Application of a simple linear model to the earth's ice volume record of the past 730,000 years indicates that although forcing by variations in the earth's orbital parameters of tilt and precession is real, it is small (less than 25 percent of the variance in the record). No relationship with the eccentricity is observed. This indicates that the Pleistocene glacial variations are largely stochastic in nature.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.204.4389.171 | DOI Listing |
Sci Rep
January 2025
School of Earth Sciences, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, 430074, Hubei, China.
Soil magnetic records in Quaternary red earth (QRE) deposits contain a valuable record of paleoclimate information, providing insights into controls on Earth's climate system in the past and potentially helping to predict its response to perturbations in the future. Here, analysis of the environmental magnetism and mineralogy of the Xuancheng QRE (Anhui Province, South China) shows that magnetic variation was strongly linked to production of authigenic ferrimagnetic minerals such as maghemite. Fine-grained maghemite formed during the weathering-related transformation of iron-bearing illite to vermiculite, generating aggregates of vermiculite or mixed-layer illite-vermiculite.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPeerJ
January 2025
Faunal Archaeology Consultant, Olympia, Washington, United States.
The presence of at least two contemporaneous Pleistocene mastodon taxa in North America ( and ) invites re-examination of specimens at the geographic margins of each species in order to determine range boundaries, overlaps, and fluctuations. Third molars from Oregon in the United States, as well as from Hidalgo and Jalisco in Mexico, were found to be morphologically consistent with . Washington in the United States includes a number of specimens that could not be confidently assigned to either taxon.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Hum Evol
January 2025
Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg WITS, 2050, South Africa; Department of Anthropology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706, USA.
The oldest deposit at the hominin-bearing cave of Swartkrans, South Africa, is the Lower Bank of Member 1, dated to ca. 2.2 million years ago.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEcol Evol
January 2025
Laboratory of Genetics and Conservation, Institute of Coastal Studies Universidade Federal do Pará Bragança Pará Brazil.
This study aims to enhance our understanding of the temporal and spatial processes scales governing the evolutionary diversification of Neotropical birds with Trans- and Cis-Andean populations of the species from South and Central America. Through a multilocus analysis of the mitochondrial (CytB and ND2) and nuclear genes (I7BF, I5BF, and G3PDH) of 41 samples representing six subspecies, we describe the existing molecular lineages of , and estimate their demographic dynamics. We used Ecological Niche Modeling (ENM) with six different algorithms to predict the potential distribution of in both present-day and past scenarios, examining the overlap climatic niche between Cis- and Trans-Andean lineages.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCommun Earth Environ
January 2025
University of Manitoba, Department of Earth Sciences, Winnipeg, MB Canada.
Questions about when early members of the genus adapted to extreme environments like deserts and rainforests have traditionally focused on . Here, we present multidisciplinary evidence from Engaji Nanyori in Tanzania's Oldupai Gorge, revealing that thrived in hyperarid landscapes one million years ago. Using biogeochemical analyses, precise chronometric dating, palaeoclimate simulations, biome modeling, fire history reconstructions, palaeobotanical studies, faunal assemblages, and archeological evidence, we reconstruct an environment dominated by semidesert shrubland.
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