Quantifying microartifacts using a personal computer

Microartifact analysis is a worthwhile endeavor in archaeological research. A recurring problem, however, has been the time invested in sample quantification. In this paper we offer an interactive way to quantify microartifact samples using a computer program called MMCOUNT. When the technique is applied during the point counting process, the time required to acquire reliable proportions of material classes can be reduced to approximately 25 minutes per sample, significantly less than usual counting times reported in other studies.     

Characteristics of tin-streaming channels on Dartmoor,UK

The remnants of former tin-streaming channels on the North Teign River, Dartmoor have been investigated using techniques adopted from palaeohydrology, sedimentology, and environmental chemistry. the pattern of multiple streaming channels in the lower reaches, and a single channel in the upper reaches coincides with a reduction of potential stream power from 250 Wm⁻² at a drainage area of 8.7 km². the streaming sections were engineered to maximize the efficiency to separate cassiterite (SnO₂) from its gravel matrix, and the palaeohydraulic properties of channels suggests that sorting was most efficient for the sand and fine gravel size ranges. This was confirmed when the residual tin content of streaming-sediments was assessed. Residual levels of tin were found only in the silt fraction (<63 μm).     

Terrane sutures in the Maine Appalachians,USA and adjacent areas

Terrane sutures in the Maine Appalachians and adjacent areas are recognized as melange dominated, deformed accretionary prisms of Ordovician age, and as a broad synmetamorphic transcurrent fault zone of probable Late Silurian-Early Devonian age. Although the accretionary prisms are associated with present day aeromagnetic and Bouguer gravity anomalies, they are probably not associated with present day crustal penetrating boundaries. The geology of the accretionary prisms indicates subduction-obduction dominated regimes during which (1) the Gander and Boundary Mountain (Dunnage) terranes amalgamated and (2) the composite Boundary Mountain-Gander terrane accreted to the Laurentian margin. The Penobscottian orogeny produced and deformed the older of the two accretionary prisms. This accretionary prism indicates that the Penobscottian was a continuous or perhaps diachronous event which spanned the late Cambrian to early Late Ordovician. The younger accretionary prism was produced and deformed during the Taconian orogeny during late Middle to early Late Ordovician. Initial deformation of this accretionary prism may have overlapped the waning stages of the Penobscottian. Portions of the Taconian arc locally overlie the Penobscottian accretionary prism. A synmetamorphic fault zone lies within Precambrian(?) to Ordovician(?) bimodal metavolcanic and metapelitic rocks assigned here to the Avalon terrane. This zone is several kilometres wide and is interpreted to be the postsubduction suture between the Avalon and Gander terranes, and may, in part, represent a fossil transform fault system. The fault zone contains phyllonites as well as shear zones which generally record dextral motion. The phyllonites were previously interpreted as a stratigraphic unit, whereas the shear zones span or are contained within mappable compositional units. Formation of and movement along these phyllonites and shear zones ceased before the intrusion of Early Devonian plutons. Not all faults in south-western Maine are related to the suture. Younger dip and/or strike-slip and thrust faults are approximately parallel to, or may lie within, the older shear zones and they complicate the recognition of the older faults.     

Trace elements and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) concentrations in deep Gulf of Mexico sediments

The concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and trace elements were determined for surface (top 2 cm) sediment samples collected during the deep Gulf of Mexico benthos (DGoMB) study .These elements and compounds are known to be toxic to organisms at high concentrations and may affect biological communities. There is no indication of major anthropogenic input of the elements Be, Co, Cr, Fe, Si, Tl, V, K, Mg, Ca, Sr and Zn, based on normalization to Al. The concentrations of these metals in the sediment are a function of the relative amounts of trace-metal-rich Mississippi River-derived silicate material and trace-metal-poor plankton-derived carbonate. This is not true for the elements Ba, Ni, Pb, Cd, As, Cu and Mn, whose concentrations show considerable scatter when normalized to Al and a general enrichment. On a normalized basis, Mn is enriched 5–10 fold, Cu and Ni 2–3 fold and Pb 2 fold over Mississippi River-derived material. These enrichments are likely the result of remobilization of metals from depths in the sediment column where reducing conditions exist. The Ba concentrations at selected sites are higher than those of average clay-rich sediments, but are typical of sediments from near oil well platforms in the northern Gulf of Mexico. In the case of Ba, it seems likely that the enrichments, as high as a factor of 10, are due to disposal of oil well drilling mud. The Ba-enriched samples are from the three shallowest water sites in the Mississippi Trough (sites MT1, 2 and 3) and from site C1 and WC5. All are in an area of intense petroleum exploration and development. PAH concentrations are also elevated at MT1, MT3 and C1. The total PAH concentration ranged from not detected (ND) to 1033 ng/g with a mean of 140 ng/g. Even at the sites most enriched in PAHs and trace elements, the concentrations are not at the levels expected to adversely affect the biota. However, these predicted non-effects are based on research using mostly near-shore estuarine species, not on the indigenous species at the sampling sites.     

