Abstracts / Quaternary International 279-280 (2012) 233–345 343

ABRUPT CLIMATE CHANGES IN THE EASTERN MEDITERRANEANREGION DURING MARINE ISOTOPE STAGE 6 (130 TO 190 KA BP)

Ulrich C. Müller. Goethe University Frankfurt, GermanyE-mail address: ulrich.mueller@em.uni-frankfurt.de

The Dansgaard-Oeschger (D-O) climate fluctuations of the last glacial havereceived great attention and much effort has been dedicated to elucidatetheir underlying mechanisms. However, we have barely begun to under-stand whether D-O-like climate fluctuations were unique to the last glacialand what the predisposing boundary conditions are. A last glacial pollenrecord from the site Tenaghi Philippon (TP), Greece, has shown a perfectmatch of tree taxa percentages with the Greenland d18O record. Therefore,the recent recovery of a 200 m core from TP that covers the last 1.3 Macontinuously provides an unique opportunity to identify D-O-like vari-ability in the NH during previous glacials and to elucidate their orbital andglobal boundary conditions.Herewe present a continuous, centennial-resolution pollen record from TPof the penultimate glacial (MIS 6). The comparison with the last glacialpollen record from the same site shows that the frequency of climatefluctuations during MIS 6 (130-190 ka BP) was lower than during MIS 2-4(10-70 ka BP). The amplitude of climate change is around the same as inMIS 2-4. The interval within MIS 6 that exhibits climate variability mostreminiscent of D-O variability in MIS 3 was w160 – 180 ka BP, i.e. MIS 6e.The orbital configuration of MIS 6e was characterised by high obliquity andby a changes from min. to max. precession (MIS 3: high obliquity andprecession changes from min. to max. to min). The global land-based icevolume in MIS 6e equates to a sea level of 40-70 m below present (MIS 3:60-90 m below present). The obliquity and ice-volume boundary condi-tions of MIS 3 and MIS 6e are similar to those of MIS 9b, the interval withinMIS 8-9c that shows variability most similar to D-O fluctuations (Fletcheret al. 2011, INQUA abstract). We conclude a high obliquity constellation incombination with NH ice sheet dimensions equivalent to a sea-level of w60-70 m below present are predisposing conditions for D-O-like varia-bility.

QUANTIFICATION OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL PROXIES: FIRST EVALUATIONOF THE NORTHERN CENTRAL EUROPEAN NEOLITHIC

Johannes Müller. Christian-Albrechts-University, GermanyE-mail address: johannes.mueller@ufg.uni-kiel.de

In contrast to ecological and climatic proxies the quantification of societaldevelopments is a major task. The cultural and social development ofsocieties is only partly reflected in material culture. Thereby, the quanti-fication of production rates, investment in ritual activities and ideologicalchanges within societies is dependent on the reconstruction of deposi-tional processes. However, first results for the Northern Central EuropeanNeolithic support the new approach: The quantification and identificationof production, distribution and consumption within and between FunnelBeaker Societies were successful. These proxies are useful in the compar-ison of environmental and societal influences both on the development ofFunnel Beaker Landscapes and societies.

CHARACTERISTICS AND DATING OF QUATERNARY AEOLIAN LANDSCA-PES IN ARABIA

Robert Neil Munro. Old Abbey Associates, United KingdomE-mail address: neil.munro@dial.pipex.com

Active sand seas on the Arabian Peninsula are well known, but ancientaeolian features in six relatively unknown areas suggest variations in soilformation, climate and wind directions that differ from the present. Ourresearch - field work, mapping, laboratory analyses, OSL and 14C dating -examines aeolian formations with paleosols and other relict aeolianfeatures. Area 1. NE coastline of Saudi Arabia: dunes were deflated from theArabian Gulf and over several thousand km2 soil stabilised in the earlyHolocene; Area 2 is west of Ad Dahna at Wasia, Saudi Arabia: dune sedi-ments date from 267.5 ka and contain paleosols, and are overlain by fluvialloams gravels (150 ka), later cut-and-filled by Holocene sediments; Area 3:Yemen Tihama piedmont where linear dunes lie perpendicular to the coast

