New Papers (2013/05/21-2013/05/27)

＜Nature＞

1.   Minoans came from Europe

Nature 497,412–413(23 May 2013)doi:10.1038/497412d

Ancient DNA from remains found in caves on the Greek island of Crete suggests that the Minoan civilization emerged from farmers who settled on Crete thousands of years beforehand. The authors found 6 mtDNA haplotypes unique to Minoans and 15 that are common in modern and ancient European populations, but none characteristic of present-day African populations. The North African influence on Minoans probably occurred through cultural exchange.

＜Science＞

2. Culture, Genes, and the Human Revolution

Simon E. Fisher, Matt Ridley

Science 24 May 2013: Vol. 340 

no. 6135 pp.929-930 DOI: 10.1126/science.1236171 

State-of-the-art DNA sequencing is providing ever more detailed insights into the genomes of humans, extant apes, and even extinct hominins. The discovery of any genetic mutation that coincided with the “human revolution” must take care to distinguish cause from effect. Supposedly momentous changes in our genome may sometimes be a consequence of cultural innovation.

3. More Power from Below

Joseph N. Moore, Stuart F. Simmons

Science 24 May 2013: Vol. 340 

no. 6135 pp. 933-934 DOI: 10.1126/science.1235640

Geothermal heat provides sustainable energy for electricity generation and heating applications. Worldwide use of geothermal energy has increased steadily over the past few decades. They explain about the limitations of geothermal energy extraction, and the use of this resource be increased.

4. Zircon U-Pb Geochronology Links the End-Triassic Extinction with the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province

Terrence J. Blackburn, Paul E. Olsen, Samuel A. Bowring, Noah M. McLean, Dennis V. Kent, John Puffer, Greg McHone, E. Troy Rasbury, Mohammed Et-Touhami

Science 24 May 2013: Vol. 340 

no. 6135 pp. 941-945 DOI: 10.1126/science.1234204

The end-Triassic extinction is characterized by major losses in both terrestrial and marine diversity, setting the stage for dinosaurs to dominate Earth for the next 136 million years. Here, we present new zircon uranium-lead (U-Pb) geochronologic constraints on the age and duration of flood basalt volcanism within the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province. 

5. Annually Resolved Ice Core Records of Tropical Climate Variability over the Past ~1800 Years

L. G. Thompson, E. Mosley-Thompson, M. E. Davis, V. S. Zagorodnov, I. M. Howat, V. N. Mikhalenko,P.-N. Lin

Science 24 May 2013: Vol. 340 
no. 6135 pp. 945-950 DOI: 10.1126/science.1234210

Ice cores from low latitudes can provide a wealth of unique information about past climate in the tropics, but they are difficult to recover and few exist. Here, we report annually resolved ice core records from the Quelccaya ice cap (5670 meters above sea level) in Peru that extend back ~1800 years and provide a high-resolution record of climate variability there. 

＜PNAS＞

6. Sulfur isotopes in coal constrain the evolution of the Phanerozoic sulfur cycle

Donald E. Canfield

PNAS 2013 110 (21) 8443-8446; published ahead of print May 6, 2013,doi:10.1073/pnas.1306450110

Sulfate is the second most abundant anion (behind chloride) in modern seawater, and its cycling is intimately coupled to the cycling of organic matter and oxygen at the Earth’s surface. The results support previous interpretations of sulfur cycle operation and counter recent suggestions that sulfate has been a minor player in sulfur cycling through the Phanerozoic Eon.

7. Consumers mediate the effects of experimental ocean acidification and warming on primary producers

Christian Alsterberg, Johan S. Eklöf, Lars Gamfeldt, Jonathan N. Havenhand,　and Kristina Sundbäck

PNAS 2013 110 (21) 8603-8608; published ahead of print April 29,

2013,doi:10.1073/pnas.1303797110

The importance of experimental designs and statistical analyses allow us to separate and quantify the direct and indirect effects of multiple climate variables on natural communities.

