Quaternary International最新文献

{"title":"Late Pleistocene depositional processes of coastal aeolian deposits and their relationship with environment change on the Changxing Island of Liaodong Peninsula, northeastern China","authors":"","doi":"10.1016/j.quaint.2024.06.007","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.quaint.2024.06.007","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Coastal aeolian deposits are product of the coupling between aerodynamics and coastal hydrodynamics, which is of great significance for reconstructing aeolian activities and the coastal environmental change. Here, we investigated the coastal aeolian deposits on Changxing Island, northeastern China, using geochemistry and microscopy of the minerals together with the published sedimentological data. The results showed that aeolian deposits are mainly derived from beach sands reworked by wind. Previously published Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) dating results show that the deposition ages of the aeolian deposits are 41 ka, 49 ka, and 67 ka, respectively. The sedimentologic and geochemistry of aeolian deposits are sensitive to climate change. Notably, the micromorphology structure of the surface of quartz sand particles reveals the process of the coastal environment evolution. ∼41 ka, the surface of the grains is characterized by significant subaqueous environments, showing subangular with high relief, large conchoidal fracture, and V-shaped pits. These features correspond to the early sub-interstadial stage of MIS3, characterized by a warm and humid climate and sea level highstand. Under the relative sea level rise, the high rate of sand supply produced by coastal erosion contribute to aeolian deposit formation. In contrast, at 49 ka and 67 ka, the quartz grain exhibits typical aeolian environment features that exhibits subrounded with low relief, upturned plates, and dish-shaped pits, which respond to glacial periods of cold and windy conditions and sea level lowstand. The exposure of abundant sandy material, coupled with lower vegetation cover and strong East Asian winter monsoon (EAWM) contribute to higher sediment availability and sand accumulation. We therefore propose that sediment supply control by sea-level change is the primary reason for coastal aeolian sand deposition under different climatic backgrounds.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":49644,"journal":{"name":"Quaternary International","volume":"697 ","pages":"Pages 38-48"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2024-07-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141501169","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Post-LGM glaciomarine processes revealed by inner shelf sedimentary facies analysis (Terra Nova Bay, Western Ross Sea, Antarctica)","authors":"Giulia Giorgetti ,&nbsp;Carlo Baroni ,&nbsp;Maria Cristina Salvatore ,&nbsp;Luca Gasperini ,&nbsp;Alina Polonia","doi":"10.1016/j.quaint.2024.06.012","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.quaint.2024.06.012","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Understanding the depositional processes on the inner shelf of Antarctica is a significant challenge. This difficulty arises from the heterogeneity of sediment sources, their poor preservation potential due to the advance and retreat cycles of ice bodies, and the impact of relatively strong bottom currents generated by high density contrasts in the water column. These factors contribute to the overall complexity of the glacio-influenced marine environment, particularly below present-day floating ice shelves in correspondence of areas draped in sediments related to Late Pleistocene-Holocene glacial variations. These locations provide crucial information for reconstructing past glacial dynamics driven by global changes.</p><p>In this study, we present an analysis of glaciomarine deposits collected from the Western Ross Sea, offshore Mario Zucchelli Station, in a protected indentation of the Victoria Land Coast that hosts the Terra Nova Bay polynya. We conducted multi-proxy analyses on three sediment cores sampled from selected seafloor morphological units associated with fluctuations of the grounded ice, which preserve sedimentary facies representative of this distinctive depositional environment.</p><p>We identified and described six depositional facies, characterized by diagnostic sedimentological, textural and geochemical patterns. Direct observations were integrated with high-resolution geophysical data and geomorphological seafloor analysis. Our findings highlight a Late Pleistocene-Holocene depositional sequence linked to fluctuations in grounded ice, with unconformities and sedimentary patterns potentially related to climatic variations driving ice advances and retreats.