A coastal reservoir of terrestrial resources for neanderthal populations in north‐eastern Iberia: palaeoenvironmental data inferred from the small‐vertebrate assemblage of Cova del Gegant,Sitges, Barcelona

Coastal areas as reservoirs of resources for hominid groups have been widely studied in recent years. These areas combine marine with terrestrial and wetland resources and would have been optimum sites for hominids, including Neanderthals. This is the case with the Cova del Gegant, a cave that today opens directly onto the Mediterranean Sea and is located in the north‐eastern Iberian Peninsula. The geomorphological evolution of the Massis del Garraf has provided evidence that during the late Pleistocene there was a littoral platform between 8 and 13 km wide in front of the Cova del Gegant. Within this framework, the data derived from analysis of the small vertebrates and large mammals recovered from Cova del Gegant, including taxa currently absent from the Massis del Garraf, suggest that the landscape surrounding the cave provided a richer terrestrial ecosystem for Neanderthals than is available in this zone today. Analysis of the small‐vertebrate association from the cave reveals that the landscape surrounding the cave was dominated by woodland‐edge and open environments and that the climate was Mediterranean. The results have been compared with the only Iberian site with similar characteristics to the Cova del Gegant, Gorham's cave (southern Iberia, Gibraltar), revealing differences and similarities in the landscape and climate on the basis of the small‐mammal assemblages as well as the differences in the accessibility to terrestrial mammalian resources for the Neanderthal groups. The landscape and the climate were reasonably similar at the two sites, but the differences in the accessibility of resources for the Neanderthals are directly related to the location of the sites and the coastal position. Whereas the Cova del Gegant was on a route of mammal migration (between the Ebro Valley and France) suited for securing terrestrial resources, Gorham's cave is located on a small peninsula with a lower abundance of terrestrial mammal resources. This is probably why the Neanderthal groups at Gorham's cave exploited marine resources, whereas there is no evidence of marine resources having been exploited at Cova del Gegant, even though the seashore was nearby. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A Century of Spinosaurs - A Review and Revision of the Spinosauridae with Comments on Their Ecology

The spinosaurids represent an enigmatic and highly unusual form of large tetanuran theropods that were first identified in 1915. A recent flurry of discoveries and taxonomic revisions of this important and interesting clade has added greatly to our knowledge. Spinosaur body fossils are however generally rare and most species are known from only limited skeletal remains. Their unusual anatomical adaptations to the skull, limbs and axial column all differ from other large theropods and point to an unusual ecological niche and a lifestyle intimately linked to water.     

The new 14C chronology for the Palaeolithic site of La Ferrassie,France: the disappearance of Neanderthals and the arrival of Homo sapiens in France

The grand abri at La Ferrassie (France) has been a key site for Palaeolithic research since the early part of the 20th century. It became the eponymous site for one variant of Middle Palaeolithic stone tools, and its sequence was used to define stages of the Aurignacian, an early phase of the Upper Palaeolithic. Several Neanderthal remains, including two relatively intact skeletons, make it one of the most important sites for the study of Neanderthal morphology and one of the more important data sets when discussing the Neanderthal treatment of the dead. However, the site has remained essentially undated. Our goal here is to provide a robust chronological framework of the La Ferrassie sequence to be used for broad regional models about human behaviour during the late Middle to Upper Palaeolithic periods. To achieve this goal, we used a combination of modern excavation methods, extensive geoarchaeological analyses, and radiocarbon dating. If we accept that Neanderthals were responsible for the Châtelperronian, then our results suggest an overlap of ca. 1600 years with the newly arrived Homo sapiens found elsewhere in France.     

How did the Messinian Salinity Crisis end?

The cause of the desiccation of the Mediterranean Sea during the Messinian Salinity Crisis has been widely debated, but its re-flooding remains poorly investigated. Interpretations generally involve tectonic collapse of the Strait of Gibraltar or global sea-level rise, or even a combination of both. The dramatic sea-level fall in the Mediterranean has induced deep fluvial incision all around the desiccated basin. We investigate erosion dynamics related to this base level drop by using the numerical simulator EROS. We show that intense regressive erosion develops inevitably in the Gibraltar area eventually inducing the piracy of the Atlantic waters by an eastward-flowing stream and the subsequent re-flooding of the Mediterranean.     

