The application of the tree-ring chronologies in assessing ecological requirements of Metasequoia glyptostroboides growing in southern Poland

Metasequoia glyptostroboides is considered to be a species highly resistant to harmful environmental factors. For this reason it has been introduced to the cities. The climate of Krakow differs from that in its natural range in China. The research was focused on 40-year-old trees, planted in Kraków on fertile alluvial soils with a low level of ground water, in the vicinity of the steelworks. During the period of the highest level of air pollution in the 1970s and 1980s, the radial increment of investigated trees showed an increasing trend. At the end of the 1980s, when the emissions were reduced, a decreasing trend in radial growth was recorded. Throughout the entire period of their life the investi-gated trees have shown high homogeneity of short-term growth reactions. The sensitivity chronology of the trees was characterized by a high representativeness and a strong high-frequency signal. This may indicate that the investigated trees have shown a large sensitivity to climatic factors. The positive effect on the radial growth of Metasequoia had a cold September in the previous year, and also a cold January, April and May in the year of ring formation. Positive impact on the growth of trees had also the high precipitation occurring in April and August, as well as high air humidity in the spring of the year of ring formation. In the period 1974–2011 fifteen signature years were found. The analysis of the climatic conditions in these years confirms the results of the statistical analyses.     

Climatic signal in tree-ring chronologies of Cedrus deodara from Chitral Hindukush Range of Pakistan

Tree-rings are an important tool for the investigation of paleoclimatic records for regions or periods of time with no instrumental climatic data. However, the responses of different species and sites to various climatic parameters are unusual. In the present study, we developed tree-ring-width chronologies of Cedrus deodara from three different sites of Chitral Hindukush range of Pakistan. The study was conducted to understand tree-growth climate relationship and its applicability in proxy climate investigations. The chronologies covered the past 469 to 595 years, with a mean segment length (MSL) ranging from 148 to 223 years. Climatic data obtained from the three weather stations showed strong correlation and was found useful for tree-ring climate relationships. Correlation Function (CF) and Response Function (RF) analysis showed that spring precipitation (March–May) is a critical limiting factor for tree-ring growth, and temperature prior to November may also play a major role in affecting tree ring-growth. The results exposed that the three sites have continuous relationship indicated that only single species from different locations are affected by the same environmental variables and hence can be used in climate reconstruction in combination. The Cedrus deodara chronologies developed at different locations had several corresponding narrow and wide marker rings indicating a large macroclimatic response to regional climatic conditions. The current study suggests that the tree-rings of Cedrus deodara from the Chitral Hindukush range could be used to develop chronologies for the reconstruction of seasonal climatic variables.     

唐代气候变化与唐代历史兴衰

本文支持唐代是一个温暖湿润的时期。温暖湿润的气候使唐代农牧业界线北移,农耕区扩大;农业经济作物种植北线北移,复种指数提高,产出的多样性更明显;农作物单产量提高,粮食总产量也提高;水利建设成效显著。由于国力强盛,使南方地区的开发有了保证。气候的温暖湿润为唐代农业经济的发展创造了条件,农业经济的发展为社会经济的整体发展和繁荣奠定了基础。本文赞同８世纪中叶气候有一个由暖转冷过程的观点,认为８世纪中叶的气候转寒造成了中国北方游牧民族南下压力增大,北方游牧民族纷纷入主中国北方建立区域性王朝,安史之乱是这个南下进程开始的标志性事件。经过南宋１２世纪的再一次寒冷突变后,北方游牧民族则开始了入主中原建立大一统王朝的历史。     

Late Mississippian (Early Carboniferous) brachiopods from the western Daba Mountains,central China

Qiao L. & Shen S.Z., September 2012. Late Mississippian (Early Carboniferous) brachiopods from the western Daba Mountains, central China. Alcheringa 36, 287–309. ISSN 0311–5518.

Fifteen brachiopod species in 12 genera are described for the first time from four intervals in the middle and upper parts of the Zhanpo Formation at the Huoyanxi section near Zhenba in the western Daba Mountains, southern Shaanxi, central China. The Zhenba brachiopod fauna is dominated by diverse and abundant species of Productida, together with some species of Athyridida, Orthida, Orthotetida and Spiriferida. It ranges from late Viséan to Serpukhovian in age based on the presence of Gigantoproductus species in association with diagnostic foraminifera and conodonts. This fauna generally shows palaeobiogeographical links with the palaeoequatorial realm, including Western Europe, the Moscow Basin, the Ural Mountains, Japan, eastern Tibet and South and North China. Its closest palaeobiogeographical affinity is with South China assemblages rather than those of North and Northwest China, therefore, indicating that the Zhenba area was palaeogeographically close to the South China Block and relatively far from the blocks in Northwest China (e.g., the Qilian Mountains and Qaidam Basin, Kunlun Mountains, Tarim Basin and Tianshan Mountains) during the late Viséan–Serpukhovian.     

