An integrated seismo- and chronostratigraphic investigation at Lac Dasserat, northwestern Quebec, identified 74 separate failures within eight event horizons. Horizons E and B, and H and G have strong or moderately-strong multi-landslide signatures, respectively, composed of 11-23 failures, while horizons F, D, C, and A have minor landslide signatures consisting of a single or pair of deposit(s). Cores collected at six sites recovered glacial Lake Ojibway varve deposits that are interbedded with the event horizons. The correlation of the varves to the regional Timiskaming varve series allowed varve ages or ranges of varve ages to be determined for the event horizons. Horizons H, G, E, and B are interpreted to be evidence of paleoearthquakes with differing levels of interpretative confidence, based on the relative strength of the multi-landslide signatures, the correlation to other disturbed deposits of similar age in the region, and the lack or possibility of alternative aseismic mechanisms. The four interpreted paleoearthquakes occurred between 9770 ± 200 and 8470 ± 200 cal yr BP, when glacial Lake Ojibway was impounded behind the Laurentide Ice Sheet during deglaciation. They probably represent an elevated period of seismicity at deglaciation that was driven by crustal unloading.

Loess accumulation and paleosol formation are important Quaternary geoarchives in northern Iran. Two loess-paleosol sequences at Mobarakabad and Aghband were examined using soil morphology and micromorphology, mineralogy, magnetic susceptibility (MS), free Fe oxides and calcium carbonate equivalent. The loess-paleosol sequences provide a record of changes in paleo-rainfall in the northern Iran. Micromorphological and MS differences between the loess and paleosols in the sections reflect changes in climate. The different behaviors of magnetic susceptibility between Aghband and Mobar-akabad loess are mainly produced by their different pedogenic environments, topography and climatic conditions. As a result, the MS at the Mobarakabad section is much higher than at Aghband. Paleoeco-logical reconstructions coupled with magnetic depletion in paleosols at Mobarakabad suggest a wetter climate dominating during the formation of the paleosols.

The Weihe River in central China is the largest tributary of the Yellow River and contains a well-developed strath terrace system. A new chronology for the past 1.11 Ma for a spectacular flight of strath terraces along the upper Weihe River near Longxi is defined based on field investigations of loess—paleosol sequences and magnetostratigraphy. All the strath terraces are strikingly similar, having several meters of paleosols that have developed directly on top of fluvial deposits located on the terrace treads. This suggests that the abandonment of each strath terrace by river incision occurred during the transition from glacial to interglacial climates. The average fluvial incision rates during 1.11—0.71 Ma and since 0.13 Ma are 0.35 and 0.32 m/ka, respectively. These incision rates are considerably higher than the average incision rate of 0.16 m/km for the intervening period between 0.71 and 0.13 Ma. Over all our results suggest that cyclic Quaternary climate change has been the main driving factor for strath terrace formation with enhanced episodic uplift.

Recent zooarchaeological analyses of game exploitation in the Epipalaeolithic of the Southern Levant identify a decline in large game in the Natufian, with corresponding increase in small prey, interpreted as hunting pressure driven by population expansion. To date, studies focus on the Mediterranean zone. This paper adopts similar approaches to examine Epipalaeolithic to Neolithic faunal data from 16 sites in the steppic Jordanian Azraq Basin. Results here reveal very different trends. Large game, mainly equids, fluctuate throughout the Epipalaeolithic, due to climatic conditions and available water/vegetation. Cattle thrive in the Azraq oasis, showing no decline in the Late Epipalaeolithic. Gazelle exploitation is predominant and sustainable throughout the Epipalaeolithic, even at Kharaneh IV and Wadi Jilat 6 ‘megasites’. However, PPNB assemblages from the limestone steppe show intensive game exploitation resulting from longer-stay settlement. The focused gazelle-hunting camp at Dhuweila in the basalt desert also shows pressure from indiscriminate culling impacting herd demography, interpreted as providing meat for onwards exchange. Human impacts on steppe fauna appear both local and in many cases short-term, unlike the large-game suppression reported from west of the Rift Valley. Resource pressures and game over-kill, whether population-driven or otherwise, are not currently apparent east of the Jordan River.

Su Fossu de Cannas (SFC) cave is one of several known cavities in the Sadali plateau in Sardinia, Italy. The evolution of the cave is the result of complex erosional and deposital processes that occurred during the Neogene and Quaternary. A fossiliferous cemented conglomerate, containing various deer remains, now forms the ceiling of a cavity (tunnel). The faunal remains belong to a large cervid, which show some morphological affinity with large deer that have an endemic Sardinian lineage (Praemegaceros sardous — Praemegaceros cazioti). Palaeoecological data based on some peculiar features and the large size of the SFC deer suggest that it is the most primitive Megacerine found in Sardinia to date, and the first representative of the endemic lineage. The 450 ka U—Th age for the flowstone capping the fossiliferous layer defines: the end of sedimentation in which Sadali deer remains are preserved; and the dispersal from the mainland of the ancestor of the endemic Sardinian Megacerini. Stratigraphic and micromorphological analyses of the cave deposits allow the reconstruction of the timing of the cave’s development throughout the Pliocene to the Holocene.

