Chemical variations of muscovites from the Sierra de Guadarrama metamorphic area,Sistema Central,Spain

Muscovites in metapelites belonging to the Chloritoid, Staurolite, Kyanite, Sillimanite-K feldspar and Sillimanite-K feldspar-Cordierite zones of the Sierra de Guadarrama metamorphic area, have a chemical composition close to the end member Ms (mean value around Ms 92); nevertheless, they show definite variations in Al₂O₃, K₂O and Na₂O contents and, to a lesser extent, in FeO and MgO.These chemical variations (i. e., a progressive decrease of celadonite content, a increase followed by a decrease in paragonite solid solution towards compositions close to the endmember muscovite) may be regarded as in a close relationship with metamorphic grade in the upper metamorphic zones (Chloritoid, Staurolite and Kyanite zones), but the corresponding variations in the remaining lower zones (that is, a slight increase in Fe and Mg coupled with a slight increase in Al^VI and Ti, and more or less abrupt changes in Na and K contents) can only be explained considering the interference of anatectic phenomena, which modificate the normal trends due to changes in metamorphic grade.As a consequence of these observations, it has been concluded that muscovite composition in metapelites can only be used as an indicator of metamorphic grade in conditions where partial melting phenomena are absent.

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Zusammenfassung Muskovite in Metapeliten, die zu den Chloritoid, Staurolit, Cyanit, Sillimanit-K-Feldspat und Sillimanit-K-Feldspat-Cordierit Zonen der Sierra Guadarrama Metamorphgebiet gehören, zeigen einen Chemismus, der sich dem Endglied Muskovit nähert (Durchschnitt etwa Ms 92). Es wurden trotzdem bestimmte Veränderungen in den Gehalten von hauptsächlich Al₂O₃, K₂O und Na₂O und in geringerem Ausmaß in FeO und MgO festgestellt.Diese chemischen Veränderungen (d. h. ein progressives Abnehmen des Keladonitgehaltes, gefolgt von einer Abnahme der Paragonitmischungsreihe in einer Richtung, die sich dem Endglied Muskovit annähert) können in einem engen Zusammenhang mit der höher metamorphen Zone (Chloritoid-, Staurolit- und Cyanitzonen) gesehen werden. Die entsprechenden Veränderungen in den tieferen Zonen (d. h. eine minimale Abnahme von Fe und Mg begleitet von einer ebenfalls geringen Abnahme von Al und Ti und einer mehr oder weniger abrupten Veränderung im Na- und K-Gehalt) können jedoch nur unter Berücksichtigung der Interferenz von anatektischen Phänomenen gesehen werden. Solche Phänomene modifizieren den normalen Trend durch eine Veränderung des Metamorphosegrades.Daraus folgt, daß die Muskovitzusammensetzung als Indikator des Metamorphosegrades nur in Abwesenheit von partiellen Schmelzphenomen gebraucht werden kann.

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Résumé Les muscovites des métapélites de la Sierra de Guadarrama, appartenant aux zones à chloritoïde, staurotide, disthène, sillimanite-feldspath potassique et sillimanite-feldspath potassique-cordierite, ont une composition chimique très proche de la valeur theorique (valeur moyenne Ms 92); néanmoins elles présentent une certaine variation dans les teneurs en Al₂O₃, K₂O et Na₂O et, à une moindre échelle, en FeO et MgO.Ces variations chimiques (diminution progressive en céladonite, augmentation suivie d'une diminution de la paragonite vers des compositions proches de la muscovite sensu stricto) que présentent les muscovites des zones à chloritoïde, staurotide et disthène sont étroitement liées aux zones métamorphiques superieures. Au contraire, les variations (legère augmentation des teneurs en Fe et Mg, legère diminution en Al^VI et Ti, et plus ou moins brusques variations en Na et K, respectivement) correspondantes des muscovites des zones de la sillimanite-feldspath potassique et de la sillimanite-feldspath potassiquecordiérite, ne peuvent s'expliquer que si l'on admis que, dans les niveaux plus métamorphiques, les muscovites souffrent une série de changements chimiques dûs au début de l'anatexie, laquelle modifie les tendances normales liées à l'intensité du metamorphisme.En conséquence, seules les muscovites des métapélites situées au-dessus de l'isograde du feldspath potassique, en dehors de toute fusion partielle peuvent être utilisées pour déterminer le degré de métamorphisme des roches qui les contiennent.

