The reef tracts of Barbados have been investigated by electron spin resonance dating; all parameters necessary for ESR dating (including effective α-efficiency and thermal stability) were determined without cross checking with another independent dating method. In addition, some U-series analyses were carried out in order to test the reliability of ESR. In most cases, the results show a satisfactory agreement between ESR and both these and previously published U-series dates (M. L. Bender, R. G. Fairbanks, F. W. Taylor, R. K. Matthews, J. G. Goddard, and W. S. Broecker (1979). Geological Society of America. Bulletin 90 , 577–594). For the oldest samples, ESR dates tend to exceed He/U dates, suggesting that there might have been He loss from aragonite. Raised reef tracts are assigned to high sea stands from successive interglacial stages 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, and 15. ESR and U-series (230Th/234U) dates for corals and molluses in North Barbados do not support the suggestion of N. P. James ((1971). Unpublished Thesis, McGill University, Montreal) that this region has subsided during part of the past 125,000 yr. Whereas the experimentally determined mean life (τ) of trapped electrons is only 500,000 yr for the ambient temperature in Barbados, there is no evidence from the comparison between ESR and other dates for thermal fading. This emphasizes the difficulty of experimental measurement of τ.

A synthesis of previous work and new data on the stratigraphy of high terraces of the Ohio and Monongahela Rivers upstream from Parkersburg, West Virginia, indicates a correspondence between terrace histories in the ancient Teays and Pittsburgh drainage basins. Four terraces are identified in each. Sediments of the lower three alluvial and slackwater terraces, correlated with Illinoian, early Wisconsin, and late Wisconsin glacial deposits, have been traced along the modern Ohio River through the former divide between the Teays and Pittsburgh basins. Sediments in the fourth terrace, the highest well-defined terrace in each basin, were deposited in two ice-dammed lakes, separated by a divide near New Martinsville, West Virginia. Some deposits of the highest slackwater terrace in both the Teays and Pittsburgh basins have reversed remanent magnetic polarity. This, and the stratigraphic succession in the two basins, suggests that both were ponded during the same glaciation. Reversed polarity in these terrace sediments restricts the age of the first ice-damming event for which stratigraphic evidence is well-preserved to a pre-Illinoian, early Pleistocene glaciation prior to 788,000 yr ago. In contrast, slackwater sediments in the Monongahela River valley, upstream from an outwash gravel dam at the Allegheny-Monongahela confluence, have normal remanent magnetic polarity, corroborating correlation with an Illinoian ponding event.

Between 7000 and 6000 yr B.P., relative sea level was as much as 5 m lower than today in the St. Lawrence estuary, Québec. A small transgression (Laurentian transgression) occurred between 5800 and 4400 yr B.P., which resulted in the construction of an 8- to 10-m terrace. About 3000 yr B.P., relative sea level was similar to present, and then a stillstand or a slight rise occurred during which a cliff (Micmac cliff) was cut into the emerged terrace. During a subsequent lowering of relative sea level (coastal emergence), a low aggradational terrace (Mitis terrace) was built between 2300 and 1500 yr B.P. at the base of the Micmac cliff. A new emergence curve for the south shore of the St. Lawrence estuary showing a mid-Holocene high stand of relative sea level is therefore proposed.

The relationship between the stable C-isotope composition of the soil environment and modern climate and vegetation was determined empirically along a present-day climatic transect in the eastern Mojave Desert. The δ13C of the soil CO2 and carbonates decreased with increasing elevation and plant density, even though plant assemblages at all elevations were isotopically similar. Several factors, including differences in the ratios of pedogenic of limestone calcite and differences in past vegetation, were considered as explanations of this trend, However, it appears that in the sparsely vegetated Mojave Desert, the δ13C of pedogenic carbonate is controlled by differences in plant density and biological activity. This relationship may provide a tool for assessing past vegetational densities, as long as the vegetation is isotopically homogeneous.

