Characterization of a loess–paleosols section including a new record of the last interglacial stage in Pampean plain,Argentina

A new record of the Marine Isotopic Stage 5, the last Interglacial Stage before present is presented in this paper. Sedimentological, micromorphological, trace elements analyses (Rb–Sr) and magnetic polarity determination were performed on Buenos Aires and Ensenada Formation (Late Cenozoic) deposits in the southern Chaco-Pampean Basin (Argentina). This work aims to unravel paleoclimatic and paleoenvironmental information from the analyzed data.The studied deposits encompass a complex and cyclic 8 m-thick sedimentary-pedogenetic sequence formed by loessic sediments and paleosols with volcano-pyroclastic provenance.Four tabular units, with net base and top, were defined from erosion surfaces.An OSL age >126 kyr was obtained from the upper middle part of unit B, which suggests that this unit as well as unit C, could have developed during the latest interglacial stage, equivalent to MIS 5.The occurrence of calcretes indicates periods of little clastic supply and seasonal arid or semiarid climate while iron oxides, smectites and illite-bearing pedogenetic calcretes point to annual rain rates between 100 and 500 mm. No calcretes of any origin occur in present soils of the same zone. According to our proposed interpretation of the available data, climate during MIS 5 was drier than today. The drier conditions may have been related to lower temperatures during summer.     

Interaction between seabed morphology and water masses around the seamounts on the Motril Marginal Plateau (Alboran Sea, Western Mediterranean)

The seabed morphology in the vicinity of the seamounts on the Motril Marginal Plateau (northern Alboran Sea) was investigated using high-resolution (sparker) and very high-resolution (TOPAS) seismic reflection profiles and multibeam bathymetry. The aim of the study was to determine the recent geological processes, and in particular those that control the contourite depositional system associated with the intermediate and deep Mediterranean water masses. Six groups of morphological features were identified: structural features (seamount tops, tectonic depressions), fluid escape-related features (pockmarks), mass-movement features (gullies, slides), bottom-current features (moats, scour marks, terraces, elongated and separated drifts, plastered drifts, confined drifts, sheeted drifts), mixed features (ridges) and biogenic features (including evidence of (dead) cold water corals such as Lophelia pertusa and Madrepora oculata). The main processes controlling the formation of these features are recent tectonic activity and the interaction of Mediterranean water masses with the seafloor topography. Seamounts act as topographic barriers that affect the pathway and velocity of the deep Mediterranean water masses, which are divided into strands that interact with the surrounding seafloor. The influence of the intermediate Mediterranean water mass, by contrast, is restricted mainly to the tops of the seamounts. Sediment instability and fluid-escape processes play a minor role, their occurrence being probably related to seismicity.     

Heavy metal chemical fractionation and immobilization in lightweight aggregates produced from mining and industrial waste

The fractionation of five heavy metals in a washing aggregate sludge, a sewage sludge, a clay-rich sediment, the mixtures of these materials and the lightweight aggregates manufactured with them has been determined by applying the optimized European Community Bureau of Reference sequential extraction procedure in order to evaluate the effects of the heating process on the extraction of these elements. Additionally, preparation of eluates by aggregate leaching has been performed in accordance with the UNE-EN-H44-3 standard. The availability of all the studied heavy metals has been reduced by the thermal treatment, since most of the heavy metals have become part of the undigested material in the lightweight aggregates. Nickel has been the heavy metal that has presented the highest concentration in the eluates obtained after completion of the single extraction procedure in the lightweight aggregates. The studied lightweight aggregates may be used in lightweight concrete manufacturing from the standpoint of heavy metal leaching.     

Simultaneous meteorological tsunamis and storm surges at Buenos Aires coast,southeastern South America

Meteorological tsunamis are frequently observed in different tide stations at the southeastern coast of South America. They are associated with the occurrence of atmospheric gravity waves during the passages of cold fronts over the Buenos Aires Province continental shelf. On the other hand, storm surges are also frequent in the region, and they are associated with strong and persistent southerlies, which are also frequent during cold front passages. The impact of meteorological tsunamis in coastal erosion and in the statistics of storm surge trends is discussed in this paper. For this study, fifteen meteorological tsunamis (with maximum wave heights higher than 0.20 m), seven of them simultaneous to the occurrence of storm surge events (with extreme levels higher than |±0.60 m|), are selected from April 2010 to January 2013. The impact of meteorological tsunamis in the storm erosion potential index (SEPI) is evaluated. Not significant differences are obtained between SEPI calculated with and without filtering the meteorological tsunami signal from the storm surge data series. Moreover, several experiments are carried out computing SEPI from synthetic sea level data series, but very low changes (lower than 4 %) are also obtained. It is concluded that the presence of moderate meteorological tsunamis on sea level records would not enhance this index at the Buenos Aires Province coast. On the other hand, taking into account that meteorological tsunamis can reach up the 20–30 % of the storm surge height, it was concluded that the statistics of storm surge trends (and their uncertainties) should be revised for Mar del Plata data series.     