唐代的南北地理分界线及相关问题

我国的南北地理分界线,自来被认为在秦岭淮河一线。这条界线包含自然、政治、文化等多重意义,在环境变迁的背景中,这些不同层面的南北界线会发生不同步的推移。本文通过唐代的资料证明:当时行政体系中的南北分界位于秦岭淮河;唐人地理感知中的南北分界,西段仍在秦岭,而东段却在长江。由此可以引发对自然环境变迁的若干检讨。     

南方山区经济开发的历史进程与空间展布

历史时期南方山区经济开发的进程,可区分为三个阶段:(1)自原始稻作农业起源,至2世纪末,南方山区的经济形态以采集渔猎为主、原始种植农业为辅;(2)自六朝至北宋末,低山丘陵地区的河谷、山间盆地逐步被开垦成农田,局部地方形成了梯田,建设了中小型农田水利,但刀耕火种性质的烧?仍是南方山区主导性的垦耕方式;(3)自南宋以迄于明清时期,浙闽山地、南岭山地、川东丘陵山地、粤桂山地、秦巴山地渐次得到全面开发,特别是明清时期,各省际交边山区成为主要开发对象,山地利用达到了新的高度。     

Variability of the solar cycle length during the past five centuries and the apparent association with terrestrial climate

Solar data have been used as parameters in a great number of studies concerning variations of the physical conditions in the Earth's upper atmosphere. The varying solar activity is distinctly represented by the 11-yr cycle in the number of sunspots. The length of this sunspot period is not fixed. Actually, it varies with a period of 80–90 yr. Recently, this variation has been found to be strongly correlated with long-term variations in the global temperature. Information about northernhemisphere temperature based on proxy data is available back to the second half of the sixteenth century. Systematic monitoring of solar data did not take place prior to 1750. Therefore, a critical assessment of existing and proxy solar data prior to 1750 is reported and tables of epochs of sunspot minima as well as sunspot cycle lengths covering the interval 1500–1990 are presented. The tabulated cycle lengths are compared with reconstructed and instrumental temperature series through four centuries. The correlation between solar activity and northern hemisphere land surface temperature is confirmed.     

Seasonal and tidal variations of neutral temperatures and densities in the high latitude lower thermosphere measured by EISCAT

Measurements of ion temperature, ion-neutral collision frequency and ion drift in the E-region from the period December 1984 to November 1985 are used to derive neutral temperatures, densities and meridional winds in the altitude intervals 92–120 km, 92–105 km and 92–120 km, respectively. Altitude profiles of temperature and density and their seasonal variations are compared with the CIRA 1972 and MSIS 1983 models and the effects of geomagnetic activity are demonstrated. Semi-diurnal tidal variations in all three parameters are derived and the comparison with lower latitude measurements is discussed.     

The last glaciation in the Western Mourne Mountains,Northern Ireland

During the late‐Midlandian (25–13 ¹⁴C ka BP), the last Irish Ice Sheet was thicker in the Western Mourne Mountains than previously argued. Geomorphological and sedimento‐logical analysis shows that regional ice from the Irish Ice Sheet spilled over the mountains, reaching a major limit 5 km along Pigeon Rock Valley. These findings differ from the previous view that a local valley glacier occupied the valley during this period. The pattern of deglaciation was reconstructed using glacial and periglacial evidence. A complex topographic environment in the upper reaches of the valley suggests that regional ice stagnated as it wasted away. During the Nahanagan Stadial (Younger Dryas, ca. 11–10 ka ¹⁴C BP) an arcuate ridge was formed on the western flank of the valley. Calculations suggest that the Equilibrium Line Altitude, influenced by topographic conditions favourable for snow accumulation, was approximately between 1736 m and 1386 m lower during the Nahanagan Stadial than at present.     

On the influence of climatic factors on the ratio between the cosmogenic isotope 14C and total carbon in the atmosphere in the past

Radiocarbon ¹⁴C is a cosmogenic isotope, which is most extensively used by scientists from a wide variety of fields. Its rate of generation in the atmosphere depends on solar modulation and thus, studying ¹⁴C concentration in natural archives, one can reconstruct solar activity level in the past. The paper shows results of box-model calculations of generation of the ¹⁴C isotope in the atmosphere and its relative abundance during the time interval 1389–1800 AD, taking into account influence of changing climate. This interval includes the deep minimum of solar activity and period of significant change in atmospheric concentration of CO₂ and global temperature. The performed analysis showed that concentration of ¹⁴C in the atmosphere reflects not only variations of the galactic cosmic rays intensity but as well changes of temperature and atmospheric CO₂ concentration. It is shown that the decrease in CO₂ concentration in the atmosphere during 1550–1600 can be connected with absorption of CO₂ by the ocean surface layer. Thus, taking into account the climatic changes is an important condition for the reconstruction of solar activity in the past using data based on cosmogenic isotopes.     

