Inverted clast stratigraphy in an eolian archaeological environment

Understanding the geomorphic history of eolian basins is important in interpreting the archaeological record and human responses to past environments. One hundred forty soil profiles were excavated and described in southern New Mexico and West Texas. Seven major late Quaternary stratigraphic units were found: La Mesa, eolian Jornada (I, II), eolian Isaacks' Ranch, eolian Organ (I, II, and III), Historical Blowsand, and the playa deposits of Petts Tank and Lake Tank. Each unit represents a period of landscape instability, eolian erosion, and concurrent deposition, followed by landscape stability and soil formation. Eolian erosion can form local surficial lag deposits if materials larger than the competence of the wind are present. However, erosional processes alone cannot explain the presence of older clasts at the surface with intact, younger deposits underneath. We propose a combination of processes: deflation in eolian windows, followed by lateral movement of clasts over areas that have not been deflated. The effects of these processes on artifact stratigraphy and archaeological interpretations could be significant. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Lake shoreline development, frost weathering and rock platform erosion in an alpine periglacial environment, Jotunheimen, southern Norway

Ice-dammed lake Boverbrevatnet existed for 75–125 years in the 'Little Ice Age'. After about A.D. 1826, glacier retreat led to a fall in lake level and to exposure of the former shoreline, which includes well-developed platforms cut in metamorphic bedrock. The rock platforms, up to 5.3 m wide and backed by cliffs up to 1.55 m high, are partially covered by large angular boulders which form pavements. Accurate levelling has permitted correlation of platform fragments, overflow cols and related features of the shoreline, such as benches eroded in moraines, ice-push ridges, a perched delta, vegetation trim-lines, lichen limits and a 'lichen-kill' zone. The evolution of the lake, the chronology of deglaciation and the period of formation of the rock platforms have been dated by lichenometry, supported by ¹⁴C dating, Schmidt hammer 'R'-values and historical data. The morphology of the rock platforms, together with estimates of their rate of erosion ranging from 1.4 to 7.1 cm/year, indicate the importance of frost shattering (frost riving, frost wedging or macrogelivation) at the lake margin under a periglacial climate, while the permanence of such platforms as landscape features suggests their use in the reconstruction of former periglacial environments. A semi-quantitative model is outlined for the development of rock platforms which emphasises deep penetration of the annual freeze-thaw cycle, the movement of unfrozen lake water towards the freezing plane, and the growth of segregation ice in fissures and cracks at the interface between lake ice and bedrock. Ice-push and ice-pull processes are involved primarily as transporting agents in the formation of boulder pavements and in the removal of debris from the platforms. Analogous processes may occur on polar coasts producing coastal rock platforms.     

Rebuilding resilient homeland: an NGO-led post-Lushan earthquake experimental reconstruction program

Natural Hazards - There have been many practical programs suggested for building resilient cities and communities, many of which have been driven by governments to focus on disaster prevention...     

Lead in archaeological samples: an isotopic study by ICP-MS

Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) has been used to measure the concentration and isotopic composition of Pb in archaeological human and animal skeletal remains, soil from a village site of the Omaha tribe (U.S.A.) and cosmetic pigments.Lead concentrations in human bones from the Omaha tribe vary between 4.8 and 2570 μg/g, with younger people having the highest concentrations. Lead concentrations in animal bones from an Omaha village vary between 0.6 and 3.7 μg/g, and those of three soil samples range between 18 and 21 μg/g. Lead concentrations found in human bones from Anasazi (Utah, U.S.A.) and Alta (Peru) populations vary between 0.7 and 3.2 μg/g.Isotope ratios of a reagent grade Pb(NO₃)₂ solutions were measured by thermal ionization mass spectrometry (TIMS), as well as by ICP-MS to provide laboratory reference materials. The accuracy of the ICP-MS measurements relative to TIMS for the standard solution were found to be within 0.02–0.31% for²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb, 0.02–0.55% for²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁴Pb, and 0.16–0.56% for²⁰⁸Pb/²⁰⁴Pb. The precision of measurements on artifacts was 0.42–0.65% for²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb and 0.41–0.62% for²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁴Pb, whereas the precision for the same ratios for the bones was 0.85–1.8 and 0.82–1.67%, respectively. For the cosmetic lead-bearing pigments, a precision of 0.07–0.15% was found for both²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb and²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁴Pb ratios. Lead isotope ratios of artifacts give a radiogenic Pb signature, of which are close to signatures from PbZn mines of the central U.S. region. Lead isotope ratios of the pigments give non-radiogenic Pb signatures. Lead isotope ratios of the bones differ from those of the artifacts, and although similar in isotopic ratio to the pigments, they are more scattered, suggesting potential mixing of Pb from different regions.     