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":49644,"journal":{"name":"Quaternary International","volume":"697 ","pages":"Pages 64-77"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2024-07-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141729052","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Quaternary geomorphological dynamics of colluvial deposits from silicophytoliths and soil micromorphology, Araripe plateau, northeast of Brazil","authors":"Rodrigo Ranulpho ,&nbsp;Antônio Carlos de Barros Corrêa ,&nbsp;Flávia Jorge de Lima ,&nbsp;Júlio Cesar Paisani","doi":"10.1016/j.quaint.2024.06.010","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.quaint.2024.06.010","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Quaternary geomorphological dynamics in the lowland tropics of South America can be described from the stratigraphy of hillslope colluvium and alluvial deposits. The analysis of sediments through the identification of depositional microfeatures and biomineralized microfossils, combined with their absolute dating by optically stimulated luminescence (OSL), allow the reconstruction of paleoenvironmental conditions. The objective of this work was to investigate the dynamics of depositional processes leading to colluvial deposition in the Araripe Plateau, Northeastern Brazil, from the analysis of stratigraphic sections, using phytoliths as indicators of paleovegetation and sediment micromorphology in the identification of depositional processes. The correlation of sediments ages, ranging from the OS3 to the OS2 (Last Glacial Maximum) with phytophysiognomy indices indicated the contribution and deposition of phytoliths from an arboreal/shrubby vegetation, replaced on the surface by grass vegetation. Periods of drier climates were correlated with LGM ages, with more open vegetation composed of grasses, in synchronously with less intense geomorphological events. The micromorphological analysis revealed that the characteristics of the deposits reflect more the action of depositional processes than pedogenetic ones. The correlation of phytolithic indices with micromorphology corroborated the environmental and geomorphological dynamics of the periods dated in the stratigraphic sections.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":49644,"journal":{"name":"Quaternary International","volume":"697 ","pages":"Pages 1-18"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2024-07-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141729147","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"New fossil woods (upper Pleistocene) from the lower-middle Uruguay river basin (South America) reveal the past distribution of Aspidosperma (Apocynaceae)","authors":"","doi":"10.1016/j.quaint.2024.03.004","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.quaint.2024.03.004","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The present work describes the taxonomic and paleobiogeographic study of two fossil woods related to extant <em>Aspidosperma</em>. The silicified specimens come from the fossil localities of Santa Ana (30°54′S, 57°55′W) and Concordia (31°19′S, 57°59′W), Entre Ríos Province, Argentina, belonging to the El Palmar Formation (Late Pleistocene). This unit represents the sedimentary body of the upper fluvial terrace generated by the Uruguay River in its middle basin in eastern Argentina. The anatomical features that distinguish the woods are growth rings delimited by axial parenchyma and fibers, semi-ring to-diffuse-porous woods; mainly solitary vessels; simple perforation plates; alternate, bordered, and vestured intervessel pits; scarce paratracheal and diffuse apotracheal axial parenchyma; homocellular, and uniseriate to-triseriate rays; non-septate fibers. Climate reconstruction modelled at the regional scale (Ecological Niche Modeling) revealed variations in macroecological diversity patterns of the nearest living relatives (<em>Aspidosperma australe</em> and <em>A. polyneuron</em>) over the last ca. 130,000 years. Optically stimulated luminescence dating of sediments from the upper part of the El Palmar Formation in the type area reveals that the unit spans from the Last Interglacial period (warm substage, MIS marine isotope stage 5a), to the penultimate interglacial (MIS 7). This period was characterized by warmer and wetter conditions than those observed today. The eco-anatomical characteristics of the fossil record reflect this type of environment. The modern analogues of the fossils studied here are now part of the forests that integrate the Atlantic forest and Araucaria forest biogeographic provinces in South America.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":49644,"journal":{"name":"Quaternary International","volume":"697 ","pages":"Pages 19-37"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2024-07-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140156023","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A late glacial paleoenvironmental and climate record from the Sierra de Juarez, Baja California","authors":"Andrea Brunelle ,&nbsp;Vachel A. Carter ,&nbsp;José Delgadillo Rodríguez ,&nbsp;Vanessa Feagin ,&nbsp;Jennifer Watt","doi":"10.1016/j.quaint.2024.06.013","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.quaint.2024.06.013","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p><span>Ciénegas are desert wetlands that are strongly correlated with the stability of the hydrologic cycle<span><span> in arid landscapes. However, these environments are particularly vulnerable to climate change, drought, water diversion, and </span>fire suppression<span><span> which all have contributed to the degradation of ciénegas along the U.S.