TY - JOUR A1 - Krüger, Johanna A1 - Foerster, Verena Elisabeth A1 - Trauth, Martin H. A1 - Hofreiter, Michael A1 - Tiedemann, Ralph T1 - Exploring the Past Biosphere of Chew Bahir/Southern Ethiopia: Cross-Species Hybridization Capture of Ancient Sedimentary DNA from a Deep Drill Core JF - Frontiers in Earth Science N2 - Eastern Africa has been a prime target for scientific drilling because it is rich in key paleoanthropological sites as well as in paleolakes, containing valuable paleoclimatic information on evolutionary time scales. The Hominin Sites and Paleolakes Drilling Project (HSPDP) explores these paleolakes with the aim of reconstructing environmental conditions around critical episodes of hominin evolution. Identification of biological taxa based on their sedimentary ancient DNA (sedaDNA) traces can contribute to understand past ecological and climatological conditions of the living environment of our ancestors. However, sedaDNA recovery from tropical environments is challenging because high temperatures, UV irradiation, and desiccation result in highly degraded DNA. Consequently, most of the DNA fragments in tropical sediments are too short for PCR amplification. We analyzed sedaDNA in the upper 70 m of the composite sediment core of the HSPDP drill site at Chew Bahir for eukaryotic remnants. We first tested shotgun high throughput sequencing which leads to metagenomes dominated by bacterial DNA of the deep biosphere, while only a small fraction was derived from eukaryotic, and thus probably ancient, DNA. Subsequently, we performed cross-species hybridization capture of sedaDNA to enrich ancient DNA (aDNA) from eukaryotic remnants for paleoenvironmental analysis, using established barcoding genes (cox1 and rbcL for animals and plants, respectively) from 199 species that may have had relatives in the past biosphere at Chew Bahir. Metagenomes yielded after hybridization capture are richer in reads with similarity to cox1 and rbcL in comparison to metagenomes without prior hybridization capture. Taxonomic assignments of the reads from these hybridization capture metagenomes also yielded larger fractions of the eukaryotic domain. For reads assigned to cox1, inferred wet periods were associated with high inferred relative abundances of putative limnic organisms (gastropods, green algae), while inferred dry periods showed increased relative abundances for insects. These findings indicate that cross-species hybridization capture can be an effective approach to enhance the information content of sedaDNA in order to explore biosphere changes associated with past environmental conditions, enabling such analyses even under tropical conditions. KW - Chew Bahir KW - hybridization capture KW - ICDP KW - paleoclimate KW - past biosphere KW - sedaDNA KW - sediment core Y1 - 2021 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2021.683010 SN - 2296-6463 SP - 1 EP - 20 PB - Frontiers in Earth Science CY - Lausanne, Schweiz ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Owen, Richard Bernhart A1 - Muiruri, Veronica M. A1 - Lowenstein, Tim K. A1 - Renaut, Robin W. A1 - Rabideaux, Nathan A1 - Luo, Shangde A1 - Deino, Alan L. A1 - Sier, Mark J. A1 - Dupont-Nivet, Guillaume A1 - McNulty, Emma P. A1 - Leet, Kennie A1 - Cohen, Andrew A1 - Campisano, Christopher A1 - Deocampo, Daniel A1 - Shen, Chuan-Chou A1 - Billingsley, Anne A1 - Mbuthia, Anthony T1 - Progressive aridification in East Africa over the last half million years and implications for human evolution JF - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America N2 - Evidence for Quaternary climate change in East Africa has been derived from outcrops on land and lake cores and from marine dust, leaf wax, and pollen records. These data have previously been used to evaluate the impact of climate change on hominin evolution, but correlations have proved to be difficult, given poor data continuity and the great distances between marine cores and terrestrial basins where fossil evidence is located. Here, we present continental coring evidence for progressive aridification since about 575 thousand years before present (ka), based on Lake Magadi (Kenya) sediments. This long-term drying trend was interrupted by many wet-dry cycles, with the greatest variability developing during times of high eccentricity-modulated precession. Intense aridification apparent in the Magadi record took place between 525 and 400 ka, with relatively persistent