Cooling-driven climate change at 12–11 Ma: Multiproxy records from a long fluviolacustrine sequence at Guyuan, Ningxia, China

To explore the evolution of climate through the Miocene, especially during the Middle Miocene climate transition, multiproxy continental records were analyzed by susceptibility (SUS), lightness (L), total inorganic carbon (TIC) and total organic carbon (TOC) content from the 2900-m-thick fluviolacustrine sediment sequence at Guyuan, Ningxia, China and compared with the redness (a) and the pollen humidity indices from the same section. The published Miocene records of sedimentation rate, sediment grain size, biota turnover, and palaeoproductivity from other regions were also compiled and compared. Results show that multiproxies of the Sikouzi section have changed substantially since 12–11 Ma ago. SUS, L and TIC have increased while a, TOC and the pollen humidity index decreased, all implying that the palaeoclimate in the study area has got cooler and drier since that time.This climate change also left imprints in many other regions, probably resulting from global cooling and the development of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet since about 14 Ma. Several positive feedback mechanisms are proposed to have effectively modulated and magnified the Mid-Miocene global cooling, including vegetation change, greenhouse gas (atmospheric CO₂ and water vapor) fluctuations. They led to the strengthing of ocean and atmospheric circulation, significant lowering of sea level and increasing aridification over the globe, especially in middle-high latitudes. Since 12–11 Ma ago, a continuously cooler and drier climate may have caused the substantial intensification of physical weathering and exhumation on the earth's surface, the increased sediment accumulation rates on the land and in the sea, and the inception of productivity increase in the oceans. Nevertheless, when and where these mechanisms operated and how they were tied to each other remain ambiguous, deserving further investigation.     

A 20 Ma pollen record of East-Asian summer monsoon evolution from Guyuan, Ningxia, China

Pollen analysis was conducted on the fluviolacustrine sediments from the east side of the Liupan Mountains, a relatively monsoon-sensitive region, and provided for the first time a continuous evolutionary history of vegetation and climate in East China during the Neogene. The pollen record spanning the last 20 Ma indicates that the vegetation and thus East-Asian summer monsoon evolution can be divided into three stages: 20.13–14.25 Ma, 14.25–11.35 Ma and 11.35–0.08 Ma, in spite of general dominance of steppe throughout the Neogene. During the period 20.13–14.25 Ma, the pollen assemblage was characterized by high abundance of Artemisia and small amounts of temperate to subtropical deciduous broad-leafed trees such as Juglans, Carya, Quercus and Betula, suggesting that the East-Asian summer monsoon was generally strong. The interval from 14.25 to 11.35 Ma was marked by a significant decline in the East-Asian summer monsoon, as indicated by Artemisia gradually replaced by Humulus and halophytic Chenopodiaceae. Nitraria and Ephedra also reached high values in this period. Since 11.35 Ma ago, percentages of halophytes dominated by Chenopodiaceae and Tamaricaceae maintained a high mean value of about 40%, revealing a weak intensity of East-Asian summer monsoon. The general weakening of the monsoon circulation during the Neogene and the significant monsoon decline during the late Middle Miocene in particular might link with the global cooling trend probably through two mechanisms. Cooling and ice-sheet expansion over the polar region caused an increase in meridional temperature gradients leading to the southward retreat of the monsoon circulation. The global cooling may have also reduced the amount of water vapor held in the atmosphere, and led to both additional cooling and further weakening of the East-Asian summer monsoon. The cause for a short-lived resumption during the period 1.0–0.8 Ma is under investigation.     

宁夏固原市流浪犬寄生虫感染情况的调查

为了解城市流浪犬寄生虫感染情况,2011年7～9月对宁夏固原市随机选择3个小区的56只流浪犬进行了体表寄生虫和肠道寄生虫感染调查.结果显示,流浪犬体表寄生虫总感染率100％,其中54只犬检到犬栉首蚤,56只犬检到犬啮毛虱,26只犬检到犬疥螨,10只犬检到犬蠕形螨;33份粪样中检出虫卵,肠道寄生虫总感染率58.93％,其中20份检出犬弓首蛔虫卵,4份检出犬钩虫卵,9份检出泡状带绦虫卵.可见固原市城市流浪犬寄生虫感染相当普遍和严重,加强宠物饲养管理和流浪犬管理的工作刻不容缓.     

