Reconstructing Plio-Pleistocene African paleoenvironments is important for models of early hominin evolution, but is often hampered by low-resolution or discontinuous climatic data. Here, we present high-resolution stable oxygen and carbon isotope time series data from two flowstones (secondary cave deposits) from the South African hominin-bearing Makapansgat Valley. The age of the older of the...

The 3.22-3.10 Ga old Moodies Group, uppermost unit of the Swaziland Supergroup in the Barberton Greenstone Belt (BGB), is the oldest exposed, well-preserved quartz-rich sedimentary sequence on earth. It is preserved in structurally separate blocks in a heavily deformed fold-and-thrust belt. North of the Inyoka Fault, Moodies strata reach up to 3700 m in thickness. Detailed mapping, correlation ...

The timing and nature of the initial hominid dispersals from Africa during the Plio-Pleistocene (here 2.0-1.5 million years ago [MYR]) is an issue of great interest for paleoanthropology. However, the biological, technological, and ecological context of these dispersals remains cloudy due largely to a paucity of Eurasian paleoanthropological sites dating to this time period. Indeed, there are o...

Aim The biogeographic history of the Sahara-Sahel desert is tightly linked to its extreme and fluctuating palaeoclimate diverse topography. For mesic species inhabiting region, coastal areas Nile Valley are perceived as main pathways disperse through habitats, but past connections may have also occurred throughout currently isolated mountain regions. Herein, we test trans-Sahara corridor hypoth...

Small non-centrosymmetric domains are observed in the racemic crystal, due to low nucleation activation energy of conglomerate.

We examine the timing of deformation and exhumation of the Nanga Parbat-Haramosh massif in the western syntaxis of the Himalaya. This study presents geochronologic and thermochronologic data obtained from basement, shear zone, and intrusive units within the massif to reveal the Cenozoic tectonic evolution of the massif and to document the extent of the Plio-Pleistocene tectonic activity. These ...

Through recent amendments of its Commercial Bank Law and Securities Law, China has gradually softened its previous position mandating the segregation of financial business and supervision, as well as explored the financial conglomerate operation. Two models are considered in particular, namely the “universal bank” model, prevailing in Europe, and the “financial holding company” (FHC) model in t...