The role of armadillos in the movement of archaeological materials: An experimental approach

Armadillos are medium‐sized animals whose burrowing behavior can be significant in archaeological settings ranging from South America to the central United States. Although archaeologists are well aware that these animals can move archaeological materials across stratigraphic layers, few data are available about the magnitude of mixing, number of burrows per individual, dimension of burrows, and their impact on archaeological sites. This paper addresses the problem from an experimental perspective. Specifically, we monitored the action of the yellow armadillo (Euphractus sexcintus) in translocating cultural materials. Our results suggest that: (1) the vertical movement of artifacts has no preferential direction; (2) cultural horizons at least 20 cm apart can be mixed; (3) the animal's activity leaves some distinct traces that can be recognized during an excavation; and (4) there is no significant correlation between size, shape, or weight of artifacts and amount of displacement. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Subcritical crack propagation in rocks: theory,experimental results and applications

The micromechanisms of tensile fracture are reviewed, with particular emphasis on the influence of chemical effects on fracture controlled by pre-existing cracks (stress corrosion). A fracture mechanism map for quartz is presented which was constructed using a combination of theoretical insights and experimental data. The manner in which stress corrosion will modify the predictions of fracture mechanism maps is discussed by reviewing the numerous theories of stress corrosion. Experimental data are presented on stress corrosion in tensile deformation of quartz, quartz rocks, calcite rocks, basaltic rocks, granitic rocks and other geological materials. Although the experimental evidence for stress corrosion is overwhelming, very few data were obtained under conditions that simulate those in the bulk of the earth's crust and so the extent of its geophysical significance is yet to be fully established. Examples are given, however, of how invoking stress corrosion as a rate-controlling deformation mechanism sheds new light on extremely diverse geophysical phenomena, such as: predicting the strength and sliding friction properties of rocks, modelling earthquake rupture, the stability of hot, dry-rock geothermal reservoirs, stimulation of oil and gas reservoirs, the crack-seal mechanism of rock deformation and low stress dilatancy, fracture mechanics of lunar rocks, magmatic intrusions and the relaxation of internal stresses in rock.     

Strain localization in sand: an overview of the experimental results obtained in Grenoble using stereophotogrammetry

Experimental results are presented from the extensive program of drained plane strain compression tests on sand carried out in Grenoble over the last two decades. Systematic analysis of photographs of the deforming specimen allowed for measuring deformations and determining strain fields throughout the test, that is: prior to, at, and after the onset of strain localization. The principles, details and accuracy of the procedure are described, as well as its suitability to properly depict the patterns of deformation. Findings concerning the occurrence and progression of strain localization are discussed. The issues of shear band orientation and thickness are addressed, as well as temporary and persistent complex localization patterns, and the volumetric behaviour inside a band after its formation. The influence of such variables as initial state of the sand (effective stress and relative density), specimen size and slenderness, as well as grain size, is discussed. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd     

Groundwater source assessment program for the state of Hawaii, USA: methodology and example application

The 1996 reauthorization of the Safe Drinking Water Act required that each state in the US addresses the protection of public drinking water sources, including the development and implementation of a source-water assessment program. Such a program includes delineating source-water assessment areas, inventorying potential contaminant sources within this area, and determining the water system's susceptibility to contamination. The public was also involved in various phases of the program. Hawaii’s groundwater source assessment program is presented, along with an approach for implementation, which is consistent with federal requirements. The approach integrates groundwater models, aquifer databases, and a geographic information system. Source assessment areas were delineated by using numerical groundwater-flow models that used site-specific data to their fullest availability. The proposed approach is flexible enough to allow easy future updates as more sources are identified or as new information becomes available. The final product includes numerical scores that quantify the relative source susceptibility to contamination. Aquifer models developed in this study are potentially useful for future site-specific protection efforts or for other modeling purposes.     

