AbstractBiostratigraphical data using larger foraminifera and planktonic foraminifera permitted us to establish the correlation between shallow platform sediments rich in larger foraminifera (Montsec and Serres Marginals thrust sheets) and deeper ones containing planktonic foraminifera (Boixols thrust sheet).Consequently, the Santa Fe limestones containing Ovalveolina-Praealveolinaassemblage represent the Cenomanian. Early Turonian ( ‘IT~ archaeocretacea and P. helvetica zones) exist in both, Montsec and Boixols thrust sheets and it is constituted by Pithonella limestones. Late Turonian (M. schneegansi zone) is only present in Boixols thrust sheet (Reguard Fm.), the Montsec thrust sheet having an erosive hiatus.Late Coniacian-Early Santonian (D. Concavata zone) is represented in the Montsec thrust sheet (Cova Limestones) and in the eastern part of the Boixols thrust sheet (St. Corneli Fm.) by two differents facies giving two different microfaunal assemblages; the firts one, characterized by Ophtalmidiidae s.l indicate a restricted lagoonal environment while the second one, characterized by diverses species of complex agglutinated, Fabulariidae, Meandropsinidae and Rotaliidae, represents an open shallow platform. In the Boixols thrust sheet (Anseroles Fm.) dominate the planktonic foraminifera and small benthic.In the late Santonian (D. asyrnetrica zone) the sea reached as far as Serres Marginales thrust sheet where sediments (Tragó de Noguera unit) are terrigenous and deposited in a very shallow platform. In the Montsec thrust sheet (Montsec marls) the larger foraminifera indicate a platform deeper than that of the Serres Marginals thrust sheet. In the Boixols thrust sheet the sediments are deposited in an outer platform (Herbasavina Fm.) or turbiditic basin (Mascarell Mb.).During Campanian times the transgresion reaches the maximum. In the Serres Marginals sediments are deposited in a restricted shallow environment rich in Meandropsinidae (Serres Limestones). In the Montsec thrust sheet they are deposited in a platform with patch reefs and shoals (Terradets limestones) and in the Boixols one in an outer platform, talus and/or basin.During Early Maastrichtian times (C. falsostuarti zone) terrigenous materials arrived in the basin, the rate of sedimentation increased outstripping the subsidence rate and the retreat of the sea to the north. Late Maastrichtian (C. gansseri zone) is only present in the Boixols thrust sheet. 相似文献
We developed a new method for reconstructing millennia-long hurricane records from coastal environments that uses Organic
Geochemical Proxies (OGPs) of organic carbon and nitrogen concentrations and their δ13C and δ15N compositions. The new method is independent of presence/absence of sand layers and improves significantly the severe-storm
history resolution. The subject of this investigation is a 1.5 m long sediment core raised at 2.8 m water depth from the center
of Lake Shelby, Alabama, a freshwater lake located approximately 250 m from the Gulf of Mexico, from which an overwash sand-layer
based record was previously derived. The core contains two distinct sediment units; an upper 62 cm thick, fine-grained, organic-rich
lacustrine sapropel (gyttja) that shows no visible structures except one sand lamina at 23.7 cm depth, and an underlying 90 cm
thick, organic-poor lagoon/estuary clay unit. The sapropel unit was deposited over a 682 ± 30 cal year time interval (1320–2002 A.D.)