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, , , , -K- -- - , , 92 % . ₂₃, K₂ Na₂O FeO MgO. (.. , , , ) — , . (.. , ) , . . , .

     

The garnets of the eastern area of the Sierra de Guadarrama,Sistema Central,Spain

Electron-probe microanalysis of a series of garnets in metapelitic rocks of the chloritoid staurolite, kyanite and sillimanite metamorphic zones, eastern area of the Sierra de Guadarrama, Sistema Central, Spain, manifest the well-known cryptozonation commonly observed in these minerals, with MgO and FeO increasing and MnO and CaO decreasing from the center to the outer rim of the crystals.The differences in composition of the garnets, from one metamorphic zone to another, is mainly a result of small differences in composition of the host-rock, since: (1) the amounts of MnO in the garnet are controlled by the amounts of SiO₂, Al₂O₃ and FeO present in the host-rock; and (2) the percentages of MnO and MgO of the parent-rock influence in some way the concentration of CaO in the garnet, and those of MnO, Al₂O₃ and CaO influence the concentration of FeO. Nevertheless, the amount of FeO in the garnet is finally controlled, due to the diadochy, by the concentration of MnO + CaO in this mineral.     

Interplay of intraplate tectonics and surface processes in the Sierra de Guadarrama (central Spain) assessed by apatite fission track analysis

Apatite fission track analysis is used as a tectonic tool to unravel the evolution of the Sierra de Guadarrama, an mountain range in central Spain, and the far-field effects of the Alpine plate tectonics, expressed by reactivation of NE-SW trending lineaments in the Hercynian basement. 18 basement samples were analysed, and 4 sediments of Mesozoic and Tertiary age. Thermal histories were modelled for most samples and conversion to resultant amounts of denudation and rock uplift was possible for the Tertiary history, because of constraints on the paleo-topography and -elevation in Upper Cretaceous to Paleocene times. Accelerated cooling (up to 100 °C in 5 Ma) occurred around 100 Ma in the entire Sierra de Guadarrama. In the northern part, this cooling was preceded by reheating of Lower Triassic sediments up to 110 °C, suggesting sedimentation of about 3 km of, now eroded, Upper Triassic to Jurassic. The period of greatest erosion occurred in the Pliocene and Quaternary and affected almost the entire Sierra de Guadarrama. It was preceded by a Middle-Miocene cooling event that correlates with the beginning of the neo-tectonic setting of central Spain. The greatest Tertiary rock uplift occurred in the central part of the Sierra de Guadarrama: 5.9 ± 11.6 km. The Pliocene to recent event constitutes most of the Tertiary denudation. It is accommodated by active NE-SW trending reverse faults, and attended by about 3.2 km of denudation. These data fit as far-field effects in the plate tectonic setting of ongoing NW-SE oriented convergence between the European and African plate.     

U-Pb ages of zircons from meta-igneous and meta-sedimentary rocks of the Sierra de Guadarrama: implications for the Central Iberian crustal evolution

U-Pb data of zircons from various gneisses of the eastern Sierra de Guadarrama, Central Spain, make it possible to reconstruct the pre-Hercynian and Hercynian history of this area: (1) upper intercept ages (2400 Ma for meta-igneous and 2000 Ma for meta-sedimentary rocks) of discordias defined by data of anhedral zircon fractions document the existence of Early Proterozoic crust; (2) lower intercept minimum ages of anhedral zircon fractions show radiogenic lead loss at about 540 Ma due to a thermal event leading to volcanism and emplacement of granitoid rocks into Precambrian crust: growth of euhedral zircons is possibly related to this event; (3) lower intercept minimum ages of about 380 Ma defined by anhedral zircon fractions in meta-sedimentary rocks prove an Early Hercynian event. According to present knowledge on the metamorphism in the Sierra de Guadarrama this event could be explained in terms of a Barrow-type medium-pressure metamorphism. The inferred Cadomian igneous event relates the geological history of Central Spain with that of western Africa to the south and Brittany to the north. Furthermore, similarities of the crustal evolution in the area studied and other internal zones of the Hercynian belt (Moldanubian zone, French Central Massiv) are confirmed. The Early Hercynian event for the first time affected all the rocks of the area together. The pre-Hercynian evolution of the two complexes is different and the present association of the basement rocks may be explained by thrusting or in terms of Early-Hercynian nappe transport.     

