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The far-field effects of the India-Eurasia collision led to tectonic deformation, mountain uplift and climate change in Inner Asia during the Cenozoic Era. In order to improve our understanding of the interplay between tectonics and climate, we present this new Special Issue. It comprises sixteen papers that can be categorized into three broad themes: (1) Cenozoic tectonics and surface processes in Inner Asia; (2) regional paleoenvironment and paleoclimate changes; and (3) numerical modelling of the environmental effects of tectonic uplift and changing ocean gateways. These contributions provide new insights into Cenozoic tectonism, climate changes and their possible inter-relationships in Inner Asia and improve our understanding of the coupling between lithosphere and surface (atmosphere, hydrosphere, and biosphere) processes. The articles will be of broad interest to interdisciplinary scholars in geosciences. • Cenozoic tectonics and surface processes in Inner Asia. • Regional paleoenvironment and paleoclimate changes. • Modelling of the climatic effects of tectonic uplift and changing ocean gateways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP) contains rock successions that record the detailed history of the evolution of the Tethyan oceans. The purpose of this Special Issue is to improve understanding of the complex evolution of the blocks/terranes and oceans in the QTP. It comprises 21 papers covering diverse disciplines including stratigraphy, palaeontology, geochemistry, paleomagnetics and sedimentology. Some of the major findings of the collection are as follows: (1) There exist many branches of the Prototethys Ocean in the QTP with complex history of evolution and subduction; (2) The Paleotethys Ocean along the Longmu Co-Shuanghu suture zone began to widen in Early Carboniferous times; (3) The Mesotethys Ocean opened during Early Permian times as indicated by both paleobiogeographic and provenance studies; (4) There are more than two forearc basins developed during the subduction of the Neotethys Ocean. The various contributions in this Special Issue provide detailed evidence to reconstruct the complicated evolution of the Tethyan oceans involved in the formation of the QTP. The articles will be of interests to scholars across many disciplines in the geosciences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper presents an overview on some significant historical sources, particularly from 17th to 18th century Italian scientific literature, in order to understand how color was used as one of the ‘external’ features for identifying rock formations, also including fossils, regarded as having formed in different times by different causes or events. The reference to color was also considered the main feature used for lithostratigraphical purposes within the so called ‘classifications’ of mountains in the second half of the 18th century. Later geologists and mineralogists involved in the early development of stratigraphy referred to color when a rock formation or specimen appeared to be less distinguishable by other main characters (for example chemical and morphological features). [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The impressive Pleistocene coastal aeolianite exposures in sea cliffs east of Still Bay on the west–southern coast of South Africa host a rich archive of fossil mammalian trackways, including the African elephant (Loxodonta africana). Neither the ichnofossils nor their host sediments have been described in any detail and chronologies remained uncertain. This paper presents a new optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) and amino acid racemisation (AAR) chronology (the first joint application of OSL/AAR dating in South Africa). This provides a temporal framework for assessing the palaeoenvironmental significance of dune sedimentation patterns, pedogenesis and ichnology. The Pleistocene aeolianite exposures at Still Bay represent the recently eroded remnants of a dune cordon, mainly built by coalesced parabolic dune systems. Sedimentary facies are dominated by large-scale planar cross-stratification formed by foreset progradation in the nose and trailing arms of the dunes and low-angle bedding, chiefly representing sedimentation in low relief interdune terrain. The main dune building wind regime was westerly, associated with cyclonic polar frontal systems (as at the present time). The OSL and AAR dating demonstrate ages ranging from MIS 5e to 5b and termination of Pleistocene aeolian sedimentation at ∼90 ka. The Pleistocene aeolianite is separated from the overlying Holocene dunes (dated to ∼8 ka), by a major hiatus recorded by a horizon of intense pedogenesis. Elephant footprints were seen in profile, as casts on the underside of beds and as natural impressions. The taphonomic processes controlling the morphology and preservation of these unique ichnofossils were found to be complex. The presence of Loxodonta africana at Still Bay represents the southernmost occurrence of this species recorded to date and possibly, a closer proximity of woodland during MIS 5. This and other observations may indicate a higher moisture regime than at present. There is no available evidence that the elephants were predated by contemporary Middle Stone Age people. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Geochemical proxy records of sea surface temperature (SST) or sea surface salinity (SSS) variability on intra- and interannual time-scales in corals from geological periods older than Pleistocene are extremely rare due to pervasive diagenetic alteration of coralline aragonite. Very recently, however, stable isotope data (δ 18O, δ 13C) from specimens of Porites of Late Miocene age (10 Ma) have been shown to preserve original environmental signatures. In this paper we describe new finds of the zooxanthellate corals Porites and Tarbellastraea in exceptional aragonite preservation from the island of Crete in sediments of Tortonian (∼9 Ma) and Early Messinian (∼7 Ma) age. Systematic, comparative stable isotope analysis of massive Tarbellastraea and Porites sampled from the same beds and localities reveal identical stable isotope fractionation patterns in both genera. Therefore, extinct Tarbellastraea represents an additional environmental archive fully compatible and mutually exchangeable with Porites. Provided that seasonal variations in δ 18O reflect SST changes only, seasonal SST contrasts of 7.3 °C for the Tortonian and 4.8 °C for the Early Messinian are inferred, implying warmer summer and cooler winter SSTs during the Tortonian than during the Messinian. However, reduced δ 18O seasonality (1.1‰ in the Tortonian and 0.7‰ in the Messinian) and slightly less negative mean δ 18O in Messinian corals (−2.4‰) compared to Tortonian specimens (−2.7‰) may not necessarily indicate a long-term fall in SSTs, but changes in surface water δ 18O, i.e. global ice build-up or enhanced evaporation during summer or increased precipitation/river discharge during winter and changes in insolation. On the other hand, coral communities of Tortonian and Messinian age in central Crete are identical, and compatible annual extension rates indicate similar average SSTs during the two investigated time periods. In addition, lithological and paleobotanical data from Central Crete document a change from humid to dry climatic conditions during the Late Miocene. Therefore, a likely explanation for the observed shift in coral mean δ 18O and reduced δ 18O seasonality from the Tortonian to the Early Messinian is a change in ambient seawater δ 18O caused by a change in the hydrological balance towards high evaporation/high salinity during summer. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The Olduvai fossil plants documented by us in this paper are the first direct evidence for open grassland in the late Neogene of Africa based on macroplant remains. Silicified remains of herbaceous ground cover are exceptionally well preserved in situ within Late Pliocene sediments below the initial pyroclastic ash surge unit of Tuff IF in the uppermost part of Bed I, Olduvai Gorge, northern Tanzania. Published radiometric and palaeomagnetic dates place this grass layer between 1.839+0.005 Ma and 1.785+0.01 Ma. Exposed at localities on the south side of the Gorge this herbaceous ground cover grew on a floodplain developed on a dried out lake bed, following pronounced lake retreat of saline–alkaline palaeo-Lake Olduvai during a developing dry climatic phase. Sheathed basal culms, rhizomes and roots are interpreted as those of one or more small mat-forming grasses or less likely, sedges. Small dicotyledonous herbs were probably also present. The proximity of adjacent plants indicates a relatively dense ground cover. Roots extended at least 8 cm below the ground surface. Aerial parts of the plants were absent or were not preserved when the weathered basal culms were covered by a thin layer of brown waxy clay, followed by fallout of pyroclastic ash. Both units were mostly eroded away prior to emplacement of a wet, cool pyroclastic surge which then buried and preserved in situ remnants of the herbaceous ground cover. Preservation of the semi-woody rhizomes implies well-drained soils, otherwise the plant material would have quickly rotted. Collections from discontinuous exposures indicate the grassland covered an area of at least a few hectares. This open grassland would have provided grazing for the Late Pliocene fauna. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper documents Salterella maccullochi (Murchison) in the Precordillera of western Argentina in the present-day southern hemisphere. The record of these Early Cambrian small conical-shaped fossils, assigned to the extinct phylum Agmata, provides further palaeobiogeographic evidence to consider the Argentine Precordillera an exotic terrane to Gondwana that originally rifted from Laurentia. For palaeogeographic reconstructions, Salterella can be considered as an organism equally important and biogeographically as meaningful as the olenellid trilobites due to their limited dispersal and demonstrated link to Laurentian shallow-water inner-shelf facies. It has not been found anywhere in Gondwana. Salterella existed for only a very short interval of time, but spread almost instantaneously around Laurentia. On this basis, the Early Cambrian of the Precordillera terrane remains the more conclusive palaeobiogeographical link to Laurentia. Salterella provides another line of evidence supporting palaeontological, sedimentologic, stratigraphic, palaeomagnetic, and isotopic evidence for a Laurentia origin of the Precordillera terrane. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]