Radiocarbon and Luminescence Age Determinations on Mounds at Crystal River and Roberts Island,Florida, USA

Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) has been employed successfully to determine the ages of palaeosols from earthen mounds in the southeastern USA, providing archaeologists with a means of dating monument construction in the absence of carbonaceous materials and geologists with a setting for understanding factors that can affect the luminescence intensity (i.e., burial dose) of soils. However, OSL dating has not been adequately tested on mounds whose principal component is sand, shell, or a combination of these two, despite the fact that monuments composed of such materials are common to the coasts and interior coastal plains of the region. Radiocarbon dating of bone collagen and soil‐carbon and OSL dating of quartz grains extracted from the fill of mounds at the Crystal River and Roberts Island sites on the west‐central coast of Florida, USA are used to determine the timing and history of mound construction at the sites. Comparison of OSL and radiocarbon ages on materials from the same or closely related contexts provides insight into factors influencing age determinations in mound fill deposits, particularly the type of construction material (sand or shell) and the manner in which these were deposited. The results contribute to the understanding of the temporal context of platform mound construction in southeastern USA.     

The effect of open-marsh water management on summer bird populations on Topsail Island, North Carolina

Open-marsh water management (OMWM) manipulates selected areas of an estuarine marsh by constructing narrow, deep ditches that harbor resident populations of predators of mosquito larvae. It does not, however, alter the surrounding vegetation by deposition of spoil mounds. We censused the summer (breeding and nonbreeding) bird populations in two adjacent salt marsh sites on Topsail Island, North Carolina, for two summers before OMWM ditching occurred and for four seasons postditching. A total of 53 nonbreeding species and five breeding species of birds were encountered on the study sites. None of the interannual changes in bird populations can be attributed to OMWM.     

四川盆地早古生代灰泥丘中的微生物及其造岩和成丘作用

作为生物礁的特殊类型,灰泥丘在古生代十分发育,许多学者都认为它们是通过微生物造岩作用而形成的,而且,也在现代湖泊中发现了由兰菌藻的生命活动所形成的灰泥沉积物及灰泥丘。但是国际上一直没有在古生代灰泥丘中发现过细菌等微生物的实体化石,微生物促使碳酸钙沉淀、聚集的能力和机理也不明确。四川盆地北缘寒武纪和志留纪灰泥丘发育,笔者通过扫描电镜及能谱分析,在国际上首次发现了 (川西北志留纪 )灰泥丘中菌藻类微生物的实体化石及其特征的造岩成丘现象,发现的菌藻类微生物实体化石有三种类型 :1.表面光滑的卵形球体型;2.表面粗糙的椭球体型;3.网状结构型。而且,对寒武纪和志留纪灰泥丘凝块石作生物标志化合物分析也证明了其有机质生源为菌藻类微生物。这些凝块石灰泥丘中的菌藻类实体化石都显示了不同的沉积、造岩和成丘功能,因而证实了微生物在形成古生代灰泥丘中具重要作用。     

A biological origin for gravel mounds in inland Australia

More than 1000 near-circular mounds up to 40 m diameter and 2.1 m high, which contain 15–1250 m³ (mean 159 m³) of gravel, have been identified in western New South Wales. Mounds are more pebble-rich than the surrounding surface regolith and contain abundant pebbles to 1196 g weight. Resemblance to smaller gravel nest mounds of the malleefowl (Leipoa ocellata) suggests they were constructed by a similar although larger bird. Pebbles were inadvertently concentrated in the nest mounds during construction and maintenance. Formation by geological mechanisms, as burrow spoil or burial mounds is not compatible with the features of the mounds. The mounds are undated, but partial blanketing by eolian sand suggests they predate the Last Glacial Maximum. The mounds are now spatially associated with Casuarina trees. Pollen records in southeastern Australia reveal that shrub and grassland replaced Casuarina woodland as aridity increased after ca 35 000 yrs BP. Climate change driven habitat loss in the semi-arid zone likely caused the extinction of the apparently Casuarina woodland dependent megapode responsible for the gravel mounds. The mounds partly map the megapode distribution and provide an opportunity to date the local extinction of a megafauna member, compare this to climate and vegetation changes, and determine the duration of overlap with human occupation.     

鄂尔多斯盆地奥陶系丘形反射的解释及其与礁的关系

鄂尔多斯盆地Ｔ９－Ｔ１０地震反射波组之间的奥陶系碳酸盐岩中存在着许多丘形反射,其中一部分属于以藻类生物为主的藻丘类型,一部分为东部盐凹中的盐丘,一部分为奥陶系顶古风化壳残丘,其它丘形反射为绕射波,回转波,或者为地表静校不当引起的假象,奥陶系的礁丘一般规模很小,岩性以粘结为主,其孔隙发育好坏同风化残丘一样,主要取决于次生溶蚀作用,但礁丘生长过程中由于受海面波动影响,曾发生过多次暴露,形成多期溶孔,礁     

Three-dimensional architecture and development of Danian bryozoan mounds at Limhamn, south-west Sweden, using ground-penetrating radar

Bryozoan mounds from the middle Danian (Lower Palaeocene) of the Danish Basin represent a possibly new class of non‐cemented skeletal mounds. The sedimentology and palaeoecology of the mounds have recently been studied in detail. Three‐dimensional images of middle Danian bryozoan mound structures in the Limhamn limestone quarry, south‐west Sweden, obtained from combined reflected ground‐penetrating radar signals and outcrop analysis provide new information about the architecture and growth development of such mounds. The mounds are composed of bryozoan limestone and dark‐grey to black flint bands which outline mound geometries. Ground‐penetrating radar data sections are collected over a 120 m by 60 m grid of data lines with trace spacing of 0·25 m, providing a depth penetration of 7 to 12 m and a vertical resolution of ca 0·30 m. The ground‐penetrating radar images outline the geometry of the internal layering of the mounds which, typically, have widths and lengths of 30 to 60 m and heights of 5 to 10 m. Mound architecture and growth show great variability in the ground‐penetrating radar images. Small‐scale mound structures with a palaeorelief of only a few metres may constitute the basis for growth of larger mounds. The outermost beds of the individual mounds are commonly characterized by sub‐parallel to parallel reflections which have a circular to slightly oval appearance in map view. The mounds are mainly aggrading and do not show clear signs of pronounced lateral migration during growth, although some mound structures indicate a preferential growth direction towards the south. Growth patterns interpreted from the ground‐penetrating radar images suggest that the palaeocurrents in the study area may have shown great variability, even on a small scale. This observation is in contrast to results from studies of extensive, slightly older early Danian mound complexes exposed in coastal cliffs at Stevns Klint and Karlby Klint located 50 and 200 km away from the study area, respectively. At these locations the mounds show a remarkably uniform development and typically are asymmetrical, clearly showing migration directions towards the south. These differences in mound geometry may be the result of differences in the current systems and water depths that existed during formation of the early and middle Danian mounds, respectively. The mounds at Limhamn were located closer to the basin margin in shallower water than those at Stevns Klint and Karlby Klint. In addition, the difference in mound architecture may be due to the occurrence of non‐layered, irregular coral mounds intercalated with the bryozoan mounds at Limhamn.     