Leaching characteristics of a high-calcium fly ash as a function of pH: a potential source of selenium toxicity

Using a modified extraction procedure, the effect of pH on the leaching of selected elements from Ca-rich (Type C) power plant fly ash was studied. Continuous additions of acetic acid were used to maintain pH values of fly ash slurries at 4.0, 6.0 and 8.0 for 24 h and an additional set was leached at its natural pH (average 11.8) value. Analyses for Se, As, Ca, Cd, Cr, Fe, Na and Pb showed that the highest concentrations occur in the leachate at pH 4.0 and decline with increasing pH. Concentrations of Cr and Fe increased slightly between neutral and high pH. Arsenic, Cd, Cr, Pb and Se concentrations exceeded the Environmental Protection Agency's toxicity criteria at pH 4.0. Selenium was above its toxicity level at pH values near 7 but the other elements were below their respective toxicity levels near neutral pH. Because recent studies show adverse effects of Se on aquatic life at far lower concentrations than the current Environmental Protection Agency's standard, high-Ca, power plant fly ashes represent a potentially hazardous pollutant to surface and subsurface waters.     

Guiding ecological principles for marine spatial planning

The declining health of marine ecosystems around the world is evidence that current piecemeal governance is inadequate to successfully support healthy coastal and ocean ecosystems and sustain human uses of the ocean. One proposed solution to this problem is ecosystem-based marine spatial planning (MSP), which is a process that informs the spatial distribution of activities in the ocean so that existing and emerging uses can be maintained, use conflicts reduced, and ecosystem health and services protected and sustained for future generations. Because a key goal of ecosystem-based MSP is to maintain the delivery of ecosystem services that humans want and need, it must be based on ecological principles that articulate the scientifically recognized attributes of healthy, functioning ecosystems. These principles should be incorporated into a decision-making framework with clearly defined targets for these ecological attributes. This paper identifies ecological principles for MSP based on a synthesis of previously suggested and/or operationalized principles, along with recommendations generated by a group of twenty ecologists and marine scientists with diverse backgrounds and perspectives on MSP. The proposed four main ecological principles to guide MSP—maintaining or restoring: native species diversity, habitat diversity and heterogeneity, key species, and connectivity—and two additional guidelines, the need to account for context and uncertainty, must be explicitly taken into account in the planning process. When applied in concert with social, economic, and governance principles, these ecological principles can inform the designation and siting of ocean uses and the management of activities in the ocean to maintain or restore healthy ecosystems, allow delivery of marine ecosystem services, and ensure sustainable economic and social benefits.     

A diverse Pleistocene marsupial trackway assemblage from the Victorian Volcanic Plains,Australia

A diverse assemblage of late Pleistocene marsupial trackways on a lake bed in south-western Victoria provides the first information relating to the gaits and morphology of several megafaunal species, and represents the most speciose and best preserved megafaunal footprint site in Australia. The 60–110 ka volcaniclastic lacustrine sedimentary rocks preserve trackways of the diprotodontid Diprotodon optatum, a macropodid (probably Protemnodon sp.) and a large vombatid (perhaps Ramsayia magna or ‘Phascolomys’ medius) and possible prints of the marsupial lion, Thylacoleo carnifex. The footprints were imprinted within a short time period, demonstrating the association of the taxa present, rather than the time-averaged accumulations usually observed in skeletal fossil deposits. Individual manus and pes prints are distinguishable in some trackways, and in many cases some digital pad morphology is also present. Several parameters traditionally used to differentiate ichnotaxa, including trackway gauge and the degree of print in-turning relative to the midline, are shown to be subject to significant intraspecific variation in marsupials. Sexual dimorphism in the trackway proportions of Diprotodon, and its potential for occurrence in all large bodied, quadrupedal marsupials, is identified here for the first time.