Stratigraphic evolution of a fluvial–eolian succession: The example of the Upper Jurassic—Lower Cretaceous Guará and Botucatu formations, Paraná Basin, Southernmost Brazil

The Guará and Botucatu formations comprise an 80 to 120 m thick continental succession that crops out on the western portion of the Rio Grande do Sul State (Southernmost Brazil). The Guará Formation (Upper Jurassic) displays a well-defined facies shift along its outcrop belt. On its northern portion it is characterised by coarse-grained to conglomeratic sandstones with trough and planar cross-bedding, as well as low-angle lamination, which are interpreted to represent braided river deposits. Southwards these fluvial facies thin out and interfinger with fine- to medium-grained sandstones with large-scale cross-stratification and horizontal lamination, interpreted as eolian dune and eolian sand sheets deposits, respectively. The Botucatu Formation is characterised by large-scale cross-strata formed by successive climbing of eolian dunes, without interdune and/or fluvial accumulation (dry eolian system). The contact between the Guará and the Botucatu formations is delineated by a basin-wide deflation surface (supersurface). The abrupt change in the depositional conditions that took place across this supersurface suggests a major climate change, from semi-arid (Upper Jurassic) to hyper-arid (Lower Cretaceous) conditions. A rearrangement of the Paraná Basin depocenters is contemporaneous to this climate change, which seems to have changed from a more restrict accumulation area in the Guará Formation to a wider sedimentary context in the Botucatu Formation.     

Projecting land-use change processes in the Sierra Norte of Oaxaca, Mexico

The objective of study was to explore short-term trends of processes that determine land-use change in Sierra Norte of Oaxaca (SNO), Mexico. Land use and land cover changes (LULCC) were estimated in a complex mosaic of vegetation in the SNO from 1980 to 2000, and projected them to 2020 through a Markovian model. SNO is highly vulnerable to climatic change according to a 2050 GCM scenario. However, 3% annual rate of tropical and temperate forest deforestation from agriculture and livestock encroachment, suggest the threat from land-use change is higher than that from climatic change for this study site. Productive land-use strategies are needed to reduce such high deforestation rates for tropical regions. Controlling deforestation would also reduce short-term effects of CO₂ emissions to the atmosphere. Because of the necessity to evaluate anthropogenic ecosystem changes, it is imperative to separate short-term influences such as deforestation, from long-term influences such as climatic change.     

Daily Meteorological Observations in Cádiz – San Fernando. Analysis of the Documentary Sources and the Instrumental Data Content (1786–1996)

Meteorological observations in the city of Cádiz are acknowledged as having been made from the middle of the 18th century onwards although they were only recorded and preserved in documentary form from 1789 onwards. Data readings were taken at the new Naval Observatory in San Fernando, ten kilometres from Cádiz, from 1797 onwards. Continuous series for temperature and atmospheric pressure at a daily resolution have been compiled and constructed from 1817 until 1996. The data series is composed of thrice daily observations made at Cádiz (1821–1880) by local observers and hourly data from Naval Observatory at San Fernando (1870–1996).     

Spatial and temporal variation of the nekton and hyperbenthos from a temperate European estuary with regulated freshwater inflow

The aquatic macrofauna of the Guadalquivir estuary were sampled (1 mm mesh persiana net) at 5 sampling sites located along the entire (except the tidal freshwater region) estuarine gradient of salinity (outer 50 km). A total of 134 fish and macroinvertebrate species was collected but only 62 were considered common or regularly present in the estuary. Univariate measures of the community structure showed statistically significant differences among sampling sites: species richness, abundance, and biomass decreased in the upstream direction, being positively correlated with the salinity. Temporal differences of these three variables were also statistically significant. While a clear seasonal pattern (minimum densities in winter and maximum in spring-summer) was observed for abundance and biomass, no such pattern existed for the number of species. Mysids was the most dominant group throughout the estuary (96% to 99% of abundance; 49% to 85% of biomass), although fish biomass was also important at the outer estuary (36% to 38%). Multivariate analyses indicated highly significant spatial variation in the macrofaunal communities observed along the salinity gradient. These analyses suggest that the underlying structure was a continuum with more or less overlapping distributions of the species dependent on their ability to tolerate different physicochemical conditions. There were also significant temporal (intermonthly + interannual) variation of the estuarine community; the relative multivariate dispersion indicated that monthly variation was more considerable (relative multivariate dispersion >1) at the outer part of the estuary during the wet year (last 20 km) and was higher in the inner stations during the dry year (32 to 50 km from the river mouth). Since a clear negative exponential relationship was observed between the freshwater input (from a dam located 110 km upstream) and water salinity at all sampling stations, it is concluded that the human freshwater management is probably affecting the studied estuarine communities. While the higher seasonal (long-term) stability of the salinity gradient, due to the human control of the freshwater input, may facilitate the recruitment of marine species juveniles during the meteorologically unstable early-spring, the additional (short-term) salinity fluctuations during the warm period may negatively affect species that complete their lifecycle within the estuary.     

