Conspicuous sediment structures in fossil beach deposits (southern Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain): paleoliquefaction features versus biogenic origin

Tubular-shaped concretions and concretionary dykes occur in Holocene fossil beach deposits between the township of El Médano and Punta Roja in southern Tenerife, Canary Islands. These sediment structures have been interpreted either as the result of (a) the interaction between hot ignimbrites that overflowed wet beaches; (b) fast accumulation of beach sands on hot and degassing ignimbrites; (c) paleoliquefaction caused by an earthquake (seismites). Based on the interpretation as seismites, an intense paleoearthquake with a moment magnitude of M = 6.8 was proposed to be responsible for the generation of the paleoliquefaction structures. However, we here reinterpret the sedimentary structures in question using the general criteria diagnostic for rhizocretions and root tubules with respect to their orientation, size, branching system, and style of cementation and, thus, consider them, to be of biogenic origin.     

Climatic regimes and the recruitment rate of anchoveta, Engraulis ringens, off Peru

The recruitment rate of Peruvian anchoveta, Engraulis ringens, was studied to test the hypothesis that long-term environmental variation (regime shifts) had a significant impact on density-dependent processes governing the anchovy recruitment during the period 1963–2004. On the basis of previous defined regimes and turning points for the Humboldt Current System, we identified two groups of years for increased recruitment of anchoveta (1963–1971 and 1986–2004), and one unfavorable period (1972–1985). A common intercept and significantly different slopes were found when the recruitment rate was plotted as a function of the spawning stock biomass during those groups of years, suggesting that density-dependent effects on recruitment were affected during different climate regimes. The favorable (unfavorable) regime was characterized by higher (lower) zooplankton volumes, and with a higher frequency of colder (warmer) waters. Dome-shaped relationships between recruitment rate, spawning stock biomass and SST, were detected with a Generalized Additive Model for the favorable regime. Thus, recruitment could be explained by non-linear effects of environmental variables. Ultimately, climatic regimes are affecting the density-dependent effects on recruitment of anchoveta and the mechanisms involved may be associated with changes in the carrying capacity of the spawning habitat of anchoveta off Peru, which in turn are related with the effects of cold and warm regimes.     

The response of vegetation at the end of the last glacial period (MIS 3 and MIS 2) in littoral areas of NW Iberia

This paper describes and discusses the palaeobotanical data obtained from organic levels of two exposed deposits on the Atlantic shore of the northwestern Iberian Peninsula. Radiocarbon dating assigns these levels to a period of marine regression at the end of MIS 3 and the beginning of the Last Glacial Maximum. The pollen record shows an initial predominance of tree taxa (mainly deciduous, including the presence of Fagus far from its current limit), followed by an episode of partial forest retraction related to the end of MIS 3 and the beginning of the Last Glacial Maximum. However, the presence of numerous tree taxa in the record, even during the cold intervals associated with Heinrich events, points to the existence of sheltered refugia for these species during this period, in keeping with the conclusions of recent reviews of the vegetation dynamics of this region for the Lateglacial and the Holocene.     

Taphonomy of guanaco bones in Tierra del Fuego

Guanaco carcasses are deposited in great quantities in Cabo San Pablo, Tierra del Fuego (Argentina), as a result of winter stress. Taphonomic studies indicate that the gnawing action of foxes on guanaco (Lama guanicoe) carcasses produces only very tenuous marks on the bones. Lack of sustained interest in the carcasses by carnivores results in slow disarticulation. The articulated and disarticulated bones are exposed to heavy trampling by guanacos, a process that produces vertical migration of small/dense bones and fracturing of the most weathered bones. An understanding of this ongoing process is important for local archaeology, since modern bones are migrating into archaeological contexts. A regional approach to taphonomy is the most appropriate instrument to solve this and other related problems.     

Dynamic of the freshwater–saltwater interface in a karstic aquifer under extraordinary recharge action: the Merida Yucatan case study

A hydraulic analysis of the interface between freshwater–saltwater behavior was done in the Merida Yucatan zone, two machines that constantly register the groundwater levels were installed, and three electric conductivity logs were taken from wells. When comparing the measured results with the ones obtained using theoretical equations developed to calculate the freshwater–saltwater interface position, it was proved that in some cases these equations can be applied, and in others not. Two effects that rule the behavior of karst aquifers in extraordinary conditions were found.     

