Article

Problems of the Last Interglacial in Arctic Siberia

December 1991
Quaternary International 10(3):215-222

December 1991
10(3):215-222

Authors:

The basic problem in reconstructing the last interglacial in the Siberian Arctic is to recognize correlative deposits in the Quaternary sequence. Assignment of any particular “warm” event to the last interglacial is usually based on various indirect Criteria. There is no one independent criterion that could distinguish the last interglacial from earlier or later warm periods. Potentially, the most rapidly evolved mammal lineage of collared lemmings could be helpful for dating the last interglacial in the Arctic, but there are still some problems to be solved. Another important problem is climatic interpretation of warm events presumably referred to the last interglacial. Most commonly such reconstructions are based on the concept of northward shift of modern-like plant communities. But some features of pollen spectra and insect faunas suggest a special character of communities existed during the warm events in the Arctic. They do not seem to be exact analogues of modern communities, and a non-uniformitarian approach is necessary for their climatic interpretation. Survival of tundra-steppe communities and grazing mammals through the last interglacial climatic change suggests that it was not so destructive for the Arctic ecosystems as the Pleistocene/Holocene environment restructuring.

Saalian to Holocene Paleoenvironmental History Documented in Permafrost Sequences of Arctic Siberia (New Siberian Archipelago, Bolshoy Lyakhovsky Island)

Article

Full-text available

Nov 2004

Permafrost sequences exposed at the coast of the southernmost New Siberian Island are studied multidisciplinary by a Russian-German team using cryolithology, sedimentology, geochronology, geochemistry of ground ice, and bioindicators. The oldest horizon contains remains of a periglacial reworked Palaeogene weathering crust as proved by the occurrence of weathering products like kaolinite and montmorillonite. Separate epigenetic ice wedges and the absence of bio-indicators also characterize this horizon. Saalian climate fluctuations are documented in two sedimentological units formed c. 200-120 ky ago. The lower unit (c. 200-170 ky) is very ice-rich and contains large ice wedges. Cryolithologically it is similar to the Late Pleistocene deposits of the so-called Ice Complex. The lower part of this unit contains pollen assemblages of sparse grass-sedge vegetation and reflects stadial environment. The upper part of this ice-rich unit is characterized by pollen spectra of dense grass-dominated tundra reflecting interstadial conditions. This Saalian Ice Complex deposits were eroded and covered by a younger Saalian unit (c. 170-120 ky). Well-sorted fine-grained sand contains less ground ice and pollen spectra of sparse grass-sedge dominated vegetation assigned to a Late Saalian Stadial. The accumulation of these loess-like floodplain and lake deposits, and the formation of ice wedge polygon systems took place under extremely cold and dry conditions. The following unit, assigned to the Eemian Interglacial, contains large ice wedge casts with many paleoecological evidences of interglacial environment. Humid and warm conditions resulted in thawing of ice wedge systems and the formation of ice wedge casts and thermokarst lakes. Subsequently, the permafrost sequences were locally eroded down to the old Ice Complex deposits. Lacustrine and loess-like floodplain deposits with ice wedge polygon systems were accumulated again during the Early Weichselian stadial (c. 100-50 ky) under extremely cold and dry conditions. They consist of fine-grained, well-sorted sands with rare grass and sedge pollen. These deposits turn gradually into an about 20 m thick ice-rich Late Weichselian Ice Complex horizon, dated 50-28 ky BP and containing the pollen spectra of typical mammoth tundra-steppe associations. The Ice Complex contains big ice wedge polygon systems. It represents a swampy, poorly drained habitat, which existed under extreme continental climate. Whereas peaty deposits of the Middle Weichselian Interstadial (c. 40-30 ky BP) occur regularly, Late Weichselian Stadial sequences were not found. The Ice Complex deposits appear to be eroded during that time and covered by Late Glacial/Holocene deposits afterwards. Active thermokarst processes during the Late Pleistocene/Holocene transition (c. 12-10 ky BP) resulted in the formation of large thermokarst depressions. New ice wedge polygon systems were formed during the Late Holocene climate deterioration. The Late Pleistocene/Holocene transition, including the Aller\o d warming and Younger Dryas cooling events, is preserved within lacustrine thermokarst deposits in a thermokarst depression flanking the Late Weichselian Ice Complex sequences.

Paleontological records indicate the occurrence of open woodlands in a dry inland climate at the present-day Arctic coast in western Beringia during the Last Interglacial

Article

Feb 2011
QUATERNARY SCI REV

a b s t r a c t Permafrost records, accessible at outcrops along the coast of Oyogos Yar at the Dmitry Laptev Strait, NE-Siberia, provide unique insights into the environmental history of Western Beringia during the Last Interglacial. The remains of terrestrial and freshwater organisms, including plants, coleopterans, chiron-omids, cladocerans, ostracods and molluscs, have been preserved in the frozen deposits of a shallow paleo-lake and indicate a boreal climate at the present-day arctic mainland coast during the Last Interglacial. Terrestrial beetle and plant remains suggest the former existence of open forest-tundra with larch (Larix dahurica), tree alder (Alnus incana), birch and alder shrubs (Duschekia fruticosa, Betula fruticosa, Betula divaricata, Betula nana), interspersed with patches of steppe and meadows. Consequently, the tree line was shifted to at least 270 km north of its current position. Aquatic organisms, such as chironomids, cladocerans, ostracods, molluscs and hydrophytes, indicate the formation of a shallow lake as the result of thermokarst processes. Steppe plants and beetles suggest low net precipitation. Littoral pioneer plants and chironomids indicate intense lake level fluctuations due to high evaporation. Many of the organisms are thermophilous, indicating a mean air temperature of the warmest month that was greater than 13 C, which is above the minimum requirements for tree growth. These temperatures are in contrast to the modern values of less than 4 C in the study area. The terrestrial and freshwater organism remains were found at a coastal exposure that was only 3.5 m above sea level and in a position where they should have been under sea during the Last Interglacial when the global sea level was 6e10 m higher than the current levels. The results suggest that during the last warm stage, the site was inland, and its modern coastal situation is the result of tectonic subsidence.

Late Saalian and Eemian palaeoenvironmental history of the Bol'shoy Lyakhovsky Island (Laptev Sea region, Arctic Siberia)

Article

Full-text available

Dec 2004
BOREAS

Palaeoenvironmental records from permafrost sequences complemented by infrared stimulated luminescence (IRSL) and 230Th/U dates from Bol'shoy Lyakhovsky Island (7320'N, 14130'E) document the environmental history in the region for at least the past 200 ka. Pollen spectra and insect fauna indicate that relatively wet grass-sedge tundra habitats dominated during an interstadial c. 200–170 ka BP. Summers were rather warm and wet, while stable isotopes reflect severe winter conditions. The pollen spectra reflect sparser grass-sedge vegetation during a Taz (Late Saalian) stage, c. 170–130 ka BP, with environmental conditions much more severe compared with the previous interstadial. Open Poaceae and Artemisia plant associations dominated vegetation at the beginning of the Kazantsevo (Eemian) c. 130 ka BP. Some shrubs (Alnus fruticosa, Salix, Betula nana) grew in more protected and wetter places as well. The climate was relatively warm during this time, resulting in the melting of Saalian ice wedges. Later, during the interglacial optimum, shrub tundra with Alnus fruticosa and Betula nana s.l. dominated vegetation. Climate was relatively wet and warm. Quantitative pollen-based climate reconstruction suggests that mean July temperatures were 4–5 C higher than the present during the optimum of the Eemian, while late Eemian records indicate significant climate deterioration.

Continental climate in the East Siberian Arctic during the last interglacial

Article

Feb 2008
GLOBAL PLANET CHANGE

To evaluate the consequences of possible future climate changes and to identify the main climate drivers in high latitudes, the vegetation and climate in the East Siberian Arctic during the last interglacial are reconstructed and compared with Holocene conditions. Plant macrofossils from permafrost deposits on Bol'shoy Lyakhovsky Island, New Siberian Archipelago, in the Russian Arctic revealed the existence of a shrubland dominated by Duschekia fruticosa, Betula nana and Ledum palustre and interspersed with lakes and grasslands during the last interglacial. The reconstructed vegetation differs fundamentally from the high arctic tundra that exists in this region today, but resembles an open variant of subarctic shrub tundra as occurring near the tree line about 350 km southwest of the study site. Such difference in the plant cover implies that, during the last interglacial, the mean summer temperature was considerably higher, the growing season was longer, and soils outside the range of thermokarst depressions were drier than today. Our pollen-based climatic reconstruction suggests a mean temperature of the warmest month (MTWA) range of 9–14.5 °C during the warmest interval of the last interglacial. The reconstruction from plant macrofossils, representing more local environments, reached MTWA values above 12.5 °C in contrast to today's 2.8 °C. We explain this contrast in summer temperature and soil moisture with a combination of summer insolation higher than present and climatic continentality in arctic Yakutia stronger than present as result of a considerably less inundated Laptev Shelf during the last interglacial.

Late saalian and eemian palaeoenvironmental history of the Bol'shoy Lyakhovsky, island Laptev sea region, Arctic Siberia

Article

Full-text available

Jan 2004

The Northern Pleistocene of Russia

Book

Sep 2020

Valery Astakhov

This collection of papers devoted to the Ice Age of northern Russia provides illustrated descriptions of landforms and sediments revealing former ice sheets of the arctic shelf that inundated northern Russia. It shows that a peculiar Siberian type of inland glaciation is inferred from preserved Ice Age features. This type of glacial environment implies arrested landscape evolution in continental climates with fossil glacial ice surviving within the conservative permafrost. The contributions here delve into the problem of the size and age of the last glaciation intensely discussed in the international literature. This is of broad interest because its solution is paramount for global climatic models and the reconstruction of Circum-Arctic paleoenvironments. It is also essential for understanding natural conditions of early human migration into the Arctic. Another point of interest is the book’s discussion of the profound impact of reconstructed glaciers on the tectonic structure and distribution of petroleum reserves.