殷墟使用朱砂情况的考察

与史前、夏及早商时期一样,朱砂在殷墟文化时期的北方仍是较为稀缺的资源,只存在于规格较高的考古遗存中。通过对安阳殷墟及其他同时期情况进行分析,朱砂的使用从殷墟早期到晚期呈上升趋势。依据使用场合的不同,可分为朱砂葬、朱砂祭祀坑和朱书文字三类。朱砂葬是朱砂使用情况中最为常见的一种。本文通过对殷墟西区、大司空、孝民屯、徐家桥和侯家庄王陵区墓地的朱砂葬进行分析,发现晚商时期只有高等级贵族才有资格使用朱砂。从其使用情况推测,晚商时期朱砂在丧葬活动中的礼仪功能是主要的,用以体现死者的身份等级,同时或具有辟邪的功能。殷墟朱砂的来源,最大可能性仍然是以贵州为中心的我国西南地区,不过特定时期也可能采用了来自陕西秦岭一带的资源。     

THE CHRONOLOGY AND HISTORY OF MOUNT TAYLOR PERIOD (CA. 7400–4600 CAL B.P.) SHELL SITES ON THE MIDDLE ST. JOHNS RIVER,FLORIDA

Abstract

Mount Taylor period (ca. 7400–4600 cal. B.P.) shell mounds on the St. Johns River in northeast Florida were some of the first Archaic freshwater shell sites to be documented in the Southeast. However, there is much that remains unknown about their chronology, history, and changing significance through time. This paper presents a regional chronology ofMount Taylor shell sites based on radiocarbon assays from well-documented contexts. Three major changes in the distribution, arrangement, and use of shell sites are identified which correspond with significant shifts in social interaction and environmental change. An examination of the contexts of shell deposition demonstrates that shell sites were frequently established as places to dwell and were subsequently transformed into places of commemorative ceremony or mortuary ritual. The history of Mount Taylor shell sites has implications for the broader debate on whether shell sites were middens or monuments.     

The Chinese Upper Paleolithic: Geography, Chronology, and Techno-typology

This article reviews the archaeology and chronology of the Chinese Upper Paleolithic and the human fossils attributed to this period. The onset of the Upper Paleolithic in China dates to ca. 35,000–30,000 years ago and is marked by the appearance of a few body decorations and well-shaped bone tools that were added to stone tool assemblages, including core-and-flake tools in North China and cobble tools in South China. The proliferation of blade assemblages in northwest China is interpreted as the cultural impact or the physical presence of bearers of blade industries from western Eurasia. The ensuing appearance of microblade assemblages in North China by 23,000–22,000 years ago reflects the use of local siliceous crystalline nodules by a population that recognized the advantages of this raw material. At that time in South China, prehistoric artisans continued to shape their stone objects from the available flat river cobbles. During the later part of the Chinese Upper Paleolithic (ca. 21,000–10,000 BP), foragers also made bone tools, antler objects, pottery, and shell tools, which laid the technological foundations for the early Neolithic period. One difficulty in this research is that human fossils are rare. Few are well dated and morphological, cultural, and biological interpretations are hotly debated. Our review attempts to facilitate the understanding of a poorly known period in Chinese archaeology and its place in human cultural evolution.     

Toward a Geography of American Civil Religion

The concept of civil religion has been of considerable interest to students of American culture during recent decades. Little attention has been given, however, to regional variations in the practice of American civil religion. The purpose of this study is to explore basic patterns in the popular observance of the Bicentennial, as one possible approach to understanding the geography of American civil religion. The study is based on the register of Bicentennial events compiled by the American Revolution Bicentennial Administration during 1975 and 1976. Findings indicate that the strongest commitment to public celebration of the Bicentennial occurred in a large region reaching from the western prairie states across the Great Plains into the northern Rocky Mountains. This commitment was expressed both in the region's large number of Bicentennial events and in the distinctively celebrative quality of many of those events. Civil religion's prominence in this region probably reflects several factors: the importance of religion generally in providing a sense of community in a region characterized by cultural isolation; the effect of rural and small-town conformity and the influence of a regional culture that is closely tied to the traditional mainstream of American culture.     