Clay mineralogy of archaeological soil: an approach to paleoclimatic and environmental reconstruction of the archaeological sites of the Paharpur area,Badalgacchi upazila,Naogaon district,Bangladesh

A geo-archaeological examination was carried out in and around the Paharpur area, Badalgacchi upazila of Naogaon District in the north-western part of Bangladesh. Clay mineralogy and global paleo-temperature curves were used to determine the paleoclimatic and depositional environmental conditions of the Holocene archaeological soils (Barind clay residuum) of the Paharpur archaeological spot. Clay mineralogical data show that the dominant clay mineral is illite with subordinate amounts of kaolinite and chlorite. The high illite and low kaolinite content implies a marine or estuarine deposit. The clay mineral ratio log diagram, constructed by plotting the 7–10°Å integrated intensity ratios versus depth, supports this assumption. The presence of illite, together with quartz and feldspar, suggests high detrital input under generally cool to temperate and dry climates. Chlorite is another common by-product of weathering reactions with low hydrolysis, which is typical for cool to temperate and dry climates. The results suggest the existence of a marine–estuarine influence under a generally cool to temperate and dry climates around Paharpur and the surrounding region throughout the Pala dynasty around mid-century 700 a.d. to early 1100 a.d. Furthermore, this observation is consistent with the global paleo-temperature curves.     

Structure and growth of stearate monolayers on calcite: first results of an in situ X-ray reflectivity study

The adsorption of organic molecules at mineral–fluid interfaces has a profound influence upon geochemical reaction and transport processes, yet little is known about the in situ structures or properties of organic layers at mineral–fluid interfaces. We describe an X-ray reflectivity study of stearate monolayers adsorbed at the calcite surface from methanolic solutions. Using these measurements we are able to determine important aspects of the in situ structure, bonding, adsorption, and growth mechanisms of stearate monolayers. The experimental approach demonstrated here can be applied widely in studying the interaction of organic molecules with mineral surfaces in aqueous systems.     

Flood damage assessment of an urban area in Chennai, India, part I: methodology

Floods are random phenomena that not only cause damage to the lives, natural resources and the environment, but also affect the health of people. The severity of flooding tends to increase with urbanization. Socio-economic impacts of floods depend on the area, duration and depth of inundation, population density, housing typology, construction materials of dwellings, etc. This article examines the different available methods to trace the flood damage and illustrates the methodology to explore the economic loss through social investigation in Velachery, a part of urban Chennai in India. This paper is Part I of a two-part series in which the objectives and methodology are discussed. Based on the objectives and methodology developed for the study, a comprehensive flood management strategy can be proposed for the efficient management of future flood disasters. The results of the study are discussed in Part II.     

中亚成矿域斑岩铜金成矿的地质环境问题

中亚成矿域在蒙古、乌兹别克斯坦、吉尔吉斯斯坦和哈萨克斯坦产有Oyu Tolgoi、Almalyk、Andash-Taldy Bulak、Aktogai、Kounrad等众多巨型和世界级斑岩铜金矿床,中国新疆北部斑岩铜金找矿持续重大突破令人期待。中亚成矿域大规模斑岩铜金成矿于什么地质环境?新疆北部、尤其天山斑岩铜金地质找矿持续突破的前景怎样?都是颇受关注的重大地质和找矿问题。通过广泛深入文献调研和重要矿集区实地调查研究表明,中亚构造成矿域在古亚洲洋壳俯冲增生、陆陆碰撞和后碰撞伸展等不同时期地质环境中,虽然均有斑岩铜金成矿作用发生,但古亚洲洋俯冲形成不同时期的增生岛弧是中亚斑岩铜金最为重要的成矿地质环境,大规模斑岩铜金成矿出现在洋盆演化末期、或即将关闭时的成熟岛弧环境。为什么中亚重要斑岩铜金矿床多形成于年长的成熟岛弧是值得探索的重要科学问题。新疆北部、尤其天山不同时期的岛弧发育完整,岛弧岩浆作用强烈而漫长,斑岩铜金成矿条件优越,大型-超大型铜金矿地质找矿潜力巨大,有望持续发现重要斑岩铜金矿床。     

Marble weathering in an industrial environment,eastern Australia

Qualitative evidence from monuments and buildings in industrialized countries indicates that rates of stone deterioration rise in the presence of urban and industrial pollutants. Measurements presented here on surface reduction of marble tombstones show that mean weathering rates have increased over the period 1885 to 1955. Weathering rates were lower before the establishment of sulfur dioxide-emitting plants. Marble weathering involved solution etching along grain boundaries and within individual grains, and proceeded by surface roughening and dislodgement of grains with little apparent accumulation of gypsum. Absolute surface reduction of marble was less than that recorded in industrial environments in Europe and North America.     

Phytolith analysis of an archaeological site (longshan period) in Zhumadian City,Henan Province,China: Paleoenvironmental and cultural implications

With phytolith analysis of an archaeological site (Longshan Culture Period, 4800-4000 B. P.) in Zhumadian City of Henan Province, environmental and cultural information have been obtained. Phytolith assemblages both from the site and from a nearby ancient lake deposit of the same period indicate a warm and wet climate. Since this area is in an environment outside the natural distribution of wild rice, abundant “scooped” bilobate and special glume epidermal phytoliths found in all of the cultural layers and two samples of the lake deposits suggest that rice was cultivated in this region by the local people. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Rock transformations in spherically converging shock waves: Newly obtained experimental results

The paper presents a concise review of results obtained by studying shock metamorphism of polymineralic rocks with the application of spherical hermetically sealed recovery devices. Such experiments are proved to be able to reproduce principally important features of transformations detected in rocks from natural meteoritic craters (astroblemes). The experimental samples show subspherical concentric zones with different rock transformations, which are generally analogous to zones in natural astroblemes (listed in order from the centers of the spherical samples to their margins): fracturing, diaplectic transformations, selective and then complete melting, and finally, evaporation. However, the laboratory scale of the experiments and the absence of younger overprinted processes, which can obliterate impact transformations of rocks in nature, enable the researcher to reveal distinctive compositional, textural, and phase features of transformations induced in the rocks at increasing isentropic shock wave-induced loading. Data on the mobility of major elements in the course of impact metamorphism show that the type and certain features of the crystal structures of minerals are of paramount importance for the amorphization of the minerals or their shock wave-induced thermal decomposition. The crystal chemical control of mineral transformations was proved to be exerted at a number of levels. High-pressure phases identified in experiments with shock wave loading were determined to crystallize from melt or via a phase transition associated with the migration of elements.     

The Pleistocene hominid site of Ternifine, Algeria: New results on the environment, age, and human industries

A new multidisciplinary research program, started in 1981, provided new data on the stratigraphy, fauna, and human industries, as well as the first results on paleomagnetism and sedimentology, for the Ternifine site in Algeria, which yielded the earliest hominid remains known in North Africa. The fossils were deposited in a swamp or lake surrounded by a very open, dry environment. The lake was fed by artesian springs that raised the underlying Miocene sands. Although nothing suggests a camp or butchery site, we discovered the first undisputable bone artifact in this site, the earliest known in this part of Africa. According to paleontological data, 700,000 yr B.P. is a likely age for the Ternifine deposits, which is consistent with the paleomagnetic results.     

