An assessment of human versus climatic impacts on Holocene soil erosion in NE Peloponnese, Greece

Soil erosion is a natural geomorphological process, which can be triggered by both natural (climate, tectonics, or both) and anthropogenic (e.g., agriculture) perturbation of the ecosystem. Evidence has accrued that the Holocene climate experienced large fluctuations in amplitude and suggestions of human impact on the ecosystem provided by the Neolithic revolution dating back to the early Holocene have been made. The question of whether man or climate was the dominant factor responsible for Holocene soil erosion remains unresolved. To resolve the reasons for Holocene sediment redistribution, high-resolution chronometric data on sediments derived from colluvial and alluvial archives from southern Greece were obtained and combined with available archaeological and paleoclimatic data from the eastern Mediterranean. These data show a significant correlation between sedimentation rates and settlement history. Climatic fluctuations are only weakly correlated with sedimentation history. The results show high sedimentation rates during the Early Neolithic (7th millennium BC) in southern Greece, suggesting that Holocene soil erosion was triggered by human activity and then amplified by enhanced precipitation. This would explain the high sedimentation rates during the Early Neolithic in connection with enhanced precipitation in the eastern Mediterranean, which continued until the mid-Holocene.     

Holocene coastal evolution and uplift mechanisms of the northeastern Raukumara Peninsula,North Island,New Zealand

The coastal geomorphology of the northeastern Raukumara Peninsula, New Zealand, is examined with the aim of determining the mechanisms of Holocene coastal uplift. Elevation and coverbed stratigraphic data from previously interpreted coseismic marine terraces at Horoera and Waipapa indicate that, despite the surface morphology, there is no evidence that these terraces are of marine or coseismic origin. Early Holocene transgressive marine deposits at Hicks Bay indicate significant differences between the thickness of preserved intertidal infill sediments and the amount of space created by eustatic sea level rise, therefore uplift did occur during early Holocene evolution of the estuary. The palaeoecology and stratigraphy of the sequence shows no evidence of sudden land elevation changes. Beach ridge sequences at Te Araroa slope gradually toward the present day coast with no evidence of coseismic steps. The evolution of the beach ridges was probably controlled by sediment supply in the context of a background continuous uplift rate. No individual dataset uniquely resolves the uplift mechanism. However, from the integration of all evidence we conclude that Holocene coastal uplift of this region has been driven by a gradual, aseismic mechanism. An important implication of this is that tectonic uplift mechanisms do vary along the East Coast of the North Island. This contrasts with conclusions of previous studies, which have inferred Holocene coastal uplift along the length of the margin was achieved by coseismic events. This is the first global example of aseismic processes accommodating uplift at rates of >1 mm yr⁻¹ adjacent to a subduction zone and it provides a valuable comparison to subduction zones dominated by great earthquakes.     

Formation of modern dolomite in hypersaline pans of the Western Cape,South Africa

Authigenic calcite and dolomite and biogenic aragonite occur in Holocene pan sediments in a Mediterranean‐type climate on the western coastal plain of South Africa. Sediment was analysed from a Late Pleistocene coastal pan at Yzerfontein and four Holocene inland pans ranging from brackish to hypersaline. The pans are between 0·08 and 0·14 km² in size. The δ¹⁸O_PDB values of carbonate minerals in the pan sediments range from ?2·41 to 5·56‰ and indicate precipitation from evaporative waters. Covariance of total organic content and percentage carbonate minerals, and the δ¹³C_PDB values of pan carbonate minerals (?8·85 to ?1·54‰) suggest that organic matter degradation is a significant source of carbonate ions. The precipitation of the carbonate minerals, especially dolomite, appears to be mediated by sulphate‐reducing bacteria in the black sulphidic mud zone found in the brine‐type hypersaline pans. The knobbly, sub‐spherical texture of the carbonate minerals suggests that the precipitation of the carbonate minerals, particularly dolomite, is related to microbial processes. The ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios of pan carbonate minerals (0·7108 to 0·7116) are slightly higher than modern sea water and indicate a predominantly sea water (marine aerosol) source for calcium (Ca²⁺) ions with relatively minor amounts of Ca²⁺ derived from the chemical weathering of bedrock.     

