carbon (TIC) contents imply increased precipitation of endogenic carbonates in the lake water under intense evaporation associated with a dry climate, and vice versa. This new record indicates two wet intervals at 3500–2300 and 600–100 cal a bp , interrupted by a severe and prolonged dry interval from 2300 to 1000 cal a bp , and a mild dry interval with occasionally wet conditions from 1000 to 600 cal a bp. These results are broadly consistent with other paleoclimatic records in Westerlies‐dominated Asia and are generally anti‐phase with those in the EASM region. We suggest that a strengthening/weakening and southward/northward migration of the Westerlies during a negative/positive phase of the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) transported more/less water vapor into arid Asia. Meanwhile, a decreasing/increasing El Niño‐Southern Oscillation (ENSO) superimposed on a southward/northward shift of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) triggered a weakening/strengthening and southward/northward movement of the West‐Pacific subtropical high (WPSH), resulting in decreasing/increasing EASM intensity. In addition, the wet climate from 3500 to 2300 cal a bp may have contributed to the development of nomadic herding in the eastern Eurasian Steppe and Altay region, and to the opening of the proto‐Silk Roads. Potentially, intense seismic activities in the Altay Mountains ~3500 cal a bp may have also promoted the opening of the proto‐Silk Roads by forcing the herdsmen to move to the inter‐mountainous basins. The strong EASM intensity from 2300 to 1000 cal a bp in eastern China may have contributed to the creation of the ancient Silk Roads by the Han Dynasty.

Quartz luminescence sensitivity variation in the Chinese loess deposits: the potential role of wildfires - Junjie Zhang; Sheng‐Hua Li; Jimin Sun; Tongyan Lü; Xinying Zhou; Qingzhen Hao (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2023)
The sensitivity of optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) of quartz grains has been applied to trace the provenances of sediments in various environments. Here, we studied the OSL sensitivity of quartz grains in four sections (Jingyuan, Huanxian, Xifeng and Luochuan) along a west–east transect on the Chinese Loess Plateau (CLP). The quartz OSL sensitivity in the palaeosol units is higher overall than that in the loess units, and it shows an increasing trend from the west CLP to the east CLP. In palaeosol units, it increases by a factor of ~20 along the west–east transect; while in loess units it increases by a smaller degree of 3–5. The change of provenances and the change of distances between the provenances and the loess sections cannot fully account for the large degree of sensitivity variation between the loess and palaeosol units in the central and eastern CLP. We propose that wildfires may have played an important role in enhancing the quartz OSL sensitivity in the palaeosol units in the central and eastern CLP. Quartz OSL sensitivity has the potential to be used as a proxy for palaeowildfires.

Paleoenvironmental dynamics in central‐eastern Brazil during the last 23 000 years: tropical peatland record in the Cerrado biome - Camila Rodrigues Costa; Cynthia Fernandes Pinto da Luz; Ingrid Horák‐Terra; Plínio Barbosa de Camargo; Uidemar Morais Barral; Carlos Victor Mendonça‐Filho; Thamyres Sabrina Gonçalves; Alexandre Christófaro Silva (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2023)
The Cerrado biome is the second largest in Brazil, but the evolution of the Cerrado during the late Quaternary is not yet fully known. This study identifies paleoenvironmental changes during the last 23 000 years, based on a tropical mountain peatland record, in the Serra do Espinhaço Meridional in central‐eastern Brazil. A multi‐proxy approach was used that involved palynological analysis, stable isotopes (δ 13 C, δ 15 N), geochemistry, radiocarbon dating and multivariate statistics derived from a peatland core from Rio Preto (Minas Gerais state). The study reveals a very humid and cold climate during the late Pleistocene, with an increase in temperature and decrease in humidity at the Pleistocene–Holocene transition. During this period there was strong instability in the landscape (episodes of erosion). At the beginning of the Holocene there was a reduction in humidity with greater landscape stability. The current sub‐humid climatic conditions seem to have been established in the mid‐/late Holocene, with periods of landscape instability. Our findings agree with other Cerrado records that contradict previously established hypotheses, such as the Amazonian Refuge and the Pleistocene Arc.