Geographical extremes in the glacial history of northern Eurasia: post-QUEEN considerations

Article

Aug 2008

Valery Astakhov

Vegetation and climate history in the Laptev Sea region (arctic Siberia) during Late Quaternary inferred from pollen records

Article

Full-text available

Apr 2009

A number of permafrost sections dated by 14C, TL, IRSL, and 230U/Th were analysed for pollen. Pollen spectra suggest that wet grass-sedge tundra habitats dominated during an interstadial c. 200-170 ka ago. The climate was rather wet and cold. The pollen spectra reflect sparser grass-sedge vegetation cover during the Late Saalian stadial, c. 170-130 ka BP. Environmental conditions were much more severe compared with the previous interstadial. Open Poaceae and Artemisia communities dominated at the beginning of the Last Interglacial. Some shrubs (Alnus fruticosa, Salix, Betula nana) grew in more protected and wetter places. Climate was rather warm (similar to modern conditions)during this time. Shrub tundra with Alnus fruticosa and Betula nana s.l. dominated in the area during the Eemian climatic optimum, when summer temperatures were 4-5°C higher than today. Early Weichselian pollen records reflect harsh environmental conditions; sparser vegetation (mostly grass and sedge communities) during this time. Middle Weichselian (Karginsky) Interstadial records with dominance of Cyperaceae and Poaceae with some Artemisia and Salix reflects tundra- and steppe-like associations with willow shrubs dominated the area. The climate was relatively moist and warm. A rather high content of algae colonies in the sediments indicates shallow water habitats (e.g. centres of ice wedge polygons). Dominance of Poaceae, Cyperaceae, Artemisia, and Caryophyllaceae pollen with some other herbs is typical for the 40-32 ka BP (climatic optimum) old sediments when open herb dominated the area. High pollen concentrations reflect that dense grass-sedge dominated vegetation; presence of Salix is also characteristic. The records point to climate amelioration during the Middle Weichselian compared to the Early Weichselian. Climate conditions became colder and drier c. 30-26 ka BP. Pollen spectra reflect that sedge-grass-Artemisia with some Caryophyllaceae and Asteraceae dominated the vegetation. Mostly grass conenoses with some Caryophyllaceae, Asteraceae, Cichoriaceae, Selaginella rupestris predominated during the late Weichselian (Sartan), ca 26-16 ka BP. Climate was very cold and dry. Later, 16-12 ka BP, grass and sedge associations with Caryophyllaceae, Asteraceae, and Cichoriaceae dominated the vegetation. Climate was significantly warmer and moister than during the previous interval. Accumulation of Ice Complex sediments stopped ca 12 ka BP, at the beginning of Allerød. Higher pollen concentration, the presence of willow and birch pollen points to a relatively warm climate between 12 and 11 ka BP reflecting significant climate amelioration. Pollen of shrubs disappeared from the Younger Dryas spectra pointing to the harsher climate. Early Holocene spectra are dominated by alder, birch, Poaceae, and Cyperaceae. Climate reconstruction inferred a temperature substantially warmer than present (up to 12°C). Shrubs gradually disappeared from the area after 7.6 14C ka BP and vegetation cover became similar to modern tundra.

Vegetation and climate history in the Laptev Sea region (Arctic Siberia) during Late Quaternary inferred from pollen records

Article

Aug 2011

Paleoenvironmental records from a number of permafrost sections and lacustrine cores from the Laptev Sea region dated by several methods (14C-AMS, TL, IRSL, OSL and 230Th/U) were analyzed for pollen and palynomorphs. The records reveal the environmental history for the last ca 200 kyr. For interglacial pollen spectra, quantitative temperature values were estimated using the best modern analogue method. Sparse grass-sedge vegetation indicating arctic desert environmental conditions existed prior to 200 kyr ago. Dense, wet grass-sedge tundra habitats dominated during an interstadial ca 200–190 kyr ago, reflecting warmer and wetter summers than before. Sparser vegetation communities point to much more severe stadial conditions ca 190–130 kyr ago. Open grass and Artemisia communities with shrub stands (Alnus fruticosa, Salix, Betula nana) in more protected and moister places characterized the beginning of the Last Interglacial indicate climate conditions similar to present. Shrub tundra (Alnus fruticosa and Betula nana) dominated during the middle Eemian climatic optimum, when summer temperatures were 4–5 °C higher than today. Early-Weichselian sparse grass-sedge dominated vegetation indicates climate conditions colder and dryer than in the previous interval. Middle Weichselian Interstadial records indicate moister and warmer climate conditions, for example, in the interval 40–32 kyr BP Salix was present within dense, grass-sedge dominated vegetation. Sedge-grass-Artemisia-communities indicate that climate became cooler and drier after 30 kyr BP, and cold, dry conditions characterized the Late Weichselian, ca 26–16 kyr BP, when grass-dominated communities with Caryophyllaceae, Asteraceae, Cichoriaceae, Selaginella rupestris were present. From 16 to 12 kyr BP, grass-sedge communities with Caryophyllaceae, Asteraceae, and Cichoriaceae indicate climate was significantly warmer and moister than during the previous interval. The presence of Salix and Betula reflect temperatures about 4 °C higher than present at about 12–11 kyr BP, during the Allerød interval, but shrubs were absent in the Younger Dryas interval, pointing to a deterioration of climate conditions. Alnus fruticosa, Betula nana, Poaceae, and Cyperaceae dominate early Holocene spectra. Reconstructed absolute temperature values were substantially warmer than present (up to 12 °C). Shrubs gradually disappeared from coastal areas after 7.6 kyr BP when vegetation cover became similar to modern. A comparison of proxy-based paleoenvironmental reconstructions with the simulations performed by an Earth system model of intermediate complexity (CLIMBER-2) show good accordance between the regional paleodata and model simulations, especially for the warmer intervals.

Geographical extremes in the glacial history of northern Eurasia: Post-QUEEN considerations

Article

Aug 2008
POLAR RES

Valery Astakhov

This paper summarizes the principal results produced by the European Science Foundation's programme, Quaternary Environment of the Eurasian North (QUEEN). These results concern the distribution of late Quaternary glaciers of different ages across northern Eurasia. The pattern of glaciation is compared with the west–east climatic gradient of the continent. Of particular significance is the coincidence of the Late Weichselian ice margin with the modern 30°C difference between the July and January mean air temperatures. The difference between west and east in the annual amplitude of air temperature did not decrease during the Pleniglacial. The asymmetry of the glacial history suggests a progressive aridification of the Eurasian North, with the result that by marine isotope stage 2 significant ice volumes could only accumulate along the Atlantic seaboard. The different climatic signals of thermochrons and cryochrons of the extreme west and east of the continent are discussed. The growth of continentality eastwards restrains the applicability of pollen proxies for climatic reconstructions.

Flagstad O, Roed KH. Refugial origins of reindeer (Rangifer tarandus L.) inferred from mitochondrial DNA sequencesinferred from mitochondrial DNA sequences. Evolution 57: 658-670

Article

Apr 2003

The glacial-interglacial cycles of the upper Pleistocene have had a major impact on the recent evolutionary history of Arctic species. To assess the effects of these large-scale climatic fluctuations to a large, migratory Arctic mammal, we assessed the phylogeography of reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) as inferred from mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequence variation in the control region. Phylogenetic relationships among haplotypes seem to reflect historical patterns of fragmentation and colonization rather than clear-cut relationships among extant populations and subspecies. Three major haplogroups were detected, presumably representing three separate populations during the last glacial. The most influential one has contributed to the gene pool of all extant subspecies and seems to represent a large and continuous glacial population extending from Beringia and far into Eurasia. A smaller, more localized refugium was most likely isolated in connection with ice expansion in western Eurasia. A third glacial refugium was presumably located south of the ice sheet in North America, possibly comprising several separate refugial populations. Significant demographic population expansion was detected for the two haplogroups representing the western Eurasian and Beringian glacial populations. The former apparently expanded when the ice cap retreated by the end of the last glacial. The large continuous one, in contrast, seems to have expanded by the end of the last interglacial, indicating that the warm interglacial climate accompanied by marine transgression and forest expansion significantly confined population size on the continental mainland. Our data demonstrate that the current subspecies designation does not reflect the mtDNA phylogeography of the species, which in turn may indicate that morphological differences among subspecies have evolved as adaptive responses to postglacial environmental change.

Tipping elements and amplified polar warming during the Last Interglacial

Article

Apr 2020
QUATERNARY SCI REV

Irreversible shifts of large-scale components of the Earth system (so-called ‘tipping elements’) on policy-relevant timescales are a major source of uncertainty for projecting the impacts of future climate change. The high latitudes are particularly vulnerable to positive feedbacks that amplify change through atmosphere-ocean-ice interactions. Unfortunately, the short instrumental record does not capture the full range of past or projected climate scenarios (a situation particularly acute in the high latitudes). Natural archives from past periods warmer than present day, however, can be used to explore drivers and responses to forcing, and provide data against which to test models, thereby offering insights into the future. The Last Interglacial (129–116,000 years before present) — the warmest interglacial of the last 800,000 years — was the most recent period during which global temperatures were comparable with low-end 21st Century projections (up to 2 °C warmer, with temperature increase amplified over polar latitudes), providing a potentially useful analogue for future change. Substantial environmental changes happened during this time. Here we synthesise the nature and timing of potential high-latitude tipping elements during the Last Interglacial, including sea ice, extent of the boreal forest, permafrost, ocean circulation, and ice sheets/sea level. We also review the thresholds and feedbacks that likely operated through this period. Notably, substantial ice mass loss from Greenland, the West Antarctic, and possibly sectors of the East Antarctic drove a 6–9 m rise in global sea level. This was accompanied by reduced summer sea-ice extent, poleward-extended boreal forest, and reduced areas of permafrost. Despite current chronological uncertainties, we find that tipping elements in the high latitudes all experienced rapid and abrupt change (within 1–2 millennia of each other) across both hemispheres, while recovery to prior conditions took place over multi-millennia. Our synthesis demonstrates important feedback loops between tipping elements, amplifying polar and global change during the Last Interglacial. The high sensitivity and tight interconnections between polar tipping elements suggests that they could exhibit similar thresholds of vulnerability in the future, particularly if the aspirations of the Paris Agreement are not met.

Impact of the past climate warming on genomic diversity and demographic history of collared lemmings across the Eurasian Arctic

Article

Full-text available

Jan 2020
P NATL ACAD SCI USA

Arctic climate was warmer than today at the last interglacial and the Holocene thermal optimum. To reveal the impact of past climate warming events on the demographic history of an Arctic specialist, we examined both mitochondrial and nuclear genomic variation in the collared lemming (Dicrostonyx torquatus, Pallas), a keystone species in tundra communities, across its entire distribution in northern Eurasia. The ancestral phylogenetic position of the West Beringian group and divergence time estimates support the hypothesis of continental range contraction to a single refugial area located in West Beringia during high magnitude warming of the last interglacial, followed by westward recolonization of northern Eurasia in the last glacial period. The West Beringian group harbors the highest mitogenome diversity and its inferred demography indicates a constantly large effective population size over the late Pleistocene - Holocene. This suggests that northward forest expansion during recent warming of the Holocene thermal optimum did not affect the gene pool of the collared lemming in West Beringia but reduced genomic diversity and effective population size in all other regions of the Eurasian Arctic. Demographic inference from genomic diversity was corroborated by species distribution modeling showing reduction in species distribution during the past climate warming. These conclusions are supported by recent paleoecological evidence suggesting smaller temperature increase and moderate northward forest advances in the extreme northeast of Eurasia during the late Pleistocene - Holocene warming events. This study emphasizes the importance of West Beringia as a potential refugium for cold-adapted Arctic species under ongoing climate warming.

Preliminary paleoenvironmental analysis of permafrost deposits at Batagaika megaslump, Yana Uplands, northeast Siberia

Article

Full-text available

Feb 2017

A megaslump at Batagaika, in northern Yakutia, exposes a remarkable stratigraphic sequence of permafrost deposits ~50–80 m thick. To determine their potential for answering key questions about Quaternary environmental and climatic change in northeast Siberia, we carried out a reconnaissance study of their cryostratigraphy and paleoecology, supported by four rangefinder ¹⁴ C ages. The sequence includes two ice complexes separated by a unit of fine sand containing narrow syngenetic ice wedges and multiple paleosols. Overall, the sequence developed as permafrost grew syngenetically through an eolian sand sheet aggrading on a hillslope. Wood remains occur in two forest beds, each associated with a reddened weathering horizon. The lower bed contains high amounts of Larix pollen (>20%), plus small amounts of Picea and Pinus pumila , and is attributed to interglacial conditions. Pollen from the overlying sequence is dominated by herbaceous taxa (~70%–80%) attributed to an open tundra landscape during interstadial climatic conditions. Of three hypothetical age schemes considered, we tentatively attribute much of the Batagaika sequence to Marine Oxygen Isotope Stage (MIS) 3. The upper and lower forest beds may represent a mid–MIS 3 optimum and MIS 5, respectively, although we cannot discount alternative attributions to MIS 5 and 7.

СОВРЕМЕННОЕ СОСТОЯНИЕ РЕКОНСТРУКЦИЙ ПРИРОДНОЙ СРЕДЫ НА СЕВЕРЕ СИБИРИ В КАРГИНСКОЕ ВРЕМЯ (ПОЗДНИЙ ПЛЕЙСТОЦЕН)

Article

Full-text available

Jan 2012

Vladimir S Pushkar

Каргинское время - один из самых противоречивых этапов плейстоцена. На материалах Западной и севера Средней Сибири обсуждаются проблемы эволюции климата каргинского времени в разных частях этой территории. Показана связь каргинской ингрессии на севере с изостазией, вызванной дегляциацией второй стадии зырянского (1-го позднеплейстоценового) оледенения. Палеоклиматические события выделены в основном по палеоботаническим материалам. Последовательность и время проявления палеоклиматических событий определены по данным 230Th/U-, 14С- и OSL-датирования. Ключевые слова: каргинское время, палеоклимат, реконструкция растительности, Западная Сибирь и север Средней Сибири.

Synchronous genetic turnovers across Western Eurasia in Late Pleistocene collared lemmings

Article

Feb 2016
GLOBAL CHANGE BIOL

Recent palaeogenetic studies indicate a highly dynamic history in collared lemmings (Dicrostonyx spp.), with several demographical changes linked to climatic fluctuations that took place during the last glaciation. At the western range margin of D. torquatus, these changes were characterized by a series of local extinctions and recolonizations. However, it is unclear whether this pattern represents a local phenomenon, possibly driven by ecological edge effects, or a global phenomenon that took place across large geographical scales. To address this, we explored the palaeogenetic history of the collared lemming using a next-generation sequencing approach for pooled mitochondrial DNA amplicons. Sequences were obtained from over 300 fossil remains sampled across Eurasia and two sites in North America. We identified five mitochondrial lineages of D. torquatus that succeeded each other through time across Europe and western Russia, indicating a history of repeated population extinctions and recolonizations, most likely fromeastern Russia, during the last 50 000 years. The observation of repeated extinctions across such a vast geographical range indicates large-scale changes in the steppe-tundra environment in western Eurasia during the last glaciation. All Holocene samples, from across the species’ entire range, belonged to only one of the five mitochondrial lineages. Thus, extant D. torquatus populations only harbour a small fraction of the total genetic diversity that existed across different stages of the Late Pleistocene. In North American samples, haplotypes belonging to both D. groenlandicus and D. richardsoni were recovered from a Late Pleistocene site in south-western Canada. This suggests that D. groenlandicus had a more southern and D. richardsoni a more northern glacial distribution than previously thought. This study provides significant insights into the population dynamics of a small mammal at a large geographical scale and reveals a rather complex demographical history, which could have had bottom-up effects in the Late Pleistocene steppe-tundra ecosystem.

Synchronous genetic turnovers across Western Eurasia in Late Pleistocene collared lemmings

Article

Feb 2016
GLOBAL CHANGE BIOL

Recent palaeogenetic studies indicate a highly dynamic history in collared lemmings (Dicrostonyx spp.), with several demographical changes linked to climatic fluctuations that took place during the last glaciation. At the western range margin of D. torquatus, these changes were characterized by a series of local extinctions and recolonizations. However, it is unclear whether this pattern represents a local phenomenon, possibly driven by ecological edge effects, or a global phenomenon that took place across large geographical scales. To address this, we explored the palaeogenetic history of the collared lemming using a next-generation sequencing approach for pooled mitochondrial DNA amplicons. Sequences were obtained from over 300 fossil remains sampled across Eurasia and two sites in North America. We identified five mitochondrial lineages of D. torquatus that succeeded each other through time across Europe and western Russia, indicating a history of repeated population extinctions and recolonizations, most likely from eastern Russia, during the last 50 000 years. The observation of repeated extinctions across such a vast geographical range indicates large-scale changes in the steppe-tundra environment in western Eurasia during the last glaciation. All Holocene samples, from across the species' entire range, belonged to only one of the five mitochondrial lineages. Thus, extant D. torquatus populations only harbour a small fraction of the total genetic diversity that existed across different stages of the Late Pleistocene. In North American samples, haplotypes belonging to both D. groenlandicus and D. richardsoni were recovered from a Late Pleistocene site in south-western Canada. This suggests that D. groenlandicus had a more southern and D. richardsoni a more northern glacial distribution than previously thought. This study provides significant insights into the population dynamics of a small mammal at a large geographical scale and reveals a rather complex demographical history, which could have had bottom-up effects in the Late Pleistocene steppe-tundra ecosystem.

Phylogeography and population structure in the ant Formica exsecta (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) across Eurasia as reflected by mitochondrial DNA variation and microsatellites

Article

Full-text available

Dec 2007

Phylogeography and population structure of the ant Formica exsecta was studied across Eurasia by using mtDNA sequences and microsatellite genotypes. The phylogeny based on 1.5 kb mtDNA fragment including the cytochrome b and part of the ND6 gene showed significant division (1.63% of nucleotide divergence) between a haplotype from Tibet and all other haplotypes. Similar to findings in diverse array of species associated with forest in Eurasia, the mtDNA phylogeny revealed no evidence for vicariant events due to separation in different forest refugia over glacial periods. The haplotype network includes several small clades (with 2-4 haplotypes in each) with geographically limited distribution, but one geographical region may have received haplotypes from two or more of such clades. This pattern could indicate mixing of different gene pools during postglacial colonization of Europe from different forest refugia or from an ancestral source with some spatial genetic differentiation. The genealogy and the haplotype frequencies suggest postglacial colonization of Siberia from a single refugial source of limited size. Maternal and biparental DNA markers indicated a moderate but significant level of population differentiation (mtDNA ΦST = 0.42, microsatellite FST = 0.13) across Eurasia. However, no correlation between genetic differentiation estimated for mtDNA and microsatellites was found among the populations. Considerable reduction in microsatellite genetic diversity was found in the small population of F. exsecta in England, giving some basis to classify this population as near threatened.