Geochemistry and petrogenesis of two-Pyroxene andesites from Sierra de Gata (SE Spain)

Summary The Miocene volcanic suite of Sierra de Gata (Betic Cordillera) is composed of dacites, rhyodacites and rhyolites, besides basaltic andesites and andesites. The latter are very fresh and are the least fractionated rock types; thus they have been investigated in order to put some constraints on the genetic interpretation of the volcanic sequence. These rocks are composed of plagioclase, orthopyroxene, clinopyroxene and magnetite both as phenocrysts and in the groundmass. Olivine and ilmenite occur occasionally. The andesites exhibit orogenic chemical features. They are characterized by very low Ni, Co and Cr contents and show negative Eu anomalies, which support fractionation of mafic phases and plagioclase at depth. The petrogenesis of the andesites, however, cannot be related simply to fractionation processes of a single mafic magma since the lack of good interelemental correlations, the scattering of Sr-isotope ratios and the isotope disequilibrium between the phases conflict with such a simple mechanism. A model which can better explain the petrogenesis of the analyzed andesites considers the intervention of different mafic melts, generated in a heterogeneous mantle and characterized by different chemical and isotopic compositions, which fractionated at depth and concomitantly interacted significantly with the continental crust.

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Geochemie und Petrogenese von Pyroxen-Andesiten der Sierra de Gata (SE Spanien)

Zusammenfassung Die miozäne Vulkanitabfolge der Sierra de Gata (Betische Kordillere) wird von Daciten, Rhyodaciten, Rhyoliten sowie basaltischen Andesiten and Andesiten aufgebaut, letztere sind in einem guten Erhaltungszustand and zeigen die geringste Fraktionierung. Sie wurden daher genauer untersucht, um Aussagen über die Genese dieser Vulkanite machen zu können.Phenokrysten und Grundmasse bestehen aus Plagioklas, Orthopyroxen, Klinopyroxen und Magnetit. Manchmal kommen Olivin und Ilmenit hinzu. Die Geochemie der Andesite folgt typisch orogenen Trends. Sie sind durch sehr niedrige Ni-, Co- und Cr-Gehalte und negative Eu-Anomalien charakterisiert; dies belegt eine Fraktionierung der mafischen Gemengteile und des Plagioklases in der Tiefe. Die petrogenetische Entwicklung der Andesite kann allerdings nicht einfach mit Fraktionierungsprozessen eines einzigen mafischen Magmas erklärt werden. Das Fehlen von Element-Korrelationen, das starke Streuen der Sr-Isotopenverhältnisse und das Isotopenungleichgewicht zwischen den einzelnen Mineralphasen stehen in Widerspruch zu einem derartigen einfachen Modell. Ein Modell, das die Petrogenese der untersuchten Andesite besser erklärt, zieht die Beteiligung verschiedener mafischen Schmelzen-sie bildeten sich in einem heterogenen Mantel und sind durch Unterschiede im Chemismus und ihrer Isotopenzusammensetzung charakterisiert—in Betracht. Dabei kam es zu Fraktionierung dieser Magmen in der Tiefe und zu beträchtlichen Reaktionen mit kontinentalem Krustenmaterial.

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With 5 Figures     

Geological and Palaeontological context of three new Barremian (Lower Cretaceous) vertebrate sites in the Iberian Peninsula (Cuenca Province,Central Spain)

Three new Lower Cretaceous vertebrate sites (Vadillos-1, Vadillos-2, El Tobar) have been recently discovered and studied in the Cuenca Province (Central Spain). They are located in deposits of “Wealden” facies belonging to the El Collado Sandstone and Clay Formation. In these outcrops, micro and macroremains corresponding to plants, invertebrates and vertebrates have been collected and subsequently assigned to macrophytes, charophytes (e.g., Atopochara trivolvis triquetra, Globator maillardii trochiliscoides, Clavator harrisii harrisii), ostracods (e.g., Cypridea gr. modesta, Cypridea cf. C. isasae, Cypridea sp. aff. C. moneta, Cypridea sp. 1, Cypridea sp. 2), molluscs (Unionoida, Viviparus sp.), fishes, amphibians, turtles (cf. Eucryptodira), crocodyliforms (Neosuchia) and dinosaurs (ankylosaurs, ornithopods, theropods). Among the vertebrate remains, scales, teeth, plates, osteoderms, phalanges, ribs, vertebrae and other incomplete bones, as well as eggshell fragments have been identified. This rich and diverse assemblage was deposited in an upper Barremian alluvial-palustrine muddy floodplain crossed by braided sandy channels.     

Neogene exhumation and relief evolution in the eastern Betics (SE Spain): Insights from the Sierra de Gador

The Betics are a key area to study an orogenic landscape disrupted by late‐orogenic extension. New low‐temperature thermochronology (LTT) data (AHe and AFT) coupled with geomorphic constraints in the Sierra de Gador (Alpujarride complex) are used to reconstruct the cooling history and evolution of relief during the Neogene. We document three stages: (1) a fast cooling event between 23 and 16 Ma associated with the well‐known extensive tectonic exhumation of the Alpujarride unit, (2) a period of slow cooling between 16 and 7.2 Ma related to a planation event and (3) a post‐7.2 Ma surface uplift associated with the inversion of the Alboran domain undetected by LTT. The planation event followed by this late uplift can explain the occurrence of inherited low‐relief surfaces overlain by Tortonian–Messinian platform deposits at the top of the range. Finally, we propose that the Sierra de Gador is a more transient landscape than the nearby Sierra Nevada.     

Microstructure and fabric transitions in calcite tectonites from the Sierra Alhamilla (Spain)

A suite of marble specimens from the Sierra Alhamilla (Spain), deformed to large strains under natural conditions at about 300° C shows distinct variations in microstructure and fabrics. It can be demonstrated that the development of crystallographic preferred orientations and grain shape fabrics are strongly dependent on recrystallized grain size. This is interpreted to reflect the relative importance of various deformational mechanisms. Superplasticity seems to have a sharp upper grain size limit at 10–15 /smm. Within the power law creep regime, deformation in fine grained aggregates is probably dominated by diffusional, in coarser ones by dislocation mechanisms. The transition is a gradual one, and may span a grain size range of 30 /sm.     

Hydrogeochemical effects of groundwater mining of the Sierra de Crevillente Aquifer (Alicante,Spain)

The groundwater mining of the Crevillente aquifer (southeastern Spain) has resulted in the progressive deterioration of water quality, with particularly significant increases in chloride, sulfate, and sodium. The possibility of a vertical hydrochemical zoning is deduced that would require examining the importance of the geometry and lithology (evaporitic materials) in the salinization process. The time of water-rock contact (residence time) and dilution by infiltration of rainwater also influences the hydrogeochemistry of the aquifer. The hydrochemical data are useful in defining the conceptual model of the aquifer, completely karstified with relative homogeneity.Project AMB92-0211 (CICYT)     

New Cretaceous Scoliidae (Vespida=Hymenoptera) from the Lower Cretaceous of Spain and Brazil

A new genus, Cretaproscolia, and three new species of scoliid wasps, Archaeoscolia hispanica, Cretoscolia montsecana and Cretaproscolia josai, are described from the Lower Cretaceous of Spain and Brazil. The species representing the new genus is attributed to the plesiomorphic extant subfamily Proscoliinae, while the two other new species are assigned to two previously described genera in the extinct, archaic subfamily Archaeoscoliinae. The Brazilian species is the first Mesozoic scoliidid to have been described from the New World.     

Geological and environmental implications in the reclamation of limestone quarries in Sierra de Callosa (Alicante,Spain)

Sierra de Callosa have an area of 8 km² and a maximum altitude of 566 masl. Geologically, it is found to be primarily comprised of carbonated rocks. Mine spoils coming from limestone quarries extraction are often used in the working reclamation process. These materials could be actually employed profitably once conveniently amended with organic matter. A study on the temporary evolution of nutrients and several physical–chemical parameters in a mineral waste amended with municipal solid waste (MSW) compost has been carried out. The effect of incorporating such waste to mine spoils in an arid gravel quarry has been studied, quantifying the temporal evolution of nutrients and several physical–chemical parameters in the mixture. Three plots have been prepared with mine spoils proceeding from a limestone quarry located in the south of the province of Alicante (municipality of Redován). These plots have been amended with 3 kg/m² of MSW compost. Texture, pH, electrical conductivity, oxidizable organic matter, N-Kjeldahl, available P, Na, K, Ca, Mg, Fe, Mn, Cu and Zn were analysed. The results reflected the contribution of nutrients to the substrate after the MSW addition. The variability of the information indicated the heterogeneity of the MSW composition, as well as the difficulty of obtaining a homogeneous MSW mixture–mineral waste.     

Shallow landslides in deeply weathered slates of the Sierra de Collcerola (Catalonian Coastal Range, Spain)

Stability conditions in an area located NW of Barcelona (Spain) are discussed. Here, several mass movements were observed, mainly affecting weathered Paleozoic slates. Many of these failures involved slopes cut along recent infrastructures: debris flows, wedge and plane failures, generally surficial, occurred more frequently. After a detailed geological and geomorphologic survey, geomechanic characterization was carried out, according to RMR and SMR classifications. This rating gave a prediction of slope behaviour, in fairly good agreement with the real observed one.

Stability numerical analysis was carried out for the main cut slopes, based upon the Limit Equilibrium Method. First of all, the deterministic factor of safety was computed using the mean values of parameters. After that, a simulation technique based upon the Monte Carlo Method was applied in order to obtain factor of safety distributions. The probability of failure was estimated as P(F<1).

Finally, results from deterministic and probabilistic approaches were compared. The effectiveness of different possible remedial measures was highlighted by means of a sensitivity analysis, which showed that the more important parameters in the study area are the geometrical ones (height, slope and failure plane angles). The final technical solutions adopted are briefly outlined.     

Application of groundwater sustainability indicators to the carbonate aquifer of the Sierra de Becerrero (Southern Spain)

The objective of this study was to test the applicability of groundwater sustainability indicators defined by UNESCO, together with the International Academy of Environmental Sciences (IAES), the International Association of Hydrogeology (IAH) Group on Groundwater Indicators and the Geological Survey of Spain (IGME), to the aquifer scale. We selected four main indicators based on their relevance in the field of groundwater sustainability and because they proved to be the most reliable, based on the data collection and methodology utilized. These indicators were applied to a small—26 km² of permeable outcrops—carbonate aquifer situated in the province of Seville (southern Spain), which has semi-arid climate conditions (500 mm/year). The integral application of all these indicators in this particular groundwater body leads us to conclude that, at present, the aquifer is undergoing intensive use. Therefore, the exploitation of its water resources is surpassing the threshold of sustainability when both the quantity and the quality of the groundwater are taken into consideration. The continued increase in exploitation generates a descending trend in the evolution of the piezometric levels, a consequence of adaptation to the new hydrodynamic situation, and also results in exhaustion of the springs that drain the aquifer in undisturbed conditions. At the same time, there is a trend of increasing salinity in the groundwater and a risk of contamination by nitrate which, according to the EU Water Framework Directive and the Groundwater Daughter Directive (EU Official Journal of the European Communities L327, 2000; EU Official Journal of the European Communities L372/19, 2006), should be controlled and reduced. In the future, application of the methodology described here may prove useful for the evaluation of similar systems, either in southern Spain or in other countries with semi-arid climates.     

Stratabound ore deposits related to synsedimentary tectonics: South-West Sardinia (Italy) and Sierra de Aracena (Spain); a comparison

Deposition of stratabound Zn-Pb-Ba ores in the Lower Cambrian carbonates in South-west Sardinia show a distinct relation with the prominent tensional tectonics in the area. A part of the mineral deposits are syngenetic (sedimentary-exhalative), other massive sulfides and/or barite are early diagenetic. Other occurrences (MVT) are from early to late-diagenetic. They are mostly confined to matrix- and cementbreccias which might be dependent on the Cambrian tectonics. The Precambrian-Lower Cambrian (?) carbonates occupying the core of the Aracena anticline, at the boundary between the provinces of Huelva and Badajoz (South-west Spain), are also an important metallotect for Zn-Pb-Ag-Ba mineralization. The ores at Aracena are stratabound (to stratiform) (Sedex) and occur as disseminations or layers in a volcano-sedimentary sequence with carbonate intercalations. Both the carbonate intervals and the ores show evidence of synsedimentary tectonics, like slumpings, slump breccias and neptunian dykes. Their deposition most likely occurred in a subtidal environment controlled by faults. Apparently, in South-west Sardinia and in the Sierra de Aracena, both sedimentary evolution and ore deposition were strictly related, and conditioned by several pulses of tensional tectonics.     

Metal mobilization from base-metal smelting slag dumps in Sierra Almagrera (Almería,Spain)

Smelting slags associated with base-metal vein deposits of the Sierra Almagrera area (SE Spain) show high concentrations of Ag (<5–180 ppm), As (12–750 ppm), Cu (45–183 ppm), Fe (3.2–29.8%), Pb (511–2150 ppm), Sb (22–620 ppm) and Zn (639–8600 ppm). The slags are mainly composed of quartz, fayalite, barite, melilite, celsian, pyrrhotite, magnetite, galena and Zn–Pb–Fe alloys. No glassy phases were detected. The following weathering-related secondary phases were found: jarosite–natrojarosite, cotunnite, cerussite, goethite, ferrihydrite, chalcanthite, copiapite, goslarite, halotrichite and szomolnokite. The weathering of slag dumps near the Mediterranean shoreline has contaminated the soils and groundwater, which has caused concentrations in groundwater to increase to 0.64 mg/L Cu, 40 mg/L Fe, 0.6 mg/L Mn, 7.6 mg/L Zn, 5.1 mg/L Pb and 19 μg/L As. The results of laboratory leach tests showed major solubilization of Al (0.89–12.6 mg/L), Cu (>2.0 mg/L), Fe (0.22–9.8 mg/L), Mn (0.85–40.2 mg/L), Ni (0.092–2.7 mg/L), Pb (>2.0 mg/L) and Zn (>2.5 mg/L), and mobilization of Ag (0.2–31 μg/L), As (5.2–31 μg/L), Cd (1.3–36.8 μg/L) and Hg (0.2–7 μg/L). The leachates were modeled using the numerical code PHREEQC. The results suggested the dissolution of fayalite, ferrihydrite, jarosite, pyrrhotite, goethite, anglesite, goslarite, chalcanthite and cotunnite. The presence of secondary phases in the slag dumps and contaminated soils may indicate the mobilization of metals and metalloids, and help to explain the sources of groundwater contamination.     

The cyclic hierarchy of the 'Purbeckian' Sierra del Pozo Section, Lower Cretaceous (Berriasian), southern Spain

The lowermost Cretaceous (Berriasian) Sierra del Pozo Formation is divisible into metre‐scale cycles that are bundled in a four‐tiered hierarchy of cycles and cyclic sequences. At the smallest scale, sixth‐order cycles, thought to be the product of precessionally forced sea‐level fluctuations (c. 20 ka), average less than a metre in thickness, shallow upward and are bounded by surfaces where deeper facies abruptly overlie shallower facies. Bundles of sixth‐order cycles, called fifth‐order sequences, are recognized by two types of asymmetric patterns in facies distribution. First, more pronounced facies changes occur at sixth‐order cycle boundaries lower in a sequence, whereas smaller facies changes occur at cycle boundaries higher in a sequence. Secondly, subtidal marine limestones (i.e. biomicrites and biosparites) are the dominant facies lower in a cyclic sequence, whereas more restricted or shallower water facies (i.e. mud‐cracked microbial laminites, dolomites, shale and clay) are more predominant higher in a cyclic sequence. The bundling of sixth‐order cycles is explained as a product of periodic change (100 ka) in the eccentricity of the earth's orbit. The degree of orbital eccentricity modulates the magnitude of precessional sea‐level fluctuations, which in turn determine the relative facies contrasts at sixth‐order cycle boundaries. Larger scale fourth‐ and third‐order sequences are defined by similar patterns in facies contrast at successive sequence boundaries and by a change in predominant facies type from bottom to top. These patterns are explained as the product of 400 ka and 2 Ma periodic variations in the eccentricity of the earth's orbit. In summary, the strength of the precessional signal varies in consort with periodic changes in orbital eccentricity at three time scales producing a stacked hierarchy of cycles and sequences of cycles. Change in obliquity of the earth's axis may modulate the effects of the precessional signal and thereby modify patterns of preserved cyclic structure. This interpretation of cyclicity in the Sierra del Pozo section is markedly different from that of Jiménez de Cisneros & Vera (1993), who attributed all rock cycles to a single process (obliquity) even though the cycles they described varied in thickness from less than 1 m to more than 4 m. The cycles they described are shown here to be either precessional cycles or composite sets of precessional cycles (100 ka sequences). In this new hierarchical interpretation, ninety‐six 100 ka and twenty‐four 400 ka sequences are recognized, extending the time of deposition of the Sierra del Pozo section to more than 9·6 Ma.     

Serphitid wasps in Early Cretaceous amber from Spain (Hymenoptera: Serphitidae)

The diversity of serphitid wasps (Proctotrupomorpha: Serphitoidea) in Early Cretaceous (Albian) amber from Spain is described. Four new species have been found representing the genera Serphites Brues 1937, Aposerphites Kozlov and Rasnitsyn 1979, and Microserphites Kozlov and Rasnitsyn 1979. From the Peñacerrada I (Moraza) outcrop two species are described as Aposerphites angustus Ortega-Blanco, Delclòs, Peñalver and Engel, new species and Serphites lamiak, new species. A single species was found at the San Just (Teruel) outcrop and is described as S. silban, new species. Another single specimen was found in El Soplao (Cantabria) outcrop, described as Microserphites soplaensis, new species. This last specimen is especially interesting in sharing typical serphitid and mymarommatoid characters, giving additional support to the apparent close relationship of both groups.     

Leymeriellidae (Cretaceous ammonites) from the lower Albian of Esfahan and Khur (Central Iran)

Leymeriellid ammonite faunas are described from northeast of Esfahan and the Khur area (Central Iran). The faunas comprise Leymeriella (L.) tardefurcata, L. (L.) germanica and L. (L.) acuticostata? as well as L. (Neoleymeriella) regularis, L. (N.) diabola and L. (Neoleymeriella) pseudoregularis?. The leymeriellids of Iran are closely related to faunas from northwest Europe, the Vocontian Basin and Transcaspia (Mangyschlak) and thus allow for biostratigraphic correlations, indicating the earliest Albian Leymeriella tardefurcata Zone with its superimposed L. acuticostata and L. regularis subzones. We suggest that the sudden appearance of common representatives of the genus Leymeriella in the northern and Central Iranian basins (Leymeriella acme) can be used as a useful proxy marker to define the base of the Albian Stage in Iran.     

Turtles from the Lower Cretaceous of the Cameros Basin (Iberian Range, Spain)

Knowledge of the turtle fauna from the Lower Cretaceous of the Iberian Peninsula has been very limited until now. There are several fossil sites where Lower Cretaceous associations of continental vertebrates have been found. Although turtles have been identified in some of them, most of these specimens have not been studied, so the diversity is unknown. Among all these findings, the turtles from the Cameros Basin are considered particularly relevant, both in their abundance and diversity. Their study has allowed the identification of several taxa. At least one representative of Solemydidae and three taxa of Eucryptodira are recognized. This study establishes kinship and biogeographic relationships between the taxa in Cameros with those found in other Spanish fossil sites and with those of other European regions.     

Sulphide-mining impacts in the physical environment: Sierra de Cartagena–La Unión (SE Spain) case study

The environmental impact and potential-risk assessment of an abandoned sulphide-mining site in a semiarid climate is presented here, by the study case of Sierra de Cartagena–La Unión (SE Spain), a 2,500-year-old mining district extending over an area of 100 km². The regional map illustrates the existence of 12 open-pits, 1,902 mining wells, 2,351 waste deposits, including 89 tailing dams and waste rock derived from mining processes. Mine wastes occupy an area of 9 km² and have an approximate volume of 200 Mm³. Mineralogical, physical and chemical data distinguish nine different types of mine and metallurgical waste. According to the concentration of sulphate and heavy metals in sediment, soil, rainwater, surface water and groundwater samples, it is possible to conclude that the impact of mine activities occurs not only in the immediate mining area (100 km²), but also in the surrounding areas (an affected area of 1,000 km² approximately). The hydrochemical data show that groundwater, runoff water and some rainwater samples exceed Spanish and European water quality guideline values for water supply. The main geochemical process recognised is sulphide-mineral oxidation and later-generated sulphate dissolution by groundwater and runoff. Runoff and wind are the major mechanisms of metals and sulphate transport in the study area and adjacent zones.