The chronostratigraphic position of the Camping Francas section(Neogene of Tarragona,Spain)

The presence of Cirsotrema (s.s.) pumiceum (BROCCHI) and Chlamys (Manupecten) pesfelis (LINNE) in the section of Camping Francás (Province of Tarragona, Spain) suggests that the age of the deposits be changed from the upper Miocene (Tortonian) to the Pliocene. The change is of particular significance as the site is one of the classic localities of Pectinidae of the Neogene in North East Spain, and is type locality of Pecten (Flabellipecten) constisulcatus ALMERA & BOFILL.     

中国新近纪几种稀有啮齿动物

30多年来,中国新近纪堆积物中发现了大量的小哺乳动物化石,但一些种类的材料很少,而且仅在个别地点出现,在动物群中常以未定属、种记述.详细描述了4种罕见的啮齿动物,其中3种,泗洪豪鼠(Sayimys sihongensis)、亚洲别齿始鼠(Apeomys asiaticus)和新来鼠(未定种)(Neocometes sp.)发现于江苏泗洪早中新世下草湾组,一种,细小云南始鼠(Yuneomys pusillus)产自云南禄丰晚中新世石灰坝组.与欧亚或北美有关材料的比较研究表明,江苏泗洪标本无法归入相关属的任何已知种,因此被确定了两个新种(S.sihongensis和A.asiaticus);禄丰原归入Leptodontomys pusillus的标本与该属的特征不符,被指定为新属Ynueomys.泗洪的A.asiaticus和Neocometes sp.分别代表该属在亚洲和中国的首次记录;它们与S.sihongensis在亚洲远东地区的出现,增加了我们对这些稀有动物地理分布和欧亚古生物地理关系的知识.禄丰的新属Yuneomys与共生的Plesieomys和Heteroeomys属同为丘齿型始鼠类,可能都属热带或亚热带森林型动物;在禄丰动物群中缺少脊齿型始鼠类,与华北动物群的组成不同,似乎表明华南和华北始鼠动物群在中新世期间已有明显的分异,进而支持这一时期亚洲出现了不同生态区系的设想.     

中国新近纪几种稀有啮齿动物（英文）

30多年来,中国新近纪堆积物中发现了大量的小哺乳动物化石,但一些种类的材料很少,而且仅在个别地点出现,在动物群中常以未定属、种记述。详细描述了4种罕见的啮齿动物,其中3种,泗洪豪鼠(Sayimys sihongensis)、亚洲别齿始鼠(Apeomys asiaticus)和新来鼠(未定种)(Neocometes sp.)发现于江苏泗洪早中新世下草湾组,一种,细小云南始鼠(Yuneomys pusillus)产自云南禄丰晚中新世石灰坝组。与欧亚或北美有关材料的比较研究表明,江苏泗洪标本无法归入相关属的任何已知种,因此被确定了两个新种(S.sihongensis和A.asiaticus);禄丰原归入Leptodontomys pusillus的标本与该属的特征不符,被指定为新属Ynueomys。泗洪的A.asiaticus和Neocometes sp.分别代表该属在亚洲和中国的首次记录;它们与S.sihongensis在亚洲远东地区的出现,增加了我们对这些稀有动物地理分布和欧亚古生物地理关系的知识。禄丰的新属Yuneomys与共生的Plesieomys和Heteroeomys属同为丘齿型始鼠类,可能都属热带或亚热带森林型动物;在禄丰动物群中缺少脊齿型始鼠类,与华北动物群的组成不同,似乎表明华南和华北始鼠动物群在中新世期间已有明显的分异,进而支持这一时期亚洲出现了不同生态区系的设想。     

On the systematic status of the late Neogene hominoids from Yunnan Province,China