Palaeomagnetic constraints on the geodynamic evolution of the Gibraltar Arc

Subduction zone roll‐back was recently put forward as a convincing model to explain the geometry and evolution of the Gibraltar Arc. For other subduction‐related arc systems of the Mediterranean, such as the Calabrian Arc and the Hellenic Arc, palaeomagnetic rotation data from Neogene extensional basins provided important constraints on geodynamic evolution models. Here, we present the results of a palaeomagnetic study of 13 continuous sections that are located in E–W transects across the Neogene sedimentary basins of Morocco and Spain. They provide evidence that no significant rotation about vertical axes has occurred in the Gibraltar Arc since the late Tortonian. Comparison with other Mediterranean arc systems shows strong similarities as regards geodynamic evolution. The timing of rotation in the Gibraltar Arc is markedly older than in the Calabrian and Hellenic arcs, and suggests that it is related to the first Neogene extensional phase of the western Mediterranean in which the Algerian–Provençal Basin opened.     

Late Neanderthal occupation in North‐West Europe: rediscovery,investigation and dating of a last glacial sediment sequence at the site of La Cotte de Saint Brelade,Jersey

In 2011, a programme of field research was undertaken to effect the stabilization of an unstable section in the West Ravine at the key Neanderthal occupation site of La Cotte de St Brelade on the Channel Island of Jersey. As part of this essential remedial work the threatened section was analysed to characterize its archaeological and palaeoenvironmental potential as well provide optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dates. The work determined, through two concordant OSL dating programmes, that the section formed part of an extensive sequence of sedimentation spanning >105 to <48 ka. Furthermore, reanalysis of the archive determined that the sediment sequence examined contained the stratigraphic equivalent of deposits lying below those that have previously produced Neanderthal fossils. Through our work, we can now constrain these younger sediments to being younger than 48 ka. The combined results suggest that this sequence now represents the recovery of an extensive dataset, thought lost to science through complete excavation, which holds the potential to throw light on the disappearance of Neanderthal populations from the Atlantic‐edge outpost on the north‐west frontier of their world.     

Large-scale slope failure involving Triassic and Middle Miocene salt and shale in the Gulf of Cádiz (Atlantic Iberian Margin)

Sheets of salt and ductile shale advancing beyond the thrust front of the Gibraltar Arc (Iberian–Moroccan Atlantic continental margin) triggered downslope movements of huge allochthonous masses. These allochthons represent the Cádiz Nappe, which detached from the Gibraltar Arc along low‐angle normal faults and migrated downslope from the Iberian and Moroccan continental margins towards the Atlantic Ocean. Extensional tectonics initiated upslope salt withdrawal and downslope diapirism during large‐scale westward mass wasting from the shelf and upper slope. Low‐angle salt and shale detachments bound by lateral ramps link extensional structures in the shelf to folding, thrusting and sheets of salt and shale in the Gulf of Cádiz. From backstripping analyses carried out on the depocentres of the growth‐fault‐related basins on the shelf, we infer two episodes of rapid subsidence related to extensional collapses; these were from Late Tortonian to Late Messinian (200–400 m Myr^?1) and from Early Pliocene to Late Pliocene (100–150 m Myr^?1). The extensional events that induced salt movements also affected basement deformation and were, probably, associated with the westward advance of frontal thrusts of the Gibraltar Arc as a result of the convergence between Africa and Eurasia. The complexities of salt and/or shale tectonics in the Gulf of Cádiz result from a combination of the deformations seen at convergent and passive continental margins.     

The Gibraltar Arc seismogenic zone (part 1): Constraints on a shallow east dipping fault plane source for the 1755 Lisbon earthquake provided by seismic data, gravity and thermal modeling

The Great Lisbon earthquake of 1755 with an estimated magnitude of 8.5–9.0 is the most destructive earthquake in European history, yet the source region remains enigmatic. Recent geophysical data provide compelling evidence for an active east dipping subduction zone beneath the nearby Gibraltar Arc. Marine seismic data in the Gulf of Cadiz image active thrust faults in an accretionary wedge, above an east dipping decollement and an eastward dipping basement. Tomographic and other data support subduction and rollback of a narrow slab of oceanic lithosphere beneath the westward advancing Gibraltar block.Although, no instrumentally recorded seismicity has been documented for the subduction interface, we propose the hypothesis that this shallow east dipping fault plane is locked and capable of generating great earthquakes (like the Nankai or Cascadia seismogenic zones). We further propose this east dipping fault plane to be a candidate source for the Great Lisbon earthquake of 1755. In this paper we use all available geophysical data on the deep structure of the Gulf of Cadiz–Gibraltar region for the purpose of constraining the 3-D geometry of this potentially seismogenic fault plane. To this end, we use new depth processed seismic data, have interpreted all available published and unpublished time sections, examine the distribution of hypocenters and perform 2-D gravity modeling. Finally, a finite-element model of the forearc thermal structure is constructed to determine the temperature distribution along the fault interface and thus the thermally predicted updip and downdip limits of the seismogenic zone.     

