Cultural land use and vegetation dynamics in the uplands of northern Portugal from the Middle Ages to the Modern period

In Europe, mountain landscapes have evolved in a long-term relationship with human communities and present-day landscapes reflect that ancient interaction. The present study aims to reconstruct human activity in two mountain areas in northern Portugal using palynological analysis integrated with the available regional historical, archaeological and palaeoenvironmental archives. Pollen records from two sedimentary sequences span the Medieval and Modern periods and show that mixed agriculture and livestock grazing were consistently present in both regions throughout these times. Variations in cultural indicators show that the extent of farming fluctuated throughout time, with a general increase in cultivation during the Medieval period but with contractions likely coinciding with times of social disturbance. Historical sources suggest that sociopolitical factors and population pressure were fundamental in the utilisation of upland spaces. This study did not find any convincing evidence to suggest that fire was a fundamental factor in heathland spread. We conclude that long-term occupation of the uplands was sustained by low-intensity land use throughout the Medieval to post-Medieval periods, and that the present landscape has assumed a very different character following depopulation of the mountain areas and a shift towards commercial forestry.     

Integrated assessment for establishing an oil environmental vulnerability map: Case study for the Santos Basin region,Brazil

The growth of maritime transport and oil exploitation activities may increase the risk of oil spills. Thus, plans and actions to prevent or mitigate impacts are needed to minimize the effects caused by oil. However, tools used worldwide to support contingency plans have not been integrated, thus leading to failure in establishing priority areas. This investigation aimed to develop indices of environmental vulnerability to oil (IEVO), by combining information about environmental sensibility to oil and results of numerical modeling of spilled oil. To achieve that, a case study concerning to oil spills scenarios in a subtropical coastal area was designed, and IEVOs were calculated and presented in maps, in order to make the information about the areas’ vulnerability more easily visualized. For summer, the extension of coastline potentially affected by oil was approximately 150 km, and most of the coastline presented medium to high vulnerability. For winter, 230 km coastline would be affected, from which 75% were classified as medium to high vulnerability. Thus, IEVO maps allowed a rapid and clearer interpretation of the vulnerability of the mapped region, facilitating the planning process and the actions in response to an oil spill.     

Early Permian extensional shearing of an Ordovician granite: The Saint-Eutrope “C/S-like” orthogneiss (Montagne Noire,French Massif Central)

Dating the magmatic events in the Montagne Noire gneiss dome is a key point to arbitrate between the different interpretations of the Late Carboniferous–Early Permian tectonics in this southern part of the Variscan belt. The Saint-Eutrope orthogneiss crops out along the northern flank of the dome. We show that the protolith of this orthogneiss is an Ordovician granite dated at 455 ± 2 Ma (LA-ICP-MS U-Pb dating on zircon). This age is identical to that previously obtained on the augen orthogneiss of the southern flank, strongly suggesting that both orthogneiss occurrences have the same Ordovician protolith. The Saint-Eutrope orthogneiss experienced intense shearing along the Espinouse extensional detachment at ca. 295 Ma (LA-ICP-MS U-Pb-Th on monazite), an age close to that determined previously on mica by the ³⁹Ar-⁴⁰Ar method and contemporaneous with the emplacement age of the syntectonic Montalet granite farther to the west. This normal sense shearing reworked previous fabrics related to Variscan thrusting that can be still observed in the augen orthogneiss of the southern flank, and is responsible for the spectacular “C/S-like” pattern of the Saint-Eutrope orthogneiss. This work also shows that care is needed when dealing with C/S-type structures, since they can develop not only in syntectonic intrusions, but also in orthogneisses affected by an intense secondary deformation, at decreasing temperature.     

Geochemical evolution of laterites from two areas of the semiarid region in Bahia State, Brazil

Lateritic covers developed during the Pleistocene in two distinct areas (Gentio do Ouro District and Sento Sé) of the State of Bahia, Brazil, have been investigated geochemically. Samples of the bedrock (gabbros, from the Gentio do Ouro District, and silicate facies iron formation and associated iron-rich banded carbonates, from the Sento Sé Area) and the lateritic products (latosols, cuirasses and pisolites) were analyzed for major and selected trace elements (Co, Cu, Cr, Ni, V, Pb, Ba, Au and ree). The purpose of the research was to study the geochemical evolution of the laterites and the relationship of weathering processes to secondary gold mineralization.Four types of element mobilities are recognized, defined by progressive depletion (type A) or enrichment (type C) in the sequence latosol-cuirasse-pisolite or by extreme enrichment (type B) or depletion (type D) in the cuirasse. Cr and V have similar behavior (type C), whatever the type of parent rock: however, when the original rocks are gabbros, Co, Cu and Ni demonstrate behavior A, B and A, respectively. Also Ti has the same type of mobility (type A), whatever the type of parent rock.The concentrations of some residual elements, e.g., Ti, V, Mn, Fe and Au, are inherited from the original rocks, that is, they exhibit higher values in the lateritic materials on parent rocks in which their contents are high.The enrichment of ree in the lateritic materials on iron-rich carbonates is attributed to relatively basic and reducing conditions at depth. This environment allowed the ions of these elements (Ce, Sm, Eu and Yb in the reduced ionic form) to stay in solution along with Fe²⁺. At shallow depht, under oxidizing conditions, the iron oxyhydroxides adsorbed the ree ions. This adsorption was more effective for La, Ce and Yb ions.The ree contents in the lateritic products from gabbros indicate a depletion of hree plus Eu, Nd and Sm are also depleted in cuirasses and Ce is depleted in pisolites. The loss of these ree and the slight concentration of lree in the red latosol of the Gentio do Ouro District are attributed to partial leaching of ree by a relatively acidic solution. The adsorption of ree by iron oxyhydroxides was less intense here than in the weathering of the iron-rich carbonates at Sento Sé Area. It was also more effective for La and Ce (ions). This type of weathering solution may be generated from oxidation of the accessory pyrite present in the gabbros of the Gentio do Ouro District. It may dissolve primary gold which then precