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The timing, duration and evolution of sea level during the Marine Isotope Stage 5e (MIS 5e) highstand is a subject of intense debate. A major problem in resolving this debate is the difficulty of chronologically constraining the sea level fall that followed the peak of the highstand. This was mainly controlled by ice-sheet dynamics, the understanding of which is relevant for assessing future sea-level behavior due to global warming. Here we use stratigraphical and geochoronological (U/Th dating and tephra fingerprinting) evidence from the Infreschi archaeological cave (Marina di Camerota, Southern Italy) to constrain relative sea level (RSL) evolution during the MIS 5e highstand and younger stages. Uranium-thorium dating of speleothem deposition phases places the maximum highstand RSL at 8.90 ± 0.6m a.s.l., as indicated by the near-horizontal upper limit of Lithophaga boreholes measured for along a ∼3.5 km coastal cliff section. Geochronological data show that RSL fell more than 6 m before ∼120 ka, suggesting a duration of the Last Interglacial highstand significantly shorter than proposed in some previous studies. Modelling shows that the RSL trend predicted by the ICE-5G and ICE-6G ice-sheet simulations is consistent with our data, but requires an additional significant reduction of both Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets to match the height of the local maximum highstand if no correction for tectonics is applied. Reconciling field data and models requires an earlier and likely shorter duration of the MIS 5e highstand. This suggests that our new data can constrain global ice-volume variations during the penultimate deglaciation, as well as glacial inception at the end of the Last Interglacial. According to our chronology, there is no local evidence of higher-than-present-day sea levels after 120 ka.

The Erdmannshöhle is located at the NE margin of the Dinkelberg plateau in SW Germany. With a length of 2315 m, it is the longest cave in the deep open karst area near the village of Hasel. Three main cave levels developed in moderately SW-dipping, thinly bedded and fractured limestones of the Upper Muschelkalk (Triassic). The youngest cave level containing the cave stream is still active. Eighteen samples for U/Th dating were taken from the oldest and the intermediate cave levels. At the oldest cave level, the ages range from 162 to 110 ka, indicating speleothem growth starting in the middle Beringen Glaciation and terminating at the end of the Eem Interglacial. At the intermediate cave level, the ages range from 100 to 12 ka, i.e. early Birrfeld Glaciation to Younger Dryas Stadial. The age dating shows that speleothem growth did not cease completely during long periods of harsh climate conditions during the Beringen and Birrfeld glaciations and that permafrost terminating speleogenesis and speleothem growth was thus probably established only temporarily over relatively short periods. A conceptual model for the Middle Pleistocene to Holocene development of the Erdmannshöhle is presented within the framework of modern Quaternary lithostratigraphy. This model facilitates a first correlation of the cave evolution with the Middle to Late Pleistocene depositional record in the Möhlinerfeld, which is a key area for modern Quaternary lithostratigraphy in Switzerland and Southern Germany. Thus, speleological and Quaternary research, both based on a regional scale data compilation, complement one another with respect to the timing of events and the landscape evolution during the Quaternary and Late Neogene.