Refugial origins of reindeer (Rangifer tarandus L.) inferred from mitochondrial DNA sequences

Article

Mar 2003

Distribution and abundance of genetic variation in the arctic fox

Article

Jan 2005

Love Dalén

Insect faunal response to environmental changes during the last interglacial in Western Beringia

Article

May 2015
QUATERN INT

Svetlana Kuzmina

Reconstruction of the last interglacial (LI) environment could help us understand the mammoth faunal extinction and facilitate predictions of the effects of future on ecosystems. This work applied the fossil insect method to a number of interglacial sites in the Siberian Arctic (West Beringia). The main problem of the LI in Western Beringia is uncertain age determinations; many interesting sites are undated. Interpretation of “warming” signals is also problematic because of the special character of regional Pleistocene interglacial insect communities; these faunas are different from the modern ones. Investigation can clearly recognize interglacial faunas and, with additional stratigraphic evidence, correlate some units to the LI. Insect study helps shed light on the survival of large grazing mammals in Western Beringia during LI: 1) steppe-tundra areas remained in the forested regions; 2) climate change provided sufficient warmth to support the steppe-tundra environment in the north. Early Holocene climate change, in combination with marine transgression, progressively reduced suitable habitats for large mammals until a critical point was reached. Insect populations were also affected, but due to their small size, many steppe-tundra insect species remained as relicts in isolated patches of steppe-tundra.

Phylogeographic structure and mitochondrial DNA variation in true lemmings (Lemmus) from the Eurasian Arctic

Article

Mar 1999

Vadim B Fedorov

The geographic pattern of mtDNA variation in lemmings from 13 localities throughout the Eurasian Arctic was studied by using eight restriction enzymes and sequencing of the cytochromebregion. These data are used to reveal the vicariant history ofLemmus, and to examine the effect of the last glaciation on mtDNA variation by comparing diversity in formerly glaciated areas to the diversity in non-glaciated areas. Phylogenetic congruence across different Arctic taxa and association between observed discontinuities, and probable Pleistocene barriers, suggest that glacial-interglacial periods were crucial in the vicariant history ofLemmus. Differences in amount of divergence (2.1–9.1%) across different historical barriers indicate chronologically separate vicariant events during the Quaternary. Populations from a formerly glaciated area are no less variable than those in the non-glaciated area. Regardless of glaciation history, no population structure and high haplotype diversity were found within geographic regions. The lack of population structure indicates that populations with high ancestral haplotype diversity shifted their distribution during the Holocene, and that lemmings tracked a changing environment during the Quaternary without reduction of effective population size.

Comparative phylogeography and demographic history of the wood lemming (Myopus schisticolor): implications for late Quaternary history of the taiga species in Eurasia

Article

The association between demographic history, genealogy and geographical distribution of mitochondrial DNA cytochrome b haplotypes was studied in the wood lemming (Myopus schisticolor), a species that is closely associated with the boreal forest of the Eurasian taiga zone from Scandinavia to the Pacific coast. Except for a major phylogeographic discontinuity (0.9% nucleotide divergence) in southeastern Siberia, only shallow regional genetic structure was detected across northern Eurasia. Genetic signs of demographic expansions imply that successive range contractions and expansions on different spatial scales represented the primary historical events that shaped geographical patterns of genetic variation. Comparison of phylogeographic structure across a taxonomically diverse array of other species that are ecologically associated with the taiga forest revealed similar patterns and identified two general aspects. First, the major south–north phylogeographic discontinuity observed in five out of six species studied in southeastern Siberia and the Far East implies vicariant separation in two different refugial areas. The limited distribution range of the southeastern lineages provides no evidence of the importance of the putative southeastern refugial area for postglacial colonization of northern Eurasia by boreal forest species. Second, the lack of phylogeographic structure associated with significant reciprocal monophyly and genetic signatures of demographic expansion in all nine boreal forest animal species studied to date across most of northern Eurasia imply contraction of each species to a single refugial area during the late Pleistocene followed by range expansion on a continental scale. Similar phylogeographic patterns observed in this taxonomically diverse set of organisms with different life histories and dispersal potentials reflect the historical dynamics of their shared environment, the taiga forest in northern Eurasia.

Phylogeographic structure and mitochondrial DNA variation in true lemmings (Lemmus) from the Eurasian Arctic

Article

Mar 1999

The geographic pattern of mtDNA variation in lemmings from 13 localities throughout the Eurasian Arctic was studied by using eight restriction enzymes and sequencing of the cytochrome b region. These data are used to reveal the vicariant history of Lemmus, and to examine the effect of the last glaciation on mtDNA variation by comparing diversity in formerly glaciated areas to the diversity in non‐glaciated areas. Phylogenetic congruence across different Arctic taxa and association between observed discontinuities, and probable Pleistocene barriers, suggest that glacial‐interglacial periods were crucial in the vicariant history of Lemmus. Differences in amount of divergence (2.1–9.1%) across different historical barriers indicate chronologically separate vicariant events during the Quaternary. Populations from a formerly glaciated area are no less variable than those in the non‐glaciated area. Regardless of glaciation history, no population structure and high haplotype diversity were found within geographic regions. The lack of population structure indicates that populations with high ancestral haplotype diversity shifted their distribution during the Holocene, and that lemmings tracked a changing environment during the Quaternary without reduction of effective population size.

Holarctic genetic structure and range dynamics in the woolly mammoth

Article

Full-text available

Nov 2013
Proc Biol Sci

Ancient DNA analyses have provided enhanced resolution of population histories in many Pleistocene taxa. However, most studies are spatially restricted, making inference of species-level biogeographic histories difficult. Here, we analyse mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) variation in the woolly mammoth from across its Holarctic range to reconstruct its history over the last 200 thousand years (kyr). We identify a previously undocumented major mtDNA lineage in Europe, which was replaced by another major mtDNA lineage 32-34 kyr before present (BP). Coalescent simulations provide support for demographic expansions at approximately 121 kyr BP, suggesting that the previous interglacial was an important driver for demography and intraspecific genetic divergence. Furthermore, our results suggest an expansion into Eurasia from America around 66 kyr BP, coinciding with the first exposure of the Bering Land Bridge during the Late Pleistocene. Bayesian inference indicates Late Pleistocene demographic stability until 20-15 kyr BP, when a severe population size decline occurred.

The North Taymyr ice-marginal zone, Arctic Siberia - A preliminary overview and dating

Article

Nov 2001
GLOBAL PLANET CHANGE

The North Taymyr ice-marginal zone (NTZ) is a complex of glacial, glaciofluvial and glaciolacustrine deposits, laid down on the northwestern Taymyr Peninsula in northernmost Siberia, along the front of ice sheets primarily originating on the Kara Sea shelf. It was originally recognised from satellite radar images by Russian scientists; however, before the present study, it had not been investigated in any detail. The ice sheets have mainly inundated Taymyr from the northwest, and the NTZ can be followed for 700–750 km between 75°N and 77°N, mostly 80–100 km inland from the present Kara Sea coast.

Tansley Review No. 83 Current trends in studies of long-term plant community dynamics

Article

Aug 1995
NEW PHYTOL

J. C. RITCHIE

Long‐term plant community dynamics has been investigated by analyses of macro‐ and microfossil remains found in unconsolidated limnic and terrestrial sediments, chiefly of Late‐Quaternary and Recent age. Plant macrofossils preserved in packrat (Neotoma) midden sites in semi‐arid regions have yielded the most informative data for the period between the lastest glacial to the present day. The remains can, with few exceptions, be identified to species level, they represent a large (>75%) proportion of the species composition of vegetation within a radius of 30‐50 m of a site, and they can be dated by the accelerator mass‐spectrometric radiocarbon method. Most sites have been found in the arid southwest of the United States and significant contributions have been made recently to understanding of long‐term changes in species composition and shifts in range and elevational limits of species. Similarly, analysis of macrofossils in lake, mire and river sites can draw on the taxonomic precision, small source area and potential for precise radiocarbon dating of samples, to provide detailed reconstructions of the local vegetation of lacustrine, mire and fluvial habitats. The vast literature reporting these investigations deals with sites chiefly in northern temperate regions, but recent studies from tropical and warm‐temperate regions show the promise of the approach. The use of analyses of microscopic charcoal preserved in sediments has increased significantly in the past few decades as part of attempts to reconstruct forest tire history and, when combined with other analyses (pollen, physical chemistry), to investigate past community dynamics. The major limitations of the method are poor chronological control in many sediments, uncertainties about source area and limited taxonomic precision. On the other hand, macroscopic remains of charcoal can usually be identified to species level, can be dated accurately and have readily defined source areas. However, sites with high frequencies of sample occurrence spanning long, continuous time intervals are very rare, as a remarkable example from the humid tropics of Africa illustrates. Pollen analysis of lake and mire sediments has a long history and has yielded a vast literature. Its weaknesses as a tool in the three main fields of interest where it is used ‐ palaeoclimatology, cultural history and plant community dynamics are well known and increase in regions farther north and south of the boreal and Contents Summary 469 I. Introduction 470 II. Types of evidence 471 III. Problems and prospects 487 Acknowledgements 490 References 490

Repeated vicariance of Eurasian songbird lineages since the Late Miocene

Article

May 2010
J BIOGEOGR

Gary Voelker

Aim The evolution of avian speciation patterns across much of Eurasia is under‐explored. Excepting phylogeographic patterns of single species, or speciation involving the Himalayas, there has been no attempt to understand the evolution of avian distributional patterns across the rest of the continent. Within many genera there is a pattern of (presumed) sister species occurring in adjacent areas (western, eastern or southern Eurasia), yet this pattern cannot be explained by existing biogeographic barriers. My aim was to examine the possible role of climate‐driven vicariance events in generating avian distributions. Location Eurasia. Methods I constructed a molecular phylogeny of Phoenicurus redstarts, and assembled phylogenetic data from published studies of seven other Eurasian bird genera. On each phylogeny, I assessed the distributional patterns of species and clades relative to refugial areas in western, eastern and southern Eurasia. I also estimated the timing of lineage divergences via a molecular clock, to determine whether distributional patterns can be explained by well‐defined periods of climate change in Eurasia that are recorded from dated sediments in the Chinese Loess Plateau. Results Species relationships in a well‐supported phylogeny of Phoenicurus show a pattern of distributions consistent with repeated speciation in major refugial areas, where one lineage is isolated in a single area of Eurasia relative to its sister lineage. This same pattern is evident in Eurasian Turdus thrushes, and six additional avian genera distributed across Eurasia. Molecular clock dating indicates that divergences within each genus are the result of multiple rounds of speciation in refugia through time, during major climate‐driven episodes of vicariance. Main conclusions Analyses revealed substantial evidence supporting a repeated, non‐random pattern of speciation within and across eight songbird lineages since the Late Miocene. The pattern of speciation supports a model of isolation in refugia during major episodes of vicariance, specifically periods of either intensified desertification of Central Asia or Eurasian glacial cycles. The densely sampled clades used here preclude inter‐continental dispersal as an alternative explanation for distributions. The signature of climate‐driven vicariance across epochs is, given the absence of extant biogeographic barriers, a suitable hypothesis to explain major lineage divergences in widely distributed Eurasian songbird lineages.