arid conditions after 350 ka and through to the present. Arid conditions in the Magadi Basin coincide with the Mid-Brunhes Event and overlap with mammalian extinctions in the South Kenya Rift between 500 and 400 ka. The 525 to 400 ka arid phase developed in the South Kenya Rift between the period when the last Acheulean tools are reported (at about 500 ka) and before the appearance of Middle Stone Age artifacts (by about 320 ka). Our data suggest that increasing Middle- to Late-Pleistocene aridification and environmental variability may have been drivers in the physical and cultural evolution of Homo sapiens in East Africa. KW - Quaternary KW - paleoclimate KW - paleolimnology KW - hominins KW - Lake Magadi Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1801357115 SN - 0027-8424 SN - 1091-6490 VL - 115 IS - 44 SP - 11174 EP - 11179 PB - National Academy of Sciences CY - Washington ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Khider, D. A1 - Emile-Geay, J. A1 - McKay, N. P. A1 - Gil, Y. A1 - Garijo, D. A1 - Ratnakar, V A1 - Alonso-Garcia, M. A1 - Bertrand, S. A1 - Bothe, O. A1 - Brewer, P. A1 - Bunn, A. A1 - Chevalier, M. A1 - Comas-Bru, L. A1 - Csank, A. A1 - Dassie, E. A1 - DeLong, K. A1 - Felis, T. A1 - Francus, P. A1 - Frappier, A. A1 - Gray, W. A1 - Goring, S. A1 - Jonkers, L. A1 - Kahle, M. A1 - Kaufman, D. A1 - Kehrwald, N. M. A1 - Martrat, B. A1 - McGregor, H. A1 - Richey, J. A1 - Schmittner, A. A1 - Scroxton, N. A1 - Sutherland, E. A1 - Thirumalai, Kaustubh A1 - Allen, K. A1 - Arnaud, F. A1 - Axford, Y. A1 - Barrows, T. A1 - Bazin, L. A1 - Birch, S. E. Pilaar A1 - Bradley, E. A1 - Bregy, J. A1 - Capron, E. A1 - Cartapanis, O. A1 - Chiang, H-W A1 - Cobb, K. M. A1 - Debret, M. A1 - Dommain, Réne A1 - Du, J. A1 - Dyez, K. A1 - Emerick, S. A1 - Erb, M. P. A1 - Falster, G. A1 - Finsinger, W. A1 - Fortier, D. A1 - Gauthier, Nicolas A1 - George, S. A1 - Grimm, E. A1 - Hertzberg, J. A1 - Hibbert, F. A1 - Hillman, A. A1 - Hobbs, W. A1 - Huber, M. A1 - Hughes, A. L. C. A1 - Jaccard, S. A1 - Ruan, J. A1 - Kienast, M. A1 - Konecky, B. A1 - Le Roux, G. A1 - Lyubchich, V A1 - Novello, V. F. A1 - Olaka, L. A1 - Partin, J. W. A1 - Pearce, C. A1 - Phipps, S. J. A1 - Pignol, C. A1 - Piotrowska, N. A1 - Poli, M-S A1 - Prokopenko, A. A1 - Schwanck, F. A1 - Stepanek, C. A1 - Swann, G. E. A. A1 - Telford, R. A1 - Thomas, E. A1 - Thomas, Z. A1 - Truebe, S. A1 - von Gunten, L. A1 - Waite, A. A1 - Weitzel, N. A1 - Wilhelm, B. A1 - Williams, J. A1 - Winstrup, M. A1 - Zhao, N. A1 - Zhou, Y. T1 - PaCTS 1.0: A Crowdsourced Reporting Standard for Paleoclimate Data JF - Paleoceanography and paleoclimatology N2 - The progress of science is tied to the standardization of measurements, instruments, and data. This is especially true in the Big Data age, where analyzing large data volumes critically hinges on the data being standardized. Accordingly, the lack of community-sanctioned data standards in paleoclimatology has largely precluded the benefits of Big Data advances in the field. Building upon recent efforts to standardize the format and terminology of paleoclimate data, this article describes the Paleoclimate Community reporTing Standard (PaCTS), a crowdsourced reporting standard for such data. PaCTS captures which information should be included when reporting paleoclimate data, with the goal of maximizing the reuse value of paleoclimate data sets, particularly for synthesis work and comparison to climate model simulations. Initiated by the LinkedEarth project, the process to elicit a reporting standard involved an international workshop in 2016, various forms of digital community engagement over the next few years, and grassroots working groups. Participants in this process identified important properties across paleoclimate archives, in addition to the reporting of uncertainties and chronologies; they also identified archive-specific properties and distinguished reporting standards for new versus legacy data sets. This work shows that at least 135 respondents overwhelmingly support a drastic increase in the amount of metadata accompanying paleoclimate data sets. Since such goals are at odds with present practices, we discuss a transparent path toward implementing or revising these recommendations in the near future, using both bottom-up and top-down approaches. KW - standards KW - FAIR KW - paleoclimate KW - paleoceanography KW - data KW - best practices Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1029/2019PA003632 