This paper presents a detailed geological map at the 1:20,000 scale of the Tocomar basin in the Central Puna (north-western Argentina), which extends over an area of about 80 km2 and displays the spatial distribution of the Quaternary deposits and the structures that cover the Ordovician basement and the Tertiary sedimentary and volcanic units. The new dataset includes litho-facies descriptions, stratigraphic and structural data and new 234U/230Th ages for travertine rocks. The new reconstructed stratigraphic framework, along with the structural analysis, has revealed the complex evolution of a small extensional basin including a period of prolonged volcanic activity with different eruptive centres and styles. The geological map improves the knowledge of the geology of the Tocomar basin and the local interplay between orogen-parallel thrusts and orogen-oblique fault systems. This contribution represents a fundamental support for in depth research and also for encouraging geothermal exploration and exploitation in the Puna Plateau region Fil: Filipovich, Ruben Eduardo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Salta. Instituto de Bio y Geociencias del NOA. Universidad Nacional de Salta. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales. Museo de Ciencias Naturales. Instituto de Bio y Geociencias del NOA; Argentina Fil: Baez, Walter Ariel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Salta. Instituto de Bio y Geociencias del NOA. Universidad Nacional de Salta. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales. Museo de Ciencias Naturales. Instituto de Bio y Geociencias del NOA; Argentina Fil: Groppelli, Gianluca. CNR Istituto di Geologia Ambientale e Geoingegneria; Italia Fil: Ahumada, Maria Florencia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Salta. Instituto de Bio y Geociencias del NOA. Universidad Nacional de Salta. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales. Museo de Ciencias Naturales. Instituto de Bio y Geociencias del NOA; Argentina Fil: Aldega, Luca. Università degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza"; Italia Fil: Becchio, Raul Alberto. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Salta. Instituto de Bio y Geociencias del NOA. Universidad Nacional de Salta. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales. Museo de Ciencias Naturales. Instituto de Bio y Geociencias del NOA; Argentina Fil: Berardi, Gabriele. Università Roma Tre III; Italia Fil: Bigi, Sabina. Università degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza"; Italia Fil: Caricchi. Chiara. Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia; Italia Fil: Chiodi, Agostina Laura. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Salta. Instituto de Bio y Geociencias del NOA. Universidad Nacional de Salta. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales. Museo de Ciencias Naturales. Instituto de Bio y Geociencias del NOA; Argentina Fil: Corrado, Sveva. Università Roma Tre III; Italia Fil: De Astis, Gianfilippo. Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia; Italia Fil: De Benedetti, Arnaldo Angelo. Università Roma Tre III; Italia Fil: Invernizzi, Chiara. Universita Degli Di Camerino; Italia Fil: Norini, Gianluca. CNR Istituto di Geologia Ambientale e Geoingegneria; Italia Fil: Soligo, Michele. Università Roma Tre III; Italia Fil: Taviani, Sara. University of Milano-Bicocca; Italia Fil: Viramonte, Jose German. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Salta. Instituto de Bio y Geociencias del NOA. Universidad Nacional de Salta. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales. Museo de Ciencias Naturales. Instituto de Bio y Geociencias del NOA; Argentina Fil: Giordano, Guido. CNR Istituto di Geologia Ambientale e Geoingegneria; Italia. Università Roma Tre III; Italia

In the Quaternary Sarıkavak fluvial tufa deposits, situated in south-western Turkey, different facies have been identified and their mutual relationships have been unravelled. This tufa formation is located at the northern part of Acıgöl Graben. The development of the Sarıkavak tufas represents typical fluvial and fluvio-palustrine environments. In total eight tufa lithofacies have been differentiated, namely: moss tufa facies, oncolitic tufa facies, stromatolitic tufa facies, phytoclastic tufa facies, intraclastic tufa facies, extra-formational clastic tufa facies, sapropelitic tufa facies, and palaeosol. Preliminary U/Th datings indicate that these deposits formed prior to 219 ka and continued until 80 ka (MIS 7 till 5). ?13C signatures (0.78‰ to -1.63‰ V-PDB) best can be explained by limestone dissolution processes or respiration from C4 plant vegetation into the soil or both. For that reason, the Sarıkavak tufa deposits can be classified as ‘travitufa’ which precipitated in a distal facies system of travertine occurrences. ?18O values (-7.49‰ to -10.83‰ V-PDB) of the whole data set reflect some significant changes, which is interpreted in terms of temperature variations reflecting warm and cold periods among MIS 7 (interglacial), MIS 6 (glacial) and MIS 5 (interglacial). The development of the Sarıkavak tufa deposits are related to the Maymundağı fault that borders the Acıgöl Graben in the north. This fault and its synthetic fault segments play a pivotal role with regard to the palaeo-flow direction of water and control the basin topography. These structural structures are likely responsible for all active and ancient springs in the study area, as well as their respective carbonate precipitates. © 2016 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA

Capo S. Marco is the southernmost termination of the Sinis Peninsula in the northwestern border of the Oristano Gulf (western Sardinia, Italy). In the area, there are some of the most controversial and debated Quaternary deposits of Sardinia, consisting of beach, aeolian and slope sediments, whose chronological attribution changed according to different authors and, in different times, by the same authors. These discrepancies have not been solved by new radiometric dates, as radiocarbon and Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) methods provided ages that are significantly different. During recent investigations at Capo S. Marco, beach notches filled with bioclastic sands, gravels, and boulders were discovered up to an elevation of similar to 4.5 m, which is the highest elevation of the known beach notches. These sediments rest on aeolian deposits and form a marine terrace in two sites. In some places, these sediments also include small colonies of the coral Cladocora caespitosa in living position that have been recently dated by U/Th at 70 +/- 4 ka and attributed to the end of MIS 5. Here, we report new U-series analyses of two samples of C. caespitosa collected on the uppermost part of the sequence. The U/Th ages of 153 +/- 0.8 and 149 +/- 0.6 ka would correspond to MIS 6, but the high values for the initial delta U-234 (177 and 179) compared to the modern seawater value (147) point to an open-system addition of U-234 and/or Th-230. The corrected ages using the open-system model of Thomson et al. are 141.6 +/- 2 and 132 +/- 2 ka. However, these deposits and the beach notches are not buried under aeolian or colluvial sediments, as are almost all the Tyrrhenian marine deposits found in Sardinia. They also rest on aeolian sediments, which, at San Giovanni di Sinis, were dated to MIS4 or Late MIS2 by OSL and radiocarbon dating of buried organic palaeosols, respectively. Accordingly, the stratigraphic evidence would suggest their attribution to the Holocene, although this contrasts with the Holocene sea level models available and the U/Th dating results. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA. All rights reserved.

Fossil gathering by humans has been rarely documented in the Iberian Peninsula. In the present paper, a multidisciplinary approach has been taken to analyze a straight-tusked elephant (Elephas antiquus) molar retrieved in a Magdalenian deposit at the rock shelter of El Pirulejo in southern Spain. The taphonomical analyses revealed a multifarious use of a tooth that had not only been worked into an anvil-sort-of-tool but also used as a core and partly tainted with a composite pigment. The dating and geochemical analyses further evidenced that the molar derived from an animal that had lived in a rather arid landscape with a temperature range between 12.3 and 14.3 A degrees C coincident with a cold episode within marine isotope stage (MIS) 6.6 and probably fed on herbaceous plants. These analyses evidence the potential fossils from archaeological sites bear for addressing a wide range of issues that include both the cultural and paleoenvironmental realms. Spanish Ministerio de Economia y Competividad [HAR2013-44269-P, HAR 2014-55722-P, HAR2012-34620] Programa Seneca [19438/PI/14] University of Seville Marie Curie Intra-European Fellowship within the 7th Framework Program for Research, Technological Development and Demonstration (European Commission) [PIEF-GA-2013-623027]

© 2016 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA Active and fossil endogenic travertine mounts scattered along the Little Grand Wash fault are studied as records of Quaternary CO2-enriched fluid leakage. This study focusses on a particular area where a fossil mount formed in a near-surface setting by successive circulation/sealing episodes from Late Pleistocene to Mid-Holocene and where a modern surface travertine is still being formed by a CO2-enriched fluid source. The fossil mount is composed of horizontal and vertical veins whereby the vertical veins recorded numerous cycles of circulation/sealing/dissolution events and were used as conduits for the CO2-enriched fluid circulation from the depth to the surface or along sub-horizontal fractures where successive precipitation events are recorded. The modern travertine is being built at the surface by successive eruption of Crystal Geyser, an anthropic geyser active since the 1930's. δ13C and δ18O signatures and U/Th datings, ranging from 11.5 ky till present-day allows calibrating in detail the CO2 enriched fluid leakage along a single fault segment and in a post glacial context, as last glaciations in the study area took place 15 ky ago. The dataset shows a high decrease of the oxygen stable isotope values till about 6 ky, then the variations reflect a constant range until present-day. This tends to restrain the period of local increase of the meteoric water input in the aquifer that is sourcing the CO2-enriched water. The fossil travertine represents a 7 ky-long record of CO2 leakage above a natural reservoir, from Late Pleistocene to Mid-Holocene. The flux of CO2 leakage through time and the total escaping volume have been computed and appears to be low in comparison with an anthropogenic leak provoked, for instance, by a non-sealed well. ispartof: Quaternary International vol:437 pages:98-106 status: published

Lari, Martina et al., In 1993, a fossil hominin skeleton was discovered in the karst caves of Lamalunga, near Altamura, in southern Italy. Despite the fact that this specimen represents one of the most extraordinary hominin specimens ever found in Europe, for the last two decades our knowledge of it has been based purely on the documented on-site observations. Recently, the retrieval from the cave of a fragment of bone (part of the right scapula) allowed the first dating of the individual, the quantitative analysis of a diagnostic morphological feature, and a preliminary paleogenetic characterization of this hominin skeleton from Altamura. Overall, the results concur in indicating that it belongs to the hypodigm of Homo neanderthalensis, with some phenetic peculiarities that appear consistent with a chronology ranging from 172 ± 15 ka to 130.1 ± 1.9 ka. Thus, the skeleton from Altamura represents the most ancient Neanderthal from which endogenous DNA has ever been extracted., This study was supported in part by the Italian Ministry of Universities (MIUR), projects PRIN 2008 (2008TE2B8S_002) and PRIN 2010-2011 (2010EL8TXP_003), attributed to GB and DC. The paleoanthropological and morphometric parts of this research were supported by resources from the Sapienza University of Rome (GM). CLF is supported by a BFU2012-34157 grant from the MINECO of Spain. ER is funded by RBFR126B8I_003 e RBFR08U07M_003 grants from Italian MIUR.

Detailed geomorphological analysis has revealed that subhorizontal gypsum caves in the Northern Apennines (Italy) cut across bedding planes. These cave levels formed during cold periods with stable river beds, and are coeval with fluvial terraces of rivers that flow perpendicular to the strike of bedding in gypsum monoclines. When rivers entrench, renewed cave formation occurs very rapidly, resulting in the formation of a lower level. River aggradation causes cave alluviation and upward dissolution (paragenesis) in passages nearest to the river beds. The U-Th dating of calcite speleothems provides a minimum age for the formation of the cave passage in which they grew, which in turn provides age control on cave levels. The ages of all speleothems coincide with warmer and wetter periods when CO2 availability in the soils covering these gypsum areas was greater. This climate-driven speleogenetic model of epigenic gypsum caves in moderately to rapidly uplifting areas in temperate regions might be generally applicable to karst systems in different geological and climatic conditions.

This paper describes recent material gathered during the second fieldwork at Ma U'Oi in November 2002 by a Vietnamese–French–Japanese team. The Ma U'Oi cave, located in the province of Hoa Binh (60 km SW from Hanoi), northern Vietnam, belongs to a karstic network developed in Triassic dark-grey limestones. The cave is filled with coarse-grained breccias containing numerous fossil remains, partially preserved at several loci inside the cave (wall, vault and ground). We describe new teeth which confirm the occurrence of mammal taxa already mentioned at Ma U'Oi (Bacon et al., 2004)[Bacon, A-M., Demeter, F., Schuster, M., Long, V.T., Thuy, N.K., Antoine, P-O., Sen, S., Nga, H.H., Huong, N.T.M., 2004. The Pleistocene Ma U'Oi cave, northern Vietnam: palaeontology, sedimentology and palaeoenvironments. Geobios 37, 305–314], while others, mainly microvertebrates, emphasize the occurrence of new species for the Pleistocene of Vietnam. We report here, for the first time, the occurrence of these microvertebrates of different groups (primates, rodents, insectivores, small reptiles and amphibians) in the faunal assemblage. Among mammal taxa, the presence of one more hominid affiliated to archaic Homo is also attested by our findings. U/Th dating carried out on 2 samples extracted from breccia speleothems confirms the biochronological estimate, with fossiliferous fillings ranging from late Middle Pleistocene to Late Pleistocene.