Kathryn Fitzsimmons

Monash University (Australia)

The Ili‐Balkhash region in southeastern Kazakhstan hosts morphologically diverse dormant desert dune fields and presents an interesting opportunity for geomorphological and palaeoenvironmental studies. Because the morphology of aeolian dunes is primarily driven by wind dynamics, the dormant dunes in the study area may reflect past wind conditions....

Lake Balkhash is Asia’s third-largest lake and an endorheic basin. The lake and its contributing tributaries provide essential water and ecosystem services to the surrounding population, particularly in the Kazakh region. With approximately 2.5 million people living in the areas such as Almaty oblast, Zhetisu oblast, several districts of Karagandy...

This study presents the first quantitative assessment of weathering conditions in the Tajikistan depression throughout the last full glacial cycle. We employed geochemical and magnetic susceptibility analyses to investigate various weathering indices (WIs), with the CPA and FENG indices identified as the most suitable for this region. Our results c...

Loess-paleosol sequences have been used in Asia to study climate and environmental changes during the Quaternary. The scarcity of age control datasets and proxy indices analysis data for Asian loess has limited our understanding of loess depositional processes and the reconstruction of paleoclimatic changes from loess-paleosol records. In this stud...

The study of geological archives of dust is of great relevance as they are directly linked to past atmospheric circulation and bear the potential to reconstruct dust provenance and flux relative to climate changes. Among the dust sinks, loess–palaeosol sequences (LPSs) represent the only continental and non-aquatic archives that are predominantly b...

Future climate projections indicate an expansion of the world’s drylands, and with that a commensurate increase in the mobilization of unconsolidated desert sediments such as sand and dust. It is therefore increasingly important to investigate the large-scale formation of dryland landscapes such as dunefields in order to better understand the proce...

Predicting land susceptibility to wind erosion is necessary to mitigate the negative impacts of erosion on soil fertility, ecosystems, and human health. This study is the first attempt to model wind erosion hazards through the application of a novel approach, the graph convolutional networks (GCNs), as deep learning models with Monte Carlo dropout....

Reconstruction of mass accumulation rates (MARs) in loess deposits are widely used for interpreting long-term aeolian transport and climate dynamics in terrestrial environments. However, these interpretations are often driven by a preponderance of reconstructions from individual or selected sites, which can bias our understanding of past climate, e...

Ice core and marine archives provide detailed quantitative records of last glacial climate changes, whereas comparable terrestrial records from the mid-latitudes remain scarce. Here we quantify warm season land-surface temperatures and precipitation over millennial timescales for central Europe for the period spanning 45,000–22,000 years before pre...

Numerous loess/paleosol sequences (LPS) in the Carpathian Basin span the period of Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 2 and the last glacial maximum (LGM). Nevertheless, only two known records—Madaras and Dunaszekcső—preserve highly resolved records with absolute chronologies with minimal uncertainties, which enable the meaningful assessment of feedbacks a...

It has long been hypothesized that the last glacial maximum (LGM) oversaw cold, arid, windy climates across southern Australia, and that these were driven by intensification and northward expansion of mid-latitude westerly circulation. Moreover, it was recently suggested that Australia experienced an extended LGM which began several millennia befor...

Loess is a ubiquitous, silty aeolian sediment common across the semiarid to subhumid regions in the Northern Hemisphere. As such, the physical characteristics of loess sediment, such as modal grain size and quartz crystallinity index, have the potential to inform us about dust transport pathways and corresponding atmospheric circulation responsible...

Trapped charge characteristics in quartz are of increasing interest for their utility as indicators of sediment provenance. These include sensitivity of optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) and thermoluminescence (TL) signal and paramagnetic E1’ defect centre in quartz. Up until now, these methods have largely been used independently in provenan...

Plain Language Summary Identifying the origins of dust deposits allows us to reconstruct sediment transport pathways which are essential for understanding past atmospheric circulation patterns. Here, we propose to exploit the characteristics of two naturally occurring defect centers in crystalline quartz, the E1’, and peroxy centers, as a means to...