8. Evolution of the plankton paleome in the Black Sea from the Deglacial to Anthropocene

Marco J. L. Coolen, William D. Orsi, Cherel Balkema, Christopher Quince, Keith Harris,Sean P. Sylva, Mariana Filipova-Marinova, and Liviu Giosan

PNAS 2013 110 (21) 8609-8614; published ahead of print May 6,

2013,doi:10.1073/pnas.1219283110

According to paired analysis of deuterium/hydrogen (D/H) isotope ratios in fossil alkenones, salinity increased rapidly with the onset of the dry Subboreal after ∼5.2 ka B.P., leading to an increase in marine fungi and the first occurrence of marine copepods. A gradual succession of dinoflagellates, diatoms, and chrysophytes occurred during the refreshening after ∼2.5 ka cal B.P. with the onset of the cool and wet Subatlantic climate and recent anthropogenic perturbations.

＜Nature Communications＞

9. Crocodylian diversity peak and extinction in the late Cenozoic of the northern Neotropics

T. M. Scheyer, O. A. Aguilera, M. Delfino, D. C. Fortier, A. A. Carlini, R. Sánchez, J. D. Carrillo-Briceño, L. Quiroz, M. R. Sánchez-Villagra

Nature Communications 4, Article number:1907 doi:10.1038/ncomms2940

They show a diversity peak in sympatric occurrence of at least seven species, based on detailed stratigraphic sequence sampling and correlation, involving four geological formations from the middle Miocene to the Pliocene, and on the discovery of two new species and a new occurrence.

10. A new Late Triasssic phytogeographical scenario in westernmost Gondwana

Silvia N Césari, Carina E Colombi

Nature Communications 4, Article number 1889 doi:10.1038/ncomms2917

In the Late Triassic, southern Gondwanan flora is thought to have been dominated by endemic species mainly restricted to eastern areas with some mixing with northern species. In this study, pollen and spore assemblages from Argentina reveal the presence of these mixed flora in the westernmost Gondwana as well.

11. Development of Middle Stone Age innovation linked to rapid climate change

Martin Ziegler, Margit H. Simon, Ian R. Hall, Stephen Barker, Chris Stringer, Rainer Zahn

Nature Communications 4,Article number:1905 doi:10.1038/ncomms2897

The South African archaeological record contains evidence of the early flourishing of the human mind. Ziegler et al. provide new paleoclimate reconstructions, which suggest that rapid fluctuations in global climate have played a key role in the evolution of these early human cultures.

＜Geology ＞

12. The progressive evolution of a continental climate in southeast-central European lowlands during the Middle Pleistocene recorded in loess paleosol sequences

Björn Buggle, Ulrich Hambach, Martin Kehl, Slobodan B. Marković, Ludwig Zöller, and Bruno Glaser

Geology, first published on May 24, 2013, doi:10.1130/G34198.1

We conclude that a small-scale increase in paleoelevation of central European mountain ranges (the Alps, Carpathians, and Dinarides) during the Middle Pleistocene might be the cause of the progressive increase in climate continentality of southeast European lowlands.

13. The Miocene elevation of Mount Everest

Aude Gébelin, Andreas Mulch, Christian Teyssier, Micah J. Jessup, Richard D. Law, and Maurice Brunel

Geology, first published on May 24, 2013, doi:10.1130/G34331.1

Mean elevations similar to modern suggest that an early Himalayan rain shadow may have influenced the late Early Miocene climatic and rainfall history to the north of the Himalayan chain.

14. Sulfate availability and the geological record of cold-seep deposits

Thomas F. Bristow and John P. Grotzinger

Geology, first published on May 24, 2013, doi:10.1130/G34265.1

The low [SO42−]SW has been linked to widespread ocean anoxia in the early Paleozoic, an environmental condition thought to have influenced the evolution, extinction, and recovery of early animals.

15. Rock magnetic record of the Triassic-Jurassic transition in pelagic bedded chert of the Inuyama section, Japan

Alexandra Abrajevitch, Rie S. Hori, and Kazuto Kodama

Geology, first published on May 24, 2013, doi:10.1130/G34343.1

The stepwise change in magnetic properties is suggestive of the protracted environmental deterioration, likely prompted by the early episodes of the CAMP volcanism, which was followed by a sudden ocean acidification event, perhaps triggered by a catastrophic release of gas hydrates.