The opening of the Plio-Quaternary Gibraltar Strait: assessing the size of a cataclysm

Abstract

The widespread Lago-Mare facies show that the Mediterranean was fully isolated from the World Ocean at the end of the Messinian salinity crisis (MSC): the Plio-Quaternary Gibraltar Strait has no geographical feature in common with the Miocene Portals, which were continentalised before the end of the MSC. A copy of a budget model has been modified to study the infilling of the Mediterranean. The yearly Atlantic water supply follows an exponential increase law. The level of the basins does not change significantly during the 26 early years, but the refill of the Mediterranean basins is completed within the next 10–11 years. The high velocity of the flow of Atlantic water can be reconfirmed by hydraulic calculations. The morphological study of the area suggests that the Gibraltar Strait originates from an eastwards flowing stream, which drained the eastern slope of an emergent Gibraltar Isthmus to the Mediterranean Basins at the end of the Messinian. Similar canyons are still found in the marine topography towards the Alboran Sea. The present Spartel and Camarinal Sills both originate from the coeval mass sliding of the northern bank of the strait. The strait of Gibraltar results from the work of a stream, which managed water-piracy from an Ocean. © 2002 Éditions scientifiques et médicales Elsevier SAS. All rights reserved.     

New Study of Anshunsaurus huangnihensis Cheng, 2007 (Reptilia: Thalattosauria): Revealing its Transitional Position in Askeptosauridae

The skull of Anshunsaurus huangnihensis Cheng, 2007, especially the skull roof, is described in detail in this paper. Compared to other genera and species of Askeptosauroidea, Anshunsaurus huangnihensis has some important transitional characters from Askeptosaurus italicus to Anshunsaurus huangguoshuensis: the rostral length related to the skull length between Askeptosaurus italicus and Anshunsaurus huangguoshuensis; the postfrontal existing but distinctly reduced; the posterolateral process relatedly short and overlapping the parietal. The phylogenetic analysis weakly supports the evolutional progress from Anshunsaurus huangnihensis to Anshunsaurus huangguoshuensis. The skeletal ratios indicated that the node among the Askeptosauridae ingroup. The evolutional direction of Askeptosauridae should be from Askeptosaurus italicus to Anshunsaurus huangguoshuensis. The skeletal ratios indicated that the evolutional progress is Askeptosaurus italicus – Anshunsaurus huangnihensis – Anshunsaurus huangguoshuensis. In biogeography provinces, the Askeptosauroidea taxa from south China have a close relationship with those from western Tethys; however, Xinpusaurus from the Late Triassic is more related to those from the eastern Pacific.     

Formation processes of cemented features in karstic cave sites revealed using stable oxygen and carbon isotopic analyses: A case study at middle paleolithic Amud Cave,Israel

Hearths are important archaeological features, serving to infer past practices related to hominin subsistence and social behaviors. The identification of hearths is not always straightforward due to post‐depositional processes. In karstic cave environments in particular it is not always easy to distinguish, in the field or in the laboratory, between geogenic and anthropogenic cemented features because both are composed of calcite. Here we present a novel study in which bulk oxygen and carbon isotopic analyses were used in order to unequivocally identify anthropogenic calcite derived from hearths in the Neanderthal site of Amud Cave (Israel). We demonstrate that the isotopic composition of wood ash is distinctively different from that of geogenic calcite. The linear relationship observed between carbon and oxygen isotopic compositions of the various sediment types in Amud Cave is interpreted as a mixing line between wood ash and geogenic calcite, thus enhancing our understanding of the origins of sedimentological variability at the site and showing that not all of the cemented sediments in Amud Cave should be regarded as hearths. Our study suggests that the relative abundance of validated hearths in the various areas of the cave may be associated with Neanderthal use of space in Amud Cave. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

四川秀山下寒武统清虚洞组的骨骼葛万藻藻鲕及岩石学意义

叠层石有正常叠层石和骨骼叠层石之分。与葛万藻有关的骨骼叠层石分为骨骼葛万藻叠层石、骨骼葛万藻核形石、骨骼葛万藻藻鲕和骨骼葛万藻凝块石等四类。骨骼葛万藻藻鲕是由葛万藻藻球经过重结晶作用而变成的。镜下观察,这种鲕由葛万藻及其捕获粘结的碎屑颗粒、葛万藻重结晶残余结构和重结晶方解石晶体三部分构成。骨骼葛万藻藻球是潮间和潮下低能环境中形成的,它为鲕的生物成因提供了有力的证据。     