Frost peat mounds on Hermansenøya (Oscar II Land,NW Svalbard) – their genesis,age and terminology

Here we present research on previously uninvestigated frost peat mounds occurring on a peat bog in the southern part of Hermansenøya, NW Svalbard. Detailed characteristics are given of the environmental conditions of the peat bog and of the morphological features and surface structure of the frost peat mounds, as well as an analysis of the internal structure of one mound. Three types of frost peat mounds have been distinguished: disc‐shaped mounds (low), mid‐sized mounds with gentle sides, and high mounds with steep sides. Radiocarbon dating of the peat within the frost peat mound performed for the first time on Svalbard and a detailed analysis of the deposits demonstrated that in the high mound (1.3 m) there is an ice‐peat core and peat cover without ice. There are three layers of peat of different ages separated by at least two hiatuses. A generalized history of the development of the peat bog from about 8 ka BP is established. The studied mound displays two development cycles unknown elsewhere. The older relict part of the peat mound was formed during a climatic cooling about 3.0–2.5 ka BP, while the younger part originated during the Little Ice Age (c. AD 1550–1850). Despite certain similarities of these mounds to some palsas, this term should not be applied to the mounds because they are smaller and their cores consist mostly of layers of massive injection ice, the presence of which indicates a pressurized system in their genesis.     

青藏高原发现大型冻胀丘群

在青藏高原黄河源地区多格茸盆地内发现大型冻胀丘群,这些冻胀丘外观多呈穹窿状,有些呈脊状、新月状.盆地内的冻胀丘隆起高度多在3~6 m,最高不超过10 m,水平扩展范围数十米到上百米,最大超过300 m.冻胀丘在盆地内密集分布,众多小型湖塘嵌于其中,分布密度估计5~8个·km^-2,局部区域内可达10个·km^-2以上.从外观看,多数冻胀丘形态较完整,但有的已经部分塌陷,有的几乎完全塌陷,不同塌陷阶段的冻胀丘在盆地内均有发现.冻胀丘顶部钻孔岩芯揭示高含冰地层从丘顶以下5 m左右一直延续到20多米,局部发育厚层地下纯冰层,厚度可达2 m以上.根据外观形态、地下冰类型判断,这些多年生的冻胀丘属冰土丘(lithalsa),和常见的冰核丘(pingo)有所区别.初步判断,这些冻胀丘形成于全新世大暖期以后的新冰期时期.多格茸盆地冻胀丘群的发现对现行的工程建设及工程建筑物的运营安全、区域古环境、流域水文等方面的研究都具有重要意义.     

Relict nebkhas (pimple mounds) record prolonged late Holocene drought in the forested region of south-central United States

The origin and significance of pimple mounds (low, elliptical to circular dune-like features found across much of the south-central United States) have been debated for nearly two centuries. We cored pimple mounds at four sites spanning the Ozark Plateau, Arkansas River Valley, and Gulf of Mexico Coastal Plain and found that these mounds have a regionally consistent textural asymmetry such that there is a significant excess of coarse-grained sediment within their northwest flanks. We interpret this asymmetry as evidence of an eolian depositional origin of these mounds and conclude they are relict nebkhas (coppice dunes) deposited during protracted middle to late Holocene droughts. These four mounds yield optically stimulated luminescence ages between 2400 and 700 yr that correlate with well-documented periods of eolian activity and droughts on the southern Great Plains, including the Medieval Climate Anomaly. We conclude vegetation loss during extended droughts led to local eolian deflation and pimple mound deposition. These mounds reflect landscape response to multi-decadal droughts for the south-central U.S. The spatial extent of pimple mounds across this region further underscores the severity and duration of late Holocene droughts, which were significantly greater than historic droughts.     

A Palaeoenvironmental Investigation of Two Prehistoric Burnt Mound Sites in Northern Ireland

