Paleoceanography and dinoflagellate cyst stratigraphy across the Lower–Middle Pleistocene Subseries (Calabrian–Chibanian Stage) boundary at the Chiba composite section, Japan

A dinoflagellate cyst record from the highly resolved Chiba composite section in Japan has been used to reconstruct sea-surface paleoceanographic changes across the Lower–Middle Pleistocene Subseries (Calabrian–Chibanian Stage) boundary at the global stratotype, constituting the first detailed study of this microfossil group from the Pleistocene of the Japanese Pacific margin. Cold, subarctic water masses from 794.2 ka gave way to warming and rapid retreat of the Subpolar Front at 789.3 ka, ~ 2000 years before the end of Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 20. Throughout the fully interglacial conditions of MIS 19c, assemblages are consistent with warm sea surface temperatures but also reveal instability and latitudinal shifts in the Kuroshio Extension system. The abrupt dominance of Protoceratium reticulatum cysts between 772.9 and 770.4 ka (MIS 19b) registers the influence of cooler, mixed, nutrient-rich waters of the Kuroshio–Oyashio Interfrontal Zone resulting from a southward shift of the Kuroshio Extension. Its onset at 772.9 ka serves as a local ecostratigraphic marker for the Chibanian Stage Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) which occurs just 1.15 m (= 1300 years) below it. An interval from 770.1 ka to the top of the examined succession at 765.8 ka (MIS 19a) represents warm, presumably stratified but still nutrient-elevated surface waters, indicating a northward shift of the Kuroshio Extension ~ 5 kyrs after the termination of full interglacial conditions on land.

The chronostratigraphy of the Anthropocene in southern Africa: Current status and potential

The process for the formal ratification of the proposed Anthropocene Epoch involves the identification of a globally isochronous stratigraphic signal to mark its starting point. The search for a Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP), a unique reference sequence that would be used to fix the start of the epoch, is in progress but none of the candidate sections are located in Africa. We assessed the currently available stratigraphic evidence for the possible markers of the Anthropocene in southern Africa and found that, although most markers have been identified in the region, the robustly dated, high resolution records required for the GSSP are very sparse. We then assessed the extent and stratigraphic resolution of a range of potential natural archives and conclude that a small number of permanent lakes, as well as marine sediments, corals and peats from selected locations in southern Africa could provide the temporal resolution required. With sufficient chronological control and multi-proxy analyses, one of these archives could provide a useful auxiliary stratotype thereby helping to confirm the global reach, and extending the utility, of the selected Anthropocene GSSP.

Siberian Trap volcanism, global warming and the Permian-Triassic mass extinction: New insights from Armenian Permian-Triassic sections: Comment

Joachimski et al. carried out geochemical investigations to study seawater temperature changes and their potential triggers across the Permian-Triassic Boundary (PTB). Unfortunately, in our opinion, an incorrect biochronology was applied to define the PTB, and the existing alternative was not considered, nor the reasoning explained. As a consequence, Joachimski et al. report diachronous temperature changes for the investigated Chanakhchi section with respect to the global stratotype section and point (GSSP) in Meishan, China. This discrepancy disappears when the, in our view, correct position of the PTB is adopted by using the proper biochronology.

The Mid-Brunhes Event: a second stage for the Middle Pleistocene Subseries?

<p>The Middle Pleistocene Subseries and Chibanian Stage were officially defined in 2020 through ratification of the Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) at Chiba, Japan (Suganuma et al., in press).  Their shared base at 774.1 ka represents the approximate midpoint of the Early–Middle Pleistocene transition, a 1.4–0.4 ka interval marked by a progressive increase in the amplitude of climate oscillations and shift towards a quasi-100 ky frequency.  They currently both extend to the base of the Upper Pleistocene Subseries dated provisionally at ~129 ka (Head et al., in press).  Global stages have not traditionally been employed for the Quaternary owing to the long use of global subseries and regional stages.  Global stages are nonetheless required for formal subdivision of the International Chronostratigraphic Chart, and their acceptance in subdividing both the Holocene and Pleistocene Series has become increasingly evident.  The Middle Pleistocene Subseries and Chibanian Stage are currently identical in extent.  With this in mind, we consider the possibility of subdividing the Middle Pleistocene by introducing a second stage, which would shorten the duration of the Chibanian and increase its utility.  There has been increasing recognition of the ‘Mid-Brunhes Event’ (Jansen et al., 1986) more recently termed the ‘mid- Brunhes Transition’ (Yin, 2013; Barth et al., 2018), an abrupt step-change to increased amplitude of the quasi-100 kyr cycles and warmer interglacials from MIS 11 onwards. The base of this new stage would reasonably be placed around the MIS 12–MIS 11 transition (Termination V, ~420 ka), a level clearly recognised in the marine record. This level appears to approximate the bases of the Holsteinian, Hoxnian, Likhvinian, and Zavadivian regional stages across northwestern and central Europe, the Russian Plain, and the Ukrainian Loess Plain; and can be traced across the Chinese Loess Plateau (Cohen and Gibbard, 2020).  The possibility of a second stage will initially be explored by publication of a position paper. If this attracts sufficient support, a Working Group of the International Subcommission on Quaternary Stratigraphy will be established to analyse the case more formally.</p><p>Barth, A.M., Clark, P.U., Bill, N.S., He, F., Pisias, N.G., 2018.  Climate evolution across the Mid-Brunhes Transition. Climate of the Past 14, 2071–2087.</p><p>Cohen, K., Gibbard, P., 2020. Global chronostratigraphical correlation table for the last 2.7 million years v.2019 (Poster version), Mendeley Data, V3, doi: 10.17632/dtsn3xn3n6.3</p><p>Head, M.J., Pillans, B., Zalasiewicz, J.A., in press. Formal ratification of subseries/subepochs for the Pleistocene Series/Epoch of the Quaternary System/Period. Episodes.</p><p>Jansen, J.H.F., Kuijpers, A., Troelstra, S.R., 1986. A mid-Brunhes climatic event: Long-term changes in global atmosphere and ocean circulation. Science 232, 619–622.</p><p>Suganuma, Y., Okada, M., Head, M.J. et al., in press. Formal ratification of the Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) for the Chibanian Stage and Middle Pleistocene Subseries of the Quaternary System: the Chiba Section, Japan.  Episodes.</p><p>Yin, Q., 2013. Insolation-induced mid-Brunhes transition in Southern Ocean ventilation and deep-ocean temperature. Nature 494: 222–225.</p>