-Mexican borderlands. Therefore, identifying the timing of precipitation patterns in this region is of particular interest because of its relationship to many ecological responses of the landscape such as </span>groundwater recharge<span><span> and fire. Here, we present the first-ever fire paleoenvironmental record from Ciénega Chimeneas, a ciénega complex in the Sierra de Juárez of Baja California. We explore how changes in the amount and seasonality of moisture affected ciénega complexes and fire activity from across the southwestern North American region over the past 45,000 years. Our record suggests that during the </span>late glacial period, 41,000–21,000 cal yr BP, the increase of </span></span></span></span><span><em>Larrea</em></span> and <span><em>Quercus</em></span> indicate an increase in summer precipitation. Subsequently, when summer precipitation increased, pollen preservation and pollen accumulation rates (PAR) also increased. Increased vegetation allowed for increased fire activity during the late glacial period. Regionally, most of the comparison sites also indicated wet conditions during the full glacial period. However, around 21,000 cal yr BP, effective moisture decreased resulting in a dramatic change in the vegetation assemblage. Specifically, the summer wet taxa disappeared, while pollen preservation and PAR decreased, suggesting a dry period until ∼14,000 cal yr BP. Little fire activity is recorded after 21,000 cal yr BP, likely due to the absence of fuels. At ∼14,000 cal yr BP, <em>Larrea</em> and <em>Quercus</em><span><span> reappear suggesting increased summer precipitation. However, the appearance of Cyperaceae and increases in grasses suggest increased winter precipitation. We suggest that the combination of summer wet and winterwet taxa ∼14,000 cal yr BP represents an increase in </span>ENSO conditions, while the summer moisture controls remained relatively constant.</span></p></div>","PeriodicalId":49644,"journal":{"name":"Quaternary International","volume":"705 ","pages":"Pages 94-103"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2024-07-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141694265","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Identification of climatic tipping points and transitions in Chinese loess grain-size records utilizing nonlinear time series analysis","authors":"Haozhong Xue ,&nbsp;Song Song ,&nbsp;Mengfan Qiu ,&nbsp;Xiaofang Huang ,&nbsp;Shiling Yang ,&nbsp;Zihua Tang","doi":"10.1016/j.quaint.2024.06.011","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.quaint.2024.06.011","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>As one of the most important terrestrial sediments, Chinese loess provides valuable information on regional and global climatic and environmental changes and holds great potential for studying on nonlinear behaviors of the East Asian monsoon system. Utilizing objective and quantitative methods to identify tipping points and climate transitions in paleoclimatic records can help us understand the climatic change in the Chinese Loess Plateau (CLP). This study explores critical tipping points and nonlinear climate transitions within the CLP using the Chiloparts record, a comprehensive 2600-ka paleoclimate dataset. We pinpointed potential tipping points using recurrence quantification analysis and the augmented Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, ultimately leading to 15 critical tipping points. We argued that these 15 tipping points represent some of the most significant climatic changes recorded in the Chinese loess paleoclimate record. Employing recurrence quantification analysis, recurrence networks, and visibility graphs, we also identified several climate transitions and provided some nonlinear information, including the Mid-Pleistocene Transition (MPT) as well as the Mid-Brunhes Transition (MBT). We particularly highlight a significant climatic regime transition around 500 ka that may reflect a nonlinear response to variations in the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). Our research also contributes to the understanding of the complex interplay between loess deposition, environmental change, and tectonic activity, emphasizing the need for further investigations to elucidate the mechanisms driving these transitions.