scholarly journals Luminescence Sensitivity of Rhine Valley Loess: Indicators of Source Variability?

Quaternary ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Kathryn E. Fitzsimmons ◽  
Zoran Perić ◽  
Maike Nowatzki ◽  
Susanne Lindauer ◽  
Mathias Vinnepand ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Clay Content ◽  
Sediment Provenance ◽  
Glacial Cycle ◽  
Dust Transport ◽  
Oxygen Isotope Stage ◽  
Rapid Scan ◽  
History Of ◽  
Rhine Valley ◽  
Different Grain Size ◽  
Mass Circulation

Loess provides a valuable terrestrial record of past environmental conditions, including the dynamics and trajectories of air mass circulation responsible for dust transport. Here we explore variations in the luminescence sensitivity characteristics of sedimentary quartz and feldspar as possible tools for identifying changes in source down a loess-palaeosol sequence (LPS). Luminescence sensitivity is a rapidly measurable index which is the product of interplay between source lithology and the history of the quartz or feldspar clasts. Variations in sensitivity of down profile may therefore reflect changes in sediment provenance as well as other factors such as weathering through pedogenesis. We undertake an empirical investigation of the luminescence sensitivity of quartz and feldspar from different grain-size fractions from the Schwalbenberg LPS in the German Rhine valley. We compare samples from a 30 m core spanning the last full glacial cycle with samples of oxygen isotope stage (OIS) 3–2 age exposed within nearby profile. We find an overall inverse relationship between quartz and feldspar sensitivity, as well as variability in sensitivity between different quartz grain sizes. Statistical analyses yield a significant correlation between IR50 sensitivity from unprocessed sediments and clay content, and feldspar sensitivity and Si/Al ratios down the core. Since Si/Al ratios may indicate changes in provenance, the latter correlation suggests that IR50 measurements on unprocessed samples may be used to provide a reliable, rapid scan of source variability over millennial timescales.

Evaluation of the regional vegetation and climate in the Eastern Alps (Austria) during MIS 3–4 based on pollen analysis of the classical Baumkirchen paleolake sequence

2018 ◽  
Vol 90 (1) ◽  
pp. 153-163 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel Jonathan Barrett ◽  
Ruth Drescher-Schneider ◽  
Reinhard Starnberger ◽  
Christoph Spötl
Keyword(s):  
Pollen Analysis ◽  
Vegetation History ◽  
Research Effort ◽  
Eastern Alps ◽  
Glacial Cycle ◽  
Oxygen Isotope Stage ◽  
Last Glacial ◽  
Mis 3 ◽  
Quaternary Stratigraphy ◽  
History Of

AbstractThe pre-last glacial maximum paleolake sediments at Baumkirchen, western Austria, are well known in Alpine Quaternary stratigraphy as being the type locality of the Middle to Upper Würmian transition. Their location provides a rare opportunity to investigate the vegetation history of the interior of the Alps during the last glacial cycle. A recent renewed research effort involving new drilling revealed a 250-m-thick lacustrine sequence with an older, ca. Marine Oxygen Isotope Stage (MIS) 4 phase and a younger, mid- to late MIS 3 phase. Pollen analysis reveals generally poor preservation and very low pollen concentration due to very high sedimentation rates. On the basis of pollen percentages and influx rates, six pollen zones (PZ) were assigned. PZ1 and 2 correspond to the entire ca. MIS 4 section and are characterized by only scattered vegetation representing an extremely cold and dry climate. Two stadials and two interstadials were identified in the MIS 3 section. The interstadials are characterized by well-developed open vegetation with some stands of trees, with the upper PZ6 being better developed but still forest-free. On the basis of previous radiocarbon dating, this zone (PZ6) is correlated to Greenland Interstadial (GI) 7 and the lower interstadial (PZ4) tentatively to GI 8.