Population history and genetic structure of a circumpolar species: The arctic fox

Article

Jan 2005
BIOL J LINN SOC

The circumpolar arctic fox Alopex lagopus thrives in cold climates and has a high migration rate involving long-distance movements. Thus, it differs from many temperate taxa that were subjected to cyclical restriction in glacial refugia during the Ice Ages. We investigated population history and genetic structure through mitochondrial control region variation in 191 arctic foxes from throughout the arctic. Several haplotypes had a Holarctic distribution and no phylogeographical structure was found. Furthermore, there was no difference in haplotype diversity between populations inhabiting previously glaciated and unglaciated regions. This suggests current gene flow among the studied populations, with the exception of those in Iceland, which is surrounded by year-round open water. Arctic foxes have often been separated into two ecotypes: ‘lemming’ and ‘coastal’. An analysis of molecular variance suggested particularly high gene flow among populations of the ‘lemming’ ecotype. This could be explained by their higher migration rate and reduced fitness in migrants between ecotypes. A mismatch analysis indicated a sudden expansion in population size around 118 000 BP, which coincides with the last interglacial. We propose that glacial cycles affected the arctic fox in a way opposite to their effect on temperate species, with interglacials leading to short-term isolation in northern refugia. © 2005 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2005, 84, 79–89.

Interglacial History of a Palaeo-lake and Regional Environment: A Multi-proxy Study of a Permafrost Deposit from Bol’shoy Lyakhovsky Island, Arctic Siberia

Article

Full-text available

May 2006

Chironomid, pollen, and rhizopod records from a permafrost sequence at Bol’shoy Lyakhovsky Island (New Siberian Archipelago) document the development of a thermokarst palaeo-lake and environmental conditions in the region during the last Interglacial (MIS 5e). Open Poaceae and Artemisia associations dominated vegetation at the beginning of the interglacial period. Rare shrub thickets (Salix, Betula nana, Alnus fruticosa) grew in more protected and wetter places as well. Saalian ice wedges started to melt during this time, resulting in the formation of an initial thermokarst water body. The high percentage of semi-aquatic chironomids suggests that a peatland-pool initially existed at the site. A distinct decrease in semi-aquatic chironomid taxa and an increase in lacustrine ones point to a gradual pooling of water in the basin, which could in turn induce thermokarst and create a permanent pond during the subsequent period. The highest relative abundance of Chironomus and Procladius reflects unfrozen water remaining under the ice throughout the ice-covered period during the later stage of palaeo-lake development. The chironomid record points to three successive stages during the history of the lake: (1) a peatland pool; (2) a pond (i.e., shallower than the maximum ice-cover thickness); and (3) a shallow lake (i.e., deeper than the maximum ice-cover thickness). The trend of palaeo-lake development indicates that intensive thermokarst processes occurred in the region during the last Interglacial. Shrub tundra communities with Alnus fruticosa and Betula nana dominated the vegetation during the interglacial optimum. The climate was moister and warmer than present. The results of this study suggest that quantitative chironomid-based temperature reconstructions from Arctic thermokarst ponds/lakes may be problematic due to other key environmental factors, such as prolonged periods of winter anoxia and local hydrological/geomorphological processes, controlling the chironomid assemblages.

Late pleistocene beetle records from Northern Asia

Chapter

Jan 2023

Volcanic ash layers in Lake El'gygytgyn: eight new regionally significant chronostratigraphic markers for western Beringia

Article

Full-text available

May 2014

Ash layers from explosive volcanic eruptions (i.e., tephra) represent isochronous surfaces independent from the environment in which they are deposited and the distance from their source. In comparison to eastern Beringia (non-glaciated Yukon and Alaska), few Plio-Pleistocene distal tephra are known from western Beringia (non-glaciated arctic and subarctic eastern Russia), hindering the dating and correlation of sediments beyond the limit of radiocarbon and luminescence methods. The identification of eight visible tephra layers (T0–T7) in sediment cores extracted from Lake El'gygytgyn, in the Far East Russian Arctic, indicates the feasibility of developing a tephrostratigraphic framework for this region. These tephra range in age from ca 45 ky to 2.2 My old, and each is described and characterized by its major-, minor-, trace-element and Pb isotope composition. These data show that subduction-zone-related volcanism from the Kurile–Kamchatka–Aleutian Arc and Alaska Peninsula is the most likely source, with Pb isotope data indicating a Kamchatkan volcanic source for tephra layers T0–T5 and T7, while a source in the Aleutian Arc is possible for tephra T6. The location of Lake El'gygytgyn relative to potential source volcanoes (> 1000 km) suggests these tephra are regionally distributed over a large area. These deposits provide a unique opportunity to correlate the high-resolution paleoenvironmental records of Lake El'gygytgyn to other terrestrial paleoenvironmental archives from western Beringia and marine records from the western North Pacific and Bering Sea, and to move towards the development of a robust integrated framework between the continuous paleoclimatic records of Lake El'gygytgyn and other terrestrial and marine records in NE Eurasia.

Late Quaternary paleogeography and evolution of arctic breeding waders

Article

Full-text available

Jan 2000

This review links published data on mitochondrial DNA phylogeography of three wader species breeding in the Arctic to the availability of suitable breeding habitat during the past 250 000 years. We argue that the breeding ranges of arctic waders were most restricted in size during warm phases in the earth's climate (interglacials), resulting in population bottlenecks in species breeding in the high arctic zone, such as Red Knot Calidris canutus and Ruddy Turnstone Arenaria interpres, and population contraction and the initiation of genetic divergence in low arctic species, such as Dunlin Calidris alpina. When the climate cooled, all species could spread over larger areas. However, large ice-sheets fragmented tundra habitat, which resulted in more differentiation. Subspecies of Dunlin that became isolated during or before the last glacial period are genetically distinct, while those that originated after the glacial cannot be distinguished using mitochondrial DNA. The sensitivity of waders breeding in the high Arctic to increases in global temperature raises concerns over the effect of possible global warming due to anthropogenic factors on these species.

Beetle records/Late Pleistocene of northern Asia

Article

Dec 2007

The analysis of fossil insect (mostly beetle) assemblages allows the reconstruction of the unique tundra-steppe environment that existed throughout the Pleistocene, especially the Late Pleistocene (LP) in Northeastern Siberia. The fossil assemblages include insects from different habitats, which do not live together in any single region today, such as a Mongolian weevil and an Arctic ground beetle. Only a few true forest species were observed in the fossil assemblages. There were some variations in the composition of insect faunal assemblages during the LP, due to differing ages of faunas and to differing site latitudes. The Last Glacial Maximum saw a spectacular increase of Arctic insects in the north, but was less remarkable in the south. During the terminal stage of the LP, the typical tundra-steppe insect assemblages reappeared, before the dramatic destruction of this ecosystem at the Pleistocene–Holocene boundary.

Late-Quaternary extinction of large mammals in northern Eurasia:A new look at the Siberian contribution

Article

Jan 1997

Andrei V. Sher

Although extinction occurred throughout the Quaternary, various calculations of extinction rates agree that the end-Pleistocene extinction was among the largest by the number of species involved and probably one of the most abrupt in time (Kurtén & Anderson 1980; Martin & Klein 1984). Generally, extinction can be considered as the failure of a species to adapt to changing biotic or abiotic conditions. The transition from the Late Pleistocene to the Holocene was marked by wide-scale vegetational restructuring, which broadly correlated with the dramatic changes in the spatial distribution of some mammalian species and the extinction of others. Since the last century this correlation has been used as the main argument for environmentally caused (‘climatic’) extinction hypotheses.

Ice cores and mammoth extinction

Article

Full-text available

Nov 1995

Volcanic ash layers in Lake El'Gygytgyn: eight new regionally significant chronostratigraphic markers for western Beringia

Article

Full-text available

Oct 2013
CLIM PAST

Ash layers from explosive volcanic eruptions (i.e., tephra) represent isochronous surfaces independent from the environment in which they are deposited and the distance from their source. In comparison to eastern Beringia (non-glaciated Yukon and Alaska), few Plio-Pleistocene distal tephra are known from western Beringia (non-glaciated arctic and subarctic eastern Russia), hindering the dating and correlation of sediments beyond the limit of radiocarbon and luminescence methods. The identification of eight visible tephra layers (T0-T7) in sediment cores extracted from Lake El'gygytgyn, in the Far East Russian Arctic, indicates the feasibility of developing a tephrostratigraphic framework for this region. These tephra range in age from ca 45 ky to 2.2 My old, and each is described and characterized by its major-, minor-, trace-element and Pb isotope composition. These data show that subduction-zone-related volcanism from the Kurile-Kamchatka-Aleutian Arc and Alaska Peninsula is the most likely source, with Pb isotope data indicating a Kamchatkan volcanic source for tephra layers T0-T5 and T7, while a source in the Aleutian Arc is possible for tephra T6. The location of Lake El'gygytgyn relative to potential source volcanoes (> 1000 km) suggests these tephra are regionally distributed over a large area. These deposits provide a unique opportunity to correlate the high-resolution paleoenvironmental records of Lake El'gygytgyn to other terrestrial paleoenvironmental archives from western Beringia and marine records from the western North Pacific and Bering Sea, and to move towards the development of a robust integrated framework between the continuous paleoclimatic records of Lake El'gygytgyn and other terrestrial and marine records in NE Eurasia.