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":49644,"journal":{"name":"Quaternary International","volume":"702 ","pages":"Pages 24-33"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2024-06-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141978259","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The usefulness of the magnetic susceptibility of loess paleosol sequences for paleoclimate and stratigraphic studies: The case of the Quaternary Palouse loess, northwestern United States","authors":"","doi":"10.1016/j.quaint.2024.06.008","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.quaint.2024.06.008","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Worldwide, Quaternary loess-paleosol sequences archive terrestrial paleoenvironmental information. The Palouse loess in the northwestern USA is one such deposit representing at least a million years of sediment accumulation. Loess paleosol sequences are often studied via the magnetic susceptibility of sediments and the changes in susceptibility with depth. However, since variations in magnetic susceptibility can have different underlying causes, the interpretation of the magnetic susceptibility of loess depends on factors specific to each major loess region. We measured the magnetic susceptibility of sediments along depth profiles in a well-studied exposure of the Palouse loess in eastern Washington, USA (the “CLY-2 site,” 46.3131° N, 118.4874° W, WGS84). Our measurements show that the magnetic susceptibility of sediments in the Palouse loess varies systematically and predictably with depth and can be correlated with other magnetic susceptibility profiles at the outcrop scale and at the regional scale. We also measured changes in grain size, elemental abundance, mineralogy, and other magnetic properties to determine the most likely cause of the magnetic susceptibility signal. Based on these results, variations in magnetic susceptibility in the Palouse are likely driven mostly by changes in coarse sediment supply and accumulation of tephra rather than changes in weathering. Magnetic susceptibility is useful as an inexpensive, non-destructive tool for stratigraphic correlation of Quaternary loess deposits in the Palouse, especially in combination with paleosol stratigraphic markers and known tephra deposits.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":49644,"journal":{"name":"Quaternary International","volume":"702 ","pages":"Pages 13-23"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2024-06-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1040618224001976/pdfft?md5=775380b79b2ed16b5016eec25cff3217&pid=1-s2.0-S1040618224001976-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141501168","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Evidence of lake-level fluctuations during the late Holocene based on diatoms from Lake Vransko, Cres Island (north-central Mediterranean)","authors":"Katarina Caput Mihalić ,&nbsp;Ines Galović ,&nbsp;Nikolina Ilijanić ,&nbsp;Ozren Hasan ,&nbsp;Maja Ledinski ,&nbsp;Slobodan Miko ,&nbsp;Saša Mesić","doi":"10.1016/j.quaint.2024.06.004","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.quaint.2024.06.004","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p><span><span>An investigation of Lake Vransko, located on the island of Cres in the Adriatic Sea<span>, was performed in order to reconstruct the palaeoenvironmental changes that occurred during the late Holocene, based on diatoms. Fluctuations in the lake level were mostly driven by the intensification of climatic oscillations (wet periods during </span></span>North Atlantic Oscillation<span> intervals and summer drought during Azores High intervals) and anthropogenic influences (e.g. the extraction of drinking water). The anthropogenic impact of local deforestation is encountered, associated with a peak in phosphorous in the deeper parts of the lake cores. As a consequence of these impacts ten diatom abundance zones (DZs) and the water/sediment interface (WSI) were recorded from the deeper core (CS-51) and two from the shallower (CS-52) core, along with the WSI, based on which an abrupt fluctuation in the level of the lake was interpreted. A dominance of </span></span><span><em>Epithemia</em><em> adnata</em></span> in the deeper core, and <span><em>Gomphonema</em><span><em> </em><em>pumilum</em></span></span> in the CS-51, and in the CS-52 indicated a shallow phase connected with the summer drought recorded in the lake. A dominance of <span><em>Amphora</em><em> inariensis</em></span>, <em>Pseudostaurosira</em> spp., <span><em>Cyclotella</em></span> spp. and <em>Pantocsekiella ocellata</em> in the rest of the cores indicated deeper, more alkaline lake conditions during the wet periods. The DZs accord with depth variations in Adriatic coastal lakes that are key sites of more extreme recent changes in the local climate.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":49644,"journal":{"name":"Quaternary International","volume":"706 ","pages":"Pages 21-31"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2024-06-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142173639","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Tracing holocene paleoenvironmental changes along the northern Tyrrhenian coast (Cornia and Pecora coastal plains, Tuscany, Italy): data from geochemical and sedimentological proxies","authors":"","doi":"10.1016/j.quaint.2024.06.003","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.quaint.2024.06.003","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p><span><span><span>In this paper, sedimentological and geochemical data from six cores are presented and discussed in order to better understand the Holocene palaeoenvironmental evolution of the coastal plains of the Pecora and Cornia Rivers (southern Tuscany, Italy). Overall, the stratigraphies show a general upward trend in the evolution of