This paper provides a summary of the palaeoenvironmental evidence from a spread of late Mesolithic burnt material and two late Neolithic to early Bronze Age burnt mounds. The burnt mounds were up to 10 m diameter, had an amorphous shape, and were consistently less than 0.8 m thick. Monoliths were collected from two sites, Ballygawley and Roughan, in Co. Tyrone, Northern Ireland. This provided an opportunity to use a detailed palaeoecological approach for the first time to investigate the use and function of burnt mounds. Pollen, non‐pollen palynomorphs, micro‐ and macroscopic charcoal were used to place these features within their environmental context, and to establish if such an approach could provide further insights into their function. The palynological results shared similar characteristics: high microscopic charcoal values, repetitive fluctuations in tree and shrub taxa, increased Sphagnum, and the presence of non‐pollen palynomorphs (NPPs) HdV‐114 and HdV‐146, all of which could be diagnostic indicators of burnt mounds in palynological records. While the data do not allow us to ascribe a specific function for the burnt mounds, their environmental setting is discussed. A “see‐saw” pattern of arboreal pollen, combined with the macroscopic charcoal data, indicate possible species selection and management of local woodland for fuelwood.     

广西上泥盆统肾形藻和肾形藻泥丘的发现及其环境意义

引言肾形藻(Renalcis)是A.G.Vologdin发现并命名的一种钙质微体化石,在广义上归属于蓝绿藻(Pratt,1984)。肾形藻通常发育在寒武纪、早奥陶世、泥盆纪和早石炭世的碳酸盐岩地层中。就其形态来说,在漫长的地质年代中没有什么变化,不同形态的肾形藻可出现在不同时代的地层中,各种类型的肾形藻又可共生一处,因此常被认为没有什么时代意义。尽管如此,肾形藻的生长常局限于比较窄的生态和环境范围,又在某些建隆,特别在泥丘中是主要的骨架构筑成分,因而对于沉积微相的研究和细分具有重要的意义。     

Pre-Columbian landscape impact and agriculture in the Monumental Mound region of the Llanos de Moxos, lowland Bolivia

We present a multiproxy study of land use by a pre-Columbian earth mounds culture in the Bolivian Amazon. The Monumental Mounds Region (MMR) is an archaeological sub-region characterized by hundreds of pre-Columbian habitation mounds associated with a complex network of canals and causeways, and situated in the forest–savanna mosaic of the Llanos de Moxos. Pollen, phytolith, and charcoal analyses were performed on a sediment core from a large lake (14 km²), Laguna San José (14°56.97′S, 64°29.70′W). We found evidence of high levels of anthropogenic burning from AD 400 to AD 1280, corroborating dated occupation layers in two nearby excavated habitation mounds. The charcoal decline pre-dates the arrival of Europeans by at least 100 yr, and challenges the notion that the mounds culture declined because of European colonization. We show that the surrounding savanna soils were sufficiently fertile to support crops, and the presence of maize throughout the record shows that the area was continuously cultivated despite land-use change at the end of the earth mounds culture. We suggest that burning was largely confined to the savannas, rather than forests, and that pre-Columbian deforestation was localized to the vicinity of individual habitation mounds, whereas the inter-mound areas remained largely forested.     

Re-interpretation of ‘hummocky moraine’ in the Gaick,Scotland, as erosional remnants: Implications for palaeoglacier dynamics

Many glaciated valleys in Scotland contain distinctive, closely spaced ridges and mounds, which have been termed ‘hummocky moraine’. The ridges and mounds are widely interpreted as ice-marginal moraines, constructed during active retreat of mainly temperate glaciers. However, hummocky terrain can form by various processes in glacial environments, and it may relate to a range of contrasting glaciodynamic regimes. Thus, detailed geomorphological and sedimentological studies of hummocky surfaces in Scottish glaciated valleys are important for robust interpretations of former depositional environments and glacier dynamics. In this contribution, we examine irregularly shaped ridges and mounds that occur outside the limits of former Loch Lomond Readvance (≈ Younger Dryas; ~ 12.9–11.7 ka) glaciers in the Gaick, Central Scotland. These ridges and mounds are intimately associated with series of sinuous channels, and their planform shape mimics the form of the adjacent channels. Available exposures through ridges in one valley reveal that those particular ridges contain lacustrine, subglacial, and glaciofluvial sediments. The internal sedimentary architecture is not related to the surface morphology; thus, we interpret the irregularly shaped ridges and mounds as erosional remnants (or interfluves). Based on the forms and spatial arrangement of the associated channels, we suggest that the ridges and mounds were generated by a combination of ice-marginal and proglacial glaciofluvial incision of glaciogenic sediments. The evidence for glaciofluvial incision, rather than ice-marginal moraine formation, at pre-Loch Lomond Readvance glacier margins in the Gaick may reflect differences in glaciodynamic regimes and/or efficient debris delivery from the glacier margins to the glaciofluvial systems.     

