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Geology 501: Quaternary Geology introduces the methods used to extract information about Quaternary environmental changes from geological proxy records. This course examines external and internal forces relative to the earth that act as causative agents for climate variations, as well as the earth’s response patterns to these changes.

Unit 1: The Quaternary Record

Section 2: The Duration of the Quaternary

Gibbard, P. L., Head, M. J., Walker, M. J. C., & The Subcomission on Quaternary Stratigraphy. (2010). Formal ratification of the Quaternary system/period and the Pleistocene series/epoch with a base at 2.58 Ma. Journal of Quaternary Science, 25(2), 96-102. https://doi.org/10.1002/jqs.1338

Also required for Assignment 1

Supplementary Reading

Gibbard, P. L. (2019). Giovanni Arduino - the man who invented the Quaternary. Quaternary International, 500, 11-19. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2019.04.021

Head, M. J. (2019). Formal subdivision of the Quaternary system/period: Present status and future directions. Quaternary International, 500, 32-51. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2019.05.018

Walker, M., Head, M. J., Berkelhammer, M., Björck, S., Cheng, H., Cwynar, L., Fisher, D., Gkinis, V., Long, A., Lowe, J., Newnham, R., Rasmussen, S. O., & Weiss, H. (2018). Formal ratification of the subdivision of the Holocene series/epoch (Quaternary system/period): Two new global boundary stratotype sections and points (GSSPs) and three new stages/subseries. Episodes, 41(4), 213-223. https://doi.org/10.18814/epiiugs/2018/018016

References

Finney, S. C. (2010). Formal definition of the Quaternary system/period and redefinition of the Pleistocene series/epoch. Episodes, 33(3), 159-163. https://doi.org/10.18814/epiiugs/2010/v33i3/003

Unit 2: Geomorphological Evidence

Supplementary Reading

Ashmore, P., McDonald, J., & Barlow, V. (2023). Multi-devadal changes in river morphology in an urbanizing watershed: Highland Creek, Toronto, Canada. Geomorphology, 433, 108710. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2023.108710

Barr, I. D., Spagnolo, M., & Tomkins, M. D. (2024). Cirques in the transantarctic mountains reveal controls on glacier formation and landscape evolution. Geomorphology, 445, 108970. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2023.108970

Rodríguez-Ramírez, A., Pérez-Asensio, J.N., & Villarías-Robles, J.J.R. (2023). Geomorphological and morpho-sedimentary features of a sand barrier in a tectonically asymmetrical estuary during the Late Holocene: La Algaida (SW Spain). Geomorphology, 432, 108711. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2023.108711

Sharma, S., & Shukla, A. D. (2024). Mid-Holocene climate-glacier relationship inferred from landforms and relict lake sequence, southern Zanskar ranges, NW Himilaya. Geomorphology, 444, 108953. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2023.108953

References

Kaushik, S., Sundriyal, Y., Chauhan, N., Rana, N., & Sharma, S. (2023). Reconstructing the pattern of late Quaternary climate through sediment-landform assemblages in the Dhauli Ganga valley (upper Ganga catchment), India. Geomorphology, 432, 108708. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2023.108708

Also required for Assignment 1

Unit 3: Lithological Evidence - Terrestrial Records

Supplementary Reading

Makeev, A., Rusakov, A., Kust, P., Lebedeva, M., & Khokhlova, O. (2024). Loess-paleosol sequence and environmental trends during the MIS5 at the southern margin of the Middle Russian Upland. Quaternary Science Reviews, 328, 108372. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2023.108372

Sheinkman, V., Kurgaeva, A., Sedov, S., & Bezrukova, E. (2024). Multiphase cryogenesis and incipient paleosol development during MIS 2 in North-Western Siberia: Detailed chronostratigraphy, paleoenvironmental significance, and comparison with the global and European records. Quaternary International, 686-687, 142-159. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2023.04.011

Wang, P., Wang H., Liu, T., Hu, G., Qin, J., & Yuan, R. (2024). Sedimentary records of megafloods in the Yarlung Tsangpo Gorge in the eastern Himalaya since the Last Glacial Period. Quaternary Science Reviews, 324, 108436. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2023.108436

References

Tripaldi, A., & Forman, S. L. (2016). Eolian depositional phases during the past 50ka and inferred climate variability for the Pampean Sand Sea, western Pampas, Argentina. Quaternary Science Reviews, 139, 77-93. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2016.03.007

Also required for Assignment 2

Unit 4: Lithological Evidence - Lacustrine, Marine Isotope, and Ice-Core Stratigraphy

Supplementary Reading

Bacon, S. N., Jayko, A. S., Owen, L. A., Lindvall, S. C., Rhodes, E. J., Schumer, R. A., & Decker, D. L. (2020). A 50,000-year record of lake-level variations and overflow from Owens Lake, eastern California, USA. Quaternary Science Reviews, 238,106312. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2020.106312

Barrows, T. T., Fitzsimmons, K. E., Mills, S. C., Tumney, J., Pappin, D., & Stern, N. (2020). Late Pleistocene lake level history of Lake Mungo, Australia. Quaternary Science Reviews, 238,106338. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2020.106338

Fisher, T.G., & Breckenridge, A. (2022). Relative lake level reconstructions for glacial Lake Agassiz spanning the Herman to Campbell levels. Quaternary Science Reviews, 294, 107760. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2022.107760

Goldsmith, Y., Cohen, O., Stein, M., Torfstein, A., Kiro, Y., Kushnir, Y., Bartov, Y., Ben-Moshe, L., Frumkin, A., Lensky, N. G., Keinan, J., Gonen, L., & Enzel, Y. (2023). Holocene humid periods on the Levant – evidence from Dead Sea lake-levels. Quaternary Science Reviews, 318, 108312. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2023.108312

Hughes, P. D. M., Blundell, A., Charman, D. J., Bartlett, S., Daniell, J. R. G., Wojatschke, A., & Chambers, F. M. (2006). An 8500cal. year multi-proxy climate record from a bog in eastern Newfoundland: Contributions of meltwater discharge and solar forcing. Quaternary Science Reviews, 25(11-12), 1208–1227. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2005.11.001

Rasmussen, S. O., Bigler, M., Blockley, S. P., Blunier, T., Buchardt, S. L., Clausen, H. B., Cvijanovic, I., Dahl-Jensen, D., Johnsen, S. J., Fischer, H., Gkinis, V., Guillevic, M., Hoek, W. Z., Lowe, J. J., Pedro, J. B., Popp, T., Seierstad, I. K., Steffensen, J. P., Svensson A. M., Vallelonga, P., Vinther, B. M., Walker, M. J. C., Wheatley, J. J., & Winstrup, M. (2014). A stratigraphic framework for abrupt climatic changes during the Last Glacial period based on three synchronized Greenland ice-core records: Refining and extending the INTIMATE event stratigraphy. Quaternary Science Reviews, 106, 14-28. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2014.09.007

References

Swann, G. E. A., Leng, M. J., Juschus, O., Melles, M., Brigham-Grette, J., & Sloane, H. J. (2010). A combined oxygen and silicon diatom isotope record of Late Quaternary change in Lake El’gygytgyn, North East Siberia. Quaternary Science Reviews, 29(5–6), 774–786. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2009.11.024

Also required for Assignment 2

Unit 5: Biological Evidence - Records of Terrestrial Origin

Supplementary Reading

Barreto, C. F., Amorim, R. M., da Silva de Freitas, A., Neto, J. A. B., Tadeu dos Reis, A., & Silva, C. G. (2024). Transport and distribution of fluvial pollen in the northern portion of Guanabara Bay, southeastern Brazil: A paleoenvironmental tool. Quaternary International, 693, 49-59. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2024.02.002

Crabtree, P. J., Reilly, E., Wouters, B., Devos, Y., Bellens, T., & Schryvers, A. (2017). Environmental evidence from early urban Antwerp: New data from archaeology, micromorphology, microfauna and insect remains. Quaternary International, 460, 108-123. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2017.08.059

Dudko, R. Y., Danukalova, G. A., Gurina, A. A., Ivanov, A. V., Mikhailov, Y. E., Osipova., E. M., Prosvirov, A. S., Solodovnikov, A. Y., Legalov, A. A., & Zinovyev, E. V. (2022). Insects and molluscs of the Late Pleistocene at the Gornovo site (Southern Ural foreland, Russia): New data on palaeoenvironment reconstructions. Quaternary International, 632, 154-177. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2021.10.003