The Late Pleistocene megafauna of the Chulym River basin, southeastern West Siberian Plain: chronology and stable isotope composition - Yaroslav V. Kuzmin; Andrei V. Shpansky (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2023)
New data were obtained for the Chulym River basin in the southeastern part of the West Siberian Plain, one of the understudied parts of Siberia in terms of age and composition of carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes for Late Pleistocene megafauna. The 14 C dates from the Sergeevo outcrop, the most complete section of Late Quaternary deposits in the region, are mostly greater than ~30 550 bp. Other localities yielded 14 C values in the range from >44 500 to ~19 300 bp. The finite date of ~42 270 bp for the Khozarian steppe elephant ( Mammuthus trogontherii chosaricus ) from Asino is intriguing because previously it was not detected in the Late Pleistocene of Siberia after the last interglacial (Marine Isotope Stage 5e), ~115 000–130 000 years ago. Stable isotope data show both similarities and differences compared to the pre‐Last Glacial Maximum megafaunal species in other parts of Siberia.

Dietary niche separation of three Late Pleistocene bear species from Vancouver Island, on the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America - Cara Kubiak; Vaughan Grimes; Geert Van Biesen; Grant Keddie; Mike Buckley; Reba Macdonald; M. P. Richards (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2023)
Competition between taxa related to climate changes has been proposed as a possible factor in Pleistocene megafaunal extinctions, and here we present isotope evidence of the diets of three co‐existing bear species [black bear ( Ursus americanus ), brown bear ( Ursus arctos ), and the now extinct short‐faced bear ( Arctodus simus )] from a locale in western North America dating to the Late (Terminal) Pleistocene (~14.5–11.7 ka). The three bear species were found at several sites on Vancouver Island, on the western coast of Canada. To examine the chronological overlap and niche partitioning between these species of bear, we used direct radiocarbon dating, stable isotope analysis and ZooMS proteomic identification methods. Here we present new radiocarbon evidence from Terminal Pleistocene U. americanus , U. arctos and A. simus from several sites on the island, along with both bulk collagen and compound‐specific isotope data for these species. Radiocarbon dates confirm the chronological overlap of Arctodus and both Ursus species in the montane regions of the island at the end of the Pleistocene. Stable isotope data reveal niche differentiation between these species, with U. americanus occupying a distinctly lower trophic position than the other two taxa.

Issue Information (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2022)

Late Pleistocene history of aggradation and incision within a bedrock gorge, Narmada River, central India: implications for resurgent tectonic activity and changing climate - Alpa Sridhar; Falguni Bhattacharya; Naimisha Vanik; D. M. Maurya; L. S. Chamyal (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2022)
Bedrock gorges occurring on the Indian Peninsula are sites of intense erosive activity where thick sequences of fluvial sediments are conspicuously absent. We identified unusually thick and coarse fluvial sequences within the Dhadgaon (DG) gorge in the lower reaches of the Narmada River in central India. Stratigraphic interpretations, sediment character and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) ages revealed episodic aggradation at ~70 ka and ~28 ka in response to tectonically induced steepening of the upstream channel gradient. Incision of the DG gorge and sedimentation of the alluvial fan downstream was facilitated by a climatically induced decrease in the sediment supply/discharge ratio in addition to the tectonic slope. The final evacuation of sediments from the DG gorge and incision of the Banganga channel occurred during the early Holocene. Collectively, the results show a major influence of tectonics, hillslope processes and lithology on aggradation–incision patterns supported by climatic conditions during the late Quaternary.

Evolution of a proglacial lake in the Izborsko‐Malskaya Valley, Russia, in the Late Glacial - Natalia V. Karpukhina; Inessa A. Karevskaya; Olga K. Borisova; Evgeny A. Konstantinov; Redzhep N. Kurbanov; Andrey L. Zakharov; Ksenia G. Filippova; Elya P. Zazovskaya (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2022)
A proglacial lake system formed during the Late Valdai (Weichselian) Ice Sheet recession on the East European Plain. Poor knowledge about chronology, levels and the drainage pathways of ice‐dammed lakes does not allow us to fully evaluate their palaeogeographic significance. This study focuses on the Izborsko‐Malskaya Valley where fingerprints of a glaciolacustrine environment were found. Based on litho‐, biostratigraphic and geochronological data, it is estimated that the proglacial lake in the Izborsko‐Malskaya Valley existed from ~14.3 ka cal. BP (the Vashinogorskaya Valley from ~14.9 ka (optically stimulated luminescence)) to 13.2 ka cal. BP. The maximum level was ~72 m a.s.l. (above sea level) and the minimum was ~53 m a.s.l. Sedimentation proceeded mostly in deepwater conditions. The ice‐dammed lake in the Izborsko‐Malskaya and nearest valleys could have been part of a huge lake on the Pskov lowland which formed after ~15.7 ka cal. BP. The lake level dropped rapidly when the proglacial Lake Pskovsko‐Chudskoe (Peipsi) connected with the Baltic Ice Lake. A lacustrine regime was preserved only in the southern portion of the Izborsko‐Malskaya Valley after drainage and still exists in the modern lakes. The presented approaches to the ice‐dammed lake reconstruction could be useful for the verification of other lakes which existed on the East European Plain.

New geomorphic evidence for a multi‐stage proglacial lake associated with the former British–Irish Ice Sheet in the Vale of Pickering, Yorkshire, UK - L. J. Eddey; M. D. Bateman; S. J. Livingstone; J. R. Lee (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2022)
Former proglacial lakes provide insight into the temporal and spatial evolution of past ice sheet dynamics and the glaciohydrological systems associated with them. Glacial Lake Pickering was a proglacial lake in North Yorkshire impounded by the British–Irish Ice Sheet. However, geomorphic evidence for its existence and extent is weak and contested. This paper presents, for the first time, systematic mapping of geomorphic features from high‐resolution (50 cm to 5 m) digital terrain model data and undertakes palaeogeographical reconstructions to establish Palaeolake Pickering's extent and levels. Results show only weak evidence for a 70‐m lake. This and the fact that the present landscape configuration is unable to impound such a large lake suggests that it either did not exist or is much older and that considerable landscape erosion has since taken place. There is good geomorphological evidence to support lake levels between 45 and 20 m. The new palaeogeographical reconstructions show these lake levels were initially controlled by the balance between the North Sea and the Vale of York Lobes of the British–Irish Ice Sheet with lower and later levels impounded by the Filey moraine. A multi‐stage Palaeolake Pickering with various extents and levels possibly spanning more than one glacial period has implications for other British–Irish Ice Sheet palaeolake extents reconstructed only from undifferentiated lacustrine sediments and their maximal elevation. The existence of an extensive multi‐phase proglacial Palaeolake Pickering along with other similar ones in Eastern England would have impacted mass loss and frontal dynamics via subaqueous melting and iceberg calving, potentially playing a role in controlling the dynamic behaviour of the North Sea Lobe.

Ice‐sheet deglaciation and Loch Lomond Readvance in the eastern Cairngorms: implications of a Lateglacial sediment record from Glen Builg - Alice Carter‐Champion; Ashley M. Abrook; Joshua H. Pike; Ian P. Matthews; Adrian P. Palmer; J. John Lowe (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2022)
We present new lithostratigraphic, pollen‐stratigraphic and tephrochronological data obtained from a sediment sequence in a small lake basin in Glen Builg, eastern Cairngorms, with mapping of the surrounding glacial geomorphological features. The collective evidence indicates that basin organic sediment accumulation started during the Windermere Interstadial at ~14.3 ka. The new results reaffirm the conclusions of Clapperton et al. (1975), that any occupation of the eastern Cairngorms by Loch Lomond (‘Younger Dryas’) Stadial glacier ice was spatially restricted. The record also suggests that harsh climatic conditions prevailed throughout the Windermere Interstadial, probably due to the relatively high altitude of the site (~460 m) and its proximity to major Cairngorm peaks. Our new, more comprehensive study provides a robust chronology, and reveals several palaeoenvironmental signals congruent with other recently reported Scottish Highlands records. Key similarities with regional records are: (i) a short climatic reversal corresponding to GI‐1d in the Greenland stratotype sequence; (ii) a two‐phased Loch Lomond Stadial, with a transition around the Vedde Ash, dating to ~12.1 ka; and (iii) a delayed response to Early Holocene climatic warming of ~250 years, before soils were sufficiently stabilised to permit shrub vegetation establishment.

