Pliocene and late Pleistocene (MIS 5e) decapod crustaceans from Santa Maria Island (Azores Archipelago: Central Atlantic): systematics,palaeoecology and palaeobiogeography

The presence of decapod crustaceans in the Pliocene and Pleistocene (MIS 5e) fossil record of Santa Maria Island (Azores Archipelago) is herein reviewed. Our study raises the number of fossil decapods from this island from one species to 10 taxa (three for the Pliocene and seven for the Last Interglacial). Four of these 10 taxa are reported for the first time in the fossil record, worldwide. A new species of a mud shrimp is also described (Upogebia azorensis n. sp.). Our study suggests that the Plio–Pleistocene decapod assemblages of the Azores did not differ significantly from modern ones, being dominated by species that are today widespread across the Webbnesia ecoregion, the Mediterranean Sea, and the eastern Atlantic shores, including the Azores. As far as can be judged from the limited fossil record, apparently no tropical crab species with a Cabo Verdean/Senegalese provenance reached the Azores during windows of opportunity associated with Glacial Termination 2 or with the initial setting of the Last Interglacial period. This contribution increases the total number of marine taxa reported for the Pliocene and Pleistocene outcrops of Santa Maria Island to 218 and 155, respectively, highlighting the scientific relevance of its palaeontological heritage.     

Sediments Quality Assessment of Jacarepaguá Lagoon: The Venue of the 2011 Rock in Rio

In order to aid in the efforts of the 2016 Olympic Games, the organizers of 2011 Rock in Rio decided to build a permanent venue next to the Olympic Park. The area is problematic from the geotechnical point of view since it presents soils with low shear strength, low permeability, and high plasticity, so major soil improvement works were carried out. Bored soil–cement columns were placed to increase soil shear strength and reduce compressibility. A meter thick fill composed of gneiss residual soil was placed and trenches were digged to drain rainwater. However, earlier studies conducted on Jacarepaguá Lagoon have detected the presence of heavy metals in these sediments. In this study, an environmental survey on the Jacarepaguá Lagoon sediments took place in order to choose a place where its sediments could be dredged to be later used in the drainage facilities. The results indicated areas where the threshold level 1 (low probability of adverse effects) issued by the general procedures for sediments quality assessments for dredging purposes, Resolution no 344 of the Brazilian Federal Government, was surpassed. Levels above the limits established for cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), copper (Cu), nickel (Ni), and zinc (Zn) were detected. Based on this consideration the State Environmental Agency issued a permit allowing the organizers of 2011 Rock in Rio to dredge an area close to City of Rock in order to obtain coarse sediments for the drainage facilities. In addition, it was found that those sediments were ideal for this application since their hydraulic conductivity is on the order of 10^?2 cm/s.     

Ecotoxicological evaluation of dredged sediments from Rodrigo de Freitas Lagoon (Rio de Janeiro State,Brazil) using bioassays with earthworms and collembolans

The toxicity and metal bioavailability were studied in dredged sediments from Rodrigo de Freitas Lagoon (Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil) using acute and avoidance tests with Eisenia andrei, and reproduction tests with Folsomia candida. The sediment was mixed with an artificial soil, and two natural soils (ferralsol and chernosol—representative Brazilian tropical soils) to obtain the following doses: 1, 3, 6, 12, 18, 24 and 30%. Total metal concentrations were determined in the sediment to support the interpretation of ecotoxicological data. Metal concentrations in the mixtures were in agreement with the threshold limits established by Brazilian law. However, significant avoidance responses were found on doses ≥?3% and were the most sensitive endpoint. Earthworm mortality found in artificial soil mixtures (LC50?=?3.9) suggests higher toxicity levels than those obtained in ferralsol (LC50?=?7.6%) and chernosol (11.0%) treatments. Earthworm mortality, avoidance responses and collembolan reproduction levels found in ferralsol mixtures (LC50?=?9.2; avoidance EC50?=?2.3%; reproduction EC50?=?2.8%) were higher compared to chernosol treatments (LC50?=?11.0%; avoidance EC50?=?4.3%; reproduction EC50?=?4.9%). The reduction of toxicity levels in chernosol mixtures is probably due to the abundance of expansive clay minerals in chernosols with capacity of adsorbing metals and other xenobiotic substances from soil pore water, decreasing metal bioavailability. Finally, threshold limits defined by Brazilian legislation for soil quality and land disposal of dredged sediments are not sufficient to prevent noxious effects on soil fauna and should be complemented with a preliminary ecotoxicological evaluation.     