山东半岛东北部全新统研究新进展

全新世以来山东半岛东北部沿岸的相对海面（基准面）变化控制了入海河流河谷内全新统的发育,并通过影响进入海岸带碎屑物质的类型与数量,深刻影响了海岸带全新统的发育。全新世早期（１０～６ｋａ Ｂ． Ｐ．）快速的相对海面上升导致河谷溯源堆积,河流输沙中的推移质均堆积于河谷中,仅有悬移质进入海岸带堆积,因而海岸全新统下部均为细粒的海湾、湖、沼泽相沉积。全新世中期（６～４ｋａ Ｂ．Ｐ．）时海面虽已相对稳定,但早期基准面上升导致的河谷堆积作用仍在进行,因而中全新统的粗碎屑海岸沉积均为源于基岩海岸侵蚀的含贝壳砂砾石。从全新世后期（４ｋａ Ｂ．Ｐ．以来）开始有较丰富的河流推移质输沙进入海岸带,但由于不同规模河流对相对海面变化的地貌响应有显著差别,不同河流对海岸全新统发育的影响各不相同。上述结论为精确地解释低序列、小尺度地层层序提供了理论依据     

Yria (western Naxos island,Greece): Sea level changes in Upper Holocene and palaeogeographical reconstruction

The Saint Georgios coastal zone, located at the W coast of Naxos, the largest island of the Central Aegean Sea, was investigated in order to determine the palaeo-geography, sea level changes and their effect to the palaeo-environment of western Naxos island and to human activity. Detailed geomorphological mapping, study of micropaleontological and sedimentological characteristics and dating analyses of the Late Holocene of St. Georgios coastal zone were conducted.

To obtain information about the Holocene stratigraphy under the recent alluvial cover, three boreholes followed the detailed geomorphological mapping. Microfaunal analysis took place and five samples of plants, shells, peat and charred material were also collected from several layers of the sedimentary sequence and were dated using AMS and conventional radiocarbon techniques providing temporal control of the sediments. The sea-land interactions during Upper Holocene, in relation to the eustatic sea level oscillations, as well as the geomorphologic observations and analysis on deposited sediments, aims to reveal the palaeo-geographic evolution of the landscape and its impact on the archaeological sites. Sea level rise along with sea-land interactions to the landscape evolution and the transgression of sea in 6144 BP have been verified.     

Holocene sea level changes at the nile delta coastal zone of Egypt

Carbon dating data of changes in seal level during the Holocene at the Nile delta coast provide eustatic depth-time curve of the region. The curve reveals that sea level was approximately 41 meters below the present level around 8,500 years ago. Trend analysis indicates that with melting of glaciers there was a rapid rise in sea level of about 3 mm/yr. The constructed data points are found to be comparable with other curves in the Mediterranean and wold-wide regions. The general changes of the data points are fairly correlated with the ancient shoreline indicators of morphological features (shelf terraces and slopes, old dunes, sand accretion ridges) and sediments at continental shelf and its contiguous coastal zone that belong to Holocene transgression.     

Coastal and near-shore changes correlated with die-back in eel-grass (Zostera Marina,L.)

The die-back of eel-grass (Zostera marina, L.) is found to have played an important role with regard to near-shore sedimentation and coastal changes.In a natural harbour at Kyholm, Denmark a hiatus is found between silty sediments that date from about 4000 BC and overlying modern sandy sediments. It is suggested that this is a consequence of the die-back of eel-grass in the nineteen-thirties, resulting in mobilisation and disturbance of nearshore sediments and the shoreward movement of mobilised sandy material into the harbour. The coastal morphology of Kyholm was relatively stable from 1802 to 1933, but between 1933 and 1978 there have been two periods of drastic progradation correlated with die-back of eel-grass.     

Fruit of the cyclone: Undoing geopolitics through geopoetics

How can a geopolitical worldview be undone? Can it be undone? These questions have played a central role in critical geopolitics, particularly with feminist and postcolonial authors who seek to show how geopolitics are constituted through everyday processes. This article puts this work into dialogue with a relatively recent strand of geopolitics that attempts to re-examine its environmental foundations. What role might geophysical forces play in challenging hegemonic geopolitical worldviews? The role of materiality in geopolitics will be examined through the work of Guadeloupian author Daniel Maximin. In his book Les Fruits du Cyclone: Une Géopoétique de la Caraïbe, Maximin argues for the unique position of a Caribbean geopoetics, channelled into the figure of humanity as the ‘fruit of the cyclone’, to challenge contemporary geopolitics. In turning to both the natural and the political disasters that visit the Caribbean, he illustrates how impoverished understandings of the geophysical lead to a continuation of colonial patterns. Against this background, Maximin calls for a decolonisation of the coloniser through unsettling their geographical imagination. This decolonisation utilises the geophysical not as a model for human or human–world relations, but as a tool for re-situating oneself and for reimagining global divisions.     

