Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
1040493 | Quaternary International | 2015 | 14 Pages |
The Jaramillo Subchron is routinely recognised in Chinese loess-palaeosol sequences, as well as in fluvial-lacustrine sequences such as those in the Nihewan Basin, North China. Many of these sections extend back to and below the Olduvai Subchron, and several (especially in the Nihewan Basin) contain palaeolithic sites. Initially, the Jaramillo Subchron was used to determine whether a palaeolithic site or hominin specimen lay above or below it, and it played an important role in demonstrating that the Chinese hominin and palaeolithic record extended past 1 Ma. Its main application now is as a marker horizon in sections that also contain the Olduvai Subchron. Estimation of the age of palaeolithic material between these two marker horizons at Nihewan and elsewhere was initially based on estimates of average sedimentation rate between these two points. The dating of Majuangou III to 1.66 Ma is one example, and provides the current earliest date for hominins in North China. However, age estimates have become more sophisticated by estimating the timing and during of fluvial-lacustrine cycles, and by attempts to link these to the marine isotope record. Although this has resulted in sites such as Xiaochangliang now having a variety of possible ages, the precise age and climatic context of Early Pleistocene sites in such settings should become clearer. Overall, these studies involving the Jaramillo Subchron have been more successful in estimating the first arrival of hominins in North China than in southern China, where the first appearance of hominins remains unclear.