Establishment of a Non-Permanent GPS Network to Monitor the Recent NE-SW Deformation in the Granada Basin (Betic Cordillera,Southern Spain)

The Granada Basin (Central Betic Cordillera), one of the most seismically active areas of the Iberian Peninsula, is currently subjected to NW-SE compression and NE-SW extension. The present day extension is accommodated by normal faults with various orientations but particularly with a NW-SE strike. At the surface, these active NW-SE normal faults are mainly concentrated on the NE part of the Basin. In this part we have selected a 15-km long segment where several active normal faults crop out. Using the marine Tortonian rocks as a reference, we have calculated a minimum extensional rate of 0.15-0.30 mm/year. The observed block rotation, the listric geometry of faults at depth and the distribution of seismicity over the whole Basin, indicate that this rate is a minimum value. In the framework of an interdisciplinary research project a non-permanent GPS-network has been established in the central sector of Betic Cordillera to monitor the crustal deformations. The first two observation campaigns were done in 1999 and 2000.     

Decoupled seismic analysis of an earth dam

The seismic stability of an earth dam is evaluated via the decoupled displacement analysis using the accelerograms obtained by ground response analysis to compute the earthquake-induced displacements. The response analysis of the dam is carried out under both 1D and 2D conditions, incorporating the non-linear soil behaviour through the equivalent linear method. Ten artificial and five real accelerograms were used as input motions and four different depths were assumed for the bedrock.1D and 2D response analyses were in a fair agreement with the exception of the top third of the dam where only a 2D modelling of the problem could ensure that the acceleration field is properly described. The acceleration amplification ratio obtained in the 2D analyses was equal to about 2 in all the cases considered, consistently with data from real case histories.The maximum permanent displacements computed by the sliding block analysis were small, being less than 10% of the service freeboard; a satisfactory performance of the dam can then be envisaged for any of the seismic scenarios considered in the analyses.     

Strain partitioning and preservation of Ar/Ar ages during Variscan exhumation of a subducted crust (Malpica–Tui complex, NW Spain)

The Malpica–Tui complex (NW Iberian Massif) consists of a Lower Continental Unit of variably deformed and recrystallized granitoids, metasediments and sparse metabasites, overridden by an upper unit with rocks of oceanic affinities. Metamorphic minerals dated by the ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar method record a coherent temporal history of progressive deformation during Variscan metamorphism and exhumation. The earliest stages of deformation (D1) under high-pressure conditions are recorded in phengitic white micas from eclogite-facies rocks at 365–370 Ma. Following this eclogite-facies peak-metamorphism, the continental slab became attached to the overriding plate at deep-crustal levels at ca. 340–350 Ma (D2). Exhumation was accompanied by pervasive deformation (D3) within the continental slab at ca. 330 Ma and major deformation (D4) in the underlying para-autochthon at 315–325 Ma. Final tectonothermal evolution included late folding, localized shearing and granitic intrusions at 280–310 Ma.