Late Quaternary lake records from the Anadyr Lowland, Central Chukotka (Russia)

Article

May 2013

Three lake cores provide insight into the vegetation and climate history of the past ˜45,000 14C yr in the Anadyr Lowland, a key paleogeographic link between the Bering Land Bridge (BLB) and interior Western Beringia (WB). Although not without chronological issues, these records suggest that the Late Pleistocene interstade (approximating Oxygen Isotope Stage (OIS) 3) was a time of unstable environments consistent with previous interpretations for southern areas of WB and in contrast to more stable conditions inferred for northern WB. A hiatus in the records during OIS2 implies dry, frigid environments in the Anadyr Lowland. Previous research suggested that Chuktoka was a westward extension of relatively mesic environments of the BLB, which acted as a "filter" to intercontinental migrations. The Lowland data indicate that Chukotka may have been more of a transitional zone between mesic BLB and more xeric regions of western WB. A structurally novel biome dominated by deciduous forest and high-shrub tundra was proposed as occupying much of Beringia between ˜11,000 and 9000 14C yr BP. The unusual pollen assemblage that characterizes the Lowland suggests that perhaps a second biome was also present in Beringia, one that was dominated by meadows with Betula shrub thickets.

Can Ice Sheets Trigger Abrupt Climatic Change?

Article

Nov 1996

T. Hughes

The discovery in recent years of abrupt climatic changes in climate proxy records from Greenland ice cores and North Atlantic sediment cores, and from other sites around the world, has diverted attention from gradual insolation changes caused by Earth`s orbital variations to more rapid processes on Earth`s surface as forcing Quaternary climatic change. In particular, forcing by ice sheets has been quantified for a major ice stream that drained the Laurentide Ice Sheet along Hudson Strait. The history of these recent discoveries leading to an interest in ice sheets is reviewed, and a case is made that ice sheets may drive abrupt climatic change that is virtually synchronous worldwide. Attention is focused on abrupt inception and termination of a Quaternary glaciation cycle, abrupt changes recorded as stadials and interstadials within the cycle, abrupt changes in ice streams that trigger stadials and interstadials, and abrupt changes in the Laurentide Ice Sheet linked to effectively simultaneous abrupt changes in its ice streams. Remaining work needed to quantify further these changes is discussed. 90 refs., 14 figs.

Andrei Sher and Quaternary science

Article

Aug 2011
QUATERNARY SCI REV

Andrei Sher (1939-2008) was a key individual in Beringian studies who made substantial and original contributions, but also, importantly, built bridges between western and eastern Beringian scientists spanning some five decades of research. He is perhaps best known as a Quaternary palaeontologist, specializing in large mammals, and mammoths in particular, but his field of his scientific research was much broader, encompassing Quaternary geology, stratigraphy, geocryology, and paleoenvironmental reconstructions. He worked mainly in Siberia, in the Kolyma and Indigirka lowlands, and Chukotka, but also completed fieldwork in Alaska and Yukon through joint projects with American and Canadian scientists. Andrei was an active scientist until the last days of his life. He was involved in many different research projects ranging from mammoth evolution, fossil insects and environmental changes and ancient DNA. Without Andrei's connections between researchers, many unique discoveries would likely be unknown.

9 Siberian Studies

Article

Dec 2010
Dev Quaternary Sci

Scott A. Elias

This chapter studies the Quaternary environments of Siberia. The Siberian research is fascinating, revealing major exchanges of insect species between the western sector of Beringia and central Asia, Europe, and eastern Beringia. Siberia appears to have the principal region in which steppe–tundra develops, and small patches still exist there. The tundra/forest–tundra element includes three ground beetle species—namely, Nebria nivalis, Pelophilaborealis, and Diacheilapolita. The results of numerous studies of Middle and Late Pleistocene insect fossil assemblages from the Ural Mountains and western Siberia are also presented in the chapter. Environmental reconstructions based on these assemblages are made largely by comparison with modern regional faunas. The fossil faunas tend to fall within defined ecological groups that include arctic and subarctic tundra species, boreal species, and steppe species. Faunas from the last interglacial (MIS 5e) reflect boreal forest conditions as warm as or warmer than those at the study sites today. Several faunas from western Siberia are associated with the interstadial conditions of MIS 3. Several of these faunas contain forest–steppe species that covers extensive regions of western Siberia at present.

The case for an ice shelf in the Pleistocene Artic Ocean

Article

Jan 1999

During Pleistocene glacial maxima, including the last glacial maximum, a thick floating ice shelf covered all or most of the deep Arctic Ocean. This conclusion is based on a preponderance of results from field and modeling studies. Of special importance are recent discoveries in the Arctic Ocean: the deep ice plowmarks on the submarine Yermak Plateau and Chukchi Borderland, and the evidence for sediment erosion and overconsolidation on the top of Lomonosov Ridge. In our view, they all are clear signatures of a former ice shelf that became grounded at these sites.While floating in the Arctic Ocean, the ice shelf would have exerted backpressure against any marine ice sheets that may have been grounded on circum‐Arctic continental shelves, in particular against grounded ice streams, checking their instability, damping their surges, and deflecting their flow. At the close of glacial time, ice‐shelf disintegration permitted ice‐stream surges, making it possible for erratic‐laden icebergs to reach the central Arctic. These features are those of an Arctic Ice Sheet that acted as a unified dynamic system, as the Antarctic Ice Sheet acts today. The Arctic Ice Sheet consisted of marine ice domes grounded on the continental shelf in the western Arctic and an ice shelf that spread across the Arctic Ocean basin and grounded against the continental shelf in the eastern Arctic. This grounding would dam Eurasian rivers flowing toward the Arctic. If the ice‐dammed lakes then became frozen to the bed, marine ice domes would eventually form on the continental shelf of the eastern Arctic. However, there is evidence that these Eurasian marine ice domes formed and collapsed repeatedly between 24 ka and 12 ka, suggesting that these domes were highly unstable.

The Last Interglacial in Northeast Siberia

Article

Mar 1995

Alluvial, fluvial, and organic deposits of the last interglaciation are exposed along numerous river terraces in northeast Siberia. Although chronological control is often poor, the paleobotanical data suggest range extensions of up to 1000 km for the primary tree species. These data also indicate that boreal communities of the last interglaciation were similar to modern ones in composition, but their distributions were displaced significantly to the north-northwest. Inferences about climate of this period suggest that mean July temperatures were warmer by 4 to 8°C, and seasonal precipitation was slightly greater. Mean January temperatures may have been severely cooler than today (up to 12°C) along the Arctic coast, but similar or slightly warmer than present in other areas. The direction and magnitude of change in July temperatures agree with Atmospheric General Circulation Models, but the 126,000-year-B.P. model results also suggest trends opposite to the paleobotanical data, with simulated cooler winter temperatures and drier conditions than present during the climatic optimum.

The stage 3 interstadial complex (Karginskii/middle Wisconian interval) of Beringia: Variations in paleoenvironments and implications for paleoclimatic interpretations

Article

Jan 2001
QUATERNARY SCI REV

Questionable chronologies have limited detailed reconstructions of past vegetation and climate trends for the Karginskii/Middle Wisconsinan interstade (abbreviated here as MW). However, recent results from continuous lake records, while not resolving all the dating issues, do provide a new framework within which to examine this intriguing period. Paleobotanical data suggest significant regional variations in the interstadial vegetation of Beringia. Larix forests were relatively common in central and western areas of western Beringia through much of the middle and late MW, whereas tundra dominated most eastern Beringian landscapes. During relatively warm intervals within the interstade, western Beringia was more extensively forested (at times achieving modern forest distribution) than was eastern Beringia, where Picea forests were limited to lowlands of interior Alaska and the Yukon Territory. A period of maximum tree-cover occurred between ca. 35 and 33ka BP, but forests were also present in western Beringia and the Yukon Territory between ca. 39 and 33ka BP. Although a period of maximum warmth probably occurred throughout Beringia between ca. 35 and 33ka BP, significant regional variability characterized other intervals, with differences not only in the timing of climatic changes but also in their trends (e.g., warming in the upper Kolyma region, cooling in interior Alaska). The paleovegetational data suggest that the greatest interstadial warming occurred in far eastern and far western regions of Beringia, with areas that are now closest to Bering Strait showing more moderate climatic fluctuations. The causes for either the long-term or the rapid climatic variations within interstadial Beringia do not seem to relate simply to either Milankovitch or sub-Milankovitch scale forcings.

Genetic and morphometric variation in the Holarctic helminth parasite Andrya arctica (Cestoda, Anoplocephalidae) in relation to the divergence of its lemming hosts (Dicrostonyx spp.)

Article

Full-text available

Jun 2008
ZOOL J LINN SOC-LOND

Andrya arctica is a cestode parasite of the family Anoplocephalidae (Cyclophyllidea), parasitizing lemmings of the genus Dicrostonyx throughout the Holarctic region. The population structure of this intestinal parasite was studied from eight different regions, six of which represented different genetic entities of lemming hosts. Molecular sequence tagged site markers and minisatellite fingerprints as well as morphology and morphometries were used to reveal the population structure of A. arctica in the Holarctic region. The results suggest that the evolutionary history of this cestode species has included different processes acting on different geographical regions. On the Siberian mainland (host D. torquatus), the division of the parasites into different genetic entities agreed perfectly with the chromosomal races of the lemming hosts that points towards a shared evolutionary history between the host and the parasite (‘cospeciation’). The main phylogenetic split of Dicrostonyx between Eurasia and North America was not, however, observed in A. arctica. This suggests that in the Nearctic (host D. groenlandicus) the parasite has remained relatively unmodified because of the large cohesive populations (‘coadaptation’). The uniqueness of the Greenland population, and possibly also that of the Wrangel Island, can be explained by peripheral isolation, refugial effects or founder effects.