Suspended sediment dynamics at high and low storm flows in two small watersheds

A record spanning almost 20 years of suspended sediment and discharge measurements on two reaches of an agricultural watershed is used to assess the influence of in‐channel sediment supplies and bed composition on suspended sediment concentrations (SSC). We analyse discharge‐SSC relationships from two small streams of similar hydrology, climate and land use but widely different bed compositions (one dominated by sand, the other by gravel). Given that sand‐dominated systems have more fine sediment available for transport, we use bed composition and the relative proportion of surface sand and gravel to be representative of in‐channel sediment supply. Both high flow events and lower flows associated with onset and late recessional storm flow (‘low flows’) are analysed in order to distinguish external from in‐channel sources of sediment and to assess the relationship between low flows and sediment supply. We find that SSC during low flows is affected by changes to sediment supply, not just discharge capacity, indicated by the variation in the discharge‐SSC relationship both within and between low flows. Results also demonstrate that suspended sediment and discharge dynamics differ between reaches; high bed sand fractions provide a steady supply of sediment that is quickly replenished, resulting in more frequent sediment‐mobilizing low flow and relatively constant SSC between floods. In contrast, SSC of a gravel‐dominated reach vary widely between events, with high SSC generally associated with only one or two high‐flow events. Results lend support to the idea that fine sediment is both more available and more easily transported from sand‐dominated streambeds, especially during low flows, providing evidence that bed composition and in‐channel sediment supplies may play important roles in the mobilization and transport of fine sediment. In addition, the analysis of low‐flow conditions, an approach unique to this study, provides insight into alternative and potentially significant factors that control fine sediment dynamics. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Comparison of the ENEAR peculiar velocities with the PSCz gravity field

We present a comparison between the peculiar velocity field measured from the ENEAR all-sky D _n– σ catalogue and that derived from the galaxy distribution of the IRAS Point Source Catalog Redshift Survey (PSC z ). The analysis is based on a modal expansion of these data in redshift space by means of spherical harmonics and Bessel functions. The effective smoothing scale of the expansion is almost linear with redshift reaching 1500 km s⁻¹ at 3000 km s⁻¹. The general flow patterns in the filtered ENEAR and PSC z velocity fields agree well within 6000 km s⁻¹, assuming a linear biasing relation between the mass and the PSC z galaxies. The comparison allows us to determine the parameter     where Ω is the cosmological density parameter and b is the linear biasing factor. A likelihood analysis of the ENEAR and PSC z modes yields     in good agreement with values obtained from Tully–Fisher surveys.     

Stratigraphy and structure of the southeastern Garona Dome

Abstract

North-facing recumbent folds in the Palaeozoic rocks of the Garona Dome have been recognized, and a modified pre-Silurian stratigraphic sequence is suggested. The gradual disappearance of part of this sequence may be interpreted as a result of truncation by an unconformable late Ordovician conglomeratic unit.     

Comprehensive wave climate analysis of the Uruguayan coast

Ocean Dynamics - A detailed analysis of how the wave climate gradually varies from the Atlantic coast to the Rio de la Plata (RDP) estuary coast of Uruguay is undertaken, exploiting a recently...     

Dial Remote Sensed Ethylene and Ozone-Ethylene Correlation in Presence of Urban NOx

{E}thylene, representative of volatile organic compounds and high photochemical ozone creation potential precursor, has been monitored with a single-ended CO₂-TEA laser-based DIAL system using a topographic target. A correlation between ozone concentration and ethylene evolutions in Madrid's urban atmosphere was demonstrated and supported with a basic photochemical smog model. The present work brings additional evidence to the many models which state that ethylene, being a hydrocarbon, has a role to play in the generation of tropospheric ozone.     

Prevalence of Trichinella sp. in polar bears (Ursus maritimus) from northeastern Greenland

The occurrence of infections with Trichinella sp. in polar bears (Ursus maritimus) from northeastern Greenland has been studied by examination of muscle samples, mainly diaphragm, from 38 animals shot during the period 1983-1987. Trichinella larvae were demonstrated in 12 bears (32%) with an average of 9.2 larvae/g muscle tissue. No bears younger than three years old were infected. The prevalence of Trichinella among bears of the age group 3-4 years was 25% and 53% among older animals.