Mississippian (Early Carboniferous) stromatolite mounds in a fore-reef slope setting, Laibin, Guangxi, South China

The Mississippian (Early Carboniferous) is generally a period of scarce carbonate buildups in South China. This study documents outcrops of stromatolite mounds at Mengcun and Helv villages, in Laibin City, Guangxi Province, South China. The stromatolite mounds contain various stromatolite morphologies including laminar, wavy-laminar, domal or hemispheroidal, bulbous, and flabellate-growth columns. Intramound rocks are brachiopod floatstone and dark thin-bedded laminated micrite limestone. Individual stromatolites at Mengcun village are generally 3–6 cm thick and morphologically represent relatively shallow-water laminar (planar and wavy-undulated stromatolites) and deeper-water domal, bulbous and columnar forms. Where mounds were formed, the stromatolites continued growing upward up to 60 cm thick. Thrombolitic fabrics also occur but are not common. Stromatolite microscopic structure shows the bulk of the lamination to consist of wavy microbialite and discrete thin micritic laminae. These mounds are intercalated in deep-water fore-reef talus breccia, packstone formed as a bioclastic debris flow and thin-bedded limestone containing common chert layers of the Tatang Formation (late Viséan). Further evidence supporting the deep-water setting of the stromatolite mounds are: (1) a laterally thinning horizon of brachiopod floatstone containing deep-water, small, thin-shelled brachiopods, peloidal micritic sediments and low-diversity, mixed fauna (e.g., thin-shelled brachiopods, tube-like worms and algae) that have been interpreted as storm deposits, (2) common fore-reef talus breccias, (3) lack of sedimentary structures indicating current action, (4) preservation of lamination with sponge spicules, and (5) lack of bioturbation suggesting that the stromatolites grew in a relatively low energy, deep-water setting. The stromatolite mounds are the first described stromatolite mounds in Mississippian strata of South China and contain evidence that supports interpretations of (1) growth history of Mississippian microbial buildups and (2) environmental controls on stromatolite growth and lithification.     

川中高石梯地区灯四段藻丘类型与沉积模式

四川盆地高石梯地区震旦系灯影组四段台缘带油气资源储量巨大,藻丘的发育是优质储层形成的基础,因此讨论四川盆地高石梯地区的藻丘类型与沉积模式就显得尤为重要.通过岩心观察、薄片鉴定并结合测井资料,详细阐述了高石梯地区灯四段的藻丘类型与沉积模式.研究结果表明:1)该地区岩石类型可分为富藻类云岩和贫藻类云岩:富藻类云岩是藻丘的丘...     

The Bronze Age occupation of the Black Sea coast of Georgia—New insights from settlement mounds of the Colchian plain