and were soil-stabilised in the early Holocene over >5,800 km2. OSL dateof 12.5 ka at the top of a thick aeolian sequence suggests a significantPleistocene record is present; Area 4 at Ma'rib, Yemen shows exposures ofaeolian sands and paleosol layers at base of giant echo dune & provideaeolian episodes between 42.8 and 82.5 ka, with soil formation at 80.9 ka,and a lacustrine phase at 30.35 ka; Area 5 in Wadi Rum, Jordan indicatessand sheet and paleosol formation to 198 ka and earlier; Area 6 in NorthernSaudi Arabia covers a vast tract of flat / undulating calcareous duricrustedterrain with bas relief (Miller, 1938) & lies adjacent and beneath the GreatNafud (Saudi Arabia). We hypothesise this duricrust to be the end-productof precipitation of calcareous dusts leached through (long disappeared)sand sheets and dunes that overlay an undulating landscape. Eastwards tothe coast, Pliocene bedrock has been wind-etched by NNE winds andmerges with the duricrust. It is apparent that aeolian sands and theirassociated vegetative cover have been present over Arabia far back into thePleistocene, and would have been presented early man with barriers orroutes at different periods.

HOLOCENE GLACIER FLUCTUATIONS IN GLACIER NATIONAL PARK,MONTANA, USA, RECONSTRUCTED FROM LACUSTRINE SEDIMENTARYRECORDS

Jeffrey Munroe. Middlebury College, United StatesE-mail address: jmunroe@middlebury.edu

Alpine glaciers in Glacier National Park (GNP) have retreated dramaticallyfrom their Little Ice Age (LIA) maximum positions over the past 150 yearsand are projected to disappear entirely within the next few decades. Todevelop a chronology of pre-LIA glacier activity cores were retrieved fromfour lakes located below some of the largest remaining glaciers in GNP:Upper Kintla Lake below the Agassiz Glacier, Cosley Lake below theWhitercrow Glacier, Cracker Lake below the Siyeh Glacier, and HarrisonLake below the Harrison Glacier. Radiocarbon dating, 210-Pb analysis, andtephrachronology reveal that the cores span 2000 to >10,000 years withsedimentation rates ranging from 0.36 to 3.38 mm/yr. Laboratory analysisfocused on sediment properties sensitive to the areal extent of glacier iceupvalley. High-resolution (HR) records appear sensitive to pulses of sedi-ment released by glacier retreat, while low-resolution (LR) records trackepisodes of overall enhanced glacier activity and/or extent. The LR corefrom Cosley Lake contains over 1.5 meters of rock flour above till from thelatest Pleistocene deglaciation. A LR core from Upper Kintla Lake recordsan expanded and/or more active Agassiz Glacier during four intervals:6200-5700, 5100-4500, 3800-3400, and 2300-1900 yr BP. Carbonateabundance in a second HR core reaches peak values synchronous withmaximum measured retreat rates of the Agassiz Glacier in the early 20thCentury. Four similar spikes in carbonate during the past millennium likelyrepresent other advance-retreat cycles, including a major advance in thelate 16th Century that was second only to the LIA maximum. A similar pairof carbonate spikes representing retreat from the LIA and penultimateadvance is seen in the HR record from Cracker Lake. Finally, the HR corefrom Harrison Lake records cyclical fluctuations in aquatic productivitythat may reflect changes in water temperature driven by behavior of theHarrison Glacier w8 km upvalley

LITHOSTRATIGRAPHY AND QUATERNARY PALEOCLIMATE CONSTR-AINTS ON THE DETRITAL SEDIMENTS FROM THE POLOVRAGI CAVE(SOUTHERN CARPATHIANS, ROMANIA)

Cristian-Mihai Munteanu. Emil Racovita Institute of Speleology, RomaniaE-mail address: criscarst@yahoo.com

Cave detrital sediments are useful archives for Quaternary paleoclimateand paleohydrological oscillations. Our study is focused on the sedimen-tary deposits from the Polovragi Cave (Southern Carpathians, Roma-nia).Along the downstream section of the Main Passageway of this cave,fluvial deposits outcrop on 1.3-3 m high sections, mainly sands, but alsoalternating gravels and silts, either well bedded or massive, with localslumps, marked by higher iron or manganese content laminae. We haveapplied a multi-proxy approach and performed a series of analyses whichallowed us to highlight the structural and textural parameters (grain size,morphometry), rock magnetic properties, organic matter content, certain

Abstracts / Quaternary International 279-280 (2012) 233–345344

elemental ratios (XRF) and bulk mineralogy (XRD). The variations found inthe analyzed parameters are correlated with the paleohydrodynamicregime fluctuations which are, in turn, influenced by the paleoclimateoscillations.

