中国科学院南京地质古生物研究所机构知识库

A study on phytoliths and their climate indexes is carried out from Homo erectus' cave deposits in Hulu Cave, Nanjing. Evidence shows that phytollith assemblages of the cave deposits are dominated by the cold resistant types with a lower warm index, reflecting an overall cold inclined climate. This possibly connects the cave deposits with glacial climate to a great extent, which is in accordance with the northern fauna revealed by fossil mammals and temperate climate indicated by pollen assemblages. According to the distributional state of the phytoliths and their climate indexes on 4 profiles in the cave, it is revealed that profiles I and II display certain cold/warm, and dry/wet fluctuations; profile III shows a humid and cold condition with the highest humility in the cave deposits; while profile IV indicates a possible quick accumulating process because of its stable climate indexes except for its bottom and top.