The Middle Jurassic radiolarites and pelagic limestones of the Nieves unit (Rondaide Complex, Betic Cordillera): basin starvation in a rifted marginal slope of the western Tethys

Middle Jurassic radiolarites and associated pelagic limestones occur in the Rondaide Nieves unit of the Betic Cordillera, southern Spain. The Rondaide Mesozoic includes: (a) a thick succession of Triassic platform carbonates, comparable to the Alpine Hauptdolomit and Kössen facies; (b) Lower Jurassic pelagic limestones comparable to the Alpine Hierlatz and Adnet facies; (c) the Middle Jurassic Parauta Radiolarite Formation, described herein; and (d) a thin Upper Jurassic-Cretaceous condensed limestone succession. The Parauta Radiolarite Formation and associated limestones were studied with respect to stratigraphy, petrography, micropalaeontology (radiolarians, calcareous nanno- and microfossils) and facies. Radiolarite sedimentation occurred in the Middle Bathonian in a restricted and dysoxic deep Nieves basin, perched in the distal zone of a continental margin fringing the Tethyan ocean. This margin was adjacent to a young narrow oceanic basin between the South-Iberian margin and a continental block called Mesomediterranean Terrane. The Nieves basin was part of a marine corridor between the Proto-Atlantic and Piedmont-Ligurian basins of the Alpine Tethys. The regional tectonic position, the stratigraphical evolution since the Triassic, the age and the nature of the Mesozoic facies and the palaeogeographic relations to adjacent domains show striking analogies between the Betic Rondaide margin and coeval units of the Alps.     

Cretaceous stratigraphy and palaeoenvironments of the Southern Petén Basin, Guatemala

The Cretaceous deposits of the Southern Petén Basin, an oil-producing province, are located to the south of the Yucatan Platform and to the east of the Chiapas Carbonate Platform of Mexico. The succession in the southern part of this basin has been studied both in wells and at outcrop by microfacies analysis. It is composed of 5000 m of shallow marine carbonates and evaporites with a few thin layers of pelagic limestones rich in organic carbon and planktic foraminifera deposited during peak transgressions or maximum flooding. The sedimentation of this thick succession was not continuous, and the section is punctuated by subaerial erosional bounding surfaces and a single hardground which marks the final drowning of the carbonate platform during the late Maastrichtian. New age determinations have been obtained on the basis of planktic and benthic foraminifera from the Aptian to Santonian Cobán Formation, D, C, B and A Members. Cobán C (Albian) and B (Cenomanian) Members are the present oil reservoirs. The rudist and alveolinid limestones of late Campanian and Maastrichtian age referred to the Campur Formation in the Southern Petén Basin are here reassigned to the Angostura Formation, as recognized in the Chiapas area. The Actela Formation is defined here to encompass the limestone breccia deposits that occur at the Cretaceous–Tertiary boundary and extend into the Parvularugoglobigerina eugubina Zone of early Danian age. The D, C, B and A Members of the Cobán Formation and the Angostura Formation represent second order transgressive and regressive trends in a passive margin area where the deposits indicate a succession of various environments, including fluviatile, salinas, shallow marine carbonate platform, outer shelf and intrashelf basin. High subsidence rates, sea-level changes and tectonic uplift controlled the sedimentation.

Abstract

Les formations crétacées du sud-est du Bassin du Petén, région pétrolière du nord du Guatemala, sont situées au Sud du Yucatan et à l'Est du Chiapas au Mexique. Ces sédiments ont été étudiés à la fois dans deux puits et à l'affleurement par l'analyse des microfaciès. Cet ensemble sédimentaire est composé de 5000 m de carbonates de plate-forme de faible profondeur et d'évaporites, dans lesquels s'intercalent de minces couches de calcaires pélagiques riches en matière organique et en foraminifères planctoniques. Ces calcaires pélagiques se sont déposés lors des maximums de transgressions. La sédimentation de cette épaisse série n'est pas continue et est ponctuée par quelques surfaces d'érosion sub-aérienne et une surface durcie qui souligne l'ennoyage définitif de la plate-forme carbonatée au Maastrichtien terminal. De nouvelles datations ont été obtenues sur la formation Cobán et ses membres D, C, B et A qui s'étagent de l'Aptien au Santonien. Les membres C (albien) et B (cénomanien) constituent les réservoirs productifs. Les calcaires à rudistes et à alveolinidés du Campanien supérieur–Maastrichtien ont été appelés à tort au Petén formation Campur. Ils doivent, selon nous, être attribués à la formation Angostura comme au Chiapas voisin, où affleurent des faciès comparables et de même âge. Une nouvelle formation est créée (formation Actela) pour les brèches calcaires de la limite Crétacé–Tertiaire et de la Zone à Eugubina du Danien inférieur. Les membres D, C, B, A de la formation Cobán et la formation Angostura représentent des cycles transgressifs–régressifs de deuxième ordre. Sur cette marge passive du Petén, les dépôts correspondent à des environnements variés comme des terres émergées soumises à une altération karstique et à des dépôts fluviatiles, des salinas, des plates-formes carbonatées marines, des shelf externes et des bassins intra plate-forme. La sédimentation a été, ici, contrôlée par une forte vitesse de subsidence, les variations du niveau marin et des soulèvements tectoniques.