Luminescence sensitivity of German loess: indicators of source variability

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathryn Fitzsimmons ◽  
Peter Fischer ◽  
Zoran Peric ◽  
Maike Nowatzki ◽  
Susanne Lindauer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Land Surface ◽  
Soil Formation ◽  
Detrital Zircons ◽  
Sediment Provenance ◽  
Sediment Source ◽  
Glacial Cycle ◽  
Aeolian Dust ◽  
Oxygen Isotope Stage ◽  
Loess Deposits ◽  
Luminescence Characteristics

<p>Loess – a homogeneous, predominantly silt-sized aeolian sediment – has long been recognised as a valuable terrestrial record of past environmental conditions. Loess deposits drape some 10% of the Earth’s land surface, accumulating almost continuously in some regions. Most aeolian dust is thought not to travel far, often deriving from fine-grained material transported by rivers from glaciated regions. The provenance of loess sediment is inferred from the trajectories of atmospheric circulation systems and how these may have changed in intensity and influence over a region through time. The most frequently used techniques for correlating aeolian dust deposits with likely source areas, including bulk geochemistry, age distributions of detrital zircons, and Sr-Nd isotope ratios in clays, remain limited in the information they may provide about loess provenance. Since loess is dominated by silicate minerals – namely, quartz and feldspars – it is advantageous to explore their potential as indicators of source changes within loess-paleosol sequences (LPS). Increasingly, researchers have been exploring variations in the luminescence characteristics of sedimentary quartz and feldspar as possible provenance tools. Of a range of approaches so far applied, luminescence sensitivity is the quickest to measure and provides a means to rapidly assess potential changes in sediment source down LPS.</p><p>Luminescence sensitivity – the signal intensity per absorbed radiation dose – arises from the efficiency of charge traffic between traps and luminescence centres within a crystalline framework. In a sedimentary context, sensitivity is the product of interplay between source lithology and the history of the mineral in question. Consequently, shifts in sediment provenance may be observed through variations in luminescence sensitivity down LPS. Despite the presence of thick loess deposits across Europe, however, this approach has yet to be tested on this continent.</p><p>Here we undertake an empirical investigation of the luminescence sensitivity characteristics of quartz and feldspar from different grain-size fractions at the Schwalbenberg LPS in the German Rhine valley. The Schwalbenberg LPS has recently been shown to respond to variability in Atlantic-driven climate oscillations in fine detail; it follows, therefore, that changes in source will likely be recorded in its sediments. We test the potential of luminescence sensitivity as an indicator of changes in sediment source through time, comparing samples from a 30 m core (REM3) spanning the last full glacial cycle, with samples of oxygen isotope stage (OIS) 3-2 age exposed within a c. 6 m profile on the southern margins of the deposit. The temporal overlap of the two localities during OIS3 enables comparison of luminescence characteristics with respect to possible provenance during that timeframe; we find an inverse relationship between quartz and feldspar sensitivity, as well as variability in sensitivity between different quartz grain sizes. There is some indication that feldspar sensitivity increases during periods of soil formation down the core. These observations may suggest source variability over millennial timescales.</p>

scholarly journals Lake-level variability in Salar de Coipasa, Bolivia during the past ∼40,000 yr

2018 ◽  
Vol 91 (2) ◽  
pp. 881-891 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Andrew Nunnery ◽  
Sherilyn C. Fritz ◽  
Paul A. Baker ◽  
Wout Salenbien
Keyword(s):  
Lake Level ◽  
Sediment Accumulation ◽  
Geochemical Data ◽  
South American ◽  
Climate History ◽  
Oxygen Isotope Stage ◽  
The Past ◽  
History Of ◽  
Diatom Stratigraphy ◽  
The Last Glacial

