Wetland conditions during the last interglacial period in parts of the Levant helped propel our ancestors into Arabia, new research suggests.
Pleistocene
Posted inEditors' Vox
Marine Sediments Reveal Past Climate Responses to CO2 Changes
Climate records stored in marine sediments reveal different ice sheet and ocean responses to falling atmospheric CO2 concentrations from the warm Pliocene to the ice ages of the Pleistocene.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Pliocene Conveyer Belt in the Pacific
Ocean Drilling Program cores and helium isotopes put better constraints on the ocean circulation in the north Pacific.
Posted inNews
Humans Adapted to Diverse Habitats as Climate and Landscapes Changed
Long-term changes in Earth’s climate affected the dispersal of human ancestors and their adaptation to diverse habitats, a new study finds.
Posted inNews
Precession Helped Drive Glacial Cycles in the Pleistocene
By studying bits of rock scooped up by ancient glaciers, researchers have pinned down that recent glacial variability was driven, in part, by changes in the direction of Earth’s axis of rotation.
Posted inNews
“Sticky” Ice Sheets May Have Led to More Intense Glacial Cycles
New research attributes a shift to longer, stronger glacial cycles to increased friction between ice sheets and bedrock in the Northern Hemisphere 1 million years ago.
Posted inNews
The “Green Sahara” Left Behind Fossil Rivers
Reconstruction reveals how people living along the banks of the Nile may have relocated as climate changed and flooding increased during the African Humid Period.
Posted inEditors' Vox
Exploring the Dramatic Shift in Ice Age Duration
Scientists are still seeking an explanation for the Mid-Pleistocene Transition when ice ages became longer in duration and exploring what it may mean for future climate change.
Posted inNews
Finding Prehistoric Rain Forests by Studying Modern Mammals
Mammal teeth store a record of the plants they ate, providing clues about the ecosystems in which they lived.
Posted inNews
Japan Puts Its Mark on Geologic Time with the Chibanian Age
The newly named period in the Pleistocene identifies a key moment in geological history: the last time Earth’s magnetic poles switched places.