Article
Ecology
Matthew Adesanya Adeleye, Simon Graeme Haberle, David McWethy, Simon Edward Connor, Janelle Stevenson
Summary: The study reconstructed vegetation, fire regimes, and lake levels changes on the Bassian Land Bridge during the Last Glacial Maximum using pollen, charcoal, and non-pollen palynomorph analysis. Results showed a major shift in vegetation with grassland expanding at the expense of woodland and dryland herbaceous taxa dispersed between the mainland and Tasmania during periods of low sea levels when the land bridge was fully exposed. The findings suggest that the prevailing environment on the land bridge had a selective influence on biotic dispersals in Australia during glacial periods.
JOURNAL OF BIOGEOGRAPHY
(2021)
Article
Geography, Physical
Vadim A. Kravchinsky, Rui Zhang, Ryan Borowiecki, Pavel E. Tarasov, Mirko van der Baan, Taslima Anwar, Avto Goguitchaichvili, Stefanie Mueller
Summary: A lack of high resolution climate proxy records for the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) has hindered the understanding of climate-solar linkages. Recent studies on high resolution climate proxy records during the LGM confirm similar climate fluctuations and solar activity variations to the Holocene. The analysis of pollen concentration records from Lake Kotokel in southern Siberia reveals spectrally similar climate fluctuations in the LGM and Holocene.
QUATERNARY SCIENCE REVIEWS
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Tristan Vadsaria, Sebastien Zaragosi, Gilles Ramstein, Jean-Claude Dutay, Laurent Li, Giuseppe Siani, Marie Revel, Takashi Obase, Ayako Abe-Ouchi
Summary: This study investigates the impact of Fennoscandian ice sheet meltwater on the hydrology of the Mediterranean Sea during the last deglaciation and the Early Holocene. The results show that this meltwater reduced the surface salinity and ventilation in the main convection areas of the Eastern Mediterranean Sea.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2022)
Article
Geography, Physical
Adriano Ribolini, Matteo Spagnolo, Andrew J. Cyr, Paolo Roberto Federici
Summary: This study investigates the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) and the early retreat glacial phases in the Stura Valley of the Maritime Alps through the combination of geomorphologic surveys, glacial modelling, and 10Be exposure ages of boulders on moraines. The research reveals a consistent glacial response in the Maritime Alps to climatic forcing, with minimal variation in the mass balance of glaciers. The study also confirms the synchronicity of LGM recessional standstills or readvances in the Southern Alps.
QUATERNARY SCIENCE REVIEWS
(2022)
Article
Geochemistry & Geophysics
Dillon J. Amaya, Alan M. Seltzer, Kristopher B. Karnauskas, Juan M. Lora, Xiyue Zhang, Pedro N. DiNezio
Summary: The Western U.S. experienced significant hydroclimatic changes during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), with a wetter Southwest and drier Pacific Northwest. This study examines the mechanisms behind these shifts and finds that ice sheet albedo influenced sea surface temperatures and altered large-scale atmospheric circulation, leading to changes in west coast precipitation. Importantly, the study suggests that similar hydroclimatic changes could occur today due to atmosphere-ocean feedbacks.
EARTH AND PLANETARY SCIENCE LETTERS
(2022)
Review
Geography, Physical
Linda Pan, Glenn A. Milne, Konstantin Latychev, Samuel L. Goldberg, Jacqueline Austermann, Mark J. Hoggard, Jerry X. Mitrovica
Summary: This study investigates the impact of lateral variations in Earth structure on predicting far-field sea level and global ice volume estimates at the Last Glacial Maximum. The findings suggest that different Earth model parameters significantly affect the estimates at far-field sites, but no consistent signal is found to reconcile the differences in ice volume estimates.