AbstractVarious paleoclimatic records have been used to reconstruct the hydrologic history of the Altiplano, relating this history to past variability of the South American summer monsoon. Prior studies of the southern Altiplano, the location of the world’s largest salt flat, the Salar de Uyuni, and its neighbor, the Salar de Coipasa, generally agree in their reconstructions of the climate history of the past ∼24 ka. Some studies, however, have highly divergent climatic records and interpretations of earlier periods. In this study, lake-level variation was reconstructed from a ∼14-m-long sediment core from the Salar de Coipasa. These sediments span the last ∼40 ka. Lacustrine sediment accumulation was apparently continuous in the basin from ∼40 to 6 ka, with dry or very shallow conditions afterward. The fossil diatom stratigraphy and geochemical data (δ13C, δ15N, %Ca, C/N) indicate fluctuations in lake level from shallow to moderately deep, with the deepest conditions correlative with the Heinrich-1 and Younger Dryas events. The stratigraphy shows a continuous lake of variable depth and salinity during the last glacial maximum and latter stages of Marine Oxygen Isotope Stage 3 and is consistent with environmental inferences and the original chronology of a drill core from Salar de Uyuni.

Use of products of straw decomposition by N2-fixing (C2H2-reducing) populations of bacteria in three soils from wheat-growing areas

1986 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
MM Roper ◽  
DM Halsall
Keyword(s):  
Nitrogenase Activity ◽  
New South ◽  
Carbon Sources ◽  
Clay Content ◽  
Free Living ◽  
Straw Decomposition ◽  
South Wales ◽  
History Of ◽  
Straw Incorporation ◽  
The Difference

The potential for N2 fixation by free-living bacteria using straw as a source of energy was evaluated in three soils (one from Gunnedah and two from Cowra) representative of the wheat belt in New South Wales. All three soils had a history of straw incorporation. The abilities of the respective microbial populations to use a range of carbon sources, including potential products of decomposition of straw, was determined and compared with the size and composition of each population. Neutral to alkaline (pH 7.4) soil of high (51%) clay content from Gunnedah produced higher rates of nitrogenase activity with straw than more acid (pH 5.6) lower (17%) clay containing soil from Cowra (site B). Gunnedah soil also contained a larger population of N2-fixing bacteria which used a broader range of energy sources than soil from either Cowra site B or Cowra site W (pH 5.8, clay content 34%). There was little difference in the composition of the N2-fixing populations in each of the soils except that Azotobacter spp. were absent from the acid Cowra soils. It was concluded that the difference in behaviour of the respective N2-fixing populations was primarily due to the physical characteristics of the soil affecting the numbers and activities of diazotrophic microorganisms. In addition some soil environments failed to support specific organisms.

scholarly journals Towards assessing the influence of sediment loading on Last Interglacial sea level

2019 ◽  
Vol 220 (1) ◽  
pp. 384-392
Author(s):  
T Pico
Keyword(s):  
Sea Level ◽  
Tectonic Uplift ◽  
Sediment Loading ◽  
Glacial Cycle ◽  
Last Interglacial ◽  
Isostatic Adjustment ◽  
Uplift Rates ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Last Glacial

SUMMARY Locally, the elevation of last interglacial (LIG; ∼122 ka) sea level markers is modulated by processes of vertical displacement, such as tectonic uplift or glacial isostatic adjustment, and these processes must be accounted for in deriving estimates of global ice volumes from geological sea level records. The impact of sediment loading on LIG sea level markers is generally not accounted for in these corrections, as it is assumed that the impact is negligible except in extremely high depositional settings, such as the world's largest river deltas. Here we perform a generalized test to assess the extent to which sediment loading may impact global variability in the present-day elevation of LIG sea level markers. We numerically simulate river sediment deposition using a diffusive model that incorporates a migrating shoreline to construct a global history of sedimentation over the last glacial cycle. We then calculate sea level changes due to this sediment loading using a gravitationally self-consistent model of glacial isostatic adjustment, and compare these predictions to a global compilation of LIG sea level data. We perform a statistical analysis, which accounts for spatial autocorrelation, across a global compilation of 1287 LIG sea level markers. Though limited by uncertainties in the LIG sea level database and the precise history of river deposition, this analysis suggests there is not a statistically significant global signal of sediment loading in LIG sea level markers. Nevertheless, at sites where LIG sea level markers have been measured, local sea level predicted using our simulated sediment loading history is perturbed up to 16 m. More generally, these predictions establish the relative sensitivity of different regions to sediment loading. Finally, we consider the implications of our results for estimates of tectonic uplift rates derived from LIG marine terraces; we predict that sediment loading causes 5–10 m of subsidence over the last glacial cycle at specific locations along active margin regions such as California and Barbados, where deriving long-term tectonic uplift rates from LIG shorelines is a common practice.