Forest or no forest: Implications of the vegetation record for climatic stability in Western Beringia during Oxygen Isotope Stage 3

Article

Aug 2011

Two conflicting stratigraphic schemes describe the Siberian Karginskii interstade (Oxygen Isotope Stage 3 equivalent) as having: 1) relatively stable climate with environments more similar to the full glaciation; or 2) variable climate with landscapes that more closely approximate contemporary ones. New data from continuous lake cores and a nearly continuous section from western Beringia (WB) suggest that both schemes are valid. Herb-dominated communities, possibly with isolated populations of Larix, characterized northern WB with only a slight shift from relatively warm to cool summers during the mid-interstade. In contrast, herb and shrub tundra, steppe, forest-tundra, and modern Larix forest occurred at various times in areas of southern WB, suggesting greater climatic instability. A thermal optimum is evident in the south during the mid-interstade, with modern vegetation in southeastern WB and Larix forest-tundra in the southwest. Variations in Pinus pumila pollen indicate summer warm/winter dry and summer warm/winter wet conditions in southeastern WB. These fluctuations contrast to other areas of WB, where summers and probably winters were consistently arid. Although the interstade presents a unique interval within the Late Pleistocene, paleodata and paleoclimatic models suggest that changes in marine conditions, including sea level, were likely key drivers in the regional climate history.Highlights► Steppe and modern forest coexisted in WB during portions of OIS-3. ► Vegetation patterns mark OIS-3 as unique in the Late Pleistocene of WB. ► Marine conditions were likely key factors in defining regional climate change. ► Effective moisture was likely the primary determinate of OIS-3 vegetation in WB. ► “Warm” pre-Holocene paleobotanical assemblages are not necessarily from OIS-5.

Mitochondrial DNA variation and evolutionary history of chromosome races of collared lemmings (Dicrostonyx) in the Eurasian Arctic

Article

Jan 1999
J EVOLUTION BIOL

Collared lemmings (Dicrostonyx) demonstrate extensive chromosome variation along their circumpolar distribution in the high Arctic. To reveal the history of this genus and the origin of chromosome races in the Palearctic, we studied the geographical pattern of mtDNA variation in lemmings from 13 localities by using eight tetranucleotide restriction enzymes. The main split in mtDNA phylogeny is at the Bering Strait and corresponds to the main chromosome division between the Beringian and the Eurasian groups of karyotypes. Nucleotide divergence estimate of 6.8% suggests that, despite the Bering Land Bridge, Palearctic and Nearctic forms have been separated since the mid-Pleistocene. Five distinct phylogenetic groups of mtDNA haplotypes, with average divergence of 1.5%, corresponding to geographical regions, were found along the Palearctic coast. Low nucleotide and haplotype diversity and a star-like phylogeny within phylogeographical groups of haplotypes suggest regional bottleneck events in the recent past, most probably due to warming events during the Holocene. There is congruence between phylogeographical pattern of mtDNA variation and geographical distribution of chromosome races; 69% of the total mtDNA variation is allocated among chromosome races. This congruence implies that historical events such as fragmentation and allopatric bottleneck events have been important for the origin of chromosome races. However, historical factors do not explain the fixed autosome fusions found to distinguish certain populations.

New insights into the Weichselian environment and climate of the East Siberian Arctic, derived from fossil insects, plants, and mammals

Article

Mar 2005
QUATERNARY SCI REV

Multidisciplinary study of a key section on the Laptev Sea Coast (Bykovsky Peninsula, east Lena Delta) in 1998–2001 provides the most complete record of Middle and Late Weichselian environments in the East Siberian Arctic. The 40-m high Mamontovy Khayata cliff is a typical Ice Complex section built of icy silts with a network of large syngenetic polygonal ice wedges, and is richly fossiliferous. In combination with pollen, plant macrofossil and mammal fossils, a sequence of ca 70 insect samples provides a new interpretation of the environment and climate of the area between ca 50 and 12 ka. The large number of radiocarbon dates from the section, together with an extensive 14C database on mammal bones, allows chronological correlation of the various proxies. The Bykovsky record shows how climate change, and the Last Glacial Maximum in particular, affected terrestrial organisms such as insects and large grazing mammals. Both during the presumed “Karginsky Interstadial” (MIS 3) and the Sartanian Glacial (MIS 2), the vegetation remained a mosaic arctic grassland with relatively high diversity of grasses and herbs and dominance of xeric habitats: the tundra-steppe type. This biome was supported by a constantly very continental climate, caused by low sea level and enormous extension of shelf land. Variations within the broad pattern were caused mainly by fluctuations in summer temperature, related to global trends but overprinted by the effect of continentality. No major changes in humidity were observed nor were advances of modern-type forest or forest-tundra recorded, suggesting a major revision of the “Karginsky Interstadial” paradigm. The changing subtypes of the tundra-steppe environment were persistently favourable for mammalian grazers, which inhabited the shelf lowlands throughout the studied period. Mammal population numbers were lowered during the LGM, especially toward its end, and then flourished in a short, but impressive peak in the latest Weichselian, just before the collapse of the tundra-steppe biome. Throughout MIS 3 and MIS 2, the climate remained very favourable for the aggradation of permafrost. No events of regional permafrost degradation were observed in the continuous Bykovsky sequence until the very end of the Pleistocene.

Contrasting mitochondrial DNA diversity estimates in two sympatric genera of Arctic lemmings (Dicrostonyx: Lemmus) indicate different responses to Quaternary environmental fluctuations

Article

Full-text available

Mar 1999

Vadim B Fedorov

The fossil records show that since the Middle Pleistocene, lemmings (Dicrostonyx, Lemmus) have been sympatric across their ranges. I compared mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) diversity estimates between the two genera to infer a difference in demographic history resulting from biotic responses to Quaternary environmental fluctuations. The mtDNA diversity estimates in Lemmus consistently exceed those in Dicrostonyx on regional and continental spatial scales. However, as opposed to the mainland, the diversity estimates in Lemmus are lower than those in Dicrostonyx on Wrangel Island. Under the assumption of equal mutation rates, a difference in diversity estimates reflects a difference in the historical effective size. On a regional scale, the low mtDNA diversity in Dicrostonyx suggests it suffered a reduction in effective population size, probably due to range contractions during warming events in the Holocene. On a continental scale, the low average divergence in Dicrostonyx indicates a dispersion event after the range contraction in Eurasia to a single refugium, also due to warming events in one of the interglacials. In contrast to Dicrostonyx, the high mtDNA diversity in Lemmus gives no indications for a reduction in its effective size during late Quaternary warming events. This implies that the two historically codistributed genera responded differently to Quaternary environmental changes, even if their differences in biotic responses are undetectable in the Arctic fossil record. This study demonstrates that molecular genetic data increase the resolution of palaeoecological analyses at the community level.

The Importance of Ice Ages in Diversification of Arctic Collared Lemmings (Dicrostonyx): Evidence from the Mitochondrial Cytochrome B Region

Article

Feb 1999
HEREDITAS

Variation in the nucleotide sequence of the mitochondrial cytochrome b region (804 bp) was examined for 24 individuals of collared lemmings Dicrostonyx sampled over the circumpolar distribution range of this genus. The mtDNA phylogeny supports the division of Dicrostonyx into four species suggested on the basis of karyotypes and hybridisation experiments, the Eurasian D. torquatus and the North American D. groenlandicus, D. hudsonius and D. richardsoni. The interspecific divergence estimates (mean 4.89%) suggest that radiation took place during the Pleistocene and gives support for the importance of vicariant events generated by the glacial-interglacial periods for speciation in the chromosomally variable Dicrostonyx. The monophyly of the North America species group indicates one dispersion event across the Bering Land Bridge and does not support the hypothesis that the morphologically primitive D. hudsonius is a relict of an earlier invasion from Eurasia while D. groenlandicus represents a later dispersion event. The division of the North America D. groenlandicus in the two phylogeographic groups with limited divergence (0.63%) across the Mackenzie river is consistent with separation of this species in more than one refugial area located to the north west of the Laurentide ice sheet during the last glaciation. Within the Eurasian D. torquatus, the group of haplotypes from the area to the east of the Kolyma river has the basal position. This gives support for the importance of the Asian Beringia as a refugial area for the tundra specialist, D. torquatus, during one of the warm interglacials in the late Pleistocene.

