Elemental anomalies at the cretaceous-tertiary boundary, woodside creek, new zealand

Iridium and 26 other elements were determined in shale from the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary at the locus classicus (for iridium anomalies) at Woodside Creek, New Zealand. Iridium, gold, copper, cobalt, chromium, nickel, arsenic, molybdenum, and iron were enriched in the basal 2 millimeters of the 8-millimeter shale parting as compared with the rest of the stratigraphic column. No other shale partings in the column had anomalous concentrations of any element when the data were expressed on a carbonate-free basis. The boundary material showed striking compositional similarities with the Stevns Klint Danish boundary shale. Elemental concentrations were in general much higher in the New Zealand material than in nonboundary shales from elsewhere in the world. The high concentration of iridium (153 nanograms per gram) in the basal layer of the boundary, together with the enrichment of other siderophile elements supports the idea of an extraterrestrial source for much of the material. The iridium/gold ratio of 2.1 is also in accordance with such a source. The iridium content of the basal layer is higher than for any other marine boundary shale obtained on land. The integrated iridium value is 187 nanograms per square centimeter of boundary surface.     

Radiocarbon chronology of late pleistocene deposits in northwest washington

Fourteen radiocarbon dates of shells and wood from late Pleistocene sediments in northwest Washington provide evidence for correlation of the Everson interstadial with the Two Creeks interval of the midcontinent and suggest possible correlations between the Sumas and Valders stadials and between the Vashon stadial and part of the Tazewell-Cary advances.     

Ages of fossil penguins in new zealand

The age of a New Zealand specimen generally believed to represent the oldest known penguin, hitherto considered early Eocene (Heretaungan), has been restudied by the New Zealand Geological Survey and is early Miocene. The oldest known penguins are from the late Eocene. The reported great range of a single species, Palaeeudyptes antarcticus, from late Eocene to late Oligocene or early Miocene (Kaiatan to Waitakian) is not acceptable. Dating of some other specimens is less precise than previously reported.     

Uplifted marine terraces along the alpine fault, new zealand

Three types of evidence indicate that marine terraces are widespread in the Southern Alps of New Zealand. (i) Remnants of shore platforms occur as distinct levels of notched ridge crests and flat summits; degraded sea cliffs are common. (ii) Scattered quartz beach pebbles occur on 16 of 18 levels of exhumed shore platforms in the Fox- Franz Josef type area to altitudes as high as 1700 meters. (iii) Altitudinal spacings of New Zealand terrace flights allow correlation with 18 dated global marine terraces at New Guinea, which were formed during glacio-eustatic highstands of sea level within the last 336 x 10(3) years. Inferred uplift rates at Fox-Franz Josef increased from 3.2 to 7.8 meters per 10(3) years since about 135 x 10(3) to 140 x 10(3) years ago, presumably because of increased convergence between the Pacific and Australian plates.     

Soil quality and financial performance of biodynamic and conventional farms in new zealand

Biodynamic farming practices and systems show promise in mitigating some of the detrimental effects of chemical-dependent, conventional agriculture on the environment. The physical, biological, and chemical soil properties and economic profitability of adjacent, commercial biodynamic and conventional farms (16 total) in New Zealand were compared. The biodynamic farms in the study had better soil quality than the neighboring conventional farms and were just as financially viable on a per hectare basis.     

El Nino-like climate teleconnections in new england during the late pleistocene

A glacial varve chronology from New England spanning the 4000-year period from 17,500 to 13,500 calendar years before the present was analyzed for evidence of climate variability during the late Pleistocene. The chronology shows a distinct interannual (3 to 5 years) band of enhanced variability suggestive of El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) teleconnections into North America during the late Pleistocene, when the Laurentide ice sheet was near its maximum extent and climatic boundary conditions were different than those of today. This interannual variability largely disappears by the young end of the 4000-year chronology, with only the highest frequency components (roughly 3-year period) persisting. This record provides evidence of ENSO-like climate variability during near-peak glacial conditions.     

Evidence against a significant younger dryas cooling event in new zealand

Pollen records of deglacial sequences from northwest Nelson, New Zealand, demonstrate that there was no significant temperature decline associated with the Younger Dryas in New Zealand. Records of glacial advances at this time were either the product of increased snow accumulation under enhanced precipitation regimes or random variation rather than the result of a regional thermal decline. This finding supports those models of Younger Dryas initiation that require neither enhanced westerly circulation nor significant thermal decline in the Southern Hemisphere.     

Younger dryas age advance of franz josef glacier in the southern alps of new zealand

A corrected radiocarbon age of 11,050 +/- 14 years before present for an advance of the Franz Josef Glacier to the Waiho Loop terminal moraine on the western flank of New Zealand's Southern Alps shows that glacier advance on a South Pacific island was synchronous with initiation of the Younger Dryas in the North Atlantic region. Hence, cooling at the beginning of the Younger Dryas probably reflects global rather than regional forcing. The source for Younger Dryas climatic cooling may thus lie in the atmosphere rather than in a North Atlantic thermohaline switch.     

Thirty thousand years of human colonization in tasmania: new pleistocene dates

Basal dates of 30,420 years before present (BP) from a limestone cave in the Florentine River valley and 30,840 BP from a sandstone rockshelter in the Shannon River valley on the edge of the central Tasmanian highlands indicate colonization of Tasmania 8,000 years earlier than previously thought. These data indicate that people arrived before the Bassian Bridge was exposed about 23,000 years ago and support evidence that Tasmania and Australia may have been connected intermittently during the past 50,000 years. The dates support earlier suggestions that the Tasmanian inland was an important focus for systematic occupation and exploitation by human groups and dispel a belief that the Aboriginal economy 30,000 years ago was based on littoral, lacustral, and riverine resources. The absence of megafauna at both sites points to their extinction by 30,000 years ago in Tasmania. The people inhabiting Tasmania at this time, together with those at Monte Verde in Chile, were the most southerly humans on Earth.     

Application of carbon isotope stratigraphy to late miocene shallow marine sediments, new zealand

A distinct (0.5 per mil) carbon-13/carbon-12 isotopic shift in the light direction has been identified in a shallow marine sedimentary sequence of Late Miocene age at Blind River, New Zealand, and correlated with a similar shift in Late Miocene Deep Sea Drilling Project sequences throughout the Indo-Pacific. A dated piston core provides an age for the shift of 6.2 +/- 0.1 million years. Correlations based on the carbon isotopic change require a revision of the previously established magnetostratigraphy at Blind River. The carbon shift at Blind River occurs between 6.2 and 6.3 +/- 0.1 million years before present. A new chronology provides an age for the evolutionary first appearance datum of Globorotalia conomiozea at 6.1 +/- 0.1 million years, the beginning of a distinct latest Miocene cooling event associated with the Kapitean stage at 6.2 +/- 0.1 million years, and the beginning of a distinct shallowing of water depths at 6.1 +/- 0.1 million years. The Miocene-Pliocene boundary as recognized in New Zealand is now dated at 5.3 +/- 0.1 million years. Extension of carbon isotope stratigraphy to other shallow Late Miocene sequences should provide an important datum for international correlation of Late Miocene shallow and deep marine sequences.     

A cheetah-like cat in the north american pleistocene

The discovery of abundant skeletal remains of Felis trumani from a late Pleistocene deposit in Wyoming shows that it was as highly modified for cursorial locomotion as the cheetah (Acinonyx). Several other Pleistocene felids that have been regarded as pumas seem to be related forms. The late Pleistocene fauna of the Big Horn Basin in Wyoming is dominated by cursorial taxa.     

Coincidence of climatic and faunal fluctuations in pleistocene bermuda

As the climate of Pleistocene Bermuda oscillated during the last two glacial cycles, coincident variation occurred for a variety of independent events in the form and diversity of land snails. This variation was influenced primarily by the availability of calcium carbonate for shell construction.     