scholarly journals Two critical books in the history of loess investigation: ‘Charakteristik der Felsarten’ by Karl Caesar von Leonhard and ‘Principles of Geology’ by Charles Lyell

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 447-451
Author(s):  
Ulrich Hambach ◽  
Ian Smalley
Keyword(s):  
Charles Darwin ◽  
Charles Lyell ◽  
The Third ◽  
Worldwide Distribution ◽  
The World ◽  
Short Piece ◽  
History Of ◽  
Rhine Valley ◽  
Principles Of Geology ◽  
Short Section

Abstract The two critical books, launching the study and appreciation of loess, were ‘Charakteristik der Felsarten’ (CdF) by Karl Caesar von Leonhard, published in Heidelberg by Joseph Engelmann, in 1823-4, and ‘Principles of Geology’ (PoG) by Charles Lyell, published in London by John Murray in 1830-3. Each of these books was published in three volumes and in each case the third volume contained a short piece on loess (about 2-4 pages). These two books are essentially the foundations of loess scholarship. In CdF Loess [Loefs] was first properly defined and described; section 89 in vol. 3 provided a short study of the nature and occurrence of loess, with a focus on the Rhine valley. In PoG there was a short section on loess in the Rhine valley; this was in vol.3 and represents the major dissemination of loess awareness around the world. A copy of PoG3 (Principles of Geology vol. 3) reached Charles Darwin on the Beagle in Valparaiso in 1834; worldwide distribution. Lyell and von Leonhard met in Heidelberg in 1832. Von Leonhard and Heinrich Georg Bronn (1800-1862) showed Lyell the local loess. These observations provided the basis for the loess section in PoG3. Lyell acknowledged the influence of his hosts when he added a list of loess scholars to PoG; by the 5th edition in 1837 the list comprised H.G. Bronn, Karl Caesar von Leonhard (1779-1862), Ami Boue (1794-1881), Voltz, Johann Jakob Noeggerath (1788-1877), J. Steininger, P. Merian, Rozet, C.F.H. von Meyer (1801-1869), Samuel Hibbert (1782-1848) and Leonard Horner (1785-1864); a useful list of loess pioneers. The loess is a type of ground that has only recently been established, and it seems, the peculiarity of the Rhine region, and of a very general but inconsistent spread.” H.G. Bronn 1830

Variations of fluvial patterns and infilling history of a paleoincised valley system during Late Pleistocene to Holocene, Offshore Pahang River, Peninsular Malaysia

2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. T39-T50
Author(s):  
Md Mostafizur Rahman ◽  
Edlic Sathiamurthy ◽  
Guangfa Zhong ◽  
Jianghua Geng ◽  
Zhifei Liu
Keyword(s):  
Sea Level ◽  
Late Pleistocene ◽  
Peninsular Malaysia ◽  
Glacial Cycle ◽  
Shallow Marine ◽  
3D Data ◽  
Data Volume ◽  
History Of ◽  
Late Pleistocene To Holocene ◽  
Cover Thickness

High-resolution 2D acoustic profiles, combined with time slices from a 3D data volume, were used to investigate the paleoincised valleys offshore of the present-day Pahang River, South China Sea. Paleovalleys were formed during the regressive phase of the last glacial cycle. They were submerged and possibly filled during valley formation and postglacial marine transgression. Interpretation of acoustic profiles illustrates that the valleys were incised and infilled during the regression and low stand followed by subsequent deglacial sea-level rise. They were overlain by a transgressive ravinement surface suggesting transitional deposits between fluvial-dominated filling and shallow-marine deposition. This ravinement surface is overlain by Holocene shallow marine deposits. A low-sinuosity low-stand valley system changed to a high-sinuosity meander belt and eventually evolved into a deltaic distributary channel system before the complete submergence of the area. The average Late Pleistocene surface lies between 53 and 64 m below present-day mean sea level in the study area with approximately 16–50 m of valley incision. The Holocene shallow marine cover thickness varies from 5 to 10 m.

Glacial history reflected by geochemically constrained stratigraphic sections in the Chaudière River drainage basin of the Canadian Appalachians

2018 ◽  
Vol 91 (1) ◽  
pp. 234-249 ◽  
Author(s):  
William W. Shilts ◽  
Olivier J. Caron
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Drainage Basin ◽  
Early Pleistocene ◽  
Eastern United States ◽  
Eastern Canada ◽  
Glacial Deposits ◽  
Glacial Sediments ◽  
Oxygen Isotope Stage ◽  
River Region ◽  
History Of

AbstractThe Chaudière River region in the Appalachian Mountains of eastern Canada is approximately 700 km north of the southernmost Pleistocene glacial deposits in New York and New Jersey. Detailed compositional analyses of glacial and non-glacial sediments from stratigraphic exposures and more than 40 boreholes drilled to bedrock provide a compositionally constrained record of glacial events, which include deposits of one Marine Oxygen Isotope Stage (MIS) 6 and two post-MIS 5 glaciations. The glacial and associated proglacial deposits rest on compositionally distinctive, preglacial saprolite that is preserved in deeper valleys. These observations constrain interpretations of the glacial/Pleistocene history of the eastern United States and Canada. The fact that there is no unequivocal evidence of pre-MIS 6 till in the Chaudière River region, while there are well-documented pre-MIS 6 glacial deposits south of there and in the American Midwest, also has major climatic implications. The Laurentide Ice Sheet and its ancestors must have been more robust in the west in the early Pleistocene and in the east most recently.

Geochronology of Middle and Upper Pleistocene Loess Sections in Hungary

1997 ◽  
Vol 48 (3) ◽  
pp. 291-312 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manfred Frechen ◽  
Erzsébet Horváth ◽  
Gyula Gábris
Keyword(s):  
Accumulation Rate ◽  
Luminescence Dating ◽  
Glacial Cycle ◽  
Last Interglacial ◽  
High Accumulation ◽  
Oxygen Isotope Stage ◽  
Infrared Stimulated Luminescence ◽  
Derivatives Of ◽  
Very High ◽  
The Last Glacial

The application of both thermoluminescence and infrared stimulated luminescence dating to the extensively studied “classical” Hungarian loess/paleosol sequences from Basaharc, Mende, and Paks provides a reliable chronological framework and climatostratigraphic reconstruction for the last interglacial/glacial cycle. Based on this combined luminescence dating study a new chronology is proposed for the “Young Loess” in Hungary. Luminescence dating suggests that the loess below the MF2 horizon formed during the penultimate glaciation. The MF1 horizon probably formed during an interstade within oxygen isotope stage 3. For the youngest loess, overlying MF1, a very high accumulation rate was determined. Large time gaps occur above MF2 and MF1, indicating that most of the record of the last glaciation is missing in the standard sections at Basaharc, Mende, and Paks. Either large discontinuities or a very low accumulation rate occurred in all three type sections during the soil-forming periods. High-resolution studies of climatic proxies using this combined luminescence dating approach provide a reliable chronological framework for loess and loess derivatives of the last glacial cycle in Hungary, although a precise and complete chronostratigraphic reconstruction cannot be achieved from the incomplete records found at these sites.

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