Long Plio-Pleistocene Terrestrial Record of Climate Change and Mammal Turnover in Southern Spain

Cyclostratigraphic analysis of the Pliocene Zújar section (Guadix-Baza Basin, southeastern Spain) has enabled the recognition of a number of climatically forced cycles reflecting alternating dry and wet periods. Peaks of aridity are recorded at ca. 3.95, 3.55, 3.2, 2.8, and 1.8 myr B.P. The first dry period at about 4.0 myr B.P. corresponds to the early Ruscinian Mammal age, while the second arid interval at about 3.6 myr B.P. corresponds to the establishment of the Mediterranean double seasonality. The significant mammal turnover between the late Ruscinian and early Villanyian stages is placed between chron 2An.2n and the very base of chron 2An.1n, coincident with the dry phase recognized at about 3.2 myr B.P. The fourth aridity maximum at 2.8 myr B.P. roughly coincides with the Equus event in western Europe and is probably related to the beginning of the glacial–interglacial dynamics in the Northern Hemisphere. Finally, the last dry peak at about 1.8 myr B.P. is probably related to the set of mammalian events characterizing the transition from the late Pliocene faunas to those of the early Pleistocene.     

Dynamic interaction of seismic and volcanic activity of the Nazca plate edges

Cumulative seismic strain release, during the period from 1964 through 1972, along the East Pacific and Chile rise edges of the Nazca plate is related to cumulative strain release of shallow earthquakes along the South American sinking edge: periods of high strain release along the rises alternated systematically with periods of high strain release along the sink.Volcanic activity (number of volcanoes in eruption per year between 1900 and 1968) migrates from Central to South America at some 900 km/year. High volcanic activity in Central America usually precedes large-magnitude earthquakes in Chile by several years, and would appear to be dynamically interrelated with the alternating strain release along the Nazca plate edges.     

Time lag of syntectonic sedimentation across an alluvial basin: theory and example from the Ebro Basin, Spain

We propose and test a conceptual framework for evaluating the relative timing of different types of sedimentary indicators of tectonism in alluvial foreland basin settings. We take the first occurrence of a detrital grain from a newly exposed source‐area lithology to provide the best indicator of the onset of tectonic uplift in the source area. Source‐area unroofing may lag behind initial uplift because of the type, thickness and structure of rocks in the uplifted mountain block, drainage patterns and climate. However, once exposed, advective transport disperses grains quickly throughout fluvial systems. Because of increased subsidence rate from thrust belt loading, an increase in sedimentation rate begins coincident with tectonic load emplacement within the flexural half‐width of the basin. However, farther out into the basin increased sedimentation rates lag behind the composition signal because of time lags associated with propagation of the thrust load and attendant sediment loads into the basin. The progradation of syntectonic gravel lags behind all of these signals as a direct function of the relative proportion of gravel fraction within transported sediment and rates and geometry of subsidence, which selectively traps the coarsest grain‐size fractions in the most proximal parts of the basin. We demonstrate this signal attenuation in the syntectonic Horta–Gandesa alluvial system (late Eocene–Oligocene), exposed along the southeast margin of the Ebro Basin, Spain. The results demonstrate that: (1) the time spans between the compositional signal and the progradation of the gravel front can be geologically significant, on the order of more than a million years within as little as 20 km of the thrust front; and (2) time lags between the signals increase with distance away from the deformation front. No lag time was observed between the first appearance of a new clast composition and the arrival of gravel front when the thrust front was within a few tens of metres from the depositional site. In contrast, the time lag was 0.5–1 Myr when the thrust front was about 5–6 km away and it increased to >1 Myr when the deformation front was about 8 km away. At the most extreme position, when the thrust front was 15–20 km away, the gravel front never reached the study area.     

