Abstracts / Quaternary International 279-280 (2012) 9–12072

geomorphic position, local slope-derived inputs and recent land-usechanges. It is argued that the ‘apparent’ variation in driving-factors infer-red from different temporal perspectives is the inevitable result of theinteraction of climate-driven sedimentation coupled with changing ratesof sediment supply from the catchment. This floodplain and catchmentbehaviour has major implications for fixed structures on floodplains andthe management of catchment erosion and sedimentation.

CENOZOIC DUNE GASTROPODS OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN WEST COAST:IMPLICATIONS FOR CLIMATE CHANGE

Claire Browning. Council for Geoscience, South AfricaE-mail address: cbrowning@geoscience.org.za

Fossilized terrestrial gastropods are widespread in the geological recordand can be used in the identification and delineation of Cenozoic geolog-ical formations in South Africa. They may also be used to determine theenvironmental conditions at the time of death. Both the species compo-sition and the stable isotopes are employed in this regard. Some species,for example Trigonephrus globulus, are temporally distributed from theMiocene to the present. Individuals of this species vary greatly in size overtime, with fossil examples from certain horizons being twice the size ofpresent day specimens. The present distribution of T. globulus is along theWest Coast of South Africa within the Mediterranean, winter rainfallclimatic regime. The climate along the South African coastline is sensitiveand diverse and climatic fluctuations would have played a role in thedistribution and size of gastropods within the dune system. Dune snailsare thus good potential palaeo-environmental indicators. Oxygen isotopeanalysis of both fossil material and host lithologies will be done in order toelucidate palaeoclimatic information. Seasonal growth rings of calcareousshell material will also be sampled in order for high resolution climaticdata to potentially be obtained. Comparisons with other gastropod fossilswithin different climatic regimes along the South African coastline couldbe drawn, i.e. Acatina zebra along the south-eastern coast. A betterunderstanding of dune gastropods as indicators of palaeoclimates alongthe West Coast will add to our ability to understand and properly map theQuaternary deposits of South Africa as well as contribute to our under-standing of global climate change.

QUANTIFYING EARLY PLEISTOCENE CLIMATE AND ENVIRONMENTALCHANGE IN ARMENIA

Angela A. Bruch. ROCEEH Research Centre at Senckenberg, GermanyE-mail address: abruch@senckenberg.de

Armenia is situated in the Lesser Caucasus, between the marine climate tothe west, influenced by the Atlantic Ocean circulation, and the today wellestablished continental climate to the east, this area is of crucial interestfor understanding the global climate system and its influence on vegeta-tion and landscape evolution. Moreover, the Caucasus is the oldest area ofhuman occupation in Eurasia.For the reconstruction of Early Pleistocene landscape evolution in theCaucasus the Vorotan basin proved to be a rich area for palaeobotanicaland palaeontological studies. There, lake sediments form huge diatomiticsequences that are perfectly suitable for palaeoenvironmental studies. Thehighly precise age control of the sites studied so far is based on palae-omagnetic and Ar/Ar dating and enables us to reconstruct the environ-mental history of the Early Pleistocene between 1.15 and 0.95 Ma. Thesedimentation rate for the diatomite is estimated to be about 20-30 cm per1000 years, which allows for a resolution of about 250 years per sample.The profiles show a rich and diverse flora and entomofauna. Some parts ofthe sequences studied in high resolution show clear cyclicity which can becorrelated to global climate cycles. The prominent warm phase MIS 31 at1.07 Ma is well pronounced in the pollen and macroflora record and linkedwith a major expansion of the forest belt. This time of wide spread forestcover lasted for approximately 10 000 years in southern Armenia. This richleaf assemblage was the basis of a quantitative climatic analysis based onthe Coexistence Approach showing about 4 �C warmer values than today.Before and afterwards vegetationwas dominated by semi-arid steppes andmontane meadows, very much similar to today.

