The Quaternary period is characterized by a progressive cooling and an increase in the frequency and amplitude of climate cycles. Cooling was controlled by tectonic movements, an increase in land area, and a decrease in solar activity. Since the Oligocene, climate contrast has led to the differentiation of zonal patterns. A full range of climates, from equatorial to polar, appeared in the Pliocene. The beginning of the Pleistocene was marked by ice sheets. Progressive cooling occurred 100 times faster than in the Pliocene (Zachos et al. 2001). The dynamics of landscape zones were determined by the pulsation regime (Velichko 1999). Starting from 1 Ma, this regime was increasingly provided by glacial-interglacial cycles lasting 80–120 Ka (Varga 2011). In spite of the metachronous orbital cycles, the two most recent glacial events were the coldest everywhere.

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Paleosols in the Quaternary

  • Alexander Makeev

摘要

The Quaternary period is characterized by a progressive cooling and an increase in the frequency and amplitude of climate cycles. Cooling was controlled by tectonic movements, an increase in land area, and a decrease in solar activity. Since the Oligocene, climate contrast has led to the differentiation of zonal patterns. A full range of climates, from equatorial to polar, appeared in the Pliocene. The beginning of the Pleistocene was marked by ice sheets. Progressive cooling occurred 100 times faster than in the Pliocene (Zachos et al. 2001). The dynamics of landscape zones were determined by the pulsation regime (Velichko 1999). Starting from 1 Ma, this regime was increasingly provided by glacial-interglacial cycles lasting 80–120 Ka (Varga 2011). In spite of the metachronous orbital cycles, the two most recent glacial events were the coldest everywhere.