Subdivision of the Quaternary System: formal subseries and new corresponding stages for the Pleistocene and Holocene

<p>The Holocene and Pleistocene series/epochs have each long been divided into Early, Middle and Late subseries/subepochs, although their formalization had been complicated by the hitherto absence of this rank from the International Chronostratigraphic Chart.  On 14th June 2018, the Holocene was formally subdivided into the Greenlandian, Northgrippian and Meghalayan stages/ages and their corresponding Lower/Early, Middle, Upper/Late subseries/subepochs, each defined by a Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP). The GSSP for the lowermost stage, the Greenlandian, is that of the Holocene as previously defined in the NGRIP2 Greenland ice core, and dated at 11,700 yr b2k (before 2000 CE). The GSSP for the Northgrippian is in the NGRIP1 Greenland ice core, and dated at 8236 yr b2k, whereas that for the Meghalayan is located in a speleothem from Mawmluh Cave, Meghalaya, northeast India with a date of 4250 yr b2k (Walker et al., 2018).  The Pleistocene Series/Epoch of the Quaternary System/Period has been divided unofficially into three subseries/subepochs since at least the 1870s.  On 30th January 2020, two proposals were ratified: 1) the Lower Pleistocene Subseries, comprising the Gelasian Stage and the superjacent Calabrian Stage, with a base defined by the GSSP for the Gelasian Stage, the Pleistocene Series, and the Quaternary System, and currently dated at 2.58 Ma; and 2) the term Upper Pleistocene, at the rank of subseries, with a base currently undefined but provisionally dated at ~129 ka.  The Middle Pleistocene and its corresponding Chibanian Stage/Age had meanwhile been formalized on January 17, 2020 with a GSSP in the Chiba section, Japan.  The GSSP is placed 1.1 m below the directional midpoint of the Matuyama–Brunhes Chron boundary, at the base of a regional lithostratigraphic marker, the Ontake-Byakubi-E tephra bed, in the Chiba section. The GSSP has an astronomical age of 774.1 ka and is placed just below the top of Marine Isotope Substage 19c.  These ratifications nominally complete the official division of the Quaternary into subseries/subepochs, although the Upper Pleistocene and its corresponding stage remain to be defined by GSSP.  The Anthropocene is currently an unofficial unit, while analysis of potential candidate GSSP locations is progressing in preparation for a formalization proposal.  If approved, it would terminate the Holocene at around the year 1952, assuming it is defined at series/epoch rank.</p><p>Head, M.J., Pillans, B., and Zalasiewicz, J.A., in press. Formal ratification of subseries/subepochs for the Pleistocene Series/Epoch of the Quaternary System/Period. Episodes</p><p>Suganuma, Y., Okada, M., Head, M.J., et al., in press. Formal ratification of the Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) for the Chibanian Stage and Middle Pleistocene Subseries of the Quaternary System: the Chiba Section, Japan.  Episodes</p><p>Walker, M., Head, M.J., Berkelhammer, M. et al., 2018.  Formal ratification of the subdivision of the Holocene Series/Epoch (Quaternary System/Period): two new Global Boundary Stratotype Sections and Points (GSSPs) and three new stages/subseries. Episodes 41(4): 213–223. </p>

Pre-Zanclean end of the Messinian Salinity Crisis: new evidence from central Mediterranean reference sections

The concept of a geologically instantaneous earliest Zanclean reflooding of the Mediterranean Basin after the Messinian drawdown has dominated geological thinking and is ingrained in the scientific literature. The base of the Trubi Formation in southern Italy, formally defined as the Zanclean Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) at 5.33 Ma, has traditionally been considered as marking the marine reflooding of the Mediterranean. However, several studies provide evidence that marine reflooding occurred prior to the Zanclean GSSP, the most reliable of which comes from southern Calabria. Here, we show that the sedimentary coastal prism cropping out extensively immediately below the base of the Trubi Formation in this region and correlatable with the Arenazzolo Unit in Sicily contains a fully marine micropalaeontological association of calcareous nannofossils and dinoflagellate cysts, thus pointing to both a high sea-level and marine conditions before deposition of the Trubi Formation (i.e. in the latest Messinian).