Reconstruction of mass accumulation rates (MARs) in loess deposits are widely used for interpreting long-term aeolian transport and climate dynamics in terrestrial environments. However, these interpretations are often driven by preponderance of reconstructions from individual or selected sites, which can bias our understanding of past climate, esp...

Loess deposits are the most extent continental archives of climatic- and environmental change and represent important components of local and global dust systems. Consequently, their geochemistry provides an excellent basis for studying climate oscillations on land and how these affect processes in the terrestrial system. It is, however, challengin...

The climate of the last 50,000 years has been punctuated by oscillations on millennial-to-centennial timescales. Our understanding of this variability derives predominantly from proxy information in ice and marine cores; high-resolution records from land are scarce. Here we quantify land-surface temperature and soil moisture at millennial timescale...

Only a small area of the Australian mainland was glaciated during the Pleistocene, whereas periglacial deposits are far more common, indicating that cold environments were extensive and a major influence on landscape evolution. Here we identify representative low-elevation examples of scree slopes and frost action, together with fans and valley fil...

Loess provides a valuable terrestrial record of past environmental conditions, including the dynamics and trajectories of air mass circulation responsible for dust transport. Here we explore variations in the luminescence sensitivity characteristics of sedimentary quartz and feldspar as possible tools for identifying changes in source down a loess-...

Spatial mapping of dust sources in arid and semi-arid regions is necessary to mitigate on-site and off-site impacts. In this study, we apply a novel integrated modelling approach including leave one feature out (LOFO) – as a technique for feature selection -, deep learning (DL) models (gcForest and bidirectional long short-term memory (Bi-LSTM)), g...

Earth's climatic evolution over the last 5 million years is primarily understood from the perspective of marine mechanisms, however, the role of terrestrial feedbacks remains largely unexplored. Here we reconstruct the last 5 million years of soil moisture variability in Central Asia using paleomagnetism data and isotope geochemistry of an 80 m-thi...

The extinction of large-bodied terrestrial ‘megafauna’ during earlier phases of the Quaternary had a significant impact on the transforming structure of ecosystems. However, the causes of such losses remains difficult to determine in part because of a paucity of reliable geochronological information about the taxa involved. This is especially true...

Loess deposits are widely distributed along the mountain piedmonts of Central Asia. The transport processes and origins of Central Asian loess sediments remain poorly understood. Here we investigate the origin and formation of loess along the northern piedmont of the Tian Shan based on trace element (including rare earth element) ratios and multidi...

Northern New Zealand is an important location for understanding Last Glacial Interval (LGI) palaeoclimate dynamics, since it is influenced by both tropical and polar climate systems which have varied in relative strength and timing. Sediments from the Auckland Volcanic Field maar lakes preserve records of such large-scale climatic influences on reg...

Earth’s climatic evolution over the last 5 million years (Myr) is primarily understood from the perspective of marine mechanisms. While changes in ocean circulation go a long way towards explaining the transport of moisture onto the continents, the role of terrestrial feedbacks in the opposite direction remain largely unexplored. Here we reconstruc...

Stratified, well preserved sites preserving unambiguous geological and archeological data from which human-environmental interactions can be reconstructed, are rare. More commonly we must test our hypotheses based on extrapolation of the few available sites, particularly in regions with high sedimentation rates. Here we test the idea of aggregating...

The thick and apparently continuous loess-palaeosol sequences in the Vojvodina region of northern Serbia are recognized and well understood as some of the oldest and most complete terrestrial European palaeoclimatic archives. By contrast, there are few published records for loess profiles from other regions in Serbia. Here we address this knowledge...

Loess-Palaeosol-Sequences (LPS) in the Central European region provide outstanding terrestrial polygenetic and multiphase archives responding to past climate and environments over various spatial and temporal scales. As yet, however, the geomorphological and pedogenic processes involved in LPS formation, and their interplay with changes in ecologic...