Evolution of a periglacial landscape in the Late Devensian: environments and palaeobotany of the Mepal area,Cambridgeshire, England

The landscape evolution of the Mepal area from Late Devensian Block Fen Terrace times to the beginning of the Flandrian, a period of ca. 8000 radiocarbon years, is reconstructed. Stratigraphy is based on borehole transects and single boreholes, centred on a depression between the Block Fen Terrace and the Isle of Ely. Within the depression is a Devensian late‐glacial sequence, with the Windermere Interstadial represented by radiocarbon‐dated organic sediments. Pollen and plant macroscopic remains of the late‐glacial sediments are analysed. Plant communities with Betula developed in the interstadial. Before and after the interstadial there is much reworked pollen in the inorganic sediments, derived from local pre‐Devensian Pleistocene sediments, including temperate Ipswichian Stage sediments, and from mass‐wasting of the local Jurassic bedrock. Periods of such mass‐movement occur before and after the deposition of the late‐glacial lake sediments. Deposition of aeolian sediment occurs later than the main period of mass movement, but before the Windermere Interstadial. The relationship of the aeolian sediments in time and space to permafrost, indicated by local contraction polygons and cracks, is discussed. Solifluction diverted the flow of the River Great Ouse from a northeast direction in Block Fen Terrace times to a southwest direction as a channel developed to the west of the Chatteris–March ‘island’. This led to a drainage divide in Flandrian times. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Development of the first coal seam gas exploration program in Indonesia: Reservoir properties of the Muaraenim Formation, south Sumatra

The Late Miocene Muaraenim Formation in southern Sumatra contains thick coal sequences, mostly of low rank ranging from lignite to sub-bituminous, and it is believed that these thick low rank coals are the most prospective for the production of coal seam gas (CSG), otherwise known as coalbed methane (CBM), in Indonesia.As part of a major CSG exploration project, gas exploration drilling operations are being undertaken in Rambutan Gasfields in the Muaraenim Formation to characterize the CSG potential of the coals. The first stage of the project, which is described here, was designed to examine the gas reservoir properties with a focus on coal gas storage capacity and compositional properties. Some five CSG exploration boreholes were drilled in the Rambutan Gasfield, south of Palembang. The exploration boreholes were drilled to depths of ~ 1000 m into the Muaraenim Formation. Five major coal seams were intersected by these holes between the depths of 450 and 1000 m. The petrography of coal samples collected from these seams showed that they are vitrinite rich, with vitrinite contents of more than 75% (on a mineral and moisture free basis). Gas contents of up to 5.8 m³/t were measured for the coal samples. The gas desorbed from coal samples contain mainly methane (CH₄) ranging from 80 to 93% and carbon dioxide (CO₂) ranging from 6 to 19%. The composition of the gas released into the production borehole/well is, however, much richer in CH₄ with about 94 to 98% CH₄ and less than 5% CO₂.The initial results of drilling and reservoir characterization studies indicate suitable gas recovery parameters for three of the five coal seams with a total thickness of more than 30 m.     

Distribution and chronology of Pleistocene permafrost features in France: Database and first results

Numerous periglacial features (polygons, nets, soil stripes, ice‐wedge pseudomorphs and sand‐wedge casts, involutions) have been recorded in France by examining bibliographical sources and aerial photographs. These data show that a large part of France was affected by permafrost during the Pleistocene and only the southern Aquitaine Basin and Languedoc seem to have been beyond its maximum extent. The first OSL ages obtained from the aeolian infill of wedge structures indicate that at least two phases of thermal contraction cracking occurred in southwestern France between ～25 and 36 ka. Chronostratigraphical data from loess in northern France indicate that these episodes correspond to the formation of ice‐wedge networks associated with tundra gleys. In the latter region, two additional permafrost episodes probably occurred during the Last Glacial, the older one corresponding to the end of Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 4 around 60 ka and the more recent one to MIS 2 around 19–16 ka. Although stratigraphical data indicate that these episodes were relatively short (about one millennium), relict permafrost may have existed for longer periods in northern France.