QUATERNARY SCIENCE REVIEWS
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Andrea Columbu, Christoph Spoetl, Jens Fohlmeister, Hsun-Ming Hu, Veronica Chiarini, John Hellstrom, Hai Cheng, Chuan-Chou Shen, Jo De Waele
Summary: This study suggests that rainfall variability in the central Mediterranean during the last deglaciation was closely linked to temperatures at high northern latitudes and influenced by strengthened westerly winds. The findings highlight the importance of high-latitude climate changes in causing rainfall variation in the Mediterranean region.
COMMUNICATIONS EARTH & ENVIRONMENT
(2022)
Article
Geography, Physical
Patricia Piacsek, Hermann Behling, Nicolas M. Strikis, Joao M. Ballalai, Igor M. Venancio, Alice Maria da S. Rodrigues, Ana Luiza S. Albuquerque
Summary: This study reconstructs late Quaternary vegetation changes in the hydrographic basin of Parnaiba, Northeast Brazil using palynology and geochemical proxies. The results suggest that these changes were primarily influenced by austral insolation and hydrological disturbances. Additionally, past climate change events may have contributed to the high biodiversity of the region through ecological forest corridors.
PALAEOGEOGRAPHY PALAEOCLIMATOLOGY PALAEOECOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Geography, Physical
Yanyan Yu, Feng He, Stephen J. Vavrus, Amber Johnson, Haibin Wu, Wenchao Zhang, Qiuzhen Yin, Junyi Ge, Chenglong Deng, Michael D. Petraglia, Zhengtang Guo
Summary: Through the study of soil models and climate simulations, we found that precipitation and temperature were the main climate factors influencing the population expansion in Eurasia from the Late Pleistocene to the Early Holocene. Changes in population size in low latitude regions were mainly controlled by precipitation, while temperature played a dominant role in the middle-high latitude regions. These findings provide important clues for understanding the human dispersal during the Late Pleistocene.
GLOBAL AND PLANETARY CHANGE
(2023)
Article
Agronomy
Shanlei Sun, Yibo Liu, Haishan Chen, Weimin Ju, Chong-Yu Xu, Yi Liu, Botao Zhou, Yang Zhou, Yanlian Zhou, Miao Yu
Summary: This study quantifies the contributions of climate and vegetation to evapotranspiration and water yield in vegetated mainland China. The results show that precipitation and vegetation are the dominant factors affecting the trends in evapotranspiration, while human-disturbed vegetation plays a crucial role in the water yield trends.
AGRICULTURAL AND FOREST METEOROLOGY
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
C. He, Z. Liu, B. L. Otto-Bliesner, E. C. Brady, C. Zhu, R. Tomas, P. U. Clark, J. Zhu, A. Jahn, S. Gu, J. Zhang, J. Nusbaumer, D. Noone, H. Cheng, Y. Wang, M. Yan, Y. Bao
Summary: The study found that during the last deglaciation, oxygen isotope speleothem records in the pan-Asian summer monsoon region exhibited coherent variability, accompanied by a continental-scale hydroclimate footprint with widespread depletion in oxygen isotopes, influenced primarily by meltwater forcing and secondarily by insolation forcing. This led to a northward migration of the westerly jet, enhanced southwesterly monsoon wind, and changes in rainfall patterns across different regions in Asia.
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Jiang Zhu, Bette L. Otto-Bliesner, Esther C. Brady, Christopher J. Poulsen, Jessica E. Tierney, Marcus Lofverstrom, Pedro DiNezio
Summary: The latest Coupled Model Intercomparison Projects phase 6 shows that the high ECS of CESM2 leads to a significant global mean temperature decrease in simulations of the Last Glacial Maximum. This suggests that the high ECS of CESM2 is incompatible with LGM constraints, indicating that the projected future warming in CESM2 and models with similarly high ECS may be too large.
GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2021)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Minda Moriah Monteagudo, Jean Lynch-Stieglitz, Thomas M. Marchitto, Matthew W. Schmidt
Summary: This study reveals that the central equatorial Pacific cooled by about 2.0 degrees Celsius during the Last Glacial Maximum, contradicting previous estimates but aligning with climate models. This suggests a larger magnitude of cooling in the tropical region during the LGM, implying a higher equilibrium climate sensitivity.
GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2021)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Dirk Nuernberg, Akintunde Kayode, Karl J. F. Meier, Cyrus Karas
Summary: This study reconstructs the temperature and salinity variations of the Leeuwin Current in Australia over the past 60,000 years and finds that these variations are closely related to changes in the Australian ecosystem and megafauna abundance. The study also suggests that the strength of the current is influenced by the migrations of the Southern Hemisphere frontal system.
CLIMATE OF THE PAST
(2022)
Article
Geography, Physical
Qian Wang, Xiangdong Yang, Bing Song
Summary: This study used high-resolution diatoms to reconstruct temperature and environmental variability in the Indian summer monsoon region over the past 20,000 years. The results show a warming trend and strengthening of the monsoon since the Last Glacial Maximum, with a significant warm interval during the mid-Holocene. Changes in fossil diatom assemblages were closely linked with global and Indian monsoon climate changes. The abrupt temperature increases during the Late-glacial/Holocene transition confirm the importance of climate change in restructuring biological communities.
GLOBAL AND PLANETARY CHANGE
(2023)
Article
Paleontology
Kenny J. Travouillon, Kaylene Butler, Michael Archer, Suzanne J. Hand
Summary: This study describes two new fossil species of the macropodiform genus Gumardee, which provide insights into the evolution of early kangaroos. The dental morphology analysis reveals dental size variation, potentially indicating sexual dimorphism. Additionally, the dental morphology of Gumardee species shows an evolutionary trend from bunolophodont to increasingly bilophodont.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Andrea Giuliani, Russell N. Drysdale, Jon D. Woodhead, Noah J. Planavsky, David Phillips, Janet Hergt, William L. Griffin, Senan Oesch, Hayden Dalton, Gareth R. Davies
Summary: The carbon cycle of Earth is influenced by the subduction of sedimentary material into the mantle. Changes in the composition of sedimentary subduction flux over Earth's history have had an unclear impact on the mantle carbon cycle. This study shows that the carbon isotopes of kimberlite magmas reflect a fundamental change in their deep-mantle source compositions during the Phanerozoic Eon. The findings suggest that biogeochemical processes on Earth's surface have a significant influence on the deep mantle, establishing a connection between the deep and shallow carbon cycles.
Article
Ornithology
Trevor H. Worthy, R. Paul Scofield, Steven W. Salisbury, Suzanne J. Hand, Vanesa L. De Pietri, Michael Archer
Summary: Two new neoavian landbirds, Aegotheles zealandivetus sp. nov. and Zealandornis relictus gen. et sp. nov., were discovered from the early Miocene St Bathans Fauna in New Zealand. Aegotheles zealandivetus has more similarity to New Guinean taxa than to Australian-New Zealand species, while Zealandornis relictus is placed in the new family Zealandornithidae and shows most similarity to coliiforms. These findings highlight the unique evolutionary nature of the Zealandian fauna.
JOURNAL OF ORNITHOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Geochemistry & Geophysics
Hayden Dalton, Andrea Giuliani, Janet Hergt, David Phillips, Hugh O'Brien, Maxim D. Ballmer, Roland Maas, Jon Woodhead
Summary: The origin of kimberlites and related magmas is still unclear. This study investigates the isotopic signatures of different occurrences of kimberlites, lamproites, and ultramafic lamprophyres in Finland. The results suggest that these magmas have different sources and were emplaced in response to various tectonic events. The findings provide important insights into the origin and geological evolution of kimberlites.
GEOCHEMISTRY GEOPHYSICS GEOSYSTEMS
(2022)
Article
Zoology
Trevor H. Worthy, R. Paul Scofield, Suzanne J. Hand, Vanesa L. De Pietri, Michael Archer
Summary: A large fossil anserine-like anatid from the early Miocene in New Zealand is described, suggesting it to be an early swan rather than a goose. This taxon represents one of the oldest anserines in the Southern Hemisphere.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Andrew D. King, Jacqueline Peel, Tilo Ziehn, Kathryn J. Bowen, Harry L. O. McClelland, Celia McMichael, Zebedee R. J. Nicholls, J. M. Kale Sniderman
Summary: Even after achieving net-zero emissions, the impact of current greenhouse gas emissions on climate will persist. It is crucial to understand and prepare for a cooling planet.
