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Stratigraphy and paleoclimatic/paleoenviromental evolution across the Early–Middle Pleistocene transition in the Chiba composite section, Japan, and other reference sections in East Asia

The Earth experienced dramatic changes in oceanic and atmospheric circulation, ice sheet distributions, and biotic evolution from the Early to Middle Pleistocene. This   interval is now known as the “Early–Middle Pleistocene transition (EMPT)” (Head and Gibbard, 2015). East Asia is an important region for land–ocean–atmosphere heat and moisture exchange owing to its location at the boundary between Eurasia and the Pacific Ocean. Understanding paleoenvironmental change in this region will therefore provide valuable insights into Earth’s climate system.

Continuous deep-ocean records across climatic transitions are not rare, but constructing detailed links to atmospheric circulation, terrestrial environmental change, and evolution of the biota has been hampered by a scarcity of continuous and expanded sedimentary records from coastal, shallow-marine environments. The Chiba composite section, a candidate for the Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) to define the base of the Middle Pleistocene Subseries/Subepoch and newly proposed Chibanian Stage/Age, has a well-established chronology tied to the Matuyama–Brunhes reversal, providing a rare opportunity to capture terrestrial and marine environmental variability across Marine Isotope Stage 19 and hence the Lower–Middle Pleistocene boundary.
This special issue focuses on sedimentary records from the Chiba composite section and its stratigraphic correlation with other reference sections in East Asia. It addresses terrestrial and marine paleoclimatic and paleo-environmental co-evolution with emphasis on the mid-latitude westerly jet stream, East Asian monsoon, North Pacific Gyre, and the interplay of subtropical and subpolar settings through the Early–Middle Pleistocene transition. 
*capitalization is needed to be consistent with the purpose of the special issue, which is to promote the Chiba section as the GSSP candidate for both the Chibanian Stage and the Middle Pleistocene Subseries.

Potential topics include but are not limited to:

  • Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 19
  • Matuyama–Brunhes reversal
  • Lower–Middle Pleistocene boundary
  • Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP)
  • Chiba composite section
  • Chibanian Stage/Age

Edited by: Yusuke Suganuma, Martin J. Head, Takuya Sagawa, 


  1. Marine isotope stage (MIS) 19 is considered to be the best orbital analog for the present interglacial. Consequently, clarifying the climatic features of this period can provide us with insights regarding a na...

    Authors: Takuya Itaki, Sakura Utsuki, Yuki Haneda, Kentaro Izumi, Yoshimi Kubota, Yusuke Suganuma and Makoto Okada
    Citation: Progress in Earth and Planetary Science 2022 9:5
  2. A dinoflagellate cyst record from the highly resolved Chiba composite section in Japan has been used to reconstruct sea-surface paleoceanographic changes across the Lower–Middle Pleistocene Subseries (Calabria...

    Authors: Eseroghene J. Balota, Martin J. Head, Makoto Okada, Yusuke Suganuma and Yuki Haneda
    Citation: Progress in Earth and Planetary Science 2021 8:48
  3. The fluctuating position of the boundary between the Kuroshio (warm) and Oyashio (cold) currents in the mid-latitude western North Pacific affects both heat transport and air–ocean interactions and has signifi...

    Authors: Yoshimi Kubota, Yuki Haneda, Koji Kameo, Takuya Itaki, Hiroki Hayashi, Kizuku Shikoku, Kentaro Izumi, Martin J. Head, Yusuke Suganuma and Makoto Okada
    Citation: Progress in Earth and Planetary Science 2021 8:29
  4. The Chiba composite section (CbCS) in the Kokumoto Formation, Kazusa Group, central Japan is a thick and continuous marine succession that straddles the Lower–Middle Pleistocene boundary and the well-recognize...

    Authors: Kentaro Izumi, Yuki Haneda, Yusuke Suganuma, Makoto Okada, Yoshimi Kubota, Naohisa Nishida, Moto Kawamata and Takuya Matsuzaki
    Citation: Progress in Earth and Planetary Science 2021 8:10
  5. Sediments from the semi-enclosed Japan Sea are sensitive to paleoclimatic perturbations and they offer great opportunities for many regional and global paleoceanographic and paleoclimatic studies. These studie...

    Authors: Chuang Xuan, Yuxi Jin, Saiko Sugisaki, Yasufumi Satoguchi and Yoshitaka Nagahashi
    Citation: Progress in Earth and Planetary Science 2020 7:60
  6. An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via the original article.

    Authors: Koji Kameo, Yoshimi Kubota, Yuki Haneda, Yusuke Suganuma and Makoto Okada
    Citation: Progress in Earth and Planetary Science 2020 7:48

    The original article was published in Progress in Earth and Planetary Science 2020 7:36

  7. Geological records of the Matuyama–Brunhes (M–B) geomagnetic reversal facilitate the development of an age model for sedimentary and volcanic sequences and help decipher the dynamics of the Earth’s magnetic fi...

    Authors: Yuki Haneda, Makoto Okada, Yusuke Suganuma and Takahiro Kitamura
    Citation: Progress in Earth and Planetary Science 2020 7:44

    The Correction to this article has been published in Progress in Earth and Planetary Science 2021 8:33

    The Correction to this article has been published in Progress in Earth and Planetary Science 2020 7:65

  8. A detailed chronostratigraphic framework established by the mapping of tephra key beds and application of oxygen isotopic data allows assessment of the synchroneity and diachroneity of depositional systems for...

    Authors: Akihiko Takao, Keisuke Nakamura, Shinichi Takaoka, Masaya Fuse, Yohei Oda, Yasushi Shimano, Naohisa Nishida and Makoto Ito
    Citation: Progress in Earth and Planetary Science 2020 7:37
  9. The Chiba composite section (CbCS), in the middle of the Boso Peninsula in central Japan, was ratified as the Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) for the Lower–Middle Pleistocene boundary, acco...

    Authors: Koji Kameo, Yoshimi Kubota, Yuki Haneda, Yusuke Suganuma and Makoto Okada
    Citation: Progress in Earth and Planetary Science 2020 7:36

    The Correction to this article has been published in Progress in Earth and Planetary Science 2020 7:48

  10. We present a novel paleomagnetic record for the lower Matuyama chronozone, which includes the Réunion subchronozone and the lower Olduvai polarity reversal, from a continuous section of a 168-m-thick on-land m...

    Authors: Takumi Konishi and Makoto Okada
    Citation: Progress in Earth and Planetary Science 2020 7:35
  11. Terrestrial records of the last geomagnetic reversal often have few age constraints. Chronostratigraphy using suborbital-scale paleoceanic events during marine isotope stage 19 may contribute to solving this p...

    Authors: Masayuki Hyodo, Kenta Banjo, Tianshui Yang, Shigehiro Katoh, Meinan Shi, Yuki Yasuda, Jun-ichi Fukuda, Masako Miki and Balázs Bradák
    Citation: Progress in Earth and Planetary Science 2020 7:26

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