The impact of African aridity on the isotopic signature of Atlantic deep waters across the Middle Pleistocene Transition

A high resolution analysis of benthic foraminifera as well as of aeolian terrigenous proxies extracted from a 37 m-long marine core located off the Mauritanian margin spanning the last ~ 1.2 Ma, documents the possible link between major continental environmental changes with a shift in the isotopic signature of deep waters around 1.0–0.9 Ma, within the so-called Mid-Pleistocene Transition (MPT) time period. The increase in the oxygen isotopic composition of deep waters, as seen through the benthic foraminifera δ¹⁸O values, is consistent with the growth of larger ice sheets known to have occurred during this transition. Deep-water mass δ¹³C changes, also estimated from benthic foraminifera, show a strong depletion for the same time interval. This drastic change in δ¹³C values is concomitant with a worldwide 0.3‰ decrease observed in the major deep oceanic waters for the MPT time period. The phase relationship between aeolian terrigeneous signal increase and this δ¹³C decrease in our record, as well as in other paleorecords, supports the hypothesis of a global aridification amongst others processes to explain the deep-water masses isotopic signature changes during the MPT. In any case, the isotopic shifts imply major changes in the end-member δ¹⁸O and δ¹³C values of deep waters.     

The environment and evolution of an early egyptian urban center: Archaeological and geochemical investigations at hierakonpolis

We describe and summarize the results of new interdisciplinary techniques for recovering and analyzing historical and paleoenvironmental data from mid-Holocene archaeological and geological deposits in the modern Nile floodplain at the site of Hierakonpolis in Upper Egypt. Application of these techniques has produced the first stratigraphic link between historic (Early Dynastic) and late prehistoric (Predynastic) periods in the Nile Valley at a site which played a central role in the evolution of Egyptian civilization.     

Hawaiian submarine terraces,canyons, and Quaternary history evaluated by seismic-reflection profiling

The numerous submarine and elevated terraces that fringe shorelines of the Hawaiian Islands have been used as classic examples of mid-ocean Quaternary eustatic terraces. Submarine canyons are important geomorphic features of island slopes. Later reef growth often partly masks both the terraces and canyons. Although difficult to match from one side of an island to the other, some of the terraces have been correlated to successions of higher and lower Quaternary sea levels determined elsewhere in the world. Subbottom seismic reflection profiling now permits a new view of the problem, especially as related to the most recent marine history of Oahu. The geophysical work allows a partial deciphering of former terraces, now buried by younger reefs and sand, and at the same time shows that the heads of submarine canyons do connect with subaerial valleys beneath the succession of Quaternary nearshore deposits. However, the work has disclosed so many additional buried terraces as to raise serious doubts whether it will be possible, without improved techniques of dating the deposits themselves, to unravel the history of Quaternary sea-level changes in Hawaii, much less to correlate them with events recorded elsewhere.     

Penetrometry of granular and moist planetary surface materials: Application to the Huygens landing site on Titan

The Huygens probe landed on the then unknown surface of Titan in January 2005. A small, protruding penetrometer, part of the Surface Science Package (SSP), was pushed into the surface material measuring the mechanical resistance of the ground as the probe impacted the landing site. We present laboratory penetrometry into room temperature surface analogue materials using a replica penetrometer to investigate further the nature of Titan’s surface and examine the sensor’s capabilities. The results are then compared to the flight instrument’s signature and suggest the Titan surface substrate material consists of sand-sized particles with a mean grain size ～2 mm. A possible thin 7 mm coating with mechanical properties similar to terrestrial snow may overlie this substrate, although due to the limited data we are unable to detect any further layering or grading within the near-surface material. The unusual weakening with depth of the signature returned from Titan has, to date, only been reproduced using a damp sand target that becomes progressively wetter with depth, and supports the suggestion that the surface may consist of a damp and cohesive material with interstitial liquid contained between its grains. Comparison with terrestrial analogues highlights the unusual nature of the landing site material.     

Cosmological Evolution of Supergiant Star-Forming Clouds

We present the results of very high resolution CDM simulations of galaxy formation designed to follow the formation and evolution of self-gravitating, supergiant star-forming clouds. We find that the mass spectrum of these clouds is identical to that of globular clusters and GMCs; dN/dM ∝ M ^-1.7 ± 0.1. This revised version was published online in September 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Channel network extent in the context of historical land use,flow generation processes,and landscape evolution in the North Carolina Piedmont

Intensive agricultural land use in the 18th to early 20th centuries on the southeastern Piedmont resulted in substantial soil erosion and gully development. Today, many historically farmed areas have been abandoned and afforested, and such landscapes are an opportunity to study channel network recovery from disturbance by gullying. Channel initiation mapping, watershed area–slope relationships, and field monitoring of flow generation processes are used to identify channel network extent and place it in hydrologic, historical and landscape evolution context. In six study areas in the North Carolina Piedmont, 100 channel heads were mapped in fully‐forested watersheds, revealing a channel initiation relationship of 380 = AS^1.27, where A is contributing area (m²) and S is local slope (m/m). Flow in these channels is generated by subsurface and overland flow. The measured relative slope exponent is lower than expected based on literature values of ~2 for forested watersheds with subsurface and overland flow, suggesting that the channel network extent may reflect a former hydrological regime. However, geomorphic evidence of recovery in channel heads within fully forested watersheds is greater than those with present day pasture. Present day channel heads lie within hollows or downslope of unchanneled valleys, which may be remnants of historical gullies, and area–slope relationships provide evidence of colluvial aggradation within the valleys. Channel network extent appears to be sensitive to land use change, with recovery beginning within decades of afforestation. Channel initiation mapping and area–slope relationships are shown to be useful tools for interpreting geomorphic effects of land use change. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.