Kaolinite and dickite formation during shale diagenesis: isotopic data

X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and O-isotope geochemistry have been used to investigate the origin and possible controls on polymorphic transformation of kaolin minerals filling veins in Cretaceous shales from the Gibraltar Strait area (southern Spain).The mineralogy of the enclosing shales indicates that kaolin minerals formed from smectite dissolution, a process that silmultaneously originated I/S mixed-layers and quartz. Kaolinite and dickite δ¹⁸O values suggest that an increase in the water isotopic composition, from Cretaceous sea water values (−1%) to values of about 3%, occurred parallel to smectite dissolution, the intensity of this process being the main factor controlling the isotopic composition of kaolin minerals. The minimum formation temperature ranges from 62°C for kaolinite to 86–96°C for dickite, indicating that the depth of burial was the main control on polymorph formation. This temperature range agrees with that deduced for illite/smectite ordering. The passage from kaolinite- to dickite-rich veins was accompanied, as deduced from SEM examination, by a morphologic evolution characterized by the division of large vermiculae, dominant in kaolinite samples, and the formation of short stacks and platy crystals, which are predominant in dickite. The mechanism of dickite formation, however, remains uncertain.     

Strain and stress fields along the Gibraltar Orogenic Arc: Constraints on active geodynamics

The Gibraltar Orogenic Arc, in the Western Mediterranean, represents a complex region of active deformation related to the oblique Nubia–Eurasia convergence process. To increase the knowledge on the ongoing active processes in this region, we have used the most up-to-date and comprehensive geodetic crustal motion and stress fields. To this end, we analyzed both continuous and campaign-mode GPS data collected between 1999.00 and 2011.00 across the area and compiled a multidisciplinary dataset of well-constrained stress indicators to be compared with the geodetic results. The main results highlight the oblique nature of the Nubia–Eurasia convergence, which provides the largest component of the observed stress-pattern and is responsible for a significant strain-rate field along the Gibraltar Orogenic Arc. We discuss our findings with respect to available geological, seismological and geophysical data in order to verify their coherency compared to more relevant geodynamical models proposed in literature. According to previous studies, we confirmed how much of the secondary stress-pattern can be related to the gravitational potential energy field, which may also be responsible for some 2D stress–strain-rate angular discrepancies observed in large areas of the Betics. In addition, taking into account the sub-orthogonal azimuthal relationship between the S_Hmax and ε_hmin directions and the Fast Polarization Directions, we conjectured a deep dynamic process controlling both the crustal stress field and the surface deformation on large areas of the orogenic arc. Finally, although the models proposed to explain the geodynamic pattern of the Gibraltar Orogenic Arc are supported by a discrete number of geological and geophysical observations, it is only the back-arc extension and westward rollback model that is able to adequately account for the vast majority of the observations. Based on our findings and other evidences, we retain that this process could still be active beneath the Gibraltar Orogenic Arc.     

中国直立人变异的初步研究

已发现的化石表现中国直立人的分布北至39°41′N,南至25°45′N,东达118°09′E,西抵101°55′E。中更新世可供比较的重要化石有周口店、和县及汤山的头骨,周口店、陈家窝及和县的下颌骨;早更新世有公王岭和郧县曲远河口的头骨,元谋和郧县梅铺的门牙。比较的结果显示各地的化石之间有同也有异,目前还没有足够的证据表明各地点化石之间的变异足以表现那时中国的人类可以像现代和新石器时代那样划分为南、北两大人群。中国的直立人有许多形态特征与中国的化石智人一致,个别标本还有个别特征与中国大多数标本不同,却在西方有较多的出现,这些现象支持中国古人类“连续进化附带杂交”的假说。     

The Upper Miocene evaporite basins in the Mediterranean Region — a study in paleo- oceanography

The Mediterranan Sea is an evaporite basin that compensates its water deficit by inflow through the Straits of Gibraltar and the Bosporus. Excess salinities are discharged through a bottom counter current. In Plio-Pleistocene cooler periods a water surplus produced a surface outflow and a bottom inflow bringing in waters upwelling in the ancestral Canary current. Water circulation in modern evaporite basins can serve as an adequate model to explain ancient evaporites in the Mediterranean region. The last such high-salinity event comprises Upper Miocene evaporites stretching from southeastern Spain to the Caspian Sea, from the Carpathian Foreland to Yemen. They formed in a series of interconnected basins which pre-concentrated or locally diluted circulating bottom currents. Not normal oceanic saltwater but brackish Ponto-Caspian waters were the source of supply during a period when the Straits of Gibraltar were closed.     