In Situ Determination of First‐Row Transition Metal,Ga and Ge Abundances in Geological Materials via Medium‐Resolution LA‐ICP‐MS

An in situ, medium‐resolution LA‐ICP‐MS method was developed to measure the abundances of the first‐row transition metals, Ga and Ge in a suite of geological materials, namely the MPI‐DING reference glasses. The analytical protocol established here hinged on maximising the ablation rate of the ultraviolet (UV) laser system and the sensitivity of the ICP‐MS, as well minimising the production of diatomic oxides and argides, which serve as the dominant sources of isobaric interferences. Non‐spectral matrix effects were accounted for by using multiple external calibrators, including NIST SRM 610 and the USGS basaltic glasses BHVO‐2G, BIR‐1G and BCR‐2G, and utilising ⁴³Ca as an internal standard. Analyses of the MPI‐DING reference glasses, which represent geological matrices ranging from basaltic to rhyolitic in composition, included measurements of concentrations as low as < 10⁰ μg g^?1 and as high as > 10⁴ μg g^?1. The new data reported here were found to statistically correlate with the ‘preferred’ reference values for these materials at the 95% confidence level, though with significantly better precision, typically on the order of ≤ 3% (2s_m). This analytical method may be extended to any matrix‐matched geological sample, particularly oceanic basalts, silicate minerals and meteoritic materials.     

Multispectral remote sensing of biomass burning in West Africa

Remote sensing measurements provide a vauable means of determining the extent of burning areas and of estimating the overall distribution of pollutant sources (identified from experimental studies) in time and space. This distribution has to be taken into account in the boundary conditions of chemistry atmospheric models.Recent methods developed for the remote sensing of active fires in tropical or temperated forest zones, have been found to be completely inadequate for fire detection on West African savannas. In order to accurately estimate the active fire distribution in the function of different sorts of West African savannas (Sahelian, Sudanian and Guinean) and forests, a multispectral methodology has been developed based on NOAA/11-AVHRR satellite data, with the purpose of eliminating as much as possible the problems related to large surface heterogeneity, confusion and bias, produced by clouds, smoke, haze, background emissivities, etc.Unlike other methods, the results show that the multispectral method, in spite of its selectivity, provides realistic results, and does not under- or over-estimate the number of fires that can be sensed by the satellite. Consequently, this methodology is more appropriate than the simplest ones for a systematic sensing of this phenomenon.     

Glacier recession and human vulnerability in the Yanamarey watershed of the Cordillera Blanca, Peru

Glaciers in the Cordillera Blanca, Peru, are undergoing rapid retreat, in large part due to climate change. These changes are significantly altering water availability in the region and pose critical risks to local populations that are highly dependent on these resources for livelihoods. We examine these issues through an interdisciplinary and linked evaluation of hydrological change and livelihood vulnerability in the Yanamarey watershed. Physical observations of the Yanamarey glacier show acceleration in frontal retreat at a rate of 8 m decade^???1 since 1970, accompanied by total volume loss on the order of 0.022 km³. Hydrological and hydrochemical analyses document a possible transformation of stream flow over the past decade as the seasonal storage capacity of the glacier has degraded. Recent stream discharge measurements from the proglacial lake below the glacier are more coincident with the highly variable seasonal precipitation than they were during the 1998?C1999 hydrological year. Local household perceptions of glacier recession and seasonal hydrological variability agree with this trend, which is increasing human vulnerability in the watershed. Household case-study survey results demonstrate that shifting water resources, increasing weather extremes and climate-related threats to tourism are all new vectors of vulnerability for household livelihoods.     

The meteorological framework and the cultural memory of three severe winter-storms in early eighteenth-century Europe

Three violent eighteenth-century storms that ravaged the North Sea area (1703), western central Europe (1739) and Portugal (1739) are investigated from the point of view of their meteorological setting, their socio-economic impact, and whether and by what means they secured an enduring place in the cultural memory. The evidence draws on individual narrative sources such as chronicles and poems, and institutional sources such as ship’s logbooks and state-organised ‘windthrow’ inventories of tree loss. Each of the three storms had socio-economic impacts that could be described as ‘war-like’ in the damage caused to buildings and the destruction of forests. The “Great Storm” of December 1703 jeopardized English naval supremacy in the War of the Spanish Succession by sinking a number of Royal Navy ships and taking the life of more than 8000 seamen. In January 1739 two similarly destructive storms swept over mainland Europe. The cultural memory of the three events here considered was however strikingly different. The sequence of storms in January 1739 though being the most protracted of the last centuries, and well-chroniceled, did not persist in the collective memories of those in France, Switzerland and elsewhere who experienced them. Likewise, the “Great Storm” was quickly forgotten on the continent, whereas its memory remained deeply rooted in England through the writings of Defoe (1704). In Portugal the 1739 storm won a lasting place in the country’s cultural memory owing to two poems that it inspired. Furthermore, it was recorded in the Kingdom’s official newspaper, in the astronomical prognoses and in written records of the Old Regime’s cultural elite.