Millennial-scale climatic cycles in the Early Pliocene pollen record of Ptolemais, northern Greece

Early Pliocene lacustrine sediments from the Ptolemais Basin, northern Greece, exhibit a climatically induced cyclicity, which can be correlated with the orbital cycle of precession. Superimposed on precession-controlled cycles, palynological time-series data reveal a higher-order climatic cyclicity with periodicities of ∼10, ∼2.5, and ∼1.5 ka. These millennial-scale vegetation changes are likely to reflect changes of the soil-moisture gradient on mountain slopes, caused by fluctuations in orographic winter-precipitation. Such fluctuations corroborate the concept of a NAO-like North Atlantic climatic teleconnection during Early Pliocene times. The periodicities are similar to those of climate oscillations inferred from Quaternary records. The occurrence of millennial-scale cyclicity in a time interval when the Northern Hemisphere was essentially ice-free, implies an ultimate forcing mechanism that operated independently of changes in the thermohaline circulation in the Atlantic Ocean. The cycles are likely to be related to long-period variations in solar activity.     

Lignites of Kutch,western India: Dinoflagellate biostratigraphy and palaeoclimate

The Eocene epoch in the Indian subcontinent was marked by widespread deposition of lignite and coal. While several of these deposits formed during the Early Eocene, corresponding to Early Eocene hyperthermal events, the lignites of Kutch in western India formed later during the Middle Eocene. An integrated biostratigraphy based on dinoflagellates and foraminifera assigns a Bartonian age to the succession, which likely corresponds to the time of the Middle Eocene warming. The spores, pollen, dinoflagellates and foraminifera suggest a restricted marine, near shore depositional environment adjacent to tropical rainforest. The lignites of Kutch suggest high precipitation during or just preceding the warm climate of the Middle Eocene.     

Palynological indications of environmental changes during the Late Cretaceous–Eocene on the southern continental margin of Laurasia, Xizang (Tibet)

A palynostratigraphic and palynofacies study of a geological section at Cuojiangding in Zhongba County has provided a basis for discussing the palaeoenvironmental evolution of the southern continental margin of Laurasia in Xizang (Tibet) towards the end of the Cretaceous Period and during the Paleogene. It is the only record of fossil spores and pollen grains from collision- and convergence-related sediments close to the major Yarlung Zangbo Suture. Deposits of the Padana Formation at the base of the section through the Qubeiya, Quxia, and Jialazi formations to the Rujiao Zangbo Conglomerate at the top are considered to range in age from Santonian to Eocene or possibly Oligocene. During this period the India plate collided with, and continued to push against, Laurasia plate. Two spore and pollen zones and three palynofacies types are recognized. These are correlated with two transgressive–regressive cycles associated with the collision, periods of geologically rapid uplift being reflected by the molasse-like sediments of the upper Quxia Formation and the Rujiao Zangbo Conglomerate, which accumulated during the Late Paleocene and Eocene–Oligocene respectively. The first regression led to intermittent subaerial exposure and erosion of the Cuojiangding area. The second ended the marine history of the area and led first to the development of swamps in a subtropical climate, now preserved in the coal-bearing Qiuwu Formation, and later to the development of mountainous terrain, with a cooler climate at higher elevations.     

Pollen molecular biology: Applications in the forensic palynology and future prospects: A review

Palynology, which is the study of pollen and spores in an archaeological or geological context, has become a well-established research tool leading to many significant scientific developments. The term palynomorph includes pollen of spermatophytes, spores of fungi, ferns, and bryophytes, as well as other organic-walled microfossils, such as dinoflagellates and acritarches. Advances in plant genomics have had a high impact on the field of forensic botany. Forensic palynology has also been used and applied more recently to criminal investigation in a meaningful way. However, the use of pollen DNA profiling in forensic investigations has yet to be applied. There were earlier uses of dust traces in some forensic analyses that considered pollen as a type of botanical dust debris. Pollen grains can be studied for comparative morphological data, clues to unexpected aspects relating to breeding systems, pollination biology and hybridization. This can provide a better understanding of the entire biology of the group under investigation. Forensic palynology refers to the use of pollen and other spores when it is used as evidence in legal cases to resolve criminal issues by proving or disproving relationships between people and crime scenes. This overview describes the various contributions and the significance of palynology, its applications, different recent approaches and how it could be further employed in solving criminal investigations.     

透射电子显微镜(TEM)技术在大孢子化石 超微结构研究中的应用

透射电子显微镜(TEM)具有优异的纳米尺度显微成像性能,因此被广泛应用于材料科学、物理学和生物学等学科的超微结构研究领域。文中根据应用TEM技术研究大孢子化石壁超微结构的实践体会,系统归纳和总结了大孢子化石TEM样品制备的前处理过程,主要步骤包括:材料选取、梯度脱水、包埋剂配比、梯度渗透、包埋、聚合、超薄切片和染色。运用上述TEM实验技术,文中以云南省曲靖市沾益区龙华山剖面中泥盆统吉维特阶上双河组分散拟网龙华山大孢(Longhuashanispora reticuloides Lu and Ouyang, 1978)的壁层超微结构为研究案例,揭示了这类孢子壁主要由三层薄壁组成,包括内部基底层、中部疏松层和外部致密层,其射线唇基底层下部具有近平行排列的多细纹带结构。此类大孢子的多细纹带结构与从加拿大新不伦瑞克省下泥盆统埃姆斯阶Campbellton组同孢植物化石Leclercqia complexa Banks et al., 1972中发现的原位小孢子射线唇基底层下部的多细纹带结构特征非常相似。此外,两者都具有相似的完全弓形脊和远极表面刺瘤状二型纹饰。因此综合外壁超微结构和纹饰形态特征,文中认为Longhuashanispora reticuloides的母体植物可能属于同孢植物向异孢植物演化过程中的过渡类型植物,并与Leclercqia complexa具有较近的亲缘关系。当前研究表明TEM技术在孢粉化石壁超微结构研究领域中具有独特优势,可为深入研究大孢子形态分类和揭示其与母体植物的亲缘关系提供新的线索,也可以被推广和应用到其他微体有机壁类化石的超微结构研究。     

成都地区19个木芙蓉品种的孢粉学研究及其分类学意义

为了解成都地区木芙蓉(Hibiscus mutabilis)品种间的亲缘关系,采用扫描电镜观察了19个木芙蓉品种的花粉显微结构,并探讨其分类学意义。结果表明,19个木芙蓉品种的花粉均为大粒,主要为圆球形,具散孔,外壁纹饰均为刺状纹饰,表面具有颗粒状突起。木芙蓉品种间在花粉粒大小、外壁纹饰上具有一定差异,可以作为品种分类的重要依据。聚类分析可以将19个木芙蓉品种划分为3大类,类型I和II的花粉较大,刺细尖;类型III的花粉较小,刺短粗,刺间距离较小。这为木芙蓉品种间亲缘关系研究和品种分类提供了孢粉学依据,也为新品种的选育提供了理论参考。     

New palaeoecological evidence for the potential role of fire in the Gran Sabana, Venezuelan Guayana, and implications for early human occupation

The neotropical Gran Sabana region of Venezuela is dominated by apparently anomalous vegetation types, treeless savannas and savanna-forest mosaics, considering the present-day warm and wet bioclimatic conditions. Past climatic changes and fire have been proposed as the more probable causes. Recent palynological studies show that savanna vegetation has been present since the beginning of the Holocene, but the earliest fires recorded so far only go back to 3,800 cal years b.p. This paper uses pollen and charcoal analyses to show the existence of early Holocene regional fires in the Gran Sabana, and to show the intimate connection between the proxies for fire (charcoal) and savanna vegetation (pollen) throughout the Holocene. Although the cause of such fires is not yet known, the possibility of early Holocene human occupation of the Gran Sabana is suggested.     

Holocene mangrove and coastal environmental changes in the western Ganga–Brahmaputra Delta, India

A 50 m-long radiocarbon dated core was studied through sediment and pollen analysis to reconstruct the Holocene mangrove and environmental changes at a coastal site Pakhiralaya in the Sundarban Biosphere Reserve in the western Ganga–Brahmaputra Delta, India. This biosphere reserve harbours a diverse mangrove ecosystem and supports a large number of people living in the area. Pollen and stratigraphic data indicate the existence of a brackish water estuarine mangrove swamp forest in this area during the last 9880 cal yr b.p. The development of the mangrove forest is not shown continuously in the Holocene record. Rapid transgression of the sea (9240 cal yr b.p.) halted the development of the mangrove. After about 8420 cal yr b.p. mangrove recolonised the area and persisted until 7560 cal yr b.p. as a result of a balance between the sedimentation and sea level fluctuation. The mangrove disappeared again from the site until 4800 cal yr b.p. because of a high sedimentation rate and possible delta progradation with loss of habitats. The reappearance of mangrove at the study site occurred with a return of a brackish water estuarine environment and the site then gradually became supra tidal during the mid-late Holocene. The continuity of the mangrove development and dynamics was interrupted by the fluctuating sea levels. Climatic fluctuations were viewed as an indirect factor influencing the mangrove ecosystem.     

Vegetation reconstruction on the basis of pollen in Late Pleistocene hyena coprolites from San Teodoro Cave (Sicily, Italy)

Vegetation reconstruction based on pollen from coprolites of extinct spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta spelaea, Goldfuss 1832) recovered from excavations carried out in 1998 at San Teodoro Cave (Sicily, Italy) supports previous indications of pre-Late Glacial conditions. Eight of the twelve coprolites analysed contained well-preserved pollen grains. There is a general similarity between the pollen contents from the coprolites but they show variability. They suggest a main vegetation type dominated by steppic taxa (Poaceae, Artemisia, Ephedra, Chenopodiaceae and Asteraceae) but also including arboreal taxa (Pinus and Cupressaceae). Low percentages of pollen of mesophilous woody taxa (Quercus, Betula, Abies, Alnus, Pistacia, among others) are noticeable, suggesting the existence of nearby refugia for temperate and Mediterranean vegetation. A reconstruction of the landscape, using the coprolite pollen record and other pollen records from Sicily and south Italy, shows the predominance, during the pre-Late Glacial, of a wooded steppe biome, with elements representing a variety of local environmental conditions.