Late Miocene and Pliocene hominoids from Yunnan Province in southern China have been recovered from four sites or site complexes: Xiaolongtan, Yangyi, Shihuiba and Yuanmou. Of these, Shihuiba and Yuanmou are among the most prolific fossil hominoid sites in Eurasia, and they have yielded important evidence that is critical for documenting the evolutionary history, biogeography and paleobiology of later Neogene hominids. The aim of this paper is to clarify their taxonomy and nomenclature, and to present a preliminary synthesis of their phylogenetic relationships and biogeography. The morphological pattern and degree of variation observed in the fossil samples is consistent with there being a single, sexually dimorphic species represented at each site. Provisionally, we consider the Shihuiba, Xiaolongtan and Yuanmou samples to belong to two separate species within a single genus. The valid names for these species are Lufengpithecus lufengensis (from Shihuiba) and L. keiyuanensis (from Xiaolongtan and Yuanmou). From a phylogenetic perspective, the currently available evidence suggests that Lufengpithecus is either a primitive hominid that represents the sister taxon of the Ponginae+Homininae or a primitive sister taxon to the Ponginae. We tend to favor the second alternative, but acknowledge that a more comprehensive comparative analysis is needed to substantiate the phylogenetic and taxonomic affinities of Lufengpithecus. Importantly, the Yunnan fossil apes provide a unique temporal perspective on the evolutionary history of hominoids. Their continued occurrence during the late Miocene and Pliocene (approximately 8-2Ma), when hominoids became extinct throughout the rest of Eurasia, suggests that southern China (and presumably southeast Asia in general) was an important refugium for hominoids, including the ancestors of the orang-utans and gibbons. The uplift of the Tibetan plateau and its impact on regional climatic conditions may have been an important contributing factor in isolating the hominoids geographically and ecologically. We speculate that changed climatic condition in the mid-Pliocene, and possibly the arrival of Homo soon after, may have precipitated the regional extinction of large hominoids in southern China and in mainland southeast Asia.     

Magnetostratigraphy susceptibility of the Upper Ordovician Kope Formation,northern Kentucky

As a test of the utility of magnetic susceptibility (MS) measurements for correlation among lithified marine sequences, samples were collected from well-studied shale and limestone outcrops of the Upper Ordovician Kope Formation, northern Kentucky. The bulk (initial) low-field MS of these samples is compared among two litho- and biostratigraphically correlated sections containing the same beds. The results of this comparison demonstrated an excellent correlation among equivalent beds. Thermomagnetic susceptibility analysis supports previous XRD work indicating that illite is primary and is the main paramagnetic mineral responsible for the MS variations observed in this study. A composite of MS results for a sequence of 31 named shale–limestone couplets is used to build a composite section of Kope sequences for the area. These MS variations permit division of the various sections into a set of 28 MS cycles within the Kope Formation, covering ∼ 50 m of section. These cycles suggest a systematic control by climate on the influx of detrital material that formed these sedimentary sequences, and support other work indicating Kope climate cyclicity.     

Middle Permian smaller foraminifers from the Maokou Formation at the Tieqiao section,Guangxi, South China

This paper documents smaller foraminifers from the Maokou Formation (Guadalupian) at the Tieqiao section in Laibin area, South China. The assemblage of smaller foraminifers reported herein consists of 69 species of 42 genera. Although the Maokou Formation of this section was deposited in a relatively deep-water environment, smaller foraminifers are diverse and abundant, especially in debris flow deposits and thin turbidite beds. This fauna bears most similarity with coeval foraminiferal assemblages from the other Palaeotethyan regions. There is a sharp decrease in the diversity and abundance of smaller foraminifers at the lithological boundary between the Maokou and Heshan formations. An overwhelming majority of genera of smaller foraminifers that occur in the Maokou Formation at this section can be found in the Lopingian strata of South China. The study of smaller foraminiferal fauna of the Guadalupian at the Tieqiao section indicates a much less pronounced effect of the pre-Lopingian crisis on smaller foraminifers.     

