Prokopenko Alexander A, Williams Douglas F, Kuzmin Mikhail I, Karabanov Eugene B, Khursevich Galina K, Peck John A
Department of Geological Sciences, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina 29208, USA.
Nature. 2002 Jul 4;418(6893):65-8. doi: 10.1038/nature00886.
The large difference in carbon and oxygen isotope data from the marine record between marine oxygen isotope stage 12 (MIS 12) and MIS 11, spanning the interval between about 480 and 380 kyr ago, has been interpreted as a transition between an extremely cold glacial period and an unusually warm interglacial period, with consequences for global ice volume, sea level and the global carbon cycle. The extent of the change is intriguing, because orbital forcing is predicted to have been relatively weak at that time. Here we analyse a continuous sediment record from Lake Baikal, Siberia, which reveals a virtually continuous interglacial diatom assemblage, a stable littoral benthic diatom assemblage and lithogenic sediments with 'interglacial' characteristics for the period from MIS 15a to MIS 11 (from about 580 to 380 kyr ago). From these data, we infer significantly weaker climate contrasts between MIS 12 and 11 than during more recent glacial-interglacial transitions in the late Pleistocene epoch (about 130 to 10 kyr ago). For the period from MIS 15a to MIS 11, we also infer an apparent lack of extensive mountain glaciation.
海洋记录中碳和氧同位素数据在海洋氧同位素阶段12（MIS 12）和MIS 11之间存在巨大差异，这两个阶段跨越了大约48万年至38万年前的时间段，已被解释为一个极其寒冷的冰川期和一个异常温暖的间冰期之间的过渡，对全球冰量、海平面和全球碳循环产生了影响。变化的程度很有趣，因为据预测当时轨道强迫相对较弱。在此，我们分析了来自西伯利亚贝加尔湖的连续沉积物记录，该记录揭示了从MIS 15a到MIS 11（约58万年至38万年前）期间几乎连续的间冰期硅藻组合、稳定的湖滨底栖硅藻组合以及具有“间冰期”特征的成岩沉积物。根据这些数据，我们推断MIS 12和11之间的气候对比明显弱于晚更新世时期（约13万年至1万年前）最近的冰期 - 间冰期过渡。对于从MIS 15a到MIS 11的时期，我们还推断明显缺乏广泛的山岳冰川作用。