Dating of high-pressure rocks by the ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar method yields ages that are synchronous with published Rb–Sr and Sm–Nd ages obtained for both the Malpica–Tui complex and its correlative, the Champtoceaux complex in the French Armorican Massif. The results indicate that phengitic white mica retains its radiogenic argon despite been subjected to relatively high temperatures (500–600 °C) for a period of 20–30 My corresponding to the time-span from the static, eclogite-facies M1 peak-metamorphism through D1-M2 eclogite-facies deformation to amphibolite-facies D2-M3. Our study provides additional evidence that under certain geological conditions (i.e., strain partitioning, fluid deficiency) argon isotope mobility is limited at high temperatures, and that ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar geochronology can be a reliable method for dating high pressure metamorphism.     

Upper Pleistocene and Holocene paleosalinity and trophic state changes in relation to sea level variation in Rocha Lagoon, southern Uruguay

Paleolimnological data are presented on trophic development in relation to sea level variation in Rocha Lagoon, a 72 km² coastal lagoon in southern Uruguay. Using sediment cores that extended to ∼20,000 yr BP, analyses of grain size, organic matter, carbonate, total carbon, nutrients, and diatoms allowed us to infer changes in trophic state and paleosalinities, which were closely related to Holocene relative sea level variation. Higher trophic states were observed during regressive events, most probably due to increases in runoff and erosion as regressions progressed. Diatom Association Zones (DAZ) were identified in both cores. Those DAZ corresponding to transgressive events were dominated by marine/brackish taxa and relatively low organic matter and nutrient values, while those DAZ corresponding to regressive events showed increases in brackish/freshwater diatoms and both organic matter and nutrients. Although the lagoon formed after the first Holocene marine transgression, our data indicate the existence of a marine/brackish aquatic system during upper Pleistocene (i.e., before 15,000 yr BP), but by ∼20,000 yr BP, the system was still likely to be a semi-arid terrestrial system.     

Using hydrogeochemical signatures of stream water to assess pathways for rainfall events: towards a predictive model

Thanks to its simple division into agricultural and forestry land use, the Corbeira catchment (Galicia, Spain) is used as a case study to build a predictive model using hydrogeochemical signatures. Stream data acquired under recessional flow conditions over a one year period were obtained from a sampling station near the downstream end of the catchment, and using principal component analysis, it is shown that some of the analytical parameters are covariant, and some are negatively correlated. These findings support inferences about the pathways of rainfall in the catchment. Specific signatures may be associated with the dominant hydrological source, either surface runoff or subsurface waters: additionally, the dominant land use in that part of the catchment, where the flow originated, can also be predicted. The dominant runoff shows a strong covariance between suspended solids (SS) and particulate phosphorus (PP), with a clear negative correlation with pH. Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) data are associated with this covariant set when these compounds are available in the soils in question. Dissolved phosphorus, total organic nitrogen and dissolved nitrates are also associated with the same covariant set when the runoff flows through areas of extensive agricultural use. The SS ? PP covariance is less significant at lower flows. Typical base flow regimes show a significant covariance between salinity and pH, with a marked negative correlation with SS ? PP set, confirming the dominance of subsurface waters in the baseflow, as expected. Seasonally divergent DOC ? SS behaviour proves to be a useful tracer for rainfall regimes. The DOC trend shows a sinusoidal annual variation in amplitude, determined by the rainfall regime. As a result, flow from the catchment is dominated by surface water whenever there is synchronicity between the peaks of DOC and SS. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Slab–mantle flow interaction: influence on subduction dynamics and duration

We investigate the influence of mantle flow relative to the lithosphere on subduction dynamics. We use 2D thermo‐mechanical models assuming incompressible non‐Newtonian fluid rheology. Different mantle flow velocities consistent with absolute plate motion models are tested, as well as both directions of flow, either sustaining or opposing slab dip. The effects of different inflow/outflow velocity profiles, slab strengths and upper–lower mantle viscosity contrasts are also evaluated. Slab dip deviations between models with opposite mantle flow directions range from 37° for relatively strong slabs (η_max = 10²⁵ Pa s) to 50° for weaker slabs (η_max = 10²⁴ Pa s), accounting for a significant amount of natural slab dip variability. For imposed mantle flow supporting the slab, the initial stage of slab steepening is followed by a stage of continuous slab dip decrease. This slab shallowing eventually leads to mantle wedge closure, subduction cessation and slab break‐off, possibly driving subduction flips.