SN - 2572-4517 SN - 2572-4525 VL - 34 IS - 10 SP - 1570 EP - 1596 PB - American Geophysical Union CY - Washington ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Aichner, Bernhard A1 - Makhmudov, Zafar A1 - Rajabov, Iljomjon A1 - Zhang, Qiong A1 - Pausata, Francesco Salvatore R. A1 - Werner, Martin A1 - Heinecke, Liv A1 - Kuessner, Marie L. A1 - Feakins, Sarah J. A1 - Sachse, Dirk A1 - Mischke, Steffen T1 - Hydroclimate in the Pamirs Was Driven by Changes in Precipitation-Evaporation Seasonality Since theLast Glacial Period JF - Geophysical research letters N2 - The Central Asian Pamir Mountains (Pamirs) are a high-altitude region sensitive to climatic change, with only few paleoclimatic records available. To examine the glacial-interglacial hydrological changes in the region, we analyzed the geochemical parameters of a 31-kyr record from Lake Karakul and performed a set of experiments with climate models to interpret the results. delta D values of terrestrial biomarkers showed insolation-driven trends reflecting major shifts of water vapor sources. For aquatic biomarkers, positive delta D shifts driven by changes in precipitation seasonality were observed at ca. 31-30, 28-26, and 17-14 kyr BP. Multiproxy paleoecological data and modelling results suggest that increased water availability, induced by decreased summer evaporation, triggered higher lake levels during those episodes, possibly synchronous to northern hemispheric rapid climate events. We conclude that seasonal changes in precipitation-evaporation balance significantly influenced the hydrological state of a large waterbody such as Lake Karakul, while annual precipitation amount and inflows remained fairly constant. KW - climate KW - biomarker KW - geochemistry KW - modelling KW - paleoclimate KW - hydrology Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1029/2019GL085202 SN - 0094-8276 SN - 1944-8007 VL - 46 IS - 23 SP - 13972 EP - 13983 PB - American Geophysical Union CY - Washington ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Menges, Johanna A1 - Hovius, Niels A1 - Andermann, Christoff A1 - Dietze, Michael A1 - Swoboda, Charlie A1 - Cook, Kristen L. A1 - Adhikari, Basanta R. A1 - Vieth-Hillebrand, Andrea A1 - Bonnet, Stephane A1 - Reimann, Tony A1 - Koutsodendris, Andreas A1 - Sachse, Dirk T1 - Late holocene landscape collapse of a trans-himalayan dryland BT - human impact and aridification JF - Geophysical research letters N2 - Soil degradation is a severe and growing threat to ecosystem services globally. Soil loss is often nonlinear, involving a rapid deterioration from a stable eco-geomorphic state once a tipping point is reached. Soil loss thresholds have been studied at plot scale, but for landscapes, quantitative constraints on the necessary and sufficient conditions for tipping points are rare. Here, we document a landscape-wide eco-geomorphic tipping point at the edge of the Tibetan Plateau and quantify its drivers and erosional consequences. We show that in the upper Kali Gandaki valley, Nepal, soil formation prevailed under wetter conditions during much of the Holocene. Our data suggest that after a period of human pressure and declining vegetation cover, a 20% reduction of relative humidity and precipitation below 200 mm/year halted soil formation after 1.6 ka and promoted widespread gullying and rapid soil loss, with irreversible consequences for ecosystem services. KW - geomorphology KW - paleoclimate KW - human activity KW - Tibetan plateau KW - late Holocene Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1029/2019GL084192 SN - 0094-8276 SN - 1944-8007 VL - 46 IS - 23 SP - 13814 EP - 13824 PB - American Geophysical Union CY - Washington ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Sachse, Dirk A1 - Billault, Isabelle A1 - Bowen, Gabriel J. A1 - Chikaraishi, Yoshito A1 - Dawson, Todd E. A1 - Feakins, Sarah J. A1 - Freeman, Katherine H. A1 - Magill, Clayton R. A1 - McInerney, Francesca A. A1 - van der Meer, Marcel T. J. A1 - Polissar, Pratigya A1 - Robins, Richard J. A1 - Sachs, Julian P. A1 - Schmidt, Hanns-Ludwig A1 - Sessions, Alex L. A1 - White, James W. C. A1 - West, Jason B. A1 - Kahmen, Ansgar ED - Jeanloz, R T1 - Molecular Paleohydrology interpreting the Hydrogen- Isotopic Composition of Lipid Biomarkers from Photosynthesizing Organisms JF - Annual review of earth and planetary sciences JF - Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences N2 - Hydrogen-isotopic abundances of lipid biomarkers are emerging as important proxies in the study of ancient environments and ecosystems. A decade ago, pioneering studies made use of new analytical methods and demonstrated that the hydrogen-isotopic composition of individual lipids from aquatic and terrestrial organisms can be related to the composition of their growth (i.e., environmental) water. Subsequently, compound-specific deuterium/hydrogen (D/H) ratios of sedimentary biomarkers have been increasingly used as paleohydrological proxies over a range of geological timescales. Isotopic fractionation observed between hydrogen in environmental water and hydrogen in lipids, however, is sensitive to biochemical, physiological, and environmental influences on the composition of hydrogen available for biosynthesis in cells. Here we review the factors and processes that are known to influence the hydrogen-isotopic compositions of lipids-especially n-alkanes-from photosynthesizing organisms, and we provide a framework for interpreting their D/H ratios from ancient sediments and identify future research opportunities. KW - paleoclimate KW - paleoclimate proxy KW - deuterium KW - organic geochemistry Y1 - 2012 SN - 978-0-8243-2040-9 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-earth-042711-105535 SN - 0084-6597 VL - 40 IS - 1 SP - 221 EP - 249 PB - Annual Reviews CY - Palo Alto ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Bookhagen, Bodo A1 - Strecker, Manfred T1 - Spatiotemporal trends in erosion rates across a pronounced rainfall gradient: Examples from the southern Central Andes JF - Earth & planetary science letters N2 - The tectonic and climatic boundary conditions of the broken foreland and the orogen interior of the southern Central Andes of northwestern Argentina cause strong contrasts in elevation, rainfall, and surface-process regimes. The climatic gradient in this region ranges from the wet, windward eastern flanks (similar to 2 m/yr rainfall) to progressively drier western basins and ranges (similar to 0.1 m/yr) bordering the arid Altiplano-Puna Plateau. In this study, we analyze the impact of spatiotemporal climatic gradients on surface erosion: First, we present 41 new catchment-mean erosion rates derived from cosmogenic nuclide inventories to document spatial erosion patterns. Second, we re-evaluate paleoclimatic records from the Calchaquies basin (66 W, 26 S), a large intermontane basin bordered by high (> 4.5 km) mountain ranges, to demonstrate temporal variations in erosion rates associated with changing climatic boundary conditions during the late Pleistocene and Holocene. Three key observations in this region emphasize the importance of climatic parameters on the efficiency of surface processes in space and time: (1) First-order spatial patterns of erosion rates can be explained by a simple specific stream power (SSP) approach. We explicitly account for discharge by routing high-resolution, satellite derived rainfall. This is important as the steep climatic gradient results in a highly non-linear relation between drainage area and discharge. This relation indicates that erosion rates (ER) scale with ER similar to SSP1.4 on cosmogenic-nuclide time scales. (2) We identify an intrinsic channel-slope behavior in different climatic compartments. Channel slopes in dry areas (< 0.25 m/yr rainfall) are slightly steeper than in wet areas (> 0.75 m/yr) with equal drainage areas, thus compensating lower amounts of discharge with steeper slopes. (3) Erosion rates can vary by an order of magnitude between presently dry (similar to 0.05 mm/yr) and well-defined late Pleistocene humid (similar to 0.5 mm/yr) conditions within an intemontane basin. Overall, we document a strong climatic impact on erosion rates and channel slopes. We suggest that rainfall reaching areas with steeper channel slopes in the orogen interior during wetter climate periods results in intensified sediment mass transport, which is primarily responsible for maintaining the balance between surface uplift, erosion, sediment routing and transient storage in the orogen. KW - erosion KW - landscape evolution KW - specific stream power KW - cosmogenic radionuclides KW - paleoclimate KW - climate-tectonic feedback processes Y1 - 2012 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2012.02.005 SN - 0012-821X VL - 327 IS - 8 SP - 97 EP - 110 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER -