Combined dendrochronological and radiocarbon dating of six Russian icons from the 15th–17th centuries

The results of dendrochronological and radiocarbon dating by means of accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) of six medieval icons, originating from northern European Russia and painted on wooden panels made from Scots pine, dated to the 15th to 17th centuries are presented. The panels of each icon were studied using dendrochronology. Five to six AMS dates were obtained for four icons. Although five icons were dendro-dated successfully, one failed to be reliably cross-dated with the existing master tree-ring chronologies and it was dated by radiocarbon wiggle-matching. Dendrochronological dating and wiggle-matching of radiocarbon dates allowed us to determine the narrow chronological intervals of icon creation.

     

A Bright-Coloured Flower in the Field of Earth Sciences in China——in Celebration of the 70th Anniversary of the Publication of Acta Geologica Sinica

Acta Geologica Sinica (hereinafter referred to as the Acta) starting publication in 1922, is a quaterly academia periodical sponsored by the Geological Society of China (GSC). It has been one of the science and technology periodicals in China with the longest history.     

9th International Symposium on the Ordovician System, 7th International Graptolite Conference ＆ Field Meeting of the International Subcommission on Silurian Stratigraphy

The “9th International Symposium on the Ordovician System, 7th International Graptolite Conference & Field Meeting of the International Subcommission on Silurian Stratigraphy” commenced on August 12,2003, by receiving in San Juan City to all participants of the pre-symposia field trip through the Precordillera of Mendoza and San Juan provinces, western Argentina. On August 13, the field trip began with the purpose to show significant Lower Paleozoic outcrops from diverse settings of the Precordillera geological province. This fivedays excursion was led by Drs. S. H. Peralta.     

Information background of 11th–15th centuries earthquakes located by the current catalogues in Vrancea (Romania)

Earthquake catalogues for Romania supply for 11th–15th century earthquakes located in the region of Vrancea records that consist of a complete set of parameters, including magnitude and depth. Scope of this paper is to verify the reliability and consistency of these parameters with the informative background as explicitly referenced by the catalogues. After retrieving the original sources they mention, the set of data appeared to be related almost exclusively to the Russian plain and too poor to be at the very origin of the parameter assessment. Data for 19th–20th century earthquakes, such as instrumental locations and CMT solutions, added to the understanding of the macroseismic response of the Russian plain to Vrancea earthquakes. On the one hand, the investigation and analysis of historical earthquake records for the fourteen events listed by the catalogues in the 11th–15th centuries has shown that for three earthquakes (1022, 1038, 1258) no primary sources could be traced, and three more earthquakes (1091, 1170 and 1328) are attested only by scarcely reliable records and had to be classified as doubtful, and one (1473) is simply a duplication of the 1471 event. On the other hand, the availability of data on recent earthquakes that may be compared to historical ones in terms of macroseismic effects allowed the authors to agree with the previous catalogue compilers’ solution with regard to both magnitude and depth of the past earthquakes for which do exist reliable primary historical records.     

International Symposium on Geoscience of the Northern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau──Marking the 20~(th) Anniversary of the Sino-French Cooperative Research on Geoscience

Sponsored by the Ministry of Land and Resources of the People*s Republic of China, China Seismological Bureau, Ministere de Ia Recherche de Ia France and Ministere des Affaires etrangres de Ia France, the international symposium on Geoscience of the northern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau was held in Beijing on October 8-15, 2000. After the meeting in Beijing a field-work trip began from Dunhuang (Gansu province), Aksay, Dacaidan (Qinghai province), Golmud to Xidatang (near the Kunlun Shan…     

Modeling of global climate variations in the 20th–23rd centuries with new RCP scenarios of anthropogenic forcing

Doklady Earth Sciences -     

Chemical Composition of Water along the Seashore and Front Delta of the Don River under Low-Water Conditions (20th–21st Centuries)

Doklady Earth Sciences - This study is based on the results of targeted water sampling undertaken at different weather conditions and water levels in the Don River delta and the seashore. The main...     

Engineering and Ecological Geology at Moscow State University in the 2008–2017 Period (to the 80th Anniversary of the Chair of Engineering and Ecological Geology)

The results of scientific and educational activities of the Chair of Engineering and Ecological Geology in the 2008—2017 period, its structure, scientific and organizing activities, as well as information about state and public recognition of the Chair’s staff works are characterized.     

Non‐metallurgical Slags in the Masonry of Obřany Castle in the Czech Republic: Evidence for the Local Production of Hydraulic Lime in the 14th Century?

Two types of compositionally heterogeneous slags have been found in the wall masonry of the Gothic Castle ruin Obřany. The bright phase is composed of quartz, tridymite, cristobalite, and porous glass, while the dark one also contains feldspars, hercynite, magnetite, clinopyroxenes, and a suite of accessory phases. The bright slags have a similar chemical composition as the mortar from the castle masonry or local sandstones, based on rare earth elements (REE) and other trace element abundances. In contrast, the dark slags are characterized by elevated contents of Al₂O₃ (15.4–18.6 wt.%) and Fe₂O₃^tot (4.1–10.0 wt.%), and consequently resemble the local clay. The investigated slags are not related to iron metallurgy in terms of their composition and texture. They probably originated in a medieval lime kiln through heat sintering of the inner lining during the burning process under relatively high temperatures (1080–1500°C). Simultaneously, the finding of relics of clinker‐like material together with products of its hydration in the hydraulic mortar from the wall masonry infers the production of hydraulic lime or Roman cement during the construction of the castle in the 14^th century. The Obřany Castle appears to represent one of the first applications of hydraulic binders in Moravia.     