SEDIMENTOLOGICAL FEATURES OF THE DETRITAL DEPOSITS FROM THEPESTERA CU OASE (BANAT MOUNTAINS, ROMANIA), AS QUATERNARYPALEOCLIMATE PROXIES

Cristian-Mihai Munteanu. Emil Racovita Institute of Speleology, RomaniaE-mail address: criscarst@yahoo.com

The Quaternary paleoclimate oscillations in the Banat Mountains area(Romania) have been recorded in a detrital sequence filling up the shaftfrom the Pestera cu Oase. We describe the lithostratigraphy and sedimen-tological parameters of the deposit (grain size, morphometry), adding alsorock magnetic, geochemical (XRF, calcimetry, organic matter content) andmineralogical (XRD) data. The age of the sedimentary sequence is con-strained by a U-series dated "candlestick" stalagmite taken from the top ofthe sediments and three cave bear bone fragments that have been ESR-dated. Rock magnetic properties allowed the identification of Quaternaryclimate oscillations. Themainmagneticmineral is hematite, but the climatevariations can be correlated with the presence of magnetite/maghemite,related to the pedogenesis outside the cave and transported undergroundby the stream.We correlate the rockmagnetic datawith themarine oxygenisotope record, tohighlight thepresenceof cooler andwarmer intervals (thefirst two of latter pertaining to MIS 3 and the last one to MIS 5a). Thesedimentation begun during the relatively cold stage MIS 5b and ceasedright at the and of the Last Glacial Maximum, w16.5 ka ago.

SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL COMPARISON OF SPHEROIDAL CARBON-ACEOUS PARTICLES IN EAST ASIAN LAKE SEDIMENTS

Akiko Murakami-Kitase. Waseda University, JapanE-mail address: a.kitase@aoni.waseda.jp

Recently in East Asia the amount of fossil fuel combustion have increasedwith economic growth. It has caused a problem of trans-boundary airpollution in the whole of eastern Asia. In this study, we evaluated thesedimentary records of spheroidal carbonaceous particles (SCPs) andheavy metal derived from anthropogenic combustion in eastern Asia(Japan, Korea, and China) to compare the record of fossil fuel combustionin each area. To date the sediment cores, 210 Pb and 137Cs dating methodwas applied.The concentration of SCPs in industrial cities in Japan showed character-istic trend as follows; 1) the start of the record in 1930s, 2) the peak of1960s – 1970s, 3) the decrease from 1980s to the present. These trendsreflect the history of the fossil fuel combustion and pollution controlaround each industrial area, respectively. In isolated islands on the JapanSea, the SCPs trend shows the start of the record in 1950s – 1960s, andgradual increase to the present. The SCPs trend in the northeastern Koreashows increasing upward. On the other hand, the trend in the centralKorea showed the peak in a particular depth and decreasing upward. TheSCPs trend in China (Beijing, Tsingtao, and Nanjing) showed increasingfrom 1990s to the present. These results showed SCPs profiles in Japan,Korea, and China has different trend, respectively. Additionally, morpho-logical and chemical characteristics of SCPs observed by SEM/EDS betweenthese countries are different. These findings suggest that most of SCPs insediments in an industrial city would be derived from the area, indicatingthat a large proportion of SCPs hardly transport long distance. Howeverfew SCPs are found in isolated islands, suggesting that a small portion ofSCPs transport long distance (at least 100km). Therefore SCPs profiles in anisolated area play an important role to clarify the long distance transport ofmaterials originated from fossil fuel combustion in past and present ineastern Asia.

COSMOGENIC AGE CONSTRAINTS ON THE LAST DEGLACIATION INSOUTHERN PATAGONIA (49 - 50�S)

Daniel Murray. University of Wisconsin-Madison, United StatesE-mail address: dsmurray@geology.wisc.edu

The post-Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) transition reflects global climatedynamics and forcing mechanisms whose influence in the southern mid-latitudes remains unclear. Delineating the location and timing of the LGMtermination and subsequent climate reversals in the Southern Andes canhelp quantify past climates in this region. Ice cap expansion and retreatmay be linked to the migration of the Southern Westerlies and theAntarctic polar front, and may reflect influences from Antarctica or else-where. We examine glacial activity adjacent to the Southern PatagonianIcefield via new 10Be surface exposure dating of a remarkably intact set ofmoraines, located in little-studied area at 49-50oS, which includes bothlarge outlet valleys and smaller valleys on an interfluve. 10Be ages indicatethat the Santa Teresita moraine in the Lago Viedma Valley, the PuertoBandera moraine in the Lago Argentino Valley (Ackert et al., 2008, Science)and several smaller moraines in the Rio Guanaco Valley were depositedeither during, or after, the LGM. Interpretations of the post-LGM sequencehinge strongly on the choice of 10Be production rate. Using a productionrate derived from New Zealand, ice retreated in the Rio Guanaco Valley atw18 ka, whereas the Santa Teresita and Puerto Bandera moraines reflectan enlarged ice cap at w13 ka. These findings are consistent with a fully-coupled transient general circulation model that predicts minimalprecipitation change but significantly lower temperatures and ELAs w14ka, followed by warming at w13.5 ka. In this scenario, the Antarctic ColdReversal was felt as far north as 50oS. Alternatively, the global 10Beproduction rate (CRONUS) indicates initial ice retreat at w16 ka (RioGuanaco) and subsequent expansion of the ice cap w11 ka as recorded bythe Santa Teresita and Puerto Bandera moraines. This implies glacierretreat after the Younger Dryas interval, and requires an explanation otherthan hemisphere-scale cooling linked to the ACR.

COSMOGENIC AGE CONSTRAINTS ON THE LAST DEGLACIATION INSOUTHERN PATAGONIA (49 - 50 �S)

Daniel Murray. University of Wisconsin-Madison, United StatesE-mail address: dsmurray@geology.wisc.edu

The post-Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) transition reflects global climatedynamics and forcing mechanisms whose influence in the southern mid-latitudes remains unclear. Delineating the location and timing of the LGMtermination and subsequent climate reversals in the Southern Andes canhelp quantify past climates in this region. Ice cap expansion and retreatmay be linked to the migration of the Southern Westerlies and theAntarctic polar front, and may reflect influences from Antarctica or else-where. We examine glacial activity adjacent to the Southern PatagonianIcefield via new 10Be surface exposure dating of a remarkably intact set ofmoraines, located in little-studied area at 49-50oS, which includes bothlarge outlet valleys and smaller valleys on an interfluve. 10Be ages indicatethat the Santa Teresita moraine in the Lago Viedma Valley, the PuertoBandera moraine in the Lago Argentino Valley (Ackert et al., 2008, Science)and several smaller moraines in the Rio Guanaco Valley were depositedeither during, or after, the LGM. Interpretations of the post-LGM sequencehinge strongly on the choice of 10Be production rate. Using a productionrate derived from New Zealand, ice retreated in the Rio Guanaco Valley atw18 ka, whereas the Santa Teresita and Puerto Bandera moraines reflectan enlarged ice cap at w13 ka. These findings are consistent with a fully-coupled transient general circulation model that predicts minimalprecipitation change but significantly lower temperatures and ELAs w14ka, followed by warming at w13.5 ka. In this scenario, the Antarctic ColdReversal was felt as far north as 50oS. Alternatively, the global 10Beproduction rate (CRONUS) indicates initial ice retreat at w16 ka (RioGuanaco) and subsequent expansion of the ice cap w11 ka as recorded bythe Santa Teresita and Puerto Bandera moraines. This implies glacierretreat after the Younger Dryas interval, and requires an explanation otherthan hemisphere-scale cooling linked to the ACR.

THERMOKARST IN THE GEOLOGICAL RECORD

Julian Murton. University of Sussex, United KingdomE-mail address: j.b.murton@sussex.ac.uk

Thermokarst denotes the processes, landforms and sediments associatedwith ablationdusually by thawingdof excess ice in permafrost. Because