Abstracts / Quaternary International 279-280 (2012) 462–565 467

highly variable accumulation rates, erosion of the record, bioturbationobscuring signals and no apparent straight-forward relationship to otherwind-speed/source proxies such as grain-size. Much of this variabilitystems from the likely large number of influences on accumulation rate,both at source and sink. Furthermore, the new datasets present newmethodological challenges such as the synthesis of data from differentluminescence techniques and use of the most appropriate method ofcalculating mass accumulation rates. These findings will be outlined andsome of the newly emerging challenges to accurately constraining pastdust fluxes discussed through examples from the Chinese and Serbianloess sequences.

CONSTRAINING THE PROVENANCE OF MU US DESERT (CHINA) SANDSUSING U-PB DATING OF DETRITAL ZIRCONS AND HEAVY MINERALASSEMBLAGES

Thomas Stevens. Royal Holloway, U of London, United KingdomE-mail address: thomas.stevens@rhul.ac.uk

The ultimate origin of the sediments that comprise sandy deserts iscentral to understanding the formation of such systems. However, thesources of this sediment and their spatial and temporal variability is oftenunknown. The sands of the Mu Us Desert, located in the Ordos Basin inNorthern China, have been hypothesised to be sourced from underlyingQuaternary sands, and in turn from underlying Cretaceous aeolianite.However, there has neither been a direct quantitative test of thishypothesis, nor characterisation of variability in geochemical signaturesin sediment across the basin or through time. Furthermore, the onlyprovenance work conducted on the Mu Us sands has used bulkgeochemical analysis, which is inherently limited when there is a possi-bility of multiple source regions. Here we present single-grain detritalzircon U-Pb dates and morphology as well as heavy mineral assemblagesfrom modern Mu Us sediments across the desert and from underlyingsand bearing strata of the Quaternary and Cretaceous. Detrital zircon U-Pb ages can often be tied to protosource areas with distinctive agesignatures representing specific tectonic events associated with graniticemplacement, especially when tied to zircon morphology and heavymineral assemblage. The results allow us to interpret variability in thesource regions across the Mu Us today, as well as at intervals in the past,thereby testing specific hypotheses over the origin of the desert sands.The results show that there is significant source variability across thedesert, with clear geographical groupings displaying common sourcecharacteristics. Underlying Cretaceous and Quaternary formationscontribute some material but far travelled components are significant insome regions of the desert. These findings will be discussed in terms ofinterpreting detrital zircon data, as well as in terms of the climatic,erosional and transport process implications for the origin of the Mu Ussands.

ISOTOPIC INVESTIGATIONS OF CLIMATE AND SEASONALITY IN CENTRALEUROPE DURING THE UPPER PALAEOLITHIC

Rhiannon Stevens. University of Cambridge, United KingdomE-mail address: res57@cam.ac.uk

The Upper Palaeolithic in the central European Plains was a criticalperiod in human evolution marked by technological developments inlithic industries, extensive production of figurative and non-figurativeart, the increased use of non-local raw materials, and the earliestdevelopment of ceramics and textiles. These developments took placeduring oxygen isotope stage 3 when rapid, large magnitude oscillationsof climate known as Dansgaard- Oeschger (D-O) events occurred inEurope. It is generally accepted that the climate was a critical factor forhumans during this period, but we have little understanding of preciselyhow the climatic context affected hominin populations in central Europe.To gain a better understanding of the climates and environments expe-rienced by the upper Palaeolithic human groups it is necessary todevelop a palaeoclimatic framework that is local to the central Europeanarchaeological sequences. We conducted isotopic analyses on animalremains from Gravettian sites located in Moravia (e.g. Pavlov, DolniVestonice, Milovice and Stranska Skala). Bulk tooth oxygen isotope

signatures provide information about the average climate conditions,whereas intra-tooth oxygen isotope signatures provide informationabout seasonal climate variations. Bone collagen carbon and nitrogenisotope signatures provide information about the diets consumed by theanimals and the ecosystem and environments in which they lived. Theclimate signatures recorded in the skeletal remains provide informationabout the local climate during the human occupation of the archaeo-logical sites. Our results further the debate on whether or not culturalinnovation observed in central Europe during the Upper Palaeolithicwere a result of innovative problem-solving in the face of climatic andenvironmental stress.

ABRUPT CLIMATE WARMING AND THE LATE UPPER PALAEOLITHIC RE-COLONISATION OF NORTHWEST EUROPE

Rhiannon Stevens. University of Cambridge, United KingdomE-mail address: res57@cam.ac.uk

There has been much speculation about the relationship between therapid warming at start of the Late Glacial and the sudden dispersal ofMadgalenian human groups into northwest Europe that broadly coincidedwith widespread cultural changes. Some researchers have suggested thatthe re-colonisation occurred prior to the climate warming. Thus non-climatic factors, most probably social developments, enabled humans toadapt better to the prevailing cold conditions, and hence to re-migrate intothe region prior to any significant improvement in climate. Others havesuggested, that the warming observed in the Greenland ice-cores and there-colonisation occurred synchronously. Therefore the abrupt climatechange triggered an equally abrupt and widespread response in humandevelopment at that time. Recently published radiocarbon dates from theearliest re-colonisation sites in the British Isles suggest that the re-colo-nisation was broadly contemporaneous with the Late Glacial abruptclimate warming. However due to the imprecision in radiocarbon cali-bration models as a result of the radiocarbon plateau it is impossible to tellfrom radiocarbon dates alone whether or not the re-colonisation and theclimate warming recorded in the Greenland icecores occurred synchro-nously. It is therefore necessary to develop palaeoclimatic reconstructionsthat are not only local to the archaeological sites in the British Isles, but aredirectly linked to the period of human activity. Through oxygen isotopeanalysis of horse teeth that have been humanly modified and thus aredirectly linked to human activity, we have reconstructed the climaticconditions at Gough's Cave, King Arthur's Cave, Mother Grundy's Parlour,Kent's Cavern and Sun Hole Cave during the period of human occupation.Our results suggest that the re-colonisation of the British Isles and theabrupt climate warming were not synchronous. The implications of ourfinding will be presented.

COMPARISON OF THE VEGETATIONAL AND HYDROCLIMATICEVOLUTION DURING THE HOLOCENE AND LAST INTERGLACIAL INWESTERN IRAN

Lora Stevens. California State University, United StatesE-mail address: lsteven2@csulb.edu

Interglacial climates of the Mediterranean region are recognized innumerous proxy records as periods of greater moisture and warmertemperatures with climatic optimum denoted by the expansion of taxasuch as pistchio. Eastward in the Taurus-Zagros Mountains, a similarvegetation progression occurred with one major exception: the expansionof grasses between ca. 9.5 and 6.5 ka BP. The grass-pistachio zone peakswell before the establishment of the modern Zagros oak forest. Thissuccession has been interpreted as evidence of a drier early Holocenerelative to late Holocene. Stable isotope records show low d 18O valuesduring the early Holocene followed by higher values, in apparent conflictwith the vegetation. The ensuing “paradox” has created debate regardingthe evolution of climate in southwest Asia. New insights occur whencomparing the Holocene vegetation and hydroclimatic evolution with thatof the Last Interglacial at Lake Urmia, Iran. The Urmia record spans the last190 kyr but is of coarse resolution as the cores were not collected forscientific study. Previously published pollen data indicate that the Holo-cene succession was different than that of the Last Interglacial. There is noexpansion of grass after the glacial and oak may not have lagged pistachio