Climate drying and associated forest decline in the lowlands of northern Guatemala during the late Holocene

Palynological studies document forest disappearance during the late Holocene in the tropical Maya lowlands of northern Guatemala. The question remains as to whether this vegetation change was driven exclusively by anthropogenic deforestation, as previously suggested, or whether it was partly attributable to climate changes. We report multiple palaeoclimate and palaeoenvironment proxies (pollen, geochemical, sedimentological) from sediment cores collected in Lake Petén Itzá, northern Guatemala. Our data indicate that the earliest phase of late Holocene tropical forest reduction in this area started at ∼ 4500 cal yr BP, simultaneous with the onset of a circum-Caribbean drying trend that lasted for ∼ 1500 yr. This forest decline preceded the appearance of anthropogenically associated Zea mays pollen. We conclude that vegetation changes in Petén during the period from ∼ 4500 to ∼ 3000 cal yr BP were largely a consequence of dry climate conditions. Furthermore, palaeoclimate data from low latitudes in North Africa point to teleconnective linkages of this drying trend on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean.     

Immiscible two-phase Darcy flow model accounting for vanishing and discontinuous capillary pressures: application to the flow in fractured porous media

Fully implicit time-space discretizations applied to the two-phase Darcy flow problem leads to the systems of nonlinear equations, which are traditionally solved by some variant of Newton’s method. The efficiency of the resulting algorithms heavily depends on the choice of the primary unknowns since Newton’s method is not invariant with respect to a nonlinear change of variable. In this regard, the role of capillary pressure/saturation relation is paramount because the choice of primary unknowns is restricted by its shape. We propose an elegant mathematical framework for two-phase flow in heterogeneous porous media resulting in a family of formulations, which apply to general monotone capillary pressure/saturation relations and handle the saturation jumps at rocktype interfaces. The presented approach is applied to the hybrid dimensional model of two-phase water-gas Darcy flow in fractured porous media for which the fractures are modelled as interfaces of co-dimension one. The problem is discretized using an extension of vertex approximate gradient scheme. As for the phase pressure formulation, the discrete model requires only two unknowns by degree of freedom.     

Identifying sources of organic matter in sediments of shallow lakes using multiple geochemical variables

We analyzed ²¹⁰Pb-dated sediment cores from four relatively shallow lakes (z_max < 10 m) in the Upper Ocklawaha River Basin, Florida, USA to compare primary producer community structure before and after anthropogenic impacts. We measured physical and chemical sediment variables including density, organic matter (OM), water-soluble phosphorus, polyphosphate (Poly-P), total P (TP), total carbon to total nitrogen mass ratios of OM (TC:TN), biogenic silica (diatoms, sponge spicules), total amorphous silica, and stable carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios of bulk OM. Principal component analysis showed that diatom biogenic silica, TC:TN, Poly-P and TP displayed discernible stratigraphic changes associated with the shift in the primary producer community. We applied k-means cluster analysis to these variables to identify macrophyte-derived, transitional, and phytoplankton-derived sediments. Our approach provides an objective method for identifying sediment sources that may be applied to shallow lakes in other regions. The four study lakes shifted from a macrophyte-dominated state to a transitional state before major anthropogenic disturbances, and became phytoplankton-dominated after ~1950.     

Transformation,partitioning and flow–deposit interactions during the run‐out of megaflows

Four megabeds (I to IV) were recognized throughout the Cerro Bola inlier, a glacially influenced depositional area of the Carboniferous Paganzo Basin, south‐western La Rioja Province, Argentina. Such anomalous thick beds are associated with the collapse of an unstable basin margin after periods of large meltwater discharge and sediment accumulation. Failure of these previously deposited sediments triggered mass flows and associated turbidity currents into the basin. Megabed I is up to 188 m thick and was deposited during a transgressive stage by re‐sedimentation of ice‐rafted debris. Also part of the transgressive stage, Megabeds II, III and IV are up to 9 m thick and are associated with a dropstone‐free period of flooding. Megabeds were subdivided into three divisions (1 to 3) that represent a spectrum of flow properties and rheologies, indicative of a wide range of grain support mechanisms. These divisions are proposed as an idealized deposit that may or may not be completely present; the Cerro Bola megabeds thus display bipartite or tripartite organization, each division inferred to reflect a rheologically distinct phase of flow. Division 1 is a basal layer that consists of clast‐supported and matrix‐supported, pebble conglomerate, rarely followed by weak normally graded to ungraded, very coarse‐ to coarse‐grained sandstone. This lower interval is interpreted to be the deposit of a concentrated density flow and is absent in bipartite megabeds. Division 2 is represented by a mud‐rich sandstone matrix with dispersed granule to pebble‐size crystalline and mudstone clasts. It also includes fragments of sandstone up to boulder size, as well as rafts of cohesive muddy material and wood fragments. Division 2 is interpreted to be a result of debris‐flow deposition. A debrite‐related topography, resulting from the freezing of high yield strength material, captures and partially confines the succeeding upper division 3, which fills the topographic lows and pinches out against topographic highs. Division 3 is rich in mudstone chips and consists of very coarse‐grained, dirty sandstones grading upward to siltstones and mudstones. It is interpreted to be a deposit of a co‐genetic turbidity current. Spectral gamma ray and petrographic analyses indicate that both debrite and co‐genetic turbidite have high depositional mud content and are of similar composition. One of the megabeds is correlated with an initial slump‐derived debris flow, which suggests that the mass flow becomes partitioned both at the top, generating a co‐genetic turbidity current and, at the base, segregating into a concentrated density flow that seems to behave as a gravelly traction carpet.     