Microteriofauna of the Mikulino interstadial in accordance with the materials from the Russian plain

Article

Full-text available

Jan 1985

Anastasia Konstantinovna Markova

The Clark’s Cave bone deposit and the late Pleistocene paleoecology of the central Appalachian Mountains of Virginia

Article

Jan 1977
Bull Carnegie Mus Nat Hist

Anthropegene of northwest frames of the Pacific

Article

Jan 1985

O. Petrov

Age of Quaternary sediment of the Yana-Kolyma lowland and its mountain rim

Article

Jan 1984
Dokl Akad Nauk SSSR

A.V. Sher

Actualism and disconformism in the studies of Pleistocene mammal ecology

Article

Jan 1990

A.V. Sher

Paleoclimatic reconstruction of the Late Pleistocene in the Upper and Middle Dnieper regions and in Byelorussia from data on small mammals

Article

Jan 1987

Anastasia Konstantinovna Markova

The Mikulino Interglacial was characterised by quite high July and January temperatures similar to present values. Total annual rainfall was not much different from that today. During the Early Valdai there was a sharp fall in winter temperatures, especially in Byelorussia. July temperatures dropped by nearly 5 degrees C. The amount of annual rainfall and solid precipitation considerably decreased. -from Author

Pleistocene mammals and stratigraphy of the Far Northeast USSR and North America

Article

Jan 1974

A.V. Sher

Duvannyy Yar - A key section of Upper Pleistocene deposits of the Kolyma lowland

Article

Jan 1978

Radiocarbon dating and questions of Pleistocene stratigraphy of lowlands in the north-east of the USSR

Article

Jan 1988

The results of radiocarbon dating of Pleistocene rock masses on the lowlands of the NE USSR are analysed. A key problem of Late Pleistocene stratigraphy in the region is the age of the Yedomnaya formation. This must now be re-examined in the light of revised radiocarbon dates. -translated by P.Cooke

Late Cenozoic of the Kolyma Lowland

Article

Jan 1979

Aspects of the paleogeography of Beringia during the late Pleistocene

Article

Dec 1982

David M. Hopkins

This paper reviews knowledge of Beringian glacial chronology, shoreline history, and paleoceanography. The Happy, Boutellier, and Duvanny Yar intervals are named as subdivisions of the last (Wisconsin) cold cycle in Beringia. The Happy interval, which corresponds to the Itkillik Glaciation, was a cold interval that ended more than 60,000 and perhaps more than 80,000 years ago. The Boutellier interval was a long, complex interstadial interval that began 80,000 or 60,000 years ago and ended about 30,000 years ago. The Duvanny Yar interval was a cold, dry interval that corresponds to such modest glacial advances of late Wisconsin time as the Walker Lake Glaciation in the Brooks Range. An unnamed interval corresponding approximately to the birch pollen-assemblage zone and extending from 14,000 to 8500 years BP constitutes the transition to the climatic and landscape conditions that characterized most of the Holocene. Sea level probably was low during the Happy interval. A return to approximately present sea level during deposition of the Flaxman Formation on the Beaufort Sea coast may correspond to a mesic, peat-forming episode that marked the beginning of the Boutellier interval. Sea level later fell to about −80 m but returned briefly to a level near −20 m about 42,000 years BP. Rising sea level seems to have submerged the Alaska-Siberia land connection as early as 15,500 years BP. Many areas in Beringia show a record of moderate aeolian activity during the Boutellier interval, intense activity during the Duvanny Yar interval, diminishing activity during the time of the birch zone, and stabilization about 8500 years BP. During the Duvanny Yar interval, sand movement was active in winter as well as in summer. The paleowind data indicate winter circulation consisting of a counterclockwise gyre concentric to a low in the Gulf of Alaska and summer circulation consisting of southeasterly airflow from the Gulf of Alaska over coastal mountains to interior Beringia.

Paleontological foundation of the anthropogene stratigraphy of northeastern Siberia (on mammals)

Article

Jan 1961

E.A. Vangengeim

Radiocarbon dating and problems of the Pleistocene stratigraphy of lowlands of the Soviet network

Article

Aug 1988

GIN-4017 LU-1675 GIN-4013 LU-1674 LU-1676 GIN-3861 GIN-4018 GIN-4015 GIN-3884 MGU-470 GIN-3862 GIN-2280 REFERENCES

Jan 1983
1-190

A K Agadjanian
M Erbaeva

GIN-3868 MAG-592 GIN-4017 LU-1675 GIN-4013 LU-1674 LU-1676 GIN-3861 GIN-4018 GIN-4015 GIN-3884 MGU-470 GIN-3862 GIN-2280 REFERENCES Agadjanian, A.K. and Erbaeva, M,A. (1983). Late Cenozoic Rodents and lagomorphs of the U.S.S.R. Moscow. Nauka, 1-190.

Peculiarities of the last interglacial therio-complex on the Russian Plain

Jan 1980
68

Alekseyeva

Alekseyeva, L.I. (1980). Peculiarities of the last interglacial therio-complex on the Russian Plain. In: Mammals of Eastern Europe in the Anthropogene, pp. 68-74. Proc. of Zoological Institute, U.S.S.R. Academy of Sciences, 93, Leningrad. (In Russian).

Kazantsevo deposits of the North-Siberian Lowland. In: The Anthropogene of the Taimyr Peninsula

Jan 1982
33-51

S M Andreeva

Andreeva, S.M. (1982). Kazantsevo deposits of the North-Siberian Lowland. In: The Anthropogene of the Taimyr Peninsula, Moscow. Nauka, pp. 33-51. (In Russian).

Glaciations, sea transgressions and climate in the Late Pleistocene and Holocene. In: The Anthropogene of the Taimyr Peninsula

Jan 1982
157-165

S M Andreeva
L L Isaeva
N V Kind
M V Nikolskaja

Andreeva, S.M., Isaeva, L.L., Kind, N.V. and Nikolskaja, M.V. (1982). Glaciations, sea transgressions and climate in the Late Pleistocene and Holocene. In: The Anthropogene of the Taimyr Peninsula, pp. 157-165, Moscow, Nauka. (In Russian).

Paleoclimates and Late Pleistocene faunal provinces in North America

Jan 1979
49

Graham

Graham, R.W. (1979). Paleoclimates and Late Pleistocene faunal provinces in North America. In: Pre-Llano cultures of the Americas: paradoxes and possibilities, pp. 4%69. Washington.

The Clark's Cave bone deposit and the Late Pleistocene paleoecology of the Central Appalachian Mountains of Virginia. Bulletins of the Carnegie Museum Natural History Late-Dneprovian collared lemming from the sediments between glacial tills in the Middle Pechora River area

Jan 1976
25-30

J E Guilday
P W Parmalee
H W Hamilton

Guilday, J.E., Parmalee, P.W. and Hamilton, H.W. (1977). The Clark's Cave bone deposit and the Late Pleistocene paleoecology of the Central Appalachian Mountains of Virginia. Bulletins of the Carnegie Museum Natural History, 2, p. 87. Guslitser, B.I. and Isaychev, K.I. (1976). Late-Dneprovian collared lemming from the sediments between glacial tills in the Middle Pechora River area. In: Geology and Mineral Resources in Northeast European part of the U.S.S.R. Syktyvkar, pp. 25-30. (In Russian).

The key section of the Pleistocene deposits on the Allaikha River (the Indigirka Iowstream)

Jan 1980
73-95

T N Kaplina
A V Sher
R E Giterman
V S Zazhigin
S V Kiselyov
A V Lozhkin
V P Nikitin

Kaplina, T.N., Sher, A.V., Giterman, R.E., Zazhigin, V.S., Kiselyov, S.V., Lozhkin, A.V. and Nikitin, V.P. (1980). The key section of the Pleistocene deposits on the Allaikha River (the Indigirka Iowstream). Bulletin of Commission on Quaternary Period Research, 50 (Moscow) 73-95. (In Russian).

Spore-pollen spectra of modern sediments in the Ola River Basin (Northern Coast of the Okhotsk Sea) In: Spore-Pollen Analysis in Geomorphological Research

Jan 1971
90-105

G G Kartashova

Kartashova, G.G. (1971). Spore-pollen spectra of modern sediments in the Ola River Basin (Northern Coast of the Okhotsk Sea). In: Spore-Pollen Analysis in Geomorphological Research. Moscow State University Publishers. Moscow, pp. 90-105. (In Russian).

Anthropogene rodents of Byelorussia and adjacent territories, In: Problems of Pleistocene

Jan 1985
173-188

A N Motuzko

Motuzko, A.N. (1985). Anthropogene rodents of Byelorussia and adjacent territories, In: Problems of Pleistocene. Minsk, pp. 173-188. Nauka i tekhnika. (In Russian).

Possibilities to use small mammal fauna for stratigraphy of the Late Pleistocene deposits

Jan 1989
44

Motuzko

Motuzko, A.N. (1989). Possibilities to use small mammal fauna for stratigraphy of the Late Pleistocene deposits. In: Quaternary Age. Paleontology and Archaeology, pp. 44-52, Kishinev, "Shtiintsa'. (In Russian).

The Hypoarctic Botanico-Geographical Belt and Origin of its Flora

Jan 1966
94

Yurtsev

Yurtsev, B.A. (1966). The Hypoarctic Botanico-Geographical Belt and Origin of its Flora. Komarovskiye Chteniya, XIX. Nauka, Moscow-Leningrad. 94 p. (In Russian).

Late Cenozoic Rodents and lagomorphs of the U.S.S.R.

Jan 1983
1

Agadjanian

Glaciations, sea transgressions and climate in the Late Pleistocene and Holocene

Jan 1982
157

Andreeva

Microtheriofauna of the Mikulino Interglacial (according to the data from the Russian Plain)

Jan 1985
718

Markova

Anthropogene rodents of Byelorussia and adjacent territories

Jan 1985
173

Motuzko

Age of Quaternary deposits of the Yana-Kolyma Lowland and its mountainous surroundings

Jan 1984
708

Sher

Environment of Plio-Pleistocene mammals in Northeast Siberia. Stratigraphy and Correlation of Quaternary Deposits of Asia and Pacific Region

Jan 1988
78

Sher

Kazantsevo deposits of the North-Siberian Lowland

Jan 1982
33

Andreeva

Pleistocene Rodents of the North of West Siberia

Jan 1986
1

Smirnov

Late-Dneprovian collared lemming from the sediments between glacial tills in the Middle Pechora River area

Jan 1976
25

Guslitser

The key section of the Pleistocene deposits on the Allaikha River (the Indigirka lowstream)

Jan 1980
73

Kaplina

Spore-pollen spectra of modern sediments in the Ola River Basin (Northern Coast of the Okhotsk Sea)

Jan 1971
90

Kartashova

New evidence on microtheriofauna of the Pleistocene deposits in the Southwest of the Russian Plain

Jan 1989
37

Markova

Problems of ecology of Pleistocene mammals

Jan 1988
432

Sher

Problems of the Last Interglacial in Arctic Siberia

Abstract

No full-text available

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