WORK WITH PERSEVERANCE AND CREATIVITY:Celebrating the 49th Teaching Anniversary of Acade mician Zhao Pengda

Ｔｈｉｓｉｓｓｕｅ ,“ＯｐｅｎＬａｂｏｒａｔｏｒｙｏｆＱｕａｎｔｉｔａｔｉｖｅＰｒｅｄｉｃｔｉｏｎａｎｄＥｘｐｌｏｒａｔｉｏｎＡｓｓｅｓｓｍｅｎｔｏｆＭｉｎｅｒａｌＲｅｓｏｕｒｃｅｓ” ,ｉｓａｓｐｅｃｉａｌｃｏｌｌｅｃｔｉｏｎｄｅｄｉｃａｔｅｄｔｏｔｈｅ 70ｔｈｂｉｒｔｈｄａｙａｎｄ 49ｔｈｔｅａｃｈｉｎｇａｎｎｉｖｅｒｓａｒｙｏｆＡｃａｄｅｍｉｃｉａｎＺｈａｏＰｅｎｇｄａ .ＡｃａｄｅｍｉｃｉａｎＺｈａｏｈｅａｄｓｔｈｅｓｔａｔｅｋｅｙｄｉｓｃｉｐｌｉｎｅ“ｐｒｏｓｐｅｃｔｉｎｇａｎｄｅｘｐｌｏｒ…     

Recent Advances on Non-Marine Late Paleozoic Strata and Floras： Outcome of the 16th International Congress on the Carboniferous and Permian

The 16th International Congress on the Carboniferous and Permian （ICCP XVI） orga- nized by the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology under the Chinese Acad- emy of Sciences, the Institute of Geology under the Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, the China University of Geo- sciences and the Nanjing University took place in Nanjing, June 21-24, 2007. More than 150 colleagues from over 20 countries attended the quadrennial conference.     

The 11th General Meeting of the Russian Mineralogical Society—Modern mineralogy from theory to practice and the Fedorov Session 2010

An overview is given of scientific program, summaries of oral communications, and a chronicle of the proceedings of the 11th General Meeting of the Russian Mineralogical Society (RMS), which was held together with the traditional Fedorov Session 2010. The winners of the RMS contests and the discoverers of new minerals are named. The results of election of the RMS governing board and honorary RMS members are published, as well as the final resolution of the meeting and decisions of the RMS scientific council.     

First Determination of the Isotope Age of the Andesite–Dacite Complex of the Eastern Zone of the Middle Urals

Doklady Earth Sciences - This paper reports on the first U–Pb dating of zircons from dacites of the volcanic paleo-edifice of the andesite–dacite complex of the Eastern Zone of the...     

Analysis of the degree of contamination and evolution in the last 100 years of the composition of the bed sediments of the Anllóns Basin

In this study, five cores of the Anllóns River bed sediments were analyzed in order to evaluate the downcore and downstream variations in their chemical composition. The first step was the evaluation of the metal distribution in the bulk (<2 mm) and fine fractions (<63 μm). The analysis revealed that most of the metals followed the same trend in both fractions, although the fine fraction presented usually higher concentrations. However, the concentration of both fractions tended to equalize with increasing contamination. No general increase was observed in the metal concentrations toward the surface which could be attributed to recent anthropogenic contributions. Instead, the distributions were homogeneous or peaked at various depths downcore. The most important historical feature was observed at the mouth of the river, at 96-cm depth, corresponding to the end of the eighteenth century. Upcore increased metal concentrations in parallel with increased fine fraction occurred from this depth, which were attributed to a bridge construction and consequent changes in sediment dynamics. As the metal concentrations can be influenced by variations in texture or other sediment characteristics, the second step was to evaluate the efficiency of several normalized indexes in the assessment of the degree of contamination, by calculating the enrichment factor (EF), the geoaccumulation index (I _GEO) and the pollution load index (PLI). The EFs obtained were <10, thus revealing little anthropogenic inputs to the basin. The I _GEO produced higher values when compared with the EFs. Instead of absolute EF or I _GEO absolute values, the use of cumulative probability plots allowed identifying more accurately potential outliers indicating contamination. Only one population was identified for Zn and Pb, with a reduced number of outliers at the highest concentrations for Pb. As shown, a more complex plot with the outliers identified at C4 and C5. Finally, the PLI allowed determining the absence of a significant contamination in the bed sediments. The bioavailable and non-geogenic fractions contribute up to a 90% of the total concentrations in the case of As and Cu, and showed similar (dissimilar) profiles in comparison with total metals. Also, the quality guidelines were surpassed, so the high solubility of As, Zn, Pb and Ni in the sediments revealed the need to monitor the bed sediment quality of the Anllóns River.     

Bursting the limits of time： the reconstruction of geohistory in the age of revolution

Bursting the Limits of Time by the distin- guished historian of geology Martin Rudwick is a massive, two-part book. The first part contains what he calls a synchronous history of what eventually became historical geology in western Europe between the time of de Sans- sure＇s epoch-making ascent of Mont Blanc in 1787 and the discovery of the Kirkdale hyaena cave by Buckland in the winter of 1821-1822,