Well-dated pollen profiles from six sites from Maine to Minnesota record vegetation changes indicative of summer temperature and annual precipitation variations over the past 2000 yr. Laminations in the sediment provide accurate time control. Multiple regression techniques were used to calculate calibration functions from a spatial network of modern pollen and climate data. When applied to the six pollen diagrams, these calibration functions yielded estimates that show a long-term trend toward lower summer temperature. Superimposed on this long-term trend are short-term fluctuations that are frequently in phase at the sites. Departures from the long-term cooling trend are positive around 1500 yr ago (indicating relative warmth) and negative between 200 and 500 yr ago (indicating relative cold). Annual precipitation showed a slight increase at several sites during the past 1000 yr relative to the previous 1000 yr.

Pollen diagrams from Joe and Niliq Lakes date to ca. 28,000 and 14,000 yr B.P., respectively. Mesic shurb tundra grew near Joe Lake ca. 28,000 to 26,000 yr B.P. with local Populus populations prior to ca. 27,000 yr B.P. Shrub communities decreased as climate changed with the onset of Itkillik II glaciation (25,000 to 11,500 yr B.P.), and graminoid-dominated tundra characterized vegetation ca. 18,500 to 13,500 yr B.P. Herb tundra was replaced by shrub Betula tundra near both sites ca. 13,500 yr B.P. with local expansion of Populus ca. 11,000 to 10,000 yr B.P. and Alnus ca. 9000 yr B.P. Mixed Picea glauca/P. mariana woodland was established near Joe Lake ca. 6000 yr B.P. These pollen records when combined with others from northern Alaska and northwestern Canada indicate (1) mesic tundra was more common in northwestern Alaska than in northeastern Alaska or northwestern Canada during the Duvanny Yar glacial interval (25,000 to 14,000 yr B.P.); (2) with deglaciation, shrub Betula expanded rapidly in northwestern Alaska but slowly in areas farther east; (3) an early postglacial thermal maximum occurred in northwestern Alaska but had only limited effect on vegetation; and (4) pollen patterns in northern Alaska and northwestern Canada suggest regional differences in late Quaternary climates.

A total of 50 arthropod taxa were identified from 41 fossil packrat (Neotoma sp.) middens from 160 to 625 m elevation in three study areas in the Lower Colorado River Valley subdivision of the Sonoran Desert. Radiocarbon dates associated with the middens range from >43,200 to 610 yr B.P. The fauna in the Tinajas Altas Mountains, southwestern Arizona, was relatively modern by ca. 10,000 yr B.P. in the early Holocene although a California juniper woodland persisted in the area until 8970 yr B.P. In contrast the fauna of the Hornaday Mountains, northwestern Sonora, increased dramatically in species richness after 4000 yr B.P. Although we are limited by poor taxonomic resolution and by insufficient knowledge of current distributions, the arthropod fauna may have been much more conservative than the regional flora during the last glacial/interglacial climatic cycle. Decreasing differences between modern and glacial climates (both temperature and precipitation) at lower latitudes and elevations may have resulted in minimal changes in the arthropod fauna of the Sonoran Desert lowlands.

Late-glacial-Holocene forest history of southern Isla Chiloé (latitude 43°10′ S) was reconstructed on the basis of pollen analysis in three profiles (Laguna Soledad, Laguna Chaiguata, Puerto Carmen). Prior to 12,500 yr B.P. pollen records are dominated by plant taxa characteristic of open habitats (Zone I). From 12,500 yr B.P. to the present, tree species predominate in the pollen records (Zones II–V). Between 12,500 and 9500 yr B.P. ombrophyllous taxa (Nothofagus, Podocarpus nubigena. Myrtaceae, Fitzroya/Pilgerodendron, and Drimys) are frequent in all pollen diagrams, suggesting a wetter and colder climate than the present. Between 9000 and 5500 yr B.P. Valdivian forest elements, such as Nothofagus dombeyi type, Weinmannia, and Eucryphia/Caldcluvia, dominate, indicating a period of drier and warmer climate. From 5500 yr B.P. onward, the expansion of mixed North Patagonian-Subantarctic forest elements and the increased frequence of Tepualia suggest increased rainfall and temperatures oscillating around the modern values.

The change from open to forest vegetation (ca. 12,500 yr B.P.) probably represents the most pronounced climatic change in the record and can be interpreted as the glacial-postglacial transition in the study area.