@article{ProborukmiUrbanMischkeetal.2017, author = {Proborukmi, Maria Sekar and Urban, Brigitte and Mischke, Steffen and Mienis, Henk K. and Melamed, Yoel and Dupont-Nivet, Guillaume and Jourdan, Fred and Goren-Inbar, Naama}, title = {Evidence for climatic changes around the Matuyama-Brunhes Boundary (MBB) inferred from a multi-proxy palaeoenvironmental study of the GBY\#2 core, Jordan River Valley, Israel}, series = {Palaeogeography, palaeoclimatology, palaeoecology : an international journal for the geo-sciences}, volume = {489}, journal = {Palaeogeography, palaeoclimatology, palaeoecology : an international journal for the geo-sciences}, publisher = {Elsevier}, address = {Amsterdam}, issn = {0031-0182}, doi = {10.1016/j.palaeo.2017.10.007}, pages = {166 -- 185}, year = {2017}, abstract = {The Acheulian site of Gesher Benot Ya'aqov (GBY) in the Upper Jordan Valley revealed important data on environment and material culture, as well as evidence for hominin behavioural and cognitive patterns documented at the margins of the Hula Palaeo-lake. A 50 m long core (GBY\#2) drilled at the archaeological site has provided a long Pleistocene geological, environmental and climatological record, which expands the existing knowledge of hominin-habitat relationships. Bracketed by two basalt flows dated by 40Ar/39Ar and based on the identification of the Matuyama-Brunhes Boundary (MBB) and correlation with the GBY excavation site, the sedimentary sequence provides the climatic history around the MBB. Multi-proxy data including pollen and non-pollen palynomorphs, macro-botanical remains, molluscs and ostracods provide evidence for lake and lake-margin environments during Marine Isotope Stages (MIS) 20 and 19. Semi-moist conditions were followed by a pronounced dry phase during MIS 20, and warm and moist conditions with Quercus-Pistacia woodlands prevailed during MIS 19. In contrast to the reconstructed climate change from relatively dry to moister conditions, the depositional environment developed from an open-water lake during MIS 20 to a lake margin environment in MIS 19. Generally shallower conditions at the core site in MIS 19 resulted from the progradation of the lake shore due to the filling of the basin. Micro-charcoal analysis suggests a likelihood of human-induced fire in some parts of the core, which can be correlated with artefact-containing layers of the GBY excavation site. The Hula Palaeo-lake region provided an ideal niche for hominins and other vertebrates during global glacial-interglacial climate fluctuations at the end of the Early Pleistocene.}, language = {en} } @article{AminovDingMamadjonovetal.2017, author = {Aminov, Jovid and Ding, Lin and Mamadjonov, Yunus and Dupont-Nivet, Guillaume and Aminov, Jamshed and Zhang, Li-Yun and Yoqubov, Shokirjon and Aminov, Javhar and Abdulov, Sherzod}, title = {Pamir Plateau formation and crustal thickening before the India-Asia collision inferred from dating and petrology of the 110-92 Ma Southern Pamir volcanic sequence}, series = {Gondwana research : international geoscience journal ; official journal of the International Association for Gondwana Research}, volume = {51}, journal = {Gondwana research : international geoscience journal ; official journal of the International Association for Gondwana Research}, publisher = {Elsevier}, address = {Amsterdam}, issn = {1342-937X}, doi = {10.1016/j.gr.2017.08.003}, pages = {310 -- 326}, year = {2017}, abstract = {The formation of the Pamir is a key component of the India-Asia collision with major implications for lithospheric processes, plateau formation, land-sea configurations and associated climate changes. Although the formation of the Pamir is traditionally linked to Cenozoic processes associated with the India-Asia collision, the contribution of the Mesozoic tectonic evolution remains poorly understood. The Pamir was formed by the suturing of Gondwanan terranes to the south margin of Eurasia, however, the timing and tectonic mechanisms associated with this Mesozoic accretion remain poorly constrained. These processes are recorded by several igneous belts within these terranes, which are not well studied. Within the Southern Pamir, the Albian-Turonian volcanic rocks and comagmatic plutons of the Kyzylrabat Igneous Complex (KIC) provide an important and still unconstrained record of the Pamir evolution. Here we provide the age, origin and the geodynamic setting of the KIC volcanics by studying their petrology, zircon U-Pb geochronology, geochemistry and isotope composition.17 samples from the KIC volcanics yield U-Pb ages spanning from 92 to 110 Ma. The volcanics are intermediate to acidic in composition (SiO2 = 56-69 wt\%) and exhibit high-K calc-alkaline and shoshonitic affinity (K2O/Na2O = 12.2 wt\%). They show enrichment in LILE and LREE and depletion in HFSE and HREE with negative Ta, Ti and Nb anomalies, suggesting an arc-related tectonic setting for their formation. Low sNd(t) values (from 9.1 to 4.7), relatively high Sr-87/Sr-86(i) ratios (0.7069-0.7096) and broad range of zircon stif values (from 22.6 to 1.5) suggest a mixture of different magma sources. These features suggest that volcanics were derived by crustal under- or intraplating of an enriched subduction-related mantle shoshonitic magmas, by heating and partial melting of the lower crust, and by mixing of both magma components. Our results further imply that the KIC volcanics represent a shoshonitic suite typical of an evolution from active continental arc to post-collisional setting with a steepening of the Benioff zone and thickening of the crust toward the back-arc. This setting is best explained by the subduction- collision transition along the Shyok suture due to accretion of the Kohistan island arc to the Karakoram. This suggests that a significant part of the crustal shortening and thickening accommodated in the Pamir occurred in the Mesozoic before the India-Asia collision with implications for regional tectonic models. This further suggests the Pamir was already a major topographic feature with potentially important paleoclimate forcing such as the monsoonal circulation. (C) 2017 International Association for Gondwana Research. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.}, language = {en} } @article{BallatoCifelliHeidarzadehetal.2017, author = {Ballato, Paolo and Cifelli, Francesca and Heidarzadeh, Ghasem and Ghassemi, Mohammad R. and Wickert, Andrew D. and Hassanzadeh, Jamshid and Dupont-Nivet, Guillaume and Balling, Philipp and Sudo, Masafumi and Zeilinger, Gerold and Schmitt, Axel K. and Mattei, Massimo and Strecker, Manfred}, title = {Tectono-sedimentary evolution of the northern Iranian Plateau: insights from middle-late Miocene foreland-basin deposits}, series = {Basin research}, volume = {29}, journal = {Basin research}, publisher = {Wiley}, address = {Hoboken}, issn = {0950-091X}, doi = {10.1111/bre.12180}, pages = {417 -- 446}, year = {2017}, abstract = {Sedimentary basins in the interior of orogenic plateaus can provide unique insights into the early history of plateau evolution and related geodynamic processes. The northern sectors of the Iranian Plateau of the Arabia-Eurasia collision zone offer the unique possibility to study middle-late Miocene terrestrial clastic and volcaniclastic sediments that allow assessing the nascent stages of collisional plateau formation. In particular, these sedimentary archives allow investigating several debated and poorly understood issues associated with the long-term evolution of the Iranian Plateau, including the regional spatio-temporal characteristics of sedimentation and deformation and the mechanisms of plateau growth. We document that middle-late Miocene crustal shortening and thickening processes led to the growth of a basement-cored range (Takab Range Complex) in the interior of the plateau. This triggered the development of a foreland-basin (Great Pari Basin) to the east between 16.5 and 10.7Ma. By 10.7Ma, a fast progradation of conglomerates over the foreland strata occurred, most likely during a decrease in flexural subsidence triggered by rock uplift along an intraforeland basement-cored range (Mahneshan Range Complex). This was in turn followed by the final incorporation of the foreland deposits into the orogenic system and ensuing compartmentalization of the formerly contiguous foreland into several intermontane basins. Overall, our data suggest that shortening and thickening processes led to the outward and vertical growth of the northern sectors of the Iranian Plateau starting from the middle Miocene. This implies that mantle-flow processes may have had a limited contribution toward building the Iranian Plateau in NW Iran.}, language = {en} } @article{SierLangereisDupontNivetetal.2017, author = {Sier, Mark J. and Langereis, Cor G. and Dupont-Nivet, Guillaume and Feibel, Craig S. and Joordens, Josephine C. A. and van der Lubbe, Jeroen Fiji. and Beck, Catherine C. and Olago, Daniel and Cohen, Andrew}, title = {The top of the Olduvai Subchron in a high-resolution magnetostratigraphy from the West Turkana core WTK13, hominin sites and Paleolakes Drilling Project (HSPDP)}, series = {Quaternary geochronology : the international research and review journal on advances in quaternary dating techniques}, volume = {42}, journal = {Quaternary geochronology : the international research and review journal on advances in quaternary dating techniques}, publisher = {Elsevier}, address = {Oxford}, organization = {WTK Science Team Members}, issn = {1871-1014}, doi = {10.1016/j.quageo.2017.08.004}, pages = {117 -- 129}, year = {2017}, abstract = {One of the major challenges in understanding the evolution of our own species is identifying the role climate change has played in the evolution of hominin species. To clarify the influence of climate, we need long and continuous high-resolution paleoclimate records, preferably obtained from hominin-bearing sediments, that are well-dated by tephro- and magnetostratigraphy and other methods. This is hindered, however, by the fact that fossil-bearing outcrop sediments are often discontinuous, and subject to weathering, which may lead to oxidation and remagnetization. To obtain fresh, unweathered sediments, the Hominin Sites and Paleolakes Drilling Project (HSPDP) collected a \&\#8764;216-meter core (WTK13) in 2013 from Early Pleistocene Paleolake Lorenyang deposits in the western Turkana Basin (Kenya). Here, we present the magnetostratigraphy of the WTK13 core, providing a first age model for upcoming HSPDP paleoclimate and paleoenvrionmental studies on the core sediments. Rock magnetic analyses reveal the presence of iron sulfides carrying the remanent magnetizations. To recover polarity orientation from the near-equatorial WTK13 core drilled at 5°N, we developed and successfully applied two independent drill-core reorientation methods taking advantage of (1) the sedimentary fabric as expressed in the Anisotropy of Magnetic Susceptibility (AMS) and (2) the occurrence of a viscous component oriented in the present day field. The reoriented directions reveal a normal to reversed polarity reversal identified as the top of the Olduvai Subchron. From this excellent record, we find no evidence for the 'Vrica Subchron' previously reported in the area. We suggest that outcrop-based interpretations supporting the presence of the Vrica Subchron have been affected by the oxidation of iron sulfides initially present in the sediments -as evident in the core record- and by subsequent remagnetization. We discuss the implications of the observed geomagnetic record for human evolution studies.}, language = {en} }