Northern New Zealand is an important site for understanding Last Glacial Interval (LGI) paleoclimate dynamics, since it is influenced by both tropical and polar climate systems which have varied in relative strength and timing of associated changes. The Auckland Volcanic Field maar lakes preserve these climatic influences on the regional paleoenvir...

Western Central European Loess-Palaeosol-Sequences (LPS) provide valuable terrestrial records of palaeoenvironmental conditions, which formed in response to variability in the North Atlantic climate systems. Over the last full glacial cycle (∼130 ka), climate oscillations within these systems are best documented in deep sea- and ice cores; the resp...

The widespread aeolian deposits of the Central Asian steppes and piedmonts offer potential to better understand the dynamics of the major Eurasian climate subsystems over Quaternary timescales. However, current assumptions linking climate processes with aeolian activity remain poorly substantiated and potentially problematic: emerging datasets sugg...

Electron spin resonance (ESR) dating of sediments using quartz is most commonly used for older sediments (>100 ka), since large residuals render the ESR signal unsuitable for dating young sediments. The multiple-centre approach (utilising both Ti and [AlO4/h]⁰ signals) is usually used to test the resetting of the signals used for ESR dating. Here w...

Introduction: Absent chronologies On the territory of Serbia, Quaternary deposits are mainly distributed in the Vo-jvodina region where they cover about 95% of the area. Major research interest during the last two decades has been focused on these loess deposits. During this short period loess in Vojvodina became one of the most important Pleistoce...

The fossil record suggests that at least two major human dispersals occurred across the Eurasian steppe during the Late Pleistocene. Neanderthals and Modern Humans moved eastward into Central Asia, a region intermittently occupied by the enigmatic Denisovans. Genetic data indicates that the Denisovans interbred with Neanderthals near the Altai Moun...

In discussions on loess, two types are often demarcated: glacial loess and desert loess. The origin of the idea of desert loess appears to lie with V.A. Obruchev who observed wind-carried silt on the Potanin expedition to Central Asia in 1895. It might be considered that desert loess would be defined as loess associated with deserts but it came to...

Accurate and precise chronologies are fundamental for successful Quaternary palaeo-climate/environment reconstruction and correlation with global climatic events. Aside from varved lake sequences, chronologies for sediment archives typically depend on age models developed from a limited number of dated horizons, often with large associated errors,...

The Willandra Lakes in semi-arid southeastern Australia provide some of the most continuous combined palaeoenvironmental and archaeological records on the continent. These are best preserved within the transverse shoreline (lunette) dunes on their downwind margins. Following final lake retreat c. 15 ka avulsion of the dominant fluvial inflow eastwa...

Vanguard Cave is an archaeological site located on the shoreline of the Rock of Gibraltar at the southwestern extreme of the Iberian Peninsula. It is part of a limestone cave system facing the adjacent Governor's Beach on the south-eastern coast of Gibraltar and has been filled to the roof with more than 17m of sedimentary deposits. Due to its long...

Loess deposits are thick and widespread along the piedmonts of Arid Central Asia (ACA), however the source (provenance) and processes of formation of these fine-grained aeolian deposits are poorly understood. Here we investigate the provenance and possible distribution mechanisms for loess along the slopes of the Ili River basin, located in northwe...

Women scholars have contributed to the study of loess. Charlotte Hibbert made the first map of loess distribution and there were many subsequent achievements. The twenty people selected represent a subjective choice; there is no overall biobibliographical metric that can be applied. The twenty are mss: Hibbert, Owen, Swineford, Conea, Marković-Marj...

Among the numerous factors that trigger landslide events, the anthropogenic impact caused by inadequate planning and faulty land use in urban areas is increasing. The Zemun settlement on the northern outskirts of Belgrade has experienced a number of landslides in the last three decades, endangering buildings and roads, and claiming human lives, par...