with a mean sedimentation rate of 0.79 ± 0.04 mm/year. Lake Shelby’s water column exhibits two contrasting states based on
water chemistry surveys (i) an “isolated”, stratified, mode under calm weather conditions with a relatively low trophic state,
and (ii) a “flooded” mode occurring during storm surges when nutrient-rich seawater floods the lake. Statistically significant
δ13C and δ15N positive excursions in organic matter, up to maximum values of −25 (‰ PDB) and 4 (‰ Air N2), respectively, are interpreted as geochemical responses to the marine intrusions that fertilize the lake, increase light
availability, and cause eutrophication spikes. Detailed OGPs analyses crossing a sand layer that offers visual evidence of
a catastrophic hurricane overwash event at 1717 A.D. exhibit large δ13C and δ15N positive shifts bounded by rapid returns to base values, thus confirming the validity of the hurricane identification by
the OGPs model. Our data indicate that 11 catastrophic hurricanes hit the Alabama coast over the past 682 years with a rough
recurrence interval of one in 62 years. 相似文献
In granular soils grain crushing reduces dilatancy and stress obliquity enhances crushability. These are well-supported specimen-scale experimental observations. In principle, those observations should reflect some peculiar micromechanism associated with crushing, but which is it? To answer that question the nature of crushing-induced particle-scale interactions is here investigated using an efficient DEM model of crushable soil. Microstructural measures such as the mechanical coordination number and fabric are examined while performing systematic stress probing on the triaxial plane. Numerical techniques such as parallel and the newly introduced sequential probing enable clear separation of the micromechanical mechanisms associated with crushing. Particle crushing is shown to reduce fabric anisotropy during incremental loading and to slow fabric change during continuous shearing. On the other hand, increased fabric anisotropy does take more particles closer to breakage. Shear-enhanced breakage appears then to be a natural consequence of shear-enhanced fabric anisotropy. The particle crushing model employed here makes crushing dependent only on particle and contact properties, without any pre-established influence of particle connectivity. That influence does not emerge, and it is shown how particle connectivity, per se, is not a good indicator of crushing likelihood.
The ecologically and socio-economically important marine ecosystems of Europe are facing severe threats from a variety of human impacts. To mitigate and potentially reverse some of these impacts, the European Union (EU) has mandated the implementation of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) in order to achieve Good Environmental Status (GES) in EU waters by 2020. The primary initiative for achieving GES is the implementation of coherent networks of marine protected areas (MPAs). Marine reserves are an important type of MPA in which no extraction is allowed, but their usefulness depends upon a number of ecological, management, and political factors. This paper provides a synthesis of the ecological effects of existing European marine reserves and the factors (social and ecological) underlying their effectiveness. Results show that existing European marine reserves foster significant positive increases in key biological variables (density, biomass, body size, and species richness) compared with areas receiving less protection, a pattern mirrored by marine reserves around the globe. For marine reserves to achieve their ecological and social goals, however, they must be designed, managed, and enforced properly. In addition, identifying whether protected areas are ecologically connected as a network, as well as where new MPAs should be established according to the MSFD, requires information on the connectivity of populations across large areas. The adoption of the MSFD demonstrates willingness to achieve the long-term protection of Europe's marine ecosystems, but whether the political will (local, regional, and continent wide) is strong enough to see its mandates through remains to be seen. Although the MSFD does not explicitly require marine reserves, an important step towards the protection of Europe's marine ecosystems is the establishment of marine reserves within wider-use MPAs as connected networks across large spatial scales. 相似文献
Taxonomic distinctness has been applied successfully for the exploration of biodiversity patterns, yet its relevance in environmental impact assessment is far from being unquestioned. In this study, we assessed the potential of taxonomic distinctness to discern perturbed and unperturbed sites by analysing Mediterranean nematode assemblages. Geographic and habitat-related effects on the performance of the index were also explored. Above all, our findings do not corroborate the conjecture that taxonomic distinctness could be largely unaffected by natural variability, habitat features, and biogeographic context, casting doubts on potential generalization concerning its application as an indicator of environmental stress. Taxonomic distinctness represents an excellent metric to identifying taxonomic properties of ecological systems but, as for other ecological indices, it should be viewed as a complementary tool in environmental impact assessment, due to its sensitiveness to specific environmental features of systems being investigated. 相似文献