Micromorphological studies of Greek prehistoric sites: New insights in the interpretation of the archaeological record

Ongoing micromorphological studies in several prehistoric sites of Greece (Theopetra cave, Boila rockshelter, Alonnisos, Drakaina cave, Kouveleiki cave, Lakonis cave complex, and Dispilio lake dwelling) provide new information on the relationship between environmental changes and the cultural history of the sites. The frequent climatic oscillations during the last glacial directly influenced the occupational mode of Theopetra cave and Boila rockshelter in northern Greece. Soil micromorphology may be a promising tool in unraveling differences in the occupational history due to climatic changes among diverse areas of Greece. Some preliminary observations from the Lakonis cave complex, in southern coastal Greece, support the existence of such differences. Evidence brought forward with the micromorphological study of Dispilio lake dwelling and Theopetra cave suggests that during the Holocene, aridification phases evident in the Mediterranean region might have also played a role in the Greek prehistoric settlement pattern. So far, evidence for aridification phases is present for the end of the Mesolithic and probably for part of the Final Neolithic. In several cases, micromorphology has revealed details of the cultural nature of the sites. Questions related to occupational intensity (Theopetra, Lakonis, Kouveleiki, and Drakaina caves), post‐depositional changes and cultural modification of the sediments (Alonnisos, Theopetra, and Drakaina caves), constructions (Theopetra and Drakaina caves), and stratigraphic correlation (Boila) have been satisfactorily addressed along with the analysis of the microstructure of the sediments. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Mercury colonial footprint in Darién Gulf sediments,Colombia

The mercury (Hg) deposition history in the Darién Gulf is reconstructed from three sediment cores spanning up to 1,000 years. Knowledge on the contribution to global Hg budget from the Caribbean is limited. Patterns of water circulation, sediment deposition rates, cataclysmic atmospheric inputs, and post-depositional migration have been considered in Hg trapping in the seabed. The sediment delivery rates to the coastal zone over the Late Holocene have increased from 0.2 to 1 cm year^?1 owing to anthropogenic influence. This alteration took the form of geological effects, like coastal morphology change, that played a major role in Hg downcore signal preservation. Natural background Hg levels in Southern Caribbean sediments (77.0 μg kg^?1) are up to three times higher than preindustrial signals at other latitudes, because of volcanic contributions from the Pacific ring of fire. Enrichment factors rose from 0.9 to 1.5 (70.1–113.5 μg kg^?1) within profiles related to Hg usage since Spanish colonial times between the calendar years 1550 and 1811.     

Groundwater Recharge and Mixing in Arid and Semiarid Regions: Heihe River Basin, Northwest China

A sound understanding of groundwater recharged from various sources occurring at different time scales is crucial for water management in arid and semi-arid river basins. Groundwater recharge sources and their geochemical evolution are investigated for the Heihe River Basin(HRB) in northwest China on the basis of a comprehensive compilation of geochemical and isotopic data. Geochemical massbalance modeling indicates that mountain-block recharge accounts for a small fraction(generally less than 5%) of the shallow and deep groundwater sustaining the oasis, whereas infiltration of rivers and irrigation water contribute most of the groundwater recharge. Dedolomitization is the primary process responsible for the changes in groundwater chemical and carbon isotope compositions from the piedmont to the groundwater discharge zone, where the dedolomitization is very likely enhanced by modern agricultural activities affecting the shallow groundwater quality. Analysis of radioactive isotopes suggests that these primary recharge sources occur at two different time scales. Radiocarbon-derived groundwater age profiles indicate a recharge rate of approximately 12 mm/year, which probably occurred during 2000–7000 years B.P., corresponding to the mid-Holocene humid period. The recharge of young groundwater on the tritium-dated time scale is much higher, about 360 mm/year in the oasis region. Infiltration from irrigation canals and irrigation return flow are the primary contributors to the increased young groundwater recharge. This study suggests that groundwater chemistry in the HRB has been influenced by the complex interaction between natural and human-induced geochemical processes and that anthropogenic effects have played a more significant role in terms of both groundwater quantity and quality.     

