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Abstract: Interglacials of the Quaternary Period are currently the focus of a great deal of attention within the scientific community. This is primarily because they play a vital role in distinguishing between “natural” and “human” climate change in the current interglacial and in understanding how the Holocene would evolve in the absence of anthropogenic greenhouse warming. In this respect, Marine Isotope Stage 11 (MIS 11, ca 410,000yr BP) is one of the key interglacial stages of the past 450,000yr. The pattern of insolation variability that occurs during MIS 11 matches that which occurs in the Holocene more closely than in any other warm stage of the past half a million years. In addition there is now an extensive range of evidence for MIS 11 palaeoclimates and palaeoenvironments from marine, ice core, lacustrine and terrestrial sequences. The aim of this paper is to provide a comprehensive review of the current state of our understanding of MIS 11. This is the first paper to provide a detailed review of MIS 11 that incorporates the wide range of marine, ice core, long lacustrine and terrestrial records that have been generated over the last ten years since the last major overview. Crucially, it is the first review of MIS 11 that incorporates a detailed synthesis of the high-resolution terrestrial sequences of western and central Europe. This paper, therefore, provides a holistic integration of a diverse range of proxies and archives to provide a detailed understanding of the expression of MIS 11 in the Earth system. In particular the review focuses on: (1) the climatic background of MIS 11, (2) the robustness of the identification of MIS 11 in a diverse range of sequences, (3) the climatic structure of MIS 11, (4) the magnitude of warmth that occurred in this warm stage, (5) MIS 11 sea level magnitude and variability, (6) the duration of MIS 11, (7) evidence for abrupt climatic events within the interglacial of MIS 11 and (8) precipitation patterns and trends during this interglacial. The paper concludes by considering how useful MIS 11 is as an analogue for Holocene climates and compares it with other proposed analogues, such as MIS 19, with particular reference to the “early anthropogenic” hypothesis. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Ferromanganese nodules (FMNs) are common products of pedogenesis and differ significantly from the surrounding soil matrix in terms of morphology, microstructure, and chemical composition. FMNs have direct impacts on nutrient cycles and heavy metal adsorption, and the concentric ring structure (or undifferentiated fabric) of FMNs can serve as fingerprints in assessing the paleoclimatic conditions and pedogenic environments. Despite the extensive research on the formation, characteristics and environmental implications of FMNs, little is done in terms of review highlights of the research achievements, gaps and future directions in this field. This paper reviewed and summarized the advances and achievements in the research of pedogenic FMNs, including i) formation mechanisms, evolution processes, and influencing factors of FMNs; ii) variations in micromorphology, elemental contents, and mineral compositions of FMNs in different soil types; and iii) sorption, substitution, and fixation of soil nutrients and heavy metals by FMNs. The areas of future studies included: i) determining the age, formation rate, and environmental threshold of FMNs at different stages of pedogenesis using numerical dating techniques; ii) establishing FMN evolution models for both natural and anthropogenic soils to better understand the complex changes of FMNs; and iii) clarifying the processes and mechanisms governing the fixation and re-activation of soil nutrients and heavy metals by FMNs via combined controlled experiments and isotope techniques. Addressing the above areas requires multidisciplinary collaborations, multi-analytical techniques and advanced isotope chronology. Clearly, the potential exists to vastly improve mechanistic understanding of FMN formation and evolution and the ways in which this can influence biogeochemical cycles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human activities have extensively altered landscapes throughout the world and further changes are expected in the future. Anthropogenic impacts such as land use change, groundwater extraction and dam construction, along with the effects of climate change, interact with natural factors including soil weathering and erosion. Together, these processes create a constantly shifting, dynamic terrestrial environment that violates the assumption of stationarity commonly applied in hydrology. Consequently, hydrologists need to rethink both statistical and calibrated models to account for complex environmental processes. We review the literature on human-landscape-hydrological interactions to identify processes and feedbacks that influence water balances. Most of the papers covered consider only a few of these processes at a time and focus on structural attributes of the interactions rather than the short and long-term dynamics. We identify challenges in representing the scale-dependence, environmental connectivity and human-water interactions that characterize complex, dynamic landscapes. A synthesis of the findings posits connections between different landscape changes, as well as the associated timescales and level of certainty. A case study explores how different processes could combine to drive long-term shifts in catchment behavior. Recognizing that some important questions remain unaddressed by traditional approaches, we suggest the concept of 'big laboratories' in which multifaceted experiments are conducted in the environment by artificially inducing landscape change. These experiments would be accompanied by mechanistic modeling to both untangle experimental results and improve the theoretical basis of environmental models. An ambitious program of physical and virtual experimentation is needed to progress hydrologic prediction for dynamic landscapes. The Earth's surface is constantly changing due to human-driven and natural processes. Shifts may be driven by humans directly (e.g. via land use change) or indirectly (e.g. by driving climate change that causes shifts in ecological communities). Other changes are natural, such as certain soil processes that lead to shifts in texture and properties over time. In many places, landscape change is now occurring at unprecedented rates. This impacts the water cycle, creating a need for models that are robust under changing conditions. Our paper synthesizes a wide range of literature on key aspects of landscape change that have wide-ranging implications for hydrology. We focus on the impacts of processes at different spatial and temporal scales, along with feedbacks between various environmental and anthropogenic shifts. We discuss connections between different landscape changes and the timescales over which they each affect the water cycle. A case study is presented to highlight the potential for cascading landscape disturbances that could alter long-term catchment response. Recognizing limitations in traditional data collection and modeling, we introduce the concept of 'big laboratories' to conduct environmental experiments under landscape change, providing an avenue for addressing the complex questions around hydrology in a changing world. • Multi-scale interactions associated with natural and human-induced landscape changes can influence hydrologic dynamics. • We review shifts in vegetation, soils, land use and water extraction, positing connectivity and directional feedbacks. • A research and data science agenda to strategically reduce the uncertainties attendant to these processes is proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China's Loess Plateau is the largest loess deposit in the world in terms of both depth and area. Water storage in soils of the Plateau has direct impacts on food security, human health and ecosystem function. Despite extensive research on the behavior and function of soil water in the Plateau, there is no state-of-the-art review that presents research achievements, gaps and future perspectives. This paper reviews the advances in soil water research and highlights future research needs and challenges in the Loess Plateau, and thereby provides informed decision on sustainable water management. We report that considerable efforts have been made to investigate: i) soil water movement and hydraulic property estimation in the typical loess regions; ii) spatial and temporal variations in soil water content and storage at multiple scales; iii) dried soil layers induced by excessive water use from unreasonable artificial revegetation; and iv) soil water availability and water carrying capacity of typical vegetation types on the Loess Plateau. These studies have greatly enhanced our understanding about the fundamental characteristics, spatio-temporal patterns and natural and anthropogenic controls of soil water distribution and water cycles in the Loess Plateau, which in turn have important implications for the regulation and management of water resources toward sustainable ecological construction. Based on the identified key issues and future research priorities, recommendations were drawn to address unsolved problems, including: i) processes and mechanisms controlling water transport and interactions within the groundwater–soil–plant–atmosphere continuum; ii) how soil hydrological processes couple nutrient cycles in response to climate change and human activities; and iii) development of quantitative models across spatial scales for modeling changes in thresholds of soil water carrying capacity for vegetation. The incorporation of research findings into policy and practice can improve soil water management that will in turn significantly benefit the promotion of ecosystem services and functions in the Loess Plateau. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]