During the last glacial period, rapidly changing environments posed substantial challenges to Neanderthal populations in Europe. Southern continental regions, such as Iberia, have been proposed as important climatic “buffer” zones during glacial phases. Contextualising the climatic and ecological conditions Neanderthals faced is relevant to interpreting their resilience. However, records of the environments and ecosystems they exploited across Iberia exhibit temporal and spatial gaps in coverage. Here we provide new evidence for palaeotemperatures, vegetation structure, and prey herbivore ecology during the late Pleistocene (MIS 5–3) in northern Spain, by applying multiple stable isotope tracers (δ18O, δ13C, δ15N, δ34S) to herbivore skeletal remains associated with Neanderthal occupations at Axlor Cave, Bizkaia. The results show little change over time and indicate stable climatic conditions and ecosystems across different occupations. Large within-layer isotopic variability in nitrogen and sulphur suggests the presence of a mosaic environment and a variety of isotopic ecotones that were exploited by Neanderthals and their prey. We implement a combination of carbonate and phosphate δ18O measurements to estimate palaeotemperatures using a cost-effective workflow. We show that the targeted use of phosphate δ18O measurements to anchor summer peak and winter trough areas enables high-precision seasonal palaeoclimatic reconstructions.

The timing and duration of the coldest period in the last glacial stage, often referred to as the last glacial maximum (LGM), has been observed to vary spatially and temporally. In Australia, this period is characterised by colder, and in some places more arid, climates than today. We applied Monte-Carlo change point analysis to all available continuous proxy records covering this period, primarily pollen records, from across Australia (n = 37) to assess this change. We find a significant change point occurred (within uncertainty) at 28.6 ± 2.8 ka in 25 records. We interpret this change as a shift to cooler climates, associated with a widespread decline in biological productivity. An additional change point occurred at 17.7 ± 2.2 ka in 24 records. We interpret this change as a shift towards warmer climates, associated with increased biological productivity. We broadly characterise the period between 28.6 (± 2.8) – 17.7 (± 2.2) ka as an extended period of maximum cooling, with low productivity vegetation that may have occurred as a combined response to reduced temperatures, lower moisture availability and atmospheric CO2. These results have implications for how the spatial and temporal coherence of climate change, in this case during the LGM, can be best interrogated and interpreted.

We report a new series of radiocarbon (14C) dates on the MIS 3 megafauna for a previously poorly studied region of southeastern West Siberia. Some species, like woolly mammoth and woolly rhinoceros, and Pleistocene bison and horse, existed throughout the MIS 3 (ca. 29–59 ka cal BP); cave hyaena is dated to ca. 46,400 cal BP. The very late 14C dates on Khozarian steppe elephant (Mammuthus trogontherii chosaricus), ca. 45,100–45,400 cal BP, may indicate the survival of this species in Siberia up to MIS 3. More work is needed to confirm or reject this suggestion. Previously, Khozarian steppe elephant was known in Siberia only at the beginning of the Late Pleistocene (MIS 5e).

A late Pleistocene glaciolacustrine record was studied at Fagnano Lake (54°35´S, 67°20´W), central Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego, southernmost South America. Two profiles from the Río Valdéz outcrop were collected for isotopic, geochemical, sedimentological, and geophysical analyses. The sedimentological characteristics, such as rhythmites, presence of dropstones, absence of fossil record, and scarce presence of organic matter, suggest deposition in an ice-contact lake, possibly dammed by the Fagnano paleoglacier. Organic matter of C3 plant origin suggests certain cold and wet conditions. A chronology of the late Pleistocene outcrop was obtained from five 14C ages resulting in an age-depth model. The time span covered 49.01 cal ka BP to 32.14 cal ka BP. Based on the thickness of the deposit and the calculated average sedimentation rate, the glacial environment could have been present in the study area prior to the last glacial maximum, in agreement with the Inútil-San Sebastián paleoglacier. Both glaciers flowed from the same mountain ice sheet in the Darwin Cordillera, which makes it possible to infer a different behavior of this ice cap from those of the Patagonian Andes, perhaps forced by different atmospheric dynamics and proximity to the wet and cold subantarctic air masses.

We describe two coastal paleosols recovered in sediment cores from the Oujiang Delta, Southeast China. These provide useful benchmarks for past sea level change on the East China Sea coast. Radiocarbon (14C) dates on charcoal and plant matter show that one formed during Marine Isotope Stage 3 (MIS 3) and was exposed for perhaps 20 ka, during the Last Glacial Maximum. The other formed in the Early Holocene and was briefly exposed, during a period of fluctuating sea level. Similar paleosols have been described from the Changjiang (Yangtze) Delta, and at many other sites from the East China Sea. The MIS 3 paleosol records a regional relative sea level of about –27 m at the end of MIS 3. While this value is consistent with other paleo sea level estimates for the East China Sea region, it is much higher than predicted by eustatic sea level estimates.

The pre-last glacial maximum paleolake sediments at Baumkirchen, western Austria, are well known in Alpine Quaternary stratigraphy as being the type locality of the Middle to Upper Würmian transition. Their location provides a rare opportunity to investigate the vegetation history of the interior of the Alps during the last glacial cycle. A recent renewed research effort involving new drilling revealed a 250-m-thick lacustrine sequence with an older, ca. Marine Oxygen Isotope Stage (MIS) 4 phase and a younger, mid- to late MIS 3 phase. Pollen analysis reveals generally poor preservation and very low pollen concentration due to very high sedimentation rates. On the basis of pollen percentages and influx rates, six pollen zones (PZ) were assigned. PZ1 and 2 correspond to the entire ca. MIS 4 section and are characterized by only scattered vegetation representing an extremely cold and dry climate. Two stadials and two interstadials were identified in the MIS 3 section. The interstadials are characterized by well-developed open vegetation with some stands of trees, with the upper PZ6 being better developed but still forest-free. On the basis of previous radiocarbon dating, this zone (PZ6) is correlated to Greenland Interstadial (GI) 7 and the lower interstadial (PZ4) tentatively to GI 8.

The middle Wisconsinan Gilman Canyon Formation at the Buzzard's Roost type locality in southwestern Nebraska was investigated to document the stratigraphy and to reconstruct the environmental and climate record. The Gilman Canyon Formation was subdivided into three loess units and three soils, with radiocarbon ages constraining it between about 40 ka and 25 ka. Stable carbon isotope ratios, magnetic susceptibility, and carbon content were used to define and characterize soils within both the Gilman Canyon Formation and underlying Illinoian Loveland Loess. At the height of soil development within the Gilman Canyon Formation, climate was supporting C4-dominated grassland, with July temperatures equal to or exceeding those of today. Soil-forming intervals within the Loveland Loess, including the Sangamon Soil, also exhibited relative increases in C4 biomass. Climate, as recorded in the Gilman Canyon Formation, is corroborated by regional proxy data. The formation accumulated during MIS 3, and concurrent soil formation coincided with a summer insolation maximum.

This study presents stratigraphic, geomorphic, and paleoenvironmental (δ13C) data that provide insight into the late Pleistocene landscape evolution of the Cimarron River valley in the High Plains of southwestern Kansas. Two distinct valley fills (T-1 and T-2) were investigated. Three soils occur in the T-2 fill and five in the T-1 fill, all indicating periods of landscape stability or slow sedimentation. Of particular interest are two cumulic soils dating to ca. 48–28 and 13–12.5 ka. δ13C values are consistent with regional paleoenvironmental proxy data that indicate the prevalence of warm, dry conditions at these times. The Cimarron River is interpreted to have responded to these climatic changes and to local base level control. Specifically, aggradation occurred during cool, wet periods and slow sedimentation with cumulic soil formation occurred under warmer, drier climates. Significant valley incision (~ 25 m) by ca. 28 ka likely resulted from a lowering of local base level caused by deep-seated dissolution of Permian evaporite deposits.

We present new palynological information from the anoxic Cariaco Basin, off Venezuela, that provides insight into the response of northernmost South American vegetation to rapid climate changes between 68 and 28 ka, specifically during North Atlantic Heinrich events (HEs) and Dansgaard/Oeschger cycles. We defined three different vegetation modes: (1) an interstadial mode characterized by the highest pollen concentration and the maximum extension of semi-deciduous and evergreen forests; (2) a stadial mode characterized by increases of salt marshes, herbs, and montane forests; and (3) a Heinrich event mode characterized by the lowest pollen concentrations, abrupt increases of salt marshes, and decreased forest abundance. Similarly, indices of C4/C3 plants show increases during stadials with clear peaks during the onset of HEs, though grasslands did not become dominant during these periods. We alternatively propose that these expansions of C4 plants are associated with the expansion of coastal salt marshes. Our vegetation record suggests the prevalence of humid conditions during interstadials, dry and cold conditions during stadials, and dry and cold conditions together with changes in sea level during HEs. This new palynological evidence supports previous interpretations that main environmental changes in northernmost South America were driven by latitudinal displacements of the Intertropical Convergence Zone and sea-level changes.

Climatic and ecological conditions during Marine Oxygen Isotope Stage (MIS) 3 are complex and the impact of cold spells on the ecosystems in Central Europe still needs to be investigated thoroughly. Ziegeleigrube Coenen (ZC) is a late Pleistocene MIS 3 locality in the Lower Rhine Embayment of Germany, radiocarbon-dated to > 34 14C ka BP. The site yielded a broad spectrum of mammal species. We investigated the carbon (δ13C), nitrogen (δ15N) and sulfur (δ34S) isotope signatures of bone collagen, since these are valuable tools in characterizing ecological niches, environmental conditions and aspects of climate and mobility. By comparison with pre- and post-Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) sites in Central Europe we show that ZC belongs in a cold event of MIS 3 and was climatically more similar to post-LGM sites than to pre-LGM sites. However, the trophic structure resembled that of typical pre-LGM sites in Belgium. This cold event in MIS 3 changed the bottom of the foodweb, but do not seem to have had a direct impact on the occurrence of the mammalian species and their ecological distribution. Apparently the (mega-) faunal community could adapt also to harsher environmental conditions during MIS 3.

Dansgaard–Oeschger (D–O) cycles had far-reaching effects on Northern Hemisphere and tropical climate systems during the last glacial period, yet the climatic response to D–O cycles in western North America is controversial, especially prior to 55 ka. We document changes in precipitation along the western slope of the central Sierra Nevada during early Marine Oxygen Isotope Stages (MIS) 3 and 4 (55–67 ka) from a U-series dated speleothem record from McLean's Cave. The timing of our multi-proxy geochemical dataset is coeval with D–O interstadials (15–18) and stadials, including Heinrich Event 6. The McLean's Cave stalagmite indicates warmer and drier conditions during Greenland interstadials (GISs 15–18), signified by elevated δ18O, δ13C, reflectance, and trace element concentrations, and less radiogenic 87Sr/86Sr. Our record extends evidence of a strong linkage between high-latitude warming and reduced precipitation in western North America to early MIS 3 and MIS 4. This record shows that the linkage persists in diverse global climate states, and documents the nature of the climatic response in central California to Heinrich Event 6.