Volcanic soil formation in Calabria (southern Italy): The Cecita Lake geosol in the late Quaternary geomorphological evolution of the Sila uplands

This paper focuses on the main morphological, physical, chemical and mineralogical features of an andic-like soil, widely outcropping in the Sila upland plateau of Calabria (southern Italy), and its potential role in tephrostratigraphy. A multidisciplinary and multiscale approach allowed identification of this soil as a “masked” distal archive of volcanic products, developed on granite rocks and sediments with a coeval pyroclastic input during pedogenesis. The study demonstrates that the contribution of volcanic parent materials can be successfully hypothesized and assessed even in the absence, limited extent or poor preservation of primary eruptive products. The soil has an Andisol-like appearance, despite laboratory data that do not match the entire suite of diagnostic criteria for the Andisol taxonomic order. Geomorphological, stratigraphic and pedologic results, coupled with tephrostratigraphic and radiometric data, concur to suggest a Late Pleistocene(?) to Holocene age of the Andisol-like soil. In particular, the rhyolitic chemical composition of small-sized glass fragments (identified by SEM–EDS analyses) indicates soil genesis contributed by volcanic ash, probably sourced from Aeolian Arc explosive activity spanning the last 30 ka. Accordingly, the evidence of limited relict clay illuviation and the specific type of pedogenesis allowing the development of andic properties (in turn related to the neoformation of clay minerals from the weathering of volcanic glass) are consistent with a climatic shift from a seasonally-contrasted to a constantly humid pedoenvironment. This change can be ascribed to the Lateglacial(?) or Early–Middle Holocene to Late Holocene transition. Calibrated AMS ¹⁴C dates performed on charcoal fragments sampled from three representative soil profiles, provide Late Holocene ages (3136 ± 19, 343 ± 16 and 92 ± 24 yr BP), in accord with archaeological finds. On the basis of the consistent stratigraphic position, lateral continuity and wide extent, the soil can be considered a good pedostratigraphic marker in the Sila highlands and is informally defined as the “Cecita Lake geosol”. It supplies valuable time constraints for the underlying (occasionally overlying) deposits and/or soils. Moreover, it allows regional-scale morphostratigraphic correlations and detailed reconstruction of Late Pleistocene–Holocene geomorphic events in Calabria, a very suitable region for distal tephra deposition in the central Mediterranean peri-volcanic area. The effects of high-energy volcanic eruptions are interfingered with or superimposed by other geomorphic processes and climatic or anthropogenic signals.     

Revised stratigraphy and eruption rates of Ceboruco stratovolcano and surrounding monogenetic vents (Nayarit,Mexico) from historical documents and new radiocarbon dates

More than a dozen new radiocarbon dates reconstruct the eruptive history of Ceboruco volcano. Six of these further constrain previous results for the important plinian Jala eruption, which occurred near 1060 ± 55 yr BP. A calibrated radiocarbon age of AD 990–1020 was obtained as best overlap range for all samples. Pottery fragments found directly underneath the pumice deposit indicate that this area was inhabited by human populations that witnessed the eruption. This age therefore represents an important time marker in the prehistory of this region, because an area of > 560 km2 was devastated and covered by a thickness of > 50 cm of pumice and ash fallout.     

Holocene Foraminifera as Indicators of Relative Estuarine–Lagoonal and Oceanic Influences in Estuarine Sediments of the River Murray, South Australia: Volume 53, Number 3 (2000), pages 378–391

In southeastern South Australia, the River Murray debouches through a coastal barrier separating euryhaline estuarine-lagoonal waters from the Southern Ocean. Depending upon the relative freshwater outflow of the river and ingress of the ocean, water salinity varies greatly within the lower estuary. Ammonia beccarii and Elphidium articulatum are euryhaline species of foraminifera that characterize the estuary and back-barrier Coorong Lagoon. The inner-shelf marine environment hosts an assemblage in which Discorbis dimidiatus, E. crispum, E. macelliforme, and various cibicidid species predominate. In cored sediments recovered from the shallow lower estuary, the relative abundance of A. beccarii + E. articulatum was compared with that of D. dimidiatus + E. crispum + E. macelliforme + other species. These data, and AMS radiocarbon ages determined for foraminifera and ostracods, provide evidence of a change from maximum oceanic influence (5255 ± 60 yr B.P.) to maximum estuarine influence (3605 ± 70 yr B.P.). Over this same time interval, sea level fell relatively by about 2 m. However, the event was also contemporaneous with falling water levels in several Victorian lakes, and it is thus attributed to onset of climatic aridity. Reduced precipitation in the River Murray catchment and reduced freshwater outflow enhanced development of the flood-tide delta and constriction of the mouth.     

海洋环流模式模拟自然 和核辐射14C的分布

放射性14C在海洋环流研究和人为CO2问题的研究中都有重要地位。本文用海洋环流模式模拟了海洋中自然14C的分布及海洋对核辐射产生的放射性14C的吸收, 以期对海洋吸收人为CO2的能力做一初步的研究。模拟的海洋环流结果与观测相比符合得较好,成功地模拟出了北大西洋深水（NADW）、南极底水 (AABW）等基本特征。对自然14C的模拟揭示出了海洋通风的基本特征。模拟出的沿GEOSECS 路径的南、北垂直截面与观测结果符合得较好。对核辐射14C的模拟表明:模式模拟的沿GEOSECS 路径的南、北垂直截面与观测结果符合得较好;模拟出的海洋表面核辐射浓度与观测值一致,但核辐射14C在海洋中的柱存量和平均穿透深度都比观测结果要小。文中分析了造成这种差异的可能原因。     

Evidence for solar forcing of climate variation from δ18O of peat cellulose

There have been a number of investigations for examining the possible link between long-term climate variability and solar activity. A continuous δ¹⁸O record of peat cellulose covering the past 6 000 years and the response of climate variation inferred from the proxy record to solar forcing are reported. Results show that during the past 5 000 years the abrupt climate variations, including 17 warming and 17 cooling, and a serious of periodicities, such as 86, 101, 110, 127, 132, 140, 155, 207, 245, 311, 820 and 1 050 years, are strikingly correlative to the changes of solar irradiation and periodicity. These observations are considered as further evidence for a close relationship between solar activity and climate variations on time scales of decades to centuries.     

Confirmation of an interglacial age for the Condat tufa (Dordogne,France) from biostratigraphic and isotopic data

The Condat tufa is a localised deposit, reaching 8.2m in thickness, composed of freshwater carbonates deposited in a complex series of environments which include marsh, spring and stream facies. Five radiocarbon determinations had previously been obtained from different stratigraphic levels within the tufa and had given a consistent series, ranging from 12320 ± 175 BP to 31050 ± 1500BP. Although the youngest two dates, from near the surface of the tufa, had been rejected as being anomalously young, the older dates were regarded as indicating tufa formation during the last cold stage. Biostratigraphic analyses of the molluscan and ostracod faunas, presented here, demonstrate that the tufa formed under fully temperate conditions throughout. The occurrence of certain snails that are either locally extinct (e.g. Belgrandia marginata) or unknown living in western France (e.g. Daudebardia brevipes), together with the geomorphological setting, suggest that the tufa is of interglacial age. New radiocarbon determinations of the Condat tufa all proved to be >33 Ka BP and support this conclusion.     

Age determination of marine sediments in the western North Pacific by as partic acid chronology

The ages of fossil planktonic foraminifera,Pulleniatina obliquiloculata, in sediments (core 3bPC) from the western North Pacific were determined by aspartic acid chronology, which uses the racemization reaction rate constant of aspartic acid (k_Asp). Aspartic acid racemization-based ages (Asp ages) ranged from 7,600 yrBP at the surface, to 307,000 yrBP at a depth of 352.9 cm in the sediments. This sediment core was also dated by the glacial-interglacial fluctuation of δ¹⁸O chronology, and the ages determined by both chronologies were compared. The ages derived from aspartic acid chronology and δ¹⁸O stratigraphy were more or less consistent, but there appeared to be some differences in age estimates between these two dating methods at some depths within the core. In the core top sediments, the likely cause for the age discrepancy could be the loss of the surface sediment during sampling of the core. At depths of 66.3 and 139 cm within the core, Asp ages indicated reduced sedimentation rates duringca. 60,000-80,000 yrBP andca. 140,000–190,000 yrBP. The maximum age differences in both chronologies are 33,000 yr and 46,600 yr during each of these periods. These anomalous reductions in sedimentation rates occurring during these periods could possibly be related to some geological events, such as an increased dissolution effect of the calcium carbonate in the western North Pacific. Another possible reason for these age differences could be the unreliability in δ¹⁸O ages of core 3bPC as they were estimated by δ¹⁸O ages of another core, 3aPC.     

Accretion of a New England (U.S.A.) Salt Marsh in Response to Inlet Migration, Storms, and Sea-level Rise

Sediment accumulation rates were determined at several sites throughout Nauset Marsh (Massachusetts, U.S.A.), a back-barrier lagoonal system, using feldspar marker horizons to evaluate short-term rates (1 to 2 year scales) and radiometric techniques to estimate rates over longer time scales (¹³⁷Cs,²¹⁰Pb,¹⁴C). The barrier spit fronting theSpartina-dominated study site has a complex geomorphic history of inlet migration and overwash events. This study evaluates sediment accumulation rates in relation to inlet migration, storm events and sea-level rise. The marker horizon technique displayed strong temporal and spatial variability in response to storm events and proximity to the inlet. Sediment accumulation rates of up to 24 mm year⁻¹were recorded in the immediate vicinity of the inlet during a period that included several major coastal storms, while feldspar sites remote from the inlet had substantially lower rates (trace accumulation to 2·2 mm year⁻¹). During storm-free periods, accumulation rates did not exceed 6·7 mm year⁻¹, but remained quite variable among sites. Based on¹³⁷Cs (3·8 to 4·5 mm year⁻¹) and²¹⁰Pb (2·6 to 4·2 mm year⁻¹) radiometric techniques, integrating sediment accumulation over decadal time scales, the marsh appeared to be keeping pace with the relative rate of sea-level rise from 1921 to 1993 of 2·4 mm year⁻¹. At one site, the²¹⁰Pb-based sedimentation rate and rate of relative sea-level rise were nearly similar and peat rhizome analysis revealed thatDistichlis spicatarecently replaced this onceS. patenssite, suggesting that this portion of Nauset Marsh may be getting wetter, thus representing an initial response to wetland submergence. Horizon markers are useful in evaluating the role of short-term events, such as storms or inlet migration, influencing marsh sedimentation processes. However, sampling methods that integrate marsh sedimentation over decadal time scales are preferable when evaluating a systems response to sea-level rise.