QUANTIFYING PALAEOCLIMATE FROM SOUTH AFRICAN MSA SITES –

PRELIMINARY RESULTS USING PLANT FOSSILS FROM SIBUDU CAVE,KWAZULU-NATAL, SOUTH AFRICA

Angela A. Bruch. ROCEEH Research Centre at Senckenberg, GermanyE-mail address: abruch@senckenberg.de

The isolated geographical situation of South Africa makes the unraveling ofvarious parameters that influence its regional climate in time challenging.If the South African climate does not exhibit a linear correlationwith globalarchives as suggested by some authors then the contribution of indepen-dent local data that provides direct information on the environment ata certain place and time is crucial. Fossil plant remains provide valuableinformation on past environmental conditions. Although few paleobo-tanical data are available from Southern Africa, some sites reveal rich anddiverse fossil floras, most notably, Sibudu Cave, KwaZulu-Natal, SouthAfrica, with its numerous fruits, seeds, pollen and charcoal flora. Such plantremains not only provide information on past vegetation, but also serve asa sound base for paleoclimate quantification with the CoexistenceApproach (CA). Sibudu Cave has pulses of Middle Stone Age occupationseparated by hiatuses that are as long as 10 ka. Pre-Still Bay, Still Bay,Howiesons Poort, post-Howiesons Poort and late and final Middle StoneAge industries are present. Variations in vegetation and the animals preyedon through time suggest that subtle environmental changes could haveoccurred during MIS4 and MIS3 in the Sibudu area. Whilst always semi-forested, the region may have comprised a mosaic of uneven andchangeable patches of coastal forest and savanna. These in turnmight haveinfluenced the numbers of forest versus plains animals in the area. Culturalfactors could also have played a part in the faunal variability observed inSibudu.Preliminary analyses of Sibudu Cave material confirm the potential of theCA for its application on Late Pleistocene African floras. In the future,comparison with other contemporaneous sites will help quantify spatialdifferences in the climate of the Late Pleistocene in South Africa, and mayanswer if environmental changes effected the cultural development fromStill Bay to late MSA industries.

TEMPORAL CORRIDORS OF MIGRATION IN THE SOUTHERN CAUCASUSDURING LATE EARLY PLEISTOCENE

Angela A. Bruch. ROCEEH Research Centre at Senckenberg, GermanyE-mail address: abruch@senckenberg.de

During the Early Pleistocene obliquity forced glacial/interglacial cyclescaused cyclic vegetation successions in Europe, which however were notalways similarly developed and superimposed by a general cooling trend.Complicated furthermore by regional climate differentiations, those cyclesmay have provided several narrow windows of opportunity for homininsto disperse from Africa into Eurasia.The Southern Caucasus is the oldest area of human occupation in Eurasia,proven by the finding of Homo georgicus in Georgia with an age of 1.8 Ma.Also, in Armenia there are numerous Palaeolithic sites which occur in thevicinity to lacustral sediments giving evidence of a fast changing setting ofenvironments.To define temporal windows of human expansion in or through the area ofthe Southern Caucasus, lake sediments from Vorotan Basin, SouthernArmenia, were studied which are perfectly suitable for palae-oenvironmental studies as they are yielding various fossil remains. Thesefossils can give valuable information about the flora and fauna of theperiod, but also about climate, vegetation and lake history. The highlyprecise age control of the sites is based on palaeomagnetic and Ar/Ardating and enables us to reconstruct the environmental history of the EarlyPleistocene between 1.15 and 0.95 Ma.The high-resolution pollen sequences from Vorotan Basin show clearcyclicity which can be correlated to global climate cycles. The prominentwarm phase MIS 31 at 1.07 Ma is well pronounced in the pollen andmacroflora record and linked with a major expansion of the forest belt anda diverse mosaic landscape providing a high variety of habitats andresources to early humans. Distinct differences between vegetationdevelopment during the two interglacial stages MIS 33 and MIS 31 can be