Woolly rhino discovery in the lower Kolyma River

A nearly complete frozen mummy of a woolly rhinoceros (Coelodonta antiquitatis Blum., 1799) was discovered in a gold mine on the lower reaches of the Kolyma River, north–eastern Siberia. This is the first find of the whole body of woolly rhino in permafrost. A large part of the mummified body was preserved, including the left part of the body, covered by skin, including skin of the head and ear, fore and hind legs. The skull with 2 horns and the lower jaw were also preserved. Most of the internal organs were lost, except the intestines, stomach, and their contents. A rib fragment from this individual was dated by AMS-radiocarbon method to 39,140 ± 390 years BP (OxA-18755). Spore and pollen analyses of the stomach contents indicate that grasses and sagebrushes formed the main part of the diet of C. antiquitatis in this region of Arctic Siberia.     

Genetic aspects of the petroleum resource potential of marine sedimentary basins

The historical-genetic method developed at the Institute of Oceanology of the Russian Academy of Sciences for the assessment of the petroleum resource potential is discussed with consideration of its main tasks and the successive procedures in its application. Such studies are crowned by a compilation of separate maps demonstrating scales of oil and gas generation and maps of hydrocarbon genesis zoning of basins with outlining centers of oil and gas generation and defining different-phase hydrocarbon-generation zones. The method was tested in over twenty continental-marginal and intracontinental basins studied to a different extent. The sedimentary basins of the Atlantic continental margin off Africa and the Caspian and Black seas were used as objects for applying the historical-genetic method for assessing their petroleum resource potential.     

Influence of seasonal forcing on habitat use by bottlenose dolphinsTursiops truncatus in the Northern Adriatic Sea

Bottlenose dolphins are the only cetaceans regularly observed in the northern Adriatic Sea, but they survive at low densities and are exposed to significant threats. This study investigates some of the factors that influence habitat use by the animals in a largely homogeneous environment by combining dolphin data with hydrological and physiographical variables sampled from oceanographic ships. Surveys were conducted year-round between 2003 and 2006, totalling 3,397 km of effort. Habitat modelling based on a binary stepwise logistic regression analysis predicted between 81% and 93% of the cells where animals were present. Seven environmental covariates were important predictors: oxygen saturation, water temperature, density anomaly, gradient of density anomaly, turbidity, distance from the nearest coast and bottom depth. The model selected consistent predictors in spring and summer. However, the relationship (inverse or direct) between each predictor and dolphin presence varied among seasons, and different predictors were selected in fall. This suggests that dolphin distribution changed depending on seasonal forcing. As the study area is relatively uniform in terms of bottom topography, habitat use by the animals seems to depend on complex interactions among hydrological variables, caused primarily by seasonal change and likely to determine shifts in prey distribution.     

Multi-proxy climate and environmental records from a Holocene eutrophic mire,southern taiga subzone,West Siberia

Palaeoenvironmental reconstructions from peat are strongly focused on ombrotrophic mires, but this study demonstrates that eutrophic mires can also be used. A multi-proxy approach was applied to a eutrophic mire on a floodplain terrace in the southern taiga of West Siberia. The results of the reconstruction were considered in the wide geographic context of the surrounding regions, including Siberia and Central Asia. Different palaeoecological proxies (analysis of plant macrofossils, testate amoebae, oribatid mites, molluscs, peat humification, ash content and spectral characteristics of humic acids) were used in this study. The results of different proxies showed a high level of consistency among themselves, which allowed for a robust interpretation of Holocene mire development. Throughout the ~7800 years history of the mire, there was a high level of surface wetness. The presence of mineral matter in the peat between 7800 and 5100 cal. a BP indicates regular flooding caused by the intensive fluvial activity, apparently resulting from increased precipitation. This was followed by a trend towards a gradual decrease in surface wetness from conditions of high surface moisture (stagnant water) between 5100 and 3000 cal. a BP to present day conditions of moderate surface moisture with a water table slightly below the mire surface. This pattern is consistent with the well-documented long-term trend from palaeoecological records throughout the taiga and arctic zones in West Siberia and central arid Asia. Our data further support the idea that the westerlies were the dominant driver of climate for the southern taiga of West Siberia during the Middle to Late Holocene.     