How cold was it for Neanderthals moving to Central Europe during warm phases of the last glaciation?

Precise estimates of mean annual temperature (MAT) for when Neanderthals occupied Central Europe are critical for understanding the role that climatic and associated environmental factors played in Neanderthal migrations and in their ultimate extinction. Neanderthals were continuously present in the relatively warm regions of southern and Western Europe in the Pleistocene but only temporarily settled Central Europe (CE), presumably because of its colder and less hospitable climate. Here, we present a new approach for more spatially and temporally accurate estimation of palaeotemperatures based on the stable oxygen isotope composition of phosphates extracted from animal teeth found at sites linked directly to concurrent Neanderthal occupation. We provide evidence that Neanderthals migrated along the Odra Valley of CE during warmer periods throughout the Upper Pleistocene. The MATs during these migrations were about 6.8 °C for the warm phase of Oxygen Isotope Stage OIS 5a–d (prior to the OIS4 cold event) at ～115–74,000 yr BP and about 6.3 °C during the early OIS 3 warm phase ～59–41,000 yr BP. Our results show that temperatures during these phases peaked 2–4 °C above longer term estimates from ice cores and pollen records. We argue that our approach can provide valuable insights into evaluating the role of climate in human migration patterns in the Pleistocene.     

A baby mosasauroid (Reptilia,Squamata) from the Turonian of Morocco – Tethysaurus ‘junior’ discovered?

New Middle Turonian mosasauroid remains were discovered in the same large-sized nodule that yielded a specimen referred to Tethysaurus nopcsai Bardet et al., 2003, from the Goulmima region (southern Morocco). They comprise isolated, fragmentary cranial elements (skull and mandible) and some vertebrae. Their very small size suggests a juvenile condition, an observation supported also by anatomical (spongious nature of numerous bone parts), micro-anatomical (loose inner spongiosa) and histological (numerous remains of calcified cartilage deep into the centrum; radial vascular canals) data. These bones belonged to a basal mosasauroid that cannot be distinguished from Tethysaurus nopcsai to which taxon we tentatively assign the material.     

New material of the Early Cretaceous lizard Yabeinosaurus from China

The Early Cretaceous lizard Yabeinosaurus was one of the first taxa described from the now famous Jehol Biota of northeast China. Misinterpreted for more than 60 years and misclassified as a gekkotan based on juvenile specimens, it is now recognised to be a large, well-ossified lizard with an extended period of skeletal maturation. Here we describe two additional complete specimens of Yabeinosaurus that provide new information on skeletal morphology, most notably of the skull, pectoral girdle, and tail. Both specimens also preserve gut contents, showing that large individuals took vertebrate prey, including fish. A more complete understanding of Yabeinosaurus permits a review of the type specimen of Yabeinosaurus youngi. Skull traits used to distinguish Y. youngi from Yabeinosaurus tenuis are invalid but, as noted by Hoffstetter, the two species differ markedly in limb proportions. Attribution of Young’s specimen to Yabeinosaurus is equivocal, but could potentially extend the temporal range of the lineage into the Jurassic. A new phylogenetic analysis based on a morphological data set places Yabeinosaurus on the stem of Scleroglossa, as the sister taxon of the contemporaneous Japanese lizard Sakurasaurus.     

Mantle resistance against Gibraltar slab dragging as a key cause of the Messinian Salinity Crisis

The Messinian Salinity Crisis (5.97–5.33 Ma) was caused by the closure of the Atlantic‐Mediterranean gateways that cut through the Gibraltar orogenic system. The geodynamic drivers underlying gateway closure and re‐opening are still debated. Here, we interrogate the gateway successions to find the imprints of surface deformation, infer the timing and nature of associated geodynamic drivers, and test such inferences against numerical simulations of slab dynamics. We find that since the latest Miocene, a tectonic framework was established in the gateway region dominated simultaneously by (a) relative plate convergence, (b) slab tearing under the eastern Betic Cordillera and (c) mantle resistance against north‐northeastward dragging of the Gibraltar slab by the African plate's absolute motion. We propose that mantle‐resisted slab dragging and slab tearing operated in concert closing the gateways that caused the Messinian Salinity Crisis, whereas sinking of heavy oceanic lithosphere located between buoyant continental plates re‐opened the Strait of Gibraltar at 5.33 Ma.