晚清士大夫对古埃及的历史书写

晚清士大夫对古埃及史有着浓厚兴趣,就纪年方面,他们把古埃及年代与先秦纪年接榫,在书写过程中表达了自己的历史观,如林则徐在书写埃及史时故意不用武则天纪年。就物质层面,晚清士人对古埃及的金字塔和木乃伊特别关注。就典籍层面,晚清士人被掌握话语霸权的西方人误导,误以为承载古埃及文明的亚历山大图书馆被阿拉伯人焚烧,从而对阿拉伯人口诛笔伐。就文明层面,晚清士人在埃及文明哺育希腊罗马文明的基础上,将拉克伯里"中国人种西来说"进行改造,构建出埃及文明源于中国的说法,这样的西学中源循环说为晚清中国学习西方文明提供理论依据,唐才常、王树楠等人认为西方文明实际上最早发端于中国,我们只是"礼失求诸野"而已。     

A dendrochronological analysis of Pinus pinea L. on the Italian mid-Tyrrhenian coast

In order to assess the response of the radial growth of Pinus pinea L. to climatic variability in Central Italy, dendrochronological and dendroclimatological analyses were carried out on five different populations scattered along the Tyrrhenian coasts of the peninsula. The aim of this study is to contribute to the understanding of the ecological demands of this species, particularly in the study area. For each site total ring, early-, and late-wood width chronologies were developed. Multidimensional analyses were performed for the three tree-ring datasets in order to analyze the relations between sites chronologies. Both Principal Component Analyses and hierarchical classifications highlighted an important difference of one site in respect to the other, probably due to site characteristics. Correlation functions were performed to infer the main climatic factors controlling the radial growth of the species. For a comparative study, we limited our attention to the common interval 1926–2003 (78 years) in which the response of the tree-ring chronologies to climate at both local and regional scale was investigated. Positive moisture balance in the late spring-summer period of the year of growth is the climatic driver of P. pinea radial growth in the study area. Moreover, this study shows how low summer temperatures strongly favor the radial growth of the species.     

秦始皇帝陵园出土彩绘青铜水禽铜矿料来源探索

关于秦始皇帝陵出土彩绘青铜水禽铜矿料来源的研究,对进一步研究秦代的物质文化、青铜器冶铸工艺、装饰工艺以及铜矿来源均具有重要意义。本研究对部分秦始皇帝陵园出土彩绘青铜水禽基体进行了铅同位素分析及微量元素分析。并在此基础之上,与甘肃东部及关中西部出土的部分早期秦文化铜器、国墓地出土的部分铜器、周原李家铸铜作坊出土的部分铜器、山西中条山、江西瑞昌、江西铜岭、安徽铜陵以及湖北大冶铜绿山古铜矿以及秦岭山区的部分现代铜矿的相关数据进行了对比研究。结果发现,秦始皇帝陵园出土的青铜水禽使用了相同的矿料,且与绝大多数早期秦文化铜器所使用的矿料基本相同,但与国墓地以及李家铸铜作坊出土西周铜器的矿料明显有别。秦人使用的铜矿与秦岭山区现代铜矿较为接近,表明秦人的铜矿来源可能与秦岭山区有关。     

SIFTING THE SANDS OF TIME: GEOARCHAEOLOGY,CULTURE CHRONOLOGY,AND CLIMATE CHANGE AT SQUIRES RIDGE,NORTHEASTERN NORTH CAROLINA

Abstract

Since 2000, East Carolina University has conducted archaeological research in the Tar River valley in the northern Coastal Plain of North Carolina designed to address poorly understood aspects of the region’s culture-history. In particular, survey and excavation along a portion of the Tar River have focused on problems related to Coastal Plain chronology, typology, and geoarchaeology. Here we provide an overview of testing done at one site, Squires Ridge, that contains stratified Woodland and Archaic period remains in a 1-m deposit of largely aeolian sandy soils. We suggest that the formation of the archaeologically stratified portions of sand ridges along the Tar River reflect millennial-scale climatic cyclicity representing regional manifestations of climate change during the Early to Middle Holocene. Sand ridges along the Tar River likely represent proxies of climate change, while the archaeology contained within them manifest human adaptations to such change.     

LA-ICP-MS U-Pb dating and REE patterns of apatite from the Tatra Mountains,Poland as a monitor of the regional tectonomagmatic activity

This study presents apatite LA-ICP-MS U-Pb age and trace elements concentrations data from different granite types from the Tatra Mountains, Poland. Apatite from monazite and xenotime-bearing High Tatra granite was dated at 339 ± 5 Ma. The apatite LREE patterns reflect two types of magmas that contributed to this layered magma series. Apatite from a hybrid allanite-bearing diorite from the Goryczkowa Unit was dated at 340 ± 4 Ma with apatite LREE depletion reflecting the role of allanite and titanite during apatite crystallization. Apatite crystals from a hybrid cumulative rock from the Western Tatra Mountains were dated at 344 ± 3 Ma. Apatite is one of the main REE carriers in this sample and exhibit flat REE patterns. Taking into account the relatively low closure temperature of the U-Pb system in apatite (350–550°C), the c. 340 Ma apatite ages mark the end of high temperature tectonometamorphic activity in the Tatra Mountains.