The flow of groundwater beneath barrier islands has been cited as a possible pathway for salt water and chemical exchange between a protected embayment and the open sea. Evidence is presented that identifies an exchange of groundwater through a highly permeable paleoinlet along the barrier beach of Cavallino, which separates the northern Venice Lagoon from the Adriatic Sea. We utilized both point measurements of submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) and a geophysical investigation of the subsurface resistivity to analyze the movement of saline groundwater. Discharge of groundwater and associated nutrients, was higher at the site of a former inlet than at a similar site along the barrier and modulated by the difference in tidal water level between the lagoon and Adriatic Sea. If the measured conditions are typical, storm surge barriers could potentially result in a saline groundwater flow of up to 1.5×106 m3 d−1 into the lagoon. 相似文献
An approach that relates results from a regional seismic hazard assessment study with local-scale site-effect characterizations
in an area of low-to-moderate seismic activity such as Andalusia (southern Spain), is presented. Results of a previous probabilistic
seismic hazard analysis of Andalusia on rock conditions are disaggregated to infer hazard controlling earthquakes for different
target motions. A collection of controlling magnitude-distance pairs and the corresponding site-specific response spectra
at main capital cities of the region are obtained. These spectra are first-order approximations to expected seismic actions
required in local earthquake risk assessments. In addition, results of independent, local-scale studies developed in Almeria
City (SE Andalusia) are used to derive an updated seismic zonation of the city. These include predominant soil period estimates
and shear-wave velocity profiles at different locations. If a local seismic risk assessment study or an earthquake-resistant
structural design is to be developed, it may be recommended the use of different seismic actions on sites characterized by
distinct response to seismic shaking (as derived from the seismic zonation). The seismic action related to worst-case scenarios
may be modeled through a hazard-consistent response spectrum, obtained by hazard disaggregation at the spectral acceleration
with period matching the prevailing resonant period of the target site or structure. 相似文献
There is currently a lack of well‐characterised matrix‐matched reference materials (RMs) for forensic analysis of U‐rich materials at high spatial resolution. This study reports a detailed characterisation of uraninite (nominally UO2+x) from the Happy Jack Mine (UT, USA). The Happy Jack uraninite can be used as a RM for the determination of rare earth element (REE) mass fractions in nuclear materials, which provide critical information for source attribution purposes. This investigation includes powder X‐ray diffraction (pXRD) data, as well as major, minor and trace element abundances determined using a variety of micro‐analytical techniques. The chemical signature of the uraninite was investigated at the macro (cm)‐scale with micro‐X‐ray fluorescence (µXRF) mapping and at high spatial resolution (tens of micrometre scale) using electron probe microanalysis (EPMA) and laser ablation‐inductively coupled plasma‐mass spectrometry (LA‐ICP‐MS) analyses. Based on EPMA results, the uraninite is characterised by homogeneous UO2 and CaO contents of 91.57 ± 1.49% m/m (2s uncertainty) and 2.70 ± 0.38% m/m (2s), respectively. Therefore, CaO abundances were used as the internal standard when conducting LA‐ICP‐MS analyses. Overall, the major element and REE compositions are homogeneous at both the centimetre and micrometre scales, allowing this material to be used as a RM for high spatial resolution analysis of U‐rich samples. 相似文献
Qualitative spatial variables are important in many fields of research. However, unlike the decades-worth of research devoted
to the spatial association of quantitative variables, the exploratory analysis of spatial qualitative variables is relatively
less developed. The objective of the present paper is to propose a new test (Q) for spatial independence. This is a simple, consistent, and powerful statistic for qualitative spatial independence that
we develop using concepts from symbolic dynamics and symbolic entropy. The Q test can be used to detect, given a spatial distribution of events, patterns of spatial association of qualitative variables
in a wide variety of settings. In order to enable hypothesis testing, we give a standard asymptotic distribution of an affine
transformation of the symbolic entropy under the null hypothesis of independence in the spatial qualitative process. We include
numerical experiments to demonstrate the finite sample behaviour of the test, and show its application by means of an empirical
example that explores the spatial association of fast food establishments in the Greater Toronto Area in Canada. 相似文献