Investigating seasonal mobility in Irish giant deer Megaloceros giganteus (Blumenbach, 1799) through strontium isotope ( 87 Sr/ 86 Sr) analysis - David S. Douw; Tom J. Giltaij; Lisette M. Kootker; Jelle W.F. Reumer; Nigel T. Monaghan; Anne S. Schulp (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2022)
Giant deer Megaloceros giganteus (Blumenbach, 1799) fossils are commonly found in Lateglacial deposits throughout Ireland. While their migrational behaviour has been suggested, it has never been researched. We hypothesise that giant deer underwent seasonal migrations, specifically during Late Pleistocene cold periods as a behavioural adaptation. Giant deer required a high nutrient uptake and were maladapted to the cold‐dry steppe of the Pleistocene glacials. Migration allowed for optimal nutrient uptake during summer, while avoiding the harsh winter conditions of the glacials by moving to sheltered, low‐lying areas. In this study strontium isotope analysis ( 87 Sr/ 86 Sr) of sequentially sampled dental enamel is conducted for the first time on giant deer that were previously sampled in the same manner for δ 13 C and δ 18 O, allowing correlations between the isotope data sets. One specimen from Ballybetagh, Dublin generated results indicating seasonal mobility behaviour. This individual was perhaps pushed to migrate at the Younger Dryas stadial onset as the vegetation giant deer depended on disappeared in Ireland. Adaptive mobility behaviour in response to climate was perhaps imperative to their survival through previous glacial periods, but other Eurasian populations would need to be analysed to make such a general conclusion.

The dating and correlation of an eastern Mediterranean lake sediment sequence: a 46–4 ka tephrostratigraphy for Ioannina (NW Greece) - Amy M. McGuire; Christine S. Lane; Katherine H. Roucoux; Paul G. Albert; Rebecca Kearney (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2022)
Terrestrial archives from the Mediterranean have been crucial to expanding our understanding of past environmental variability on a range of timescales. Dating Quaternary sequences in the Mediterranean is, however, often challenging, and age models often have large chronological uncertainties. Tephra deposits can provide crucial age control for detailed environmental reconstructions on sub‐centennial timescales. Here, tephra analysis is undertaken for the first time on a sediment core (I‐08) from Lake Ioannina, northwest Greece, for the interval spanning 46–4 ka bp . Detailed visible and ‘crypto‐’ tephra analysis identifies deposits associated with explosive volcanism at Italian volcanic sources, including Campi Flegrei, Pantelleria, and the Aeolian Islands. We identify two visible tephra layers, the Campanian Ignimbrite (CI/Y‐5; ca. 39.8 ka bp ) and Pantelleria Green Tuff (PGT/Y‐6; ca. 45.7 ka), as well as the Holocene Vallone del Gabellotto cryptotephra marker (VG/E‐1; ca. 8.3 ka bp ). Evidence for repeated remobilisation and redeposition of CI tephra material is outlined, and the potential mechanisms and effects of sediment reworking in lake environments are examined. Bayesian modelling, which incorporates the new tephra ages with earlier radiocarbon dates, extends the I‐08 core chronology back to ca. 46 ka bp , facilitating direct correlation of the Ioannina sequence to others in the Mediterranean region.