A late Holocene climate record in stalagmites from Modrič Cave (Croatia)

Few terrestrial Holocene climate records exist from south‐eastern Europe despite its important geographical position as a transitional climatic zone between the Mediterranean and mainland continental Europe. Here we present new petrographic and stable isotope data for two Holocene speleothems from Modri? Cave, Croatia (44°15′N, 15°32′E), a coastal Adriatic site (120 m inland). Modern meteorological and cave conditions have been monitored for 2 years to understand the links between climate variability and stable isotope time‐series records in speleothems. Typical of a Mediterranean‐type climate, a negative water balance exists between April and September, so that recharge of the aquifer is restricted to the winter months. The weighted mean δ¹⁸O of the rainfall is ?5.96‰ (2σ = 2.83), and the weighted mean D/H rainfall value is ?36.83‰ (2σ = 19.95), slightly above the Global Meteoric Water Line, but well below the Mediterranean Meteoric Water Line. Modern calcite from the tops of each stalagmite exhibits δ¹⁸O values that are close to isotopic equilibrium with their respective drip water values. Unfortunately, the relatively young ages and low uranium contents (ca. 50 p.p.b.) of both stalagmites hamper the use of U‐series dating. Radiocarbon dates have been used instead to constrain their chronology using a dead carbon correction. Apart from some Isotope Stage 3 material (ca. 55 ka), both stalagmites were deposited during the late Holocene. Climatic conditions during the late Holocene are inferred to have been sufficiently wet to maintain stalagmite growth and any hiatuses appear to be relatively short lived. Inferred changes in the stalagmite diameters during deposition are linked to δ¹³C and δ¹⁸O variations, indicating alternating periods of drier and wetter conditions. Drier conditions are inferred for the late Roman Ages warm period and the mid‐Medieval Warm Period. Wetter conditions are associated with the Little Ice Age. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

海南岛东北海岸风沙沉积的光释光年代学意义

选取海南岛东北部JSD2和PQR2两个典型海岸沙质沉积剖面进行研究,共采集10个测年样品和89个指标分析样品,在室内进行了光释光(OSL)测年和粒度分析.结果表明:1)JSD2和PQR2剖面砂样以中细沙为主,粒度众数在225～400μm之间.风沙沉积后受化学风化作用呈现淡红棕色至红棕色;2)JSD2剖面OSL年龄范围为...     

The “Mediterraneanization” of the climate in Mediterranean countries —a cause of the unstable ecobudget

Changes of accumulation, pedogenesis and vertical erosion for the last nearly 20 000 years in connexion with periods of warm and cold climates can be proved for Mediterranean areas. The climate of Mediterranean areas became more arid for the last nearly 5 000 years. Geomorphological processes in Mediterranean areas concur with geomorphological processes in N Africa. Substantial sediments formerly marked as “historical fills” are of natural origin. Pollen analytical observations about forest formations confirm the distinction of holocene sediments: older strata of natural origin and younger layers of anthropogenic origin. Maccia and phrygana in Mediterranean areas stand for a degradation of forest caused by man. They provide eminently efficient protection of the soil cover. This poses an important question: Is afforestation, esp. in mountain areas, ecologically and economically advisable?     

苏北滨海平原全新世沉积物物源研究--元素地球化学与重矿物方法比较

运用元素地球化学与重矿物方法对苏北滨海平原全新世沉积物物源进行的比较研究表明,沉积物形成主要由长江与黄河提供物质来源,且又以黄河物源为主。全新世早期长江物质对本区影响范围大于黄河,黄河供给泥沙量较少,对本区影响主要在北部、中部地区。全新世最大海侵之后,黄河曾由苏北入海并携带了大量泥沙,其影响范围明显大于长江,长江仅由狭窄的汊道提供有限的物质而影响范围较小。最近2000年来本区沉积物物源主要由黄河提供。分析表明元素地球化学方法在沉积物物源判别时,可有效的避免水动力因素影响,而相对重矿物方法取得较好的效果。     

Quaternary incised valleys in southern Brazil coastal zone

High-resolution seismic records obtained in the Rio Grande do Sul coastal zone, southern Brazil, revealed that prominent valleys and channels developed in the area before the installation of actual coastal plain. Landwards, the paleoincisions can be linked with the present courses of the main river dissecting the area. Oceanwards, they can be linked with related features previously recognized in the continental shelf and slope by means of seismic and morphostructural studies. Based mainly on seismic, core data and geologic reasoning, it can be inferred that the coastal valleys were incised during forced regression events into the coastal prism deposited during previous sea level highstand events of the Quaternary. Seismic data has revealed paleovalleys up to 10 km wide and, in some places, infilled with up to 40 m thick of sediments. The results indicated two distinct periods of cut-and-fill events in the Patos Lagoon area. The filling of the younger incision system is mainly Holocene and its onset is related to the last main regressive event of the Pleistocene, when the sea level fell about 130 m below the actual position. The older incision and filling event is related to the previous regressive–transgressive events of the Middle and Late Pleistocene. The fluvial discharge fed delta systems on the shelf edge during the sea level lowstands. The subsequent transgressions drowned the incised drainage, infilling it and closing the inlets formerly connecting the coastal river to the ocean. The incised features may have played a significant role on the basin-margin architecture, facies distribution and accommodation space during the multitude of up and down sea level events of the Quaternary.     