We investigated the magnetostratigraphy of the Arda River section (northern Italy) where the transition from marine to continental sedimentation occurring in the Po River basin during the Pleistocene is registered. Four magnetic polarity reversals were used to construct an age model of sedimentation aided by marine biostratigraphy and tied to a standard δ18O curve from the literature. The section spans from the Olduvai subchron (1.94-1.78 Ma) across the Jaramillo subchron (1.07-0.99 Ma) up to the Brunhes—Matuyama boundary (0.78 Ma). The onset of continental deposition occurred during marine isotope stage (MIS) 30 at ∼1.04 Ma. An association of Villafranchian and Early Galerian mammals, including Sus strozzii and Ursus dolinensis, has been found in the continental sediments dated to MIS 29-27 (∼0.99 Ma). Above follows a prominent fluvial conglomerate attributed to the first major low stand of the Pleistocene culminating with MIS 22 at ∼0.9 Ma during the late Early Pleistocene climate turnover (EPT). These and other data from the literature are used to reconstruct the onset of continental deposition in the greater Po basin and shed light on the opening of the migration pathway that brought far-traveled Galerian mammal immigrants to enter Europe for the first time during the EPT.

The Kulshan caldera formed at ∼1.15 Ma on the present-day site of Mt. Baker, Washington State, northwest USA and erupted a compositionally zoned (dacite-rhyolite) magma and a correlative eruptive, the Lake Tapps tephra. This tephra has previously been described, but only from the Puget Lowland of NW Washington. Here an occurrence of a Kulshan caldera correlative tephra is described from the Quaternary Palouse loess at the Washtucna site (WA-3). Site WA-3 is located in east-central Washington, ∼340 km southeast of the Kulshan caldera and ∼300 km east-southeast of the Lake Tapps occurrence in the Puget Lowland. Major- and trace element chemistry and location of the deposit at Washtucna within reversed polarity sediments indicates that it is not correlative with the Mesa Falls, Rockland, Bishop Ash, Lava Creek B or Huckleberry Ridge tephras. Instead the Washtucna deposit is related to the Lake Tapps tephra by fractional crystallisation, but is chemically distinct, a consequence of its eruption from a compositionally zoned magma chamber. The correlation of the Washtucna occurrence to the Kulshan caldera-forming eruption indicates that it had an eruptive volume exceeding 100 km3, and that its tephra could provide a valuable early-Pleistocene chronostratigraphic marker in the Pacific Northwest.

Anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) is a frequently applied method in sedimentology, especially in the determination of the orientation of transport processes. We present an analysis of magnetic fabric (MF) studies on loess. New aspects of fabric development reveal: i) The deposition of the aeolian sediments was controlled by gravity, low-energy transport and local geomorphology, hence no clarified wind direction can be defined. ii) The influence of phyllosilicates is also significant among the magnetic components. iii) While the primary MF is relatively well-defined, the secondary MF is influenced by several processes. The analysis of stereoplots combined with the q—β diagram and photostatistics showed encouraging results during the characterization of various secondary MF such as redeposited MF and pedogenic fabric. iv) Changes in processes from aeolian to water-lain deposition and the increasing transportation energy were reflected by the connection between AMS and observed micro-scale sedimentary features. v) A relationship was obvious between the degree of pedogenesis and the transformation of sedimentary MF into a vertical MF typical for paleosols. vi) The significant role of very fine grained magnetite on the formation of inverse MF could not be excluded.

A 25 m-thick outcrop section exposed at Torre Mucchia, on the sea-cliff north of Ortona, eastern central Italy, comprises a rare Middle Pleistocene succession of shallow-water and paralic sediments along the western Adriatic Sea. An integrated study of the section, including facies and microfacies analyses, and characterization of paleobiological associations (mollusks, fishes, ostracods, foraminifers and pollen), enable a detailed reconstruction of the paleoenvironmental and paleoclimatic conditions during deposition. The shallow-water deposits include a transgressive, deepening- and fining-upward shoreface to offshore-transition facies succession overlain by a regressive shoreface-foreshore sandstone body with an erosive base and a rooted and pedogenically altered horizon at the top that imply deposition during sea-level fall. This forced regressive unit is overlain by paralic strata forming a transgressive succession comprising palustrine carbonates and back-barrier lagoonal mudstones. The palustrine carbonates exhibit some of the typical features encountered in palustrine limestones deposited within seasonal freshwater wetlands (marl prairies). Following the sea-level rising trend, the freshwater marshes were abruptly replaced by a barrier-lagoon system that allowed deposition of the overlying mud-rich unit. Within these deposits, the faunal assemblages are consistent with a low-energy brackish environment characterized by a relatively high degree of confinement. The pollen record documents the development of open forest vegetation dominated by Pinus and accompanied by a number of mesophilous and thermophilous tree taxa, whose composition supports a tentative correlation with Marine Oxygen Isotope Stage 17. The new pollen record from Torre Mucchia improves our understanding of the vegetation development in the Italian Peninsula during the Middle Pleistocene and sheds new light on the role played by the most marked glacial periods in determining the history of tree taxa.

Climatic variability of Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 11 is examined using a new high-resolution direct land—sea comparison from the SW Iberian margin Site U1385. This study, based on pollen and biomarker analyses, documents regional vegetation, terrestrial climate and sea surface temperature (SST) variability. Suborbital climate variability is revealed by a series of forest decline events suggesting repeated cooling and drying episodes in SW Iberia throughout MIS 11. Only the most severe events on land are coeval with SST decreases, under larger ice volume conditions. Our study shows that the diverse expression (magnitude, character and duration) of the millennial-scale cooling events in SW Europe relies on atmospheric and oceanic processes whose predominant role likely depends on baseline climate states. Repeated atmospheric shifts recalling the positive North Atlantic Oscillation mode, inducing dryness in SW Iberia without systematical SST changes, would prevail during low ice volume conditions. In contrast, disruption of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC), related to iceberg discharges, colder SST and increased hydrological regime, would be responsible for the coldest and driest episodes of prolonged duration in SW Europe.