NATURE CLIMATE CHANGE
(2022)
Article
Geography, Physical
Silvia Frisia, Andrea Borsato, Adam Hartland, Mohammadali Faraji, Attila Demeny, Russell N. Drysdale, Christopher E. Marjo
Summary: The quality of climate proxy data from speleothem archives depends on the crystallization processes, and different processes result in different fabrics. The study found shifts in calcite growth mechanisms in stalagmites from Atiu Island, from ion-by-ion to nanoparticle/nanocrystal attachment. The research suggests that porous columnar fabrics formed through non-classical pathways may accurately record the original properties of the parent drip water, while compact fabrics formed through classical pathways may not.
QUATERNARY SCIENCE REVIEWS
(2022)
Article
Paleontology
Anusuya Chinsamy, Karen H. Black, Suzanne J. Hand, Michael Archer
Summary: Despite the lack of osteohistology studies on extinct marsupials, researchers conducted a study on the bone histology of Nimbadon lavarackorum from Australia. They found that it took at least 7-8 years, possibly longer, for N. lavarackorum to reach skeletal maturity. The growth strategy in N. lavarackorum was cyclical and influenced by environmental conditions, available resources, and seasonal physiological factors.
JOURNAL OF PALEONTOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Anatomy & Morphology
Roy M. Farman, Michael Archer, Suzanne J. Hand
Summary: The morphology of the ilium in Australian frogs is taxonomically informative and can be studied using computed tomography scans without the loss of soft tissues. Our research used geometric morphometrics to compare the ilium shape of Australian frogs and found that it accurately predicted the familial and generic level groupings with high success rates.
JOURNAL OF MORPHOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Paleontology
Larisa DeSantis, Michael Archer, Karen Black, Suzanne Hand, Vera Korasidis
Summary: Through dental microwear texture analysis and stable isotope analysis of Nimbadon lavarackorum specimens, it is suggested that these marsupials may have occupied a unique ecological niche as tree-dwelling megafrugivores during the Miocene in Australia.
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Hege Kilhavn, Isabelle Couchoud, Russell N. Drysdale, Carlos Rossi, John Hellstrom, Fabien Arnaud, Henri Wong
Summary: The 8.2 ka event is considered as the most significant climate anomaly of the Holocene. Through analyzing the speleothem record from El Soplao Cave in northern Spain, it is found that the event is synchronized with other archives in southwestern Europe. The event was triggered by a meltwater release to the North Atlantic and had impacts on the climate and circulation at that time.
CLIMATE OF THE PAST
(2022)
Article
Geology
Zuorui Liu, Amy Prendergast, Russell Drysdale, Jan-Hendrik May
Summary: Mammoth teeth are commonly studied using stable-isotopic analysis for paleoenvironmental and paleoecological reconstructions. This study compares the results of two different sampling methods (bulk and sequential) on the same enamel ridges. The findings suggest that there are significant differences in the delta O-18 values, possibly due to variations in enamel structure and formation stages.
E&G QUATERNARY SCIENCE JOURNAL
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Rieneke Weij, Jon D. Woodhead, J. M. Kale Sniderman, John C. Hellstrom, Elizabeth Reed, Steven Bourne, Russell N. Drysdale, Timothy J. Pollard
Summary: This study investigates the Naracoorte Cave Complex in Australia using dating techniques and analyses of charcoal and pollen. The results show that the caves began forming 1.34 million years ago and opened to the atmosphere 600,000 years ago, providing an upper limit on the accumulation of fossils.
COMMUNICATIONS EARTH & ENVIRONMENT
(2022)