Along the lower course of the Rioni and several minor rivers, more than 70 settlement mounds (local name: Dikhagudzuba) have been identified by field surveys and remote sensing techniques. They give evidence of a formerly densely populated landscape in the coastal lowlands on the Colchian plain (western Georgia) and have been dated to the Bronze Age. As yet, limited information is available on their internal architecture, the chronology of the different layers and their palaeoenvironmental context. Based on archaeological sources, remote sensing measurements of three mounds and sediment cores from one mound and its closer surroundings, our study presents a review of the relevant literature and reveals the internal structure, distribution and spatial extent of the mounds. Geochemical and sedimentological analyses of element contents (X-ray fluorescence) and granulometry helped to identify different stratigraphical layers and differentiate between natural facies and anthropogenic deposits; using the Structure-from-Motion technique the mounds' dimensions were calculated. The studied settlement mounds had relatively small dimension (varying from 30 to 100 m in diameter) and were similar in their stratigraphy. Measurement of elements that can identify types of human activity, notably metals and phosphorus, suggest changing intensities of human occupation, pastoral agriculture and metalworking through the occupation sequence. According to the ¹⁴C chronology, the formation of the settlements occurred during the first half of the second millennium B.C., which confirms the archaeological interpretation of their Bronze Age origin. The narrow age difference between the lowermost and uppermost anthropogenic layers indicates an intentional construction of the mounds, rather than a successive accumulation of construction debris due to the disintegration of loam bricks by weathering. Therefore, they are indeed mounds and not tells. It is most likely that the characteristic circular moats that surround them were the source of their construction material. Fluvial and alluvial processes in a warm and humid climate dominated the environment of the mounds.     

Peat mounds of southwest Tasmania: Possible origins

Small mounds of peat rise several metres above the level of the water‐table at Melaleuca Inlet and Louisa Plains on the buttongrass plains in southwest Tasmania. Possible origins of the peat mounds have been explored by pollen analysis and radiocarbon dating of a set of samples taken from a vertical section of one peat mound at Melaleuca. The peat accumulation is entirely of Holocene age although the mound is underlain by sapric peats preserving a cold climate palynoflora of probable Late Pleistocene age. Peats at and near the base of the mound accumulated under a heath sedgeland during the earliest Holocene while after about 7630 a BP the peat‐forming vegetation was shrub‐dominated. The radiocarbon data indicate two main phases of overall peat accumulation, between 7630 and 5340 a BP (Middle Holocene) and between 4450 and 450 a BP (Late Holocene), that were interrupted by a wildfire which burnt into the surface peats. The maintenance of high surface and internal levels of moisture almost certainly was the critical factor behind the low incidence of in situ fires burning into the surface peats on the mound. The perennial influx of groundwater below the mound is a possible origin that fits well with our observations, although the expansion and contraction of soils cannot be discounted as an initiating factor. Enhanced nutrient input from birds may have helped promote growth in the peat‐forming communities. The data do not support the mounds being eroded remnants of a former blanket peat cover or being due to periglacial activity. The peat mounds of southwest Tasmania deserve maximum protection because of their rarity in the Australian landscape and, it seems, elsewhere.     

The Magellan mound province in the Porcupine Basin

The Magellan mound province is one of the three known provinces of carbonate mounds or cold-water coral banks in the Porcupine Seabight, west of Ireland. It has been studied in detail using a large and varied data set: 2D and 3D seismic data, sidescan sonar imagery and video data collected during ROV deployment have been used to describe the mounds in terms of origin, growth processes and burial. The aim of this paper is to present the Magellan mounds and their setting in an integrated, holistic way. More than 1,000 densely spaced and mainly buried mounds have been identified in the area. They all seem to be rooted on one seismic reflection, suggesting a sudden mound start-up. Their size and spatial distribution characteristics are presented, together with the present-day appearance of the few mounds that reach the seabed. The underlying geology has been studied by means of fault analysis and numerical basin modelling in an attempt to identify possible hydrocarbon migration pathways below or in the surroundings of the Magellan mounds. Although conclusive evidence concerning the processes of mound initiation proves to be elusive, the results of both fault analysis and 2D numerical modelling failed to identify, with confidence, any direct pathways for focused hydrocarbon flow to the Magellan province. Diffuse seepage however may have taken place, as drainage area modelling suggests a possible link between mound position and structural features in the Hovland-Magellan area. During mound development and growth, the interplay of currents and sedimentation seems to have been the most important control. Mounds which could not keep pace with the sedimentation rates were buried, and on the few mounds which maintained growth, only a few corals survive at present.