Estimating coastal flood hazard of Tossa de Mar,Spain: a combined model – data interviews approach

Natural Hazards - Human settlements in coastal areas are highly vulnerable to extreme events, especially in the Mediterranean area, which houses a large number of tourists during the summer and...     

ROBUST: The ROle of BUffering capacities in STabilising coastal lagoon ecosystems

“Buffer capacities” has been defined in ecology as a holistic concept (e.g., Integration of Ecosystem Theories: A Pattern, second ed. Kluwer, Dordrecht, 1997, 388pp), but we show that it can also be worked out in mechanistic studies. Our mechanistic approach highlights that “buffering capacities” can be depleted progressively, and, therefore, we make a distinction between current and potential “buffering capacities”. We have applied this concept to understand the limited “local stability” in seagrass ecosystems and their vulnerability towards structural changes into macro-algal dominated communities. We explored the following processes and studied how they confer buffering capacities to the seagrass ecosystem: (i) net autotrophy is persistent in Zostera noltii meadows where plant assimilation acts as a sink for nutrients, this contrasted with the Ulva system that shifted back and forth between net autotrophy and net heterotrophy; (ii) the Z. noltii ecosystem possesses a certain albeit rather limited capacity to modify the balance between nitrogen fixation and denitrification, i.e., it was found that in situ nitrogen fixation always exceeded denitrification; (iii) the nitrogen demand of organoheterotrophic bacteria in the sediment results in nitrogen retention of N in the sediment and hence a buffer against release of nitrogen compounds from sediments, (iv) habitat diversification in seagrass meadows provides shelter for meiofauna and hence buffering against adverse conditions, (v) sedimentary iron provides a buffer against noxious sulfide (note: bacterial sulfide production is enhanced in anoxic sediment niches by increased organic matter loading). On the other hand, in the coastal system we studied, sedimentary iron appears less important as a redox-coupled buffer system against phosphate loading. This is because most inorganic phosphate is bound to calcium rather than to iron. In addition, our studies have highlighted the importance of plant–microbe interactions in the seagrass meadows.     

Variability of zinc and manganese concentrations in relation to sex and season in the bivalve Donax trunculus

Females of Donax trunculus L. show higher concentrations of Mn and Zn than males. Differences are very high for Mn which also shows very large monthly fluctuations. Both the metals present higher contents during the period of gonadic maturation. Some high values of manganese found in the period when gonads are resting suggest the influence of sharp environmental variations in the area where bivalves have been collected.     

Évolution pression–température des amphibolites de la zone axiale au cours du métamorphisme hercynien des Pyrénées orientales

Thin levels of amphibolites from the Canigou, Albères and Cap de Creus massifs have been studied in order to investigate their pressure and temperature evolution during time. P and T values have been calculated using the amphibole–plagioclase–quartz thermo-barometer. Si, Al, Mg and Fe of zoned amphiboles have been analysed from core to rim by microprobe. By combining the results obtained from several (or different) crystals, P–T–t paths have been determined using the amphibole-plagioclase-quartz equilibriums. In the Canigou Massif, the amphibolites have recorded anti-clockwise P–T–t paths around a peak of metamorphism located at about 650?°C–6.1 kbar, whereas in the Albères Massif, the calculated P–T–t paths of amphibolites near the paragneisses are retrograde only, from 600?°C–5 kbar to 450?°C–2.5 kbar, but one cummingtonite-bearing amphibolite has also recorded an anti-clockwise evolution around 650?°C–4.5 kbar. The retrograde P–T–t paths recorded for amphibolites from the ‘Cap de Creus’ Massif are retrograde only, from 650?°C–6 kbar and 400?°C–1 kbar. To cite this article: C. Triboulet et al., C. R. Geoscience 337 (2005).