渤海湾海岸带近现代地质环境变化

淤泥质海岸带地区10～10²a级别的相对快速的“缓变型地质环境变化”,主要包括水体、湿地和盐沼-湖退化或消失、贝壳堤和牡蛎礁被破坏、村镇和城市面积剧增、海岸线(平均大潮高潮线)被侵蚀后退、潮间带和近海河道被淤积、潮间带变宽变缓等。这些变化,已对我国东部沿海地区的经济和社会发展造成不利影响,并将对该类地区的可持续发展构成潜在威胁。在该类地区正在进行的1∶50000区域地质调查,充分发挥其高精度和规范化的优势,并辅以对近百年来不同时期的地形图、航空照片和遥感影像的数字化处理和对比研究,试图对这些变化做出形象、直观和定量的二维(2D)表达。本文介绍的是正在渤海湾海岸带进行的工作,充分显示出地质调查服务社会的公益性、基础性和战略性特点。对这一研究方向所显示的巨大潜力的进一步开发,将可能形成供政府决策部门和各方面用户广泛利用的、可二次开发的平台,从而使该类地区的可持续发展建立在对近现代地质环境变化详细了解的扎实基础之上。     

The problem of past megatsunami reconstructions on the southern Kurils

Tsunamis are reconstructed on the basis of distribution of tsunamigenic sediments in coastal lowland sections. Reflections of anomalous tsunamis are recorded in detail in the lacustrine–boggy sections of the Lesser Kuril Ridge, while only fragments of these sediments have been found on the islands of the Greater Kuril Ridge. The distribution and composition of the sediments left by recent large-scale tsunamis (locally documented 1994 and 1894 Shikotan tsunamis and transoceanic 2011 Tohoku tsunami) are analyzed for the purpose of understanding deposition features during large and megatsunamis. Interregional correlation of the events during the last ~2.5 kyr is carried out with estimation of their scales. It is established that large events took place in the 17th and 18th centuries and approximately at 1.0, 1.4–1.6, 1.7–1.8, and 2.0–2.1 ka ago. New data on large tsunami chronology since the Middle Holocene are presented. A unique natural peatland section with abundant tsunamigenic sand layers is studied on the Pacific side of Zelenyi Island (Rudnya Bay), where deposition continued through the entire Holocene. The largest tsunamis which happened on the South Kuril Islands during the last ~7.5 kyr and can be classed as megatsunamis are revealed.     

21世纪地球科学研究的重大科学问题

凝炼地球科学研究的重大科学问题,对推动地球科学基础研究的发展具有重要意义。美国国家研究理事会（National Research Council）2008年3月发布的研究报告《地球的起源和演化：变化行星的研究问题》提出了21世纪固体地球科学研究的10个重大科学问题：①地球和其他行星的起源;②地球早期的演化历史;③生命的起源;④地球内部的运动及其对地表的影响;⑤地球的板块构造与大陆;⑥地球的物质特性对地球过程的控制;⑦气候变化的原因与幅度;⑧地球—生命的相互作用;⑨地震、火山喷发等灾害及其后果的预测;⑩地球内外流体运动对人类环境的影响。这些重大科学问题对我国的地学发展战略研究及地球科学基础研究均将具有重要的借鉴和指导意义。主要依据NRC的《地球的起源和演化：变化行星的研究问题》报告,对这些重大科学问题进行了解读和分析。     

苏北滨海平原全新世沉积物物源研究--元素地球化学与重矿物方法比较

运用元素地球化学与重矿物方法对苏北滨海平原全新世沉积物物源进行的比较研究表明,沉积物形成主要由长江与黄河提供物质来源,且又以黄河物源为主。全新世早期长江物质对本区影响范围大于黄河,黄河供给泥沙量较少,对本区影响主要在北部、中部地区。全新世最大海侵之后,黄河曾由苏北入海并携带了大量泥沙,其影响范围明显大于长江,长江仅由狭窄的汊道提供有限的物质而影响范围较小。最近２０００ 年来本区沉积物物源主要由黄河提供。分析表明元素地球化学方法在沉积物物源判别时,可有效的避免水动力因素影响,而相对重矿物方法取得较好的效果。