Lozhkin, A. V., Anderson, P. M., & Tsygankova, V. I. (2024). Palynological records from glacial lakes, northern Priokhotye (western Beringia). Quaternary International, 681, 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2023.12.011

Monteath, A. J., Kuzmina, S., Mahony, M., Calmels, F., Porter, T., Mathewes, R., Sanborn, P., Zazula, G., Shapiro, B., Murchie, T. J., Poinar, H. N., Sadoway, T., Hall, E., Hewitson, S., & Froese, D. (2023). Relict permafrost preserves megafauna, insects, pollen, soils and pore-ice isotopes of the mammoth steppe and its collapse in central Yukon. Quaternary Science Reviews, 299, 1077878. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2022.107878

Srivastava, J., Manjunatha, B. R., Balakrishna, K., Prajith, A., Manjunatha, H. V., Jose, J., & Kumar, N. (2021). Quantitative pollen-based reconstruction of the vegetation diversity in response to the late-Holocene climate change near Karwar, south-west coast of India. Quaternary International, 599-600, 95-106. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2021.03.026

References

Li, H., Zhang, Y., & Feng, Z. (2023). Precipitation variations since the Last Deglacial reconstructed from pollen records in the Central Plains of China. Quaternary International, 669, 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2023.05.018

Also required for Assignment 3

Unit 6: Biological Evidence - Records of Aquatic Origin

Supplementary Reading

Alexandrowicz, W. P., Mirosƚaw-Grabowska, J., & Badura, J. (2024). Eemian paleoenvironment based on freshwater malacofauna and isotope record (Piƚa site; north-western Poland). Quaternary International, 686-687, 35-48. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2023.06.004

Zhang, J., Tomczak, M., Li, C., McCartney, K., Deng, X., & He, G. (2024). Laminated diatomaceous ooze from southern Mariana Trench in Late Pleistocene and Holocene for paleoclimate and paleoceanography implication. Quaternary Science Reviews, 325, 108500. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2024.108500

Mazzini, I., Cronin, T. M., Gawthorpe, R. L., Collier, R. E. L., de Gelder, G., Golub, A. R., Toomey, M. R., Poirier, R. K., Huang, H. M., Phillips, M. P., McNeill, L. C., & Shillington, D. J. (2023). A new deglacial climate and sea-level record from 20 to 8 ka from IODP381 site M0080, Alkyonides Gulf, eastern Mediterranean. Quaternary Science Reviews, 313, 108192. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2023.108192

Meyer, I., Van Daele, M., Tanghe, N., De Batist, M., & Verschuren, D. (2020). Reconstructing East African monsoon variability from grain-size distributions: End-member modeling and source attribution of diatom-rich sediments from lake Chala. Quaternary Science Reviews, 247, 106574. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2020.106574

Pascual, A., Rodríguez-Lázaro, J., Martínez-García, B., & Varela, Z. (2020). Palaeoceanographic and palaeoclimatic changes during the last 37,000 years detected in the SE Bay of Biscay based on benthic foraminifera. Quaternary International, 566-567, 323-336. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2020.03.043

Spiridonov, A., Vaikutienė, G., Stankevič, R., Druzhinina, O., Šeiriene, V., Subetto, D., Kublitsky, J., & Stančikaitė, M. (2021). Response of freshwater diatoms to cold events in the Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene (SE Baltic region). Quaternary International, 589, 112-123. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2021.02.017

Sepúlveda-Zúñiga, E., Maidana, N. I., Villacís, L. A., Sagredo, E. A., & Moreno, P. I. The last millennium viewed from a fine-resolution freshwater diatom record from northwestern Patagonia. Quaternary Science Reviews, 296, 107806. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2022.107806

References

Bernasconi, E. (2022). Holocene foraminifera from the outer zone of the Bahía Blanca Estuary, Argentina (South America). Quaternary International, 631, 59-68. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2022.05.020

Also required for Assignment 3

Unit 7: Dating Methods – Radioisotopic Dating Techniques

Supplementary Reading

Alexanderson, H., Möller, P., Jain, M., Knudsen, M. F., Larsen, N. K., Perić, Z. M., Søndergaard, A. S., & Thompson, W. (2024). Coupled luminescence and cosmogenic nuclide dating of postglacial deflation surfaces and sand drift on a raised ice-contact delta at Veinge, SW Sweden. Quaternary Geochronology, 80, 101500. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quageo.2024.101500

Buryak., S. D., Reyes, A. V., Jensen, B. J. L., Davies, J. H. F. L. Westgate, J. A., DuFrane, S. A., Luo, Y., Froese, D. G., Pearson, D. G., & Benowitz, J. A. (2022). Laser-ablation ICP-MS zircon U-Pb ages for key Pliocene-Pleistocene tephra beds in unglaciated Yukon and Alaska. Quaternary Geochronology, 73, 101398. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quageo.2022.101398

Carlson, A. E., Tarasov, L., & Pico, T. (2018). Rapid Laurentide ice-sheet advance towards southern last glacial maximum limit during marine isotope stage 3. Quaternary Science Reviews, 196, 118-123. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2018.07.039

Falguères, C., Sémah, F., Saleki, H., Hameau, S., Tu, H., Féraud, G., Simanjutak, H., & Widianto, H. (2016). Geochronology of early human settlements in Java: What is at stake? Quaternary International, 416, 5-11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2015.10.076

Le Neün, M., Dufour, E., Zazzo, A., Tombret, O., Thil, F., Wheeler, J. C., Cucchi, T., & Goepfert, N. (2023). Holocene occupation of the Andean highlands: A new radiocarbon chronology for the Telarmachay rockshelter (Central Andes, Peru). Quaternary Science Reviews, 312, 108146. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2023.108146

Mahan, S., Wood, J. R., Lovelace, D. M., Laden, J., McGuire, J. L., & Meachan, J. A. (2023). Luminescence ages and new interpretations of the timing and deposition of Quaternary sediments at Natural Trap Cave, Wyoming. Quaternary International, 647-648, 22-35. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2022.01.005

McKenzie, K. A., Kelsey, H. M., Kirby, E., Rittenour, T. M., & Furlong, K. P. (2022). Differential coastal uplift quantified by luminescence dating of marine terraces, central Cascadia forearc, Oregon. Quaternary Science Reviews, 298, 107853. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2022.107853

Varadzinová, L., Varadzin, L., & Ambrose, S. H. (2023). New radiocarbon dates for postglacial reoccupation of the Sudanese Nile. Quaternary Science Reviews, 303, 107953. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2023.107953

Wen X., Bartz, M., Schmidt C., & King, G. E. (2024). ESR and luminescence thermochronometry of the Rhône Valley, Switzerland. Quaternary Geochronology, 80, 101496. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quageo.2023.101496

Westgate, J. A., Pillans, B. J., Alloway, B. V., Pearce, N. J. G., & Simmonds, P. (2021). New fission-track ages of Australasian tektites define two age groups: Discriminating between formation and reset ages. Quaternary Geochronology, 66, 101113. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quageo.2020.101113

Yang, L., Wang, F., Feng, H., Wu L., & Shi, W. (2014). 40Ar/39Ar geochronology of Holocene volcanic activity at Changbaishan Tianchi volcano, Northeast China. Quaternary Geochronology, 21, 106-114. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quageo.2013.10.008

References

Wintle, A. G. (2008). Luminescence dating: Where it has been and where it is going. Boreas, 37(4), 471–482. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1502-3885.2008.00059.x

Also required for Assignment 4

Unit 8: Dating Methods - Non-Radiogenic Dating Methods

Supplementary Reading

Alcalá-Reygosa, J., Palacios, D., Schimmelpfennig, I., Vázquez-Selem, L., García-Sancho, L., Franco-Ramos, O., Villanueva, J., & Zamorano, J. J., (2018). Dating late Holocene lava flows in Pico de Orizoba (Mexico) by means of in situ-produced cosmogenic 36Cl, lichenometry and dendrochronology. Quaternary Geochronology, 47, 93-106. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quageo.2018.05.011

Babst, F., Bodesheim, P., Charney, N., Friend, A. D., Girardin., M. P., Klesse, S., Moore, D. J. P., Seftigen, K., Björklund, J., Bouriaud, O., Dawson, A., Derose, R. J., Dietze, M. C., Eckes, A. H., Enquist, B., Frank, D. C., Mahecha, M. D., Poulter, B., Record, S., Trouet, V., Turton, R. H., Zhang, Z., & Evans, M. E. K. (2018). When tree rings go global: Challenges and opportunities for retro- and prospective insight. Quaternary Science Reviews, 197, 1-20. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2018.07.009