Recent sedimentary histories of shallow lakes in the guatemalan savannas

Shallow basins in the savannas of Peten, Guatemala filled with water after 305±55 BP (calibrated age+1430–1660 AD). Aguadas Chimaj and Chilonche possess dilute waters and iron-rich, clayey sediments that are poor in Ca and Mg, reflecting the highly weathered nature of riparian soils. Low ²¹⁰Pb flux rates to Chimaj (0.085 pCi cm^-2 yr^-1) and Chilonche (0.134 pCi cm^-2 yr^-1) are attributed to low ²²²Rn emission rates from the nearby Caribbean Sea. Mean sediment accumulation rates in Chimaj and Chilonche for the past 150 years are 0.015 g cm^-2 yr^-1 and 0.047 g cm^-2 yr^-1 respectively. Forest expansion after 305 BP is documented in pollen profiles from the small aguadas and larger Lake Oquevix. Regional reforestation postdates the 9th century Classic Maya collapse and coincides with indigenous depopulation that was a consequence of European intrusion that began in the early 1500s. The timing of forest regrowth indicates the importance of historical anthropogenic factors in controlling Peten's vegetation. Nevertheless, other sedimentological lines of evidence (e.g. lithology, algal remains and charcoal particles) suggest that changing climate and/or local hydrology may have played a role in the reforestation process.     

Radiocarbon ages of Holocene Pelado,Guespalapa, and Chichinautzin scoria cones,south of Mexico City: implications for archaeology and future hazards

Pelado, Guespalapa, and Chichinautzin monogenetic scoria cones located within the Sierra del Chichinautzin Volcanic Field (SCVF) at the southern margin of Mexico City were dated by the radiocarbon method at 10,000, 2,800–4,700, and 1,835 years b.p., respectively. Most previous research in this area was concentrated on Xitle scoria cone, whose lavas destroyed and buried the pre-Hispanic town of Cuicuilco around 1,665±35 years b.p. The new dates indicate that the recurrence interval for monogenetic eruptions in the central part of the SCVF and close to the vicinity of Mexico City is <2,500 years. If the entire SCVF is considered, the recurrence interval is <1,700 years. Based on fieldwork and Landsat imagery interpretation a geologic map was produced, morphometric parameters characterizing the cones and lava flows determined, and the areal extent and volumes of erupted products estimated. The longest lava flow was produced by Guespalapa and reached 24 km from its source; total areas covered by lava flows from each eruption range between 54 (Chichinautzin) and 80 km² (Pelado); and total erupted volumes range between 1 and 2 km³/cone. An average eruption rate for the entire SCVF was estimated at 0.6 km³/1,000 years. These findings are of importance for archaeological as well as volcanic hazards studies in this heavily populated region.Editorial responsibility: J. Gilbert     

The national park Niedersächsisches Wattenmeer

The Wadden Sea fronting the North Sea coast of Germany is a unique, virtually untouched, natural landscape. It is a very important dynamic site for special plants and animals dependent on this habitat. Therefore the Lower Saxony Wadden Sea and the islands have the status of a wetland of international importance, agreed by the Ramsar-Convention, in 1976. It has also been declared as an area of the European Bird Directive and a region with priority for nature. As a consequence, the total Wadden Sea (without the Dollart) of 240 000 ha was constituted as the national park ‘Niedersächsisches Wattenmeer’ on 1 January 1986. It is sectioned into three zones with different states of preservation and human use. The national park administration in Wilhelmshaven protects and tries to develop the park. Therefore it is necessary to stop or reduce all kinds of human activities, for instance farming, hunting, fishing, coast protection and tourism.     

On the polaron-mechanism in iron-bearing trioctahedral phyllosilicates: an investigation of the electrical and optical properties

The electrical conductivity in the temperature range from 298 to 873 K and the optical absorption in the spectral range from 4000 to 20000 cm^-1 (at T = 298 K) of four natural samples of trioctahedral phyllosilicates with varying iron contents have been investigated. It is observed that the values of anisotropy systematically increase with increasing iron content. The increase in conductivity for the electrical field (E) polarized parallel to the (001) plane is explained by using a two dimensional percolation model with conducting paths related to the Fe ions in the octahedral layer of the structure. The conductivity perpendicular to the (001) plane is suggested to be due to defects (conducting bridges between the layers).The E (001) polarized absorption spectra exhibit a strong increase in the absorption with increasing wavenumbers with features at 9000, 12000 and 14000 cm^-1. The E (001) polarized spectra show similar line profiles with, however, lower intensities and without the 14000 cm^-1 feature. The analysis of the spectra is based on the model of small polaron absorption in disordered systems. The result shows that the polaron absorption is always the dominant contribution in the near infrared spectral range. A polaron stabilization energy of about 4800 cm^-1 (0.6 eV) is deduced and is related to the energetical separation between Fe²⁺ and Fe³⁺ states. The 9000, 12000 and 14000 cm^-1 features are superimposed to the polaron absorption.