the sedimentary succession of lagoonal environments (low Zr/Rb, high EC values) connected or partially connected to the sea (low EC values), to a seaward </span>progradation of marshy-swampy environments (Mn/Ti, high TOC values) and finally to continental environments with the progradation of distal </span>alluvial plains (high Zr/Rb, low EC values) influenced by runoff phenomena or local water stagnation. This trend is closely related to the increasing input of sediments from inland due to </span>soil erosion<span><span> processes and, especially in the last two centuries, land reclamation works. In the Cornia coastal plain, the chronologies indicate that lagoonal environments were already present before ca. 8.2ka BC and started receding seaward at around 3.7ka BC. On the other hand, chronologies from ca. 0.5ka BC to ca. 0.6ka AD point to a persistence of lagoonal environments only in areas very close to those already identified as such in historical cartography. In the Pecora coastal plain, the chronologies show that the lagoon environments had already disappeared before ca. 3.3ka BC, whilst the peripheral environments were characterised by abundant vegetation. The latter gradually degraded in favour of the development of shallow to very deep, unvegetated </span>marshlands, which persisted until ca. 1ka AD.</span></p></div>","PeriodicalId":49644,"journal":{"name":"Quaternary International","volume":"705 ","pages":"Pages 53-72"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2024-06-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141402852","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Controls on coastal sediment stratigraphy and morphodynamics in northwest Ireland","authors":"","doi":"10.1016/j.quaint.2024.06.005","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.quaint.2024.06.005","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Coastal sediment stratigraphies, their physical properties and microfossil assemblages are commonly used to reconstruct sea-level change. However, coastal sediments are affected by tidal, wave, aeolian, and overwashing processes at a range of elevations both within and above the tidal frame which means that their sea-level signatures may not always be clearly identified. Saltmarsh is a common coastal sedimentary environment along the Atlantic-facing coastline of northwest Ireland where bedrock headlands and an archipelago of small offshore islands have provided accommodation space for aggradational Holocene sediment sequences. A 2.85 m-long sediment sequence was investigated at Cloughglass, northwest Ireland. This shows weathered granite bedrock overlain by glacigenic cobbles and then <em>in situ Pinus</em> stumps within humified peat that is exposed in the upper foreshore. Above this, organic-rich and laminated saltmarsh sediments are arranged in packages (20–80 cm thick) bounded by undulating erosional surfaces. The saltmarsh sediments are unconformably overlain by a palaeosol (30 cm thick) and 1.5 m of recent dune sand. Sediment samples were removed at 5 cm intervals through the entire logged section and analysed for grain size properties, combustible organic content, CaCO₃ content, and microfossil assemblages. Five samples were dated by the AMS ¹⁴C method. Results show organic sediment accumulated around the pine tree stumps at ∼4400 cal yr BP but that later sedimentation was episodic, as evidenced by erosional surfaces throughout the saltmarsh part of the succession that may correspond to episodic storms or flood events. Three microfossil biostratigraphic zones are identified which broadly correspond to the sediment stratigraphy. The lowermost zone has poor preservation. The middle zone contains several halophytic species in low abundance but is dominated by the ubiquitous diatom <em>Achnanthidium minutissimum</em>. The uppermost zone is less diverse, with low but consistent abundance of predominately freshwater species and those that can tolerate brackish conditions. Integrating these results suggests that late Holocene coastal erosion and sea-level rise brought the coastline closer to the site over time, with a concomitant increase in wave and tidal influence as recorded in both sedimentary structures and biofacies. Subsequently, the land surface became stabilized with development of a dune palaeosol and decreased abundance of <em>A</em>. <em>minutissimum</em>. This evolutionary history reflects changing patterns of wave exposure and sediment supply as a result of changes in sand accumulation around the surrounding bedrock islands. Thus, the coastal stratigraphy more strongly reflects local sediment dynamics and accommodation space rather than regional sea-level change in the late Holocene.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":49644,"journal":{"name":"Quaternary International","volume":"706 ","pages":"Pages 7-20"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2024-06-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1040618224001940/pdfft?md5=af64af33f222bd72b08ff039647a3c79&pid=1-s2.0-S1040618224001940-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141394846","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}