The imprint of catchment processes on Greenlandic ice cap proglacial lake records: analytical approaches and palaeoenvironmental significance - KATHRYN ADAMSON; TIMOTHY LANE; MATTHEW CARNEY; CATHY DELANEY; APRIL HOWDEN (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2022)
Lakes fed by Greenlandic mountain glaciers and ice caps (GICs) contain important archives of Arctic palaeoenvironmental change. GIC proglacial lake records have been increasingly used to reconstruct Holocene glacier behaviour, largely focusing on macrostratigraphy. However, despite the wide range of topographic settings and catchment characteristics, there has been little systematic analysis of the ways that catchment conditions are registered in the clastic sediments of GIC lakes. Such signals provide valuable insights into landscape processes and palaeoenvironmental conditions that are not routinely captured in other Quaternary glacial morphosedimentary archives. This review synthesises sedimentological and geochemical evidence from existing Holocene GIC proglacial lake records to establish: how catchment‐wide conditions have been recorded in the lacustrine sequences; and our ability to isolate these signals to enhance palaeoenvironmental reconstruction. Our review shows that with careful sedimentological and targeted (bio)geochemical analyses coupled with a clear process‐based understanding, catchment and in‐lake signals can be effectively identified in the microstratigraphic and mineral grain record. Such signals include wind patterns, mass wasting, precipitation events and seasonal lake ice cover, that can complement broader palaeoclimatic proxy evidence. The approaches collated here, if more widely applied, could considerably enhance environmental reconstructions not only in Greenland, but in glaciated catchments elsewhere.

The development and impact of an ice‐contact proglacial lake during the Last Glacial Termination, Palaeolake Riada, central Ireland - Catherine Delaney (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2022)
The retreat of the last Irish Ice Sheet across the Irish midlands resulted in the formation of an ice‐contact lake, Palaeolake Riada, along its eastern margin during recession. However, the full extent and characteristics of the lake and its impact on ice dynamics are unknown, as glacigenic landforms and deposits relating to the lake have not been mapped in sufficient detail to allow reconstruction of ice‐marginal behaviour. This paper presents new mapping of subglacial, ice‐marginal and glaciolacustrine landforms and deposits in the Irish midlands. Glacial landforms and landform associations across this wide area have been identified using aerial photographs and high‐resolution digital elevation models derived from LiDAR and radar data. Reconstructions of successive ice‐margin retreat positions are combined with glacio‐isostatically adjusted digital elevation models to identify the probable position of lake outflows and reconstruct the development of the proglacial Palaeolake Riada through time. These reconstructions indicate that at its largest, Palaeolake Riada had an ice‐contact margin of 113 km, and covered an area of over 2300 km 2 . Initially, ice recession was concentrated around meltwater discharge outlets, but these became less important as the lake expanded and thermo‐mechanical erosion occurred along the entire subaqueous margin.

Radiocarbon and stable isotope evidence of early to mid‐Holocene wet events from fluvial tufa deposits in Santa Cruz, CA - Maura C. Kanner; Luis Cortes; Yadira Ibarra (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2022)
It is increasingly important to document past records of hydrologic change in areas that are drought‐prone to better predict the region's future vulnerability to recharge and water supply. Holocene spring‐associated carbonate deposits serve as terrestrial records of water balance that can complement other local, high‐resolution proxies that are moisture‐sensitive. Here we examine two carbonate deposits (one inactive perched tufa site and one active fluvial tufa site) that form from ambient‐temperature freshwater springs, as proxies of their depositional conditions. Radiocarbon ( 14 C) analyses of charcoal fragments from the inactive perched tufa record depositional ages of 6.2 ± 0.06 (2σ) cal ka bp and 8.0 ± 0.04 (2σ) cal ka bp and agree with the age models from other proxies of past pluvial periods in the region (~16 to 5 ka). The active fluvial tufas date to 853 ± 0.4 cal bp, representing conditions similar to modern flow. Geomorphologic and radiocarbon results indicate the perched tufa reflects wetter conditions fed by a higher water table. Stable isotopic analyses of carbonate (δ 13 C, δ 18 O) reveal distinct isotopic values between modern and early–mid‐Holocene tufa. This work underscores potential for the analysis of other moisture‐sensitive tufa deposits in coastal central California.