The role of major northwestern Indian rivers in sustaining the Harappan civilisation has been a much-debated topic in Indian archaeology. Reconstruction of palaeo-river courses using remote sensing images and their association with the mighty rivers (viz. Sarasvati and Drishadvati) mentioned in ancient Indian literature, has long been contested. Th...

In September 2016, the annual meeting of the International Union for Quaternary Research’s Loess and Pedostratigraphy Focus Group, traditionally referred to as a LoessFest, met in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, USA. The 2016 LoessFest focused on “thin” loess deposits and loess transportation surfaces. This LoessFest included 75 registered participants from...

The extensive loess deposits of the Eurasian mid-latitudes provide important terrestrial archives of Quaternary climatic change. As yet, however, loess records in Central Asia are poorly understood. Here we investigate the grain size and magnetic characteristics of loess from the Nilka (NLK) section in the Ili Basin of eastern Central Asia. Weak pe...

The mid-Holocene climate of Northwest Arabia is characterised by a significant increase in aridity which gave rise to changes in water management strategies including sophisticated techniques at later stages. The Rasif site, situated in Northwest Saudi Arabia, reveals a Late Neolithic society with multi-roomed domestic structures (1st phase, 6th mi...

We report on a loess-paleosol sequence (LPS) near Remizovka, located in the northern Tian Shan piedmont of southeastern Kazakhstan. This site represents a key record for Late Pleistocene climatic fluctuations at the intersection of major northern hemisphere climate subsystems. This paper develops a synthesized dataset of previous conflicting studie...

Central Asia has delivered significant paleoanthropological discoveries in the past few years. New genetic data indicate that at least two archaic human species met and interbred with anatomically modern humans as they arrived into northern Central Asia. However, data are limited: known archaeological sites with lithic assemblages generally lack hu...

This study uses the “simplified patterns of temperature and effective precipitation” approach from the Australian component of the international palaeoclimate synthesis effort (INTegration of Ice core, MArine and TErrestrial records – OZ-INTIMATE) to compare atmosphere–ocean general circulation model (AOGCM) simulations and proxy reconstructions. T...

Although long loess sequences are widely recognised as providing some of the best potential records of terrestrial past climates, until recently methods for providing quantitative palaeoclimatic data have been lacking. Here we present details of an innovative new approach to reconstructing past temperature and precipitation in loess sediments. We a...

Loess-paleosol sequences (LPS) are sensitive terrestrial archives of past aeolian dynamics and paleoclimatic changes within the Quaternary. Grain size (GS) analysis is commonly used to interpret aeolian dynamics and climate influences on LPS, based on granulometric parameters such as specific GS classes, ratios of GS classes and statistical manipul...

The extensive loess deposits of the Eurasian mid-latitudes provide important terrestrial records of Quaternary climatic change. As yet, however, loess records in Central Asia are poorly understood. Here we investigate the grain size and magnetic characteristics of loess from the Nilka (NLK) section in the Ili Basin of eastern Central Asia. Magnetic...

Paleoclimate proxy reconstruction initiatives, such as the Australian component of the international paleoclimate synthesis effort: INTegration of Ice core, MArine and Terrestrial records (OZ-INTIMATE), are important as they provide evidence of past climatic conditions that are necessary to evaluate global General Circulation Models (GCMs). One of...

In this study we provide a correlative age model for last glacial loess at the Rasova-Valea cu Pietre site in the Lower Danube region, based on the correlation of palaeoenvironmental proxies to independently dated palaeoclimate archives, luminescence dating and independent age control provided by the geochemically confirmed presence of the Campania...

Archaeological sites in northern Africa provide a rich record of increasing importance for the origins of modern human behaviour and for understanding human dispersal out of Africa. However, the timing and nature of Palaeolithic human behaviour and dispersal across northwestern Africa (the Maghreb), and their relationship to local environmental con...