Bazelmans, J., van Balen, R., Bos, J., Brinkkemper, O., Colenberg, J., Doeve, P, van Geel, B., Hakbijl, T., van Hateren, H., Hoek, W. Z., Huisman, H., Jansma, E., Kasse, C., van Os, B., van der Plicht, H., Schokker, J., Van der Putten, N., & van der Woude, J. (2021). Environmental changes in the Late Allerød and Early Younger Dryas in the Netherlands: A multiproxy high-resolution record from a site with two Pinus sylvestris populations. Quaternary Science Reviews, 272, 107199. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2021.107199

Shkatova, V. K. (2010). Paleogeography of the late Pleistocene Caspian Basins: Geochronometry, paleomagnetism, paleotemperature, paleosalinity and oxygen isotopes. Quaternary International, 225, 221-229. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2009.05.001

Tylmann, W., Enters, D., Kinder, M., Moska, P., Ohlendorf, C., Poręba, G., & Zolitschka, B. (2013). Multiple dating of varved sediments from Lake Łazduny, northern Poland: Toward an improved chronology for the last 150 years. Quaternary Geochronology, 15, 98-107. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quageo.2012.10.001

References

Niu, Y., Fan, Y., Qiao, Y., Lü, T., Li, C., Qi, L., Wang, S., Peng., S., & Tan, Y. (2022). Chronostratigraphy of a loess-paleosol sequence in the western Chinese Loess Plateau based on ESR dating and magnetostratigraphy. Quaternary International, 637, 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2022.08.005

Also required for Assignment 4

Unit 9: Approaches to Quaternary Stratigraphic Correlation

Supplementary Reading

Bitinas, A., Damušyte, A., Hütt, G., Jaek, I., & Kabailiene, M. (2001). Application of the OSL dating for stratigraphic correlation of Late Weichselian and Holocene sediments in the Lithuanian Maritime Region. Quaternary Science Reviews, 20(5–9), 767-772. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0277-3791(00)00011-1

Sedov, S., Sheinkman, V., Bezrukova, E., Zazovskaya, E., & Yurtaev, A. (2022). Sartanian (MIS 2) ice wedge pseudomorphs with hydromorphic pedosediments in the north of West Siberia as an indicator for paleoenvironmental reconstruction and stratigraphic correlation. Quaternary International, 632, 192-205. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2022.05.002

References

Campo, B., Bruno, L., & Amorosi, A. (2020). Basin-scale stratigraphic correlation of late Pleistocene-Holocene (MIS 5e-MIS 1) strata across the rapidly subsiding Po Basin (northern Italy). Quaternary Science Reviews, 237, 106300. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2020.106300

Also required for Assignment 5

Unit 10: Global Environmental Change During the Quaternary

Supplementary Reading

Ding, G., Chen, J., Yan, H., Zhang, S., Liu, Y., Zhou, A., Ji, P., Chen, S., Lv, F., Zhang, W., Ma, R., Chen, R., & Chen, F. (2022). Late Holocene transition from natural to anthropogenic forcing of vegetation change in the semi-arid region of northern China. Quaternary Science Reviews, 287, 107561. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2022.107561

Feng, F., & Bailer-Jones, C. A. L. (2015). Obliquity and precession as pacemakers of Pleistocene deglaciations. Quaternary Science Reviews, 122, 166-179. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2015.05.006

Huang, Y., Lee, T., & Hsu, S. (2011). Milankovitch-scale environmental variation in the Banda Sea over the past 820ka: Fluctuation of the Indonesian Throughflow intensity. Journal of Asian Earth Sciences, 40(6), 1180-1188. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jseaes.2010.08.011

Tanner, B. R., Lane, C. S., Martin, E. M., Young, R., & Collins, B. (2015). Sedimentary proxy evidence of a mid-Holocene hypsithermal event in the location of a current warming hole, North Carolina, USA. Quaternary Research, 83(2), 315-323. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yqres.2014.11.004

References

De Deckker, P. (2022). The Holocene hypsithermal in the Australian region. Quaternary Science Advances, 7, 100061. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.qsa.2022.100061

Also required for Assignment 5