Late pleistocene history of coniferous woodland in the mohave desert

Seventeen ancient wood-rat middens, ranging in radiocarbon age from 7400 to 19,500 years and to older than 40,000 years, have been uncovered in the northeastern, north-central, southeastern, and southwestern sectors of the Mohave Desert. Excellent preservation of macroscopic plant materials (including stems, buds, leaves, fruits, and seeds) enables identification of many plant species growing within the limited foraging range of the sedentary wood rat. An approximately synchronous zonal differentiation of vegetation in response to a gradient of elevation on limestone in the northeastern Mohave Desert is apparent from the macrofossil evidence, preserved in wood-rat middens and ground-sloth coprolites, covering a time span bracketed by radiocarbon ages of about 9000 and 10,000 years. XerophilQus juniper woodlands descended to an elevation of 1100 meters, some 600 meters below the present lower limit of woodland (1700 meters) in the latitude of Frenchman Flat. But desert or semidesert shrubs coexisted with the woodland trees throughout much of the span of elevation corresponding to the pluvial lowering of the woodland zone, and the more mesophytic phase of pinyonjuniper woodland was evidently confined to montane habitats at elevations above 1500 meters. Joshua trees, accompanied by desert shrubs, prevailed down to about 600 meters at Gypsum Cave, Nevada, but only the shrubs of the existing warm-desert vegetation occurred at 530 meters near Rampart Cave, Arizona. Pleistocene middens from the southeastern Mohave Desert record a relatively large downward shift of the pinyon-juniper woodland zone, paralleling the remarkably low minimum elevation of the existing woodland zone in that area. The macrofossil evidence speaks for former continuity of the many disjunct stands of woodland vegetation in the Mohave Desert region, at least along the higher divides connecting most of the ranges. However, there is no macrofossil evidence of pluvial continuity of range for the more mesophytic, montane, coniferous-forest zone of ponderosa pine or white fir now occupying islands of relatively mesic environment on the highest mountains of the region. On the contrary, the uneven stocking of the lofty mountains of the Mohave Desert with mesephytic or boreal species and the trend toward endemism suggest a long history of isolation.     

Late pleistocene vegetation and degree of pluvial climatic change in the chihuahuan desert

Eight Pleistocene wood rat middens at elevations of 1200, 880, and 600 meters in the Chihuahuan Desert contain abundant macrofossils of pinyon pine, juniper, shrubby liveoak, and Opuntia, together with smaller quantities of Agave lecheguilla and other xerophytes of existing desert vegetation, which in dicate a xerophilous woodland vegetation in the lowlands, as much as 800 meters below existing woodland, during the Wisconsin pluvial. Ten radiocarbon dates show ages that range from 11,560 to 14,800 and 16,250 to 20,000 years, and to more than 40,000 years. Absence of most mesophytic montane species in deposits as high as 1200 meters indicates a lack of equivalent downward dis placement for the ponderosa pine zone or other zones of montane vegetation. Uneven stocking of isolated peaks in the Chihuahuan Desert province with montane species suggests that long-distance transport of propagules, rather than former continuity, may account for the disjunct distributions of many species.     

Paleomagnetic Study of a Reversal of the Earth's Magnetic Field

A detailed record of a field reversal has been obtained from the natural remanent magnetization of the Tatoosh intrusion in Mount Rainier National Park, Washington. The reversal took place at 14.7 +/- 1 million years and is interpreted to be from reverse to normal. A decrease in the intensity of the field of about an order of magnitude occurs immediately before the reversal, while its orientation remains substantially unchanged. The onset of the reversal is marked by abrupt swinging of the virtual geomagnetic pole along an arc of a great circle. During the reversal the pole traces a path across the Pacific. In the last stage of the process recorded in the sections, the succession of virtual geomagnetic poles is very similar to those generated by secular variation in the recent past. Although the cooling rate of the intrusion is not sufficiently well known to permit a useful calculation of the duration of the reversal process, an estimate based on the length of the supposed secular variation cycles gives 1 to 4 x 103 years for the reversal of field direction and approximately 1 x 104 years for the time scale of the intensity changes.     

Mountains and arid climates of middle latitudes

Simulations from a global climate model with and without orography have been used to investigate the role of mountains in maintaining extensive arid climates in middle latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere. Dry climates similar to those observed were simulated over central Asia and western interior North America in the experiment with mountains, whereas relatively moist climates were simulated in these areas in the absence of orography. The experiments suggest that these interior regions are dry because general subsidence and relatively infrequent storm development occur upstream of orographically induced stationary wave troughs. Downstream of these troughs, precipitation-bearing storms develop frequently in association with strong jet streams. In contrast, both atmospheric circulation and precipitation were more zonally symmetric in the experiment without mountains. In addition, orography reduces the moisture transport into the continental interiors from nearby oceanic sources. The relative soil wetness of these regions in the experiment without mountains is consistent with paleoclimatic evidence of less aridity during the late Tertiary, before substantial uplift of the Rocky Mountains and Tibetan Plateau is believed to have occurred.