宁夏4种新记录植物

报道了宁夏4个新记录种(变种)——对叶兰[Neottia puberula(Maximowicz)Szlachetko]、花叶对叶兰[N.puberulavar.maculata(T.Tang et F.T.Wang)S.C.Chen et al.]、岐山金丝桃(Hypericum elatoides R.Kel-ler)和小卫矛(Euonymus nanoides Loes.et Rehd.)。     

Plio-Pleistocene vegetation changes in the North China Plain: Magnetostratigraphy, oxygen and carbon isotopic composition of pedogenic carbonates

The Plio-Pleistocene history of C₄ plant biomass in northwestern China has been documented from the loess-soil sequences of the Loess Plateau region. However, how C₄ plants evolved in the warmer and low-elevation eastern China monsoon zone is still poorly known mainly because of the unavailability of well-dated geological records. In this study, a 203.6-m core of floodplain deposits was recovered from the North China Plain near Tianjin and dated magnetostratigraphically. The results define a chronosequence for the last 3.3 Ma. The late Quaternary portion of the core consists of fluvio-marine sediments while the rest of the section (3.3-0.6 Ma) contains abundant paleosols formed on the floodplain, as confirmed by soil micromorphological evidence. The stable carbon and oxygen isotopic composition of pedogenic carbonates was measured to document vegetation and climate changes. The results reveal mixed C₃ and C₄ vegetation with an estimated C₄ abundance of ~ 40-60% from ~ 3.1 to ~ 2.2 Ma, and a subsequent gradual decline to ~ 25% until ~ 0.6 Ma. This trend is consistent with the data from the loess-soil sequences further west on the Loess Plateau, suggesting they are regionally significant changes. The lowering of growing-season temperature and/or drier conditions induced by global cooling would explain this overall decline.     

Neogene stratigraphy of the Eastern basin,Samos island,Greece

Revision of the stratigraphy and depositional environmentsin the Eastern Neogene basin of Samos. Mapping, structural analysis together with new K/Ar dates provide the following general pattern: two fluvial-lacustrine cycles separated by a disconformity. Basal cycle is Astaracian-Vallesian, the disconformity occured between 9 and 8.5 MY, upper cycle is Turolian and has yielded the famous «Samos mammal fauna wich is between 8.5 and 7.0 MY old.     

Isotope variability of particulate organic matter at the PN section in the East China Sea

The source of particulate organic matter at the PN section in the East China Sea has been evaluated using stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes. The results showed that the ¹³C and ¹⁵N compositions varied from –19 to –31 and 0.7–9.5 respectively, and the isotope compositions were statistically distinct, enabling, by use of a simple components mixing equations, assessment of the ability of each tracer to estimate the terrestrial, Kuroshio Water, marine and remineralized sources' contributions. The dominance of terrestrial inputs of the Changjiang could be observed 250 km far from the river mouth in the East China Sea. In the shelf water column, the remineralization of biogenic organic matter becomes an important source except for the terrigenous and marine sources. The estimation of sources recorded by ¹³C data was partly confirmed by equivalent ¹⁵N and C/N compositions that reflected greater control by organic matter diagenesis and biological processing. However, the lighter contribution of ¹³C data of the Kuroshio samples also indicates the alteration of the isotope values by microbial or other processes. The net export flux of POC in the PN section is estimated to be 4.1 kmol C/s and the annual export is 129 Gmol C/yr, which is account for 20% of the East China Sea.     

Magnetostratigraphy and sedimentologically derived geochronology of the Quaternary lacustrine deposits of a 3000 m thick sequence in the central Qaidam basin, western China

The Qaidam basin is a large basin in western China where the thickness of Quaternary deposits has a range of 2000–3000 m at its subsiding depocentre. This study investigated the chronology of the Quaternary deposits, including palaeomagnetics, biostratigraphic correlation, rates of sediment accumulation, seismic reflection surveys and electrical property correlations. The results give a full interpretation of ages for the sequence from bottom to top. The oldest sequence age was defined by the first appearance of Microlimnocythere sinensis Huang, and was placed in the Gauss Epoch, estimated at approximately 3 Ma by extrapolation of accumulation rates. The M/G boundary occurs at the base of the third fossil zone of Ostracoda (the first appearance of Qinghaicypris crassa Huang), or at the marker layer K₁₀ of the electrical log in the Sebei anticline area, considered here to be 2.48 Ma. The Olduvai event in the fifth fossil zone, spanning electrical layers K₄ and K₃ in the Sebei area, occurs at reflection layer T₀⁻¹ of seismic stratigraphy which could be stratigraphically correlated in the whole basin. The boundary of Early/Middle Pleistocene such as the Brunhes and Matsuyama (B/M) boundary, falls within the eighth fossil zone and coincides with electrical marker K₀¹. Two boundaries corresponding to Middle/Late Pleistocene and Pleistocene/Holocene occur at the bases of the 11th and 12th biozones respectively, neither of which can be correlated with seismic stratigraphy and electrical logs in the basin due to the lack of widely distributed lacustrine deposits since the Middle Pleistocene. The ages of the boundaries can be tested by deposition rates of different facies derived from the varves and synchronous deposits. As a result, geochronological sequences of subsurface stratigraphy could be established within a basin-wide area on the synchronology of seismic reflectors and correlations of electrical logs as well as biozones.     

Discovery of Steninae from Ningxia,Northwest China (Coleoptera,Staphylinidae)

A study on the Steninae of Ningxia Autonomous Region is presented. Sixteen species are recognized, including new province records for 11 species and four new species: Stenus biwenxuani sp. n., Stenus liupanshanus sp. n., Dianous yinziweii sp. n., Dianous ningxiaensis sp. n. Habitus photos of the new species, illustrations of diagnostic characters of all species and a key to species of the Steninae recorded from Ningxia are provided.     

Evolution of bird communities in the Neogene of Central Asia,with a review of the Neogene fossil record of Asian birds

A complete taxonomic review of Neogene birds of continental Asia is provided. To date, avifauna from the latter half of the Miocene and Pliocene of Central Asia (Mongolia and adjacent regions of Inner Asia) are most thoroughly investigated. Available data enable a reconstruction of successive replacement of Early and Middle Miocene avifaunas by communities of the Recent type. Middle Miocene avifaunas of Mongolia include a great number of extinct genera and species, many of which were widespread in Eurasia. Extant genera became dominant in the Late Miocene and taxa close to living species appear in the Late Pliocene fossil record. Late Pliocene communities of birds of Central Asia were complex in genesis, composed of Miocene relicts (Struthio), immigrants from the European regions of the Palearctic (phasianid Plioperdix), North American immigrants (Calcarius), and also autochthonous elements, the origin of which is apparently connected with the arid belt of Central Asia (diverse passerines).     

宁夏贺兰山国家级自然保护区蓝马鸡的分布范围及种群数量

从2003年1月到2009年12月,结合保护区内的巡护工作,行走样线2000多条次,并在此基础上得出了宁夏贺兰山国家级自然保护区内蓝马鸡的分布范围为375.29 km2,且全部位于针叶林带;该种群的数量约为650只,远未摆脱易危状况.蓝马鸡贺兰山种群保持着集小群的特点,集群大小在1～12只之间,比其它地区的小,这可能与种群密度较小有关.对活动节律的分析发现它们活动的早高峰期在上午的9:00～11:00.     

荒漠地衣对沙坡头人工植被固沙区的生态影响

腾格里沙漠东南缘沙坡头地区所形成的微型生物结皮(microbiotic crust)占优势的生态格局是荒漠地区天然植被中特有的生态景观之一。荒漠地衣作为微型生物结皮中重要的组成部分,在影响生态变化方面扮演着不可或缺的角色。本研究调查了不同建立年代的人工植被固沙区中的维管植物和微型生物结皮中地衣的物种组成和盖度,测定了结皮土壤的主要养分含量。结果显示:微型生物结皮中地衣以胶衣Collema和石果衣Endocarpon两属为优势类群;随人工植被建立时间的延长,维管植物和微型生物结皮盖度、结皮厚度与土壤养分含量呈增高趋势,并基本呈显著的正相关关系。维管植物、微型生物结皮、地衣和土壤养分基本一致的变化规律表明,微型生物结皮对固沙区中浅根系植被发育和土壤恢复具有正效应,为人工高效治沙及全面实施"沙漠生物地毯工程"提供了必要的理论基础。