Radium isotopes in river sediments of Czech Republic

In the Czech Republic, river bottom sediments have been systematically monitored since 1999. In the paper, their radioactive contamination due to uranium mining and milling is assessed. The sediments samples were analyzed by gamma spectrometry. Especially the radium-226 and radium-228 activities were further evaluated.The highest values of the radium-226 activities were found at river profiles where the uranium industry impact was obvious. It turned out that the radium-226 and radium-228 activities ratio is more convenient to assess the level of radium-226 contamination than only the radium-226 activity itself. Based on this hypothesis, the sediment classification scheme for uranium industry contamination was suggested. The natural background activities of radium-226 and radium-228 in the Czech Republic were also evaluated. The case of radium-226 contamination due to the uranium industry was studied in details at the Ploučnice River.     

Evidence for rapid avian-mediated foraminiferal colonization of Lake Winnipegosis, Manitoba, during the Holocene Hypsithermal

A Holocene ecological succession was documented using palynological, foraminiferal, and molluscan faunas sampled from an excavated trench on the margin of Bell River Bay, Lake Winnipegosis, Manitoba. The palynological data record the known gradually isostatically-induced shift from aquatic to terrestrial conditions at the site, and clearly delineates the Holocene Hypsithermal maximal warm interval (commencing here about 5500 years BP). Concurrent with this warming the site became occupied by the extinct salt tolerant gastropod Marstonia gelida and the marine foraminifer Cribroelphidium gunteri by at least 5430 years BP. Water fowl-assisted colonization of non-marine habitats by foraminifera has previously been suggested as a dispersal mechanism for other non-marine foraminiferal occurrences. However, as this relatively warm-water foraminifer (presently found as far north as Cape Cod, MA on the Atlantic USA coast, and Vancouver, BC on the Canadian Pacific coast but also found in Canadian Maritime provinces during the Hypsithermal) did not inhabit the area either prior to or following the Hypsithermal warm interval, this occurrence indicates the efficiency with which foraminifera can utilize non-selective avian transport to colonize new non-marine and marine habitats. It may be that only a few years were required for colonization of the site to occur (2000–3000 km distant from native populations); this suggests that avian transport is a much more important foraminiferal dispersal mechanism than previously realized. The appearance of foraminifera at this site may also constrain models designed to determine the time required for hydraulically injected glacial freshwater to be flushed from normally brine producing aquifers in the region.     

Rock magnetic properties of recent soils from northeastern Bulgaria

In this paper, basic rock magnetic studies of Holocene loess-soil samples from northeastern Bulgaria are reported. The sites are related to the Danube river and located at different distances southwards, thus representing various pedogenic conditions. The study is primarily aimed at determining the main magnetic carrier(s) and their physical characteristics (grain-size distribution, magnetic enhancement, etc.). Oxyhydroxides, maghemite and titanomagnetites of various oxidation degrees are assumed to be the main ferromagnetic minerals present. Our results suggest that the uppermost part of recent soil profiles is rich in stable, near-single-domain (SD) particles, while the illuvial horizons are characterized by a gradual decrease in grain sizes, from highly viscous to a true superparamagnetic (SP) domain state. The properties of samples from carbonate-rich horizons of recent soils are basically controlled by detrital minerals, while those from sites with more intensive pedogenesis and especially grey forest soils are influenced by strongly magnetic minerals formed ' in situ '.     

Gravity anomalies and dynamics of the Swiss Alps

An interpretation of the gravity observations in Switzerland is presented. The gravity anomalies are mainly caused by crustal effects. Taking 0.5 g/cm³ as the average density contrast between crust and upper mantle, the remaining positive residual field of + 50 mGal can be explained as the effect of the so-called “lithospheric root” underneath the Swiss Alps. This “root” must be considered as a relatively cold body with increased density. In order to calculate the thermally induced density distribution in the upper mantle, a kinematic and geothermal model has been constructed simulating the Alpine history for a time span covering the last 40 m.y.At the same time the moving lithospheric body (crustal uplift and subsidence of the lower lithosphere) is analysed from a dynamical point of view in order to test the kinematic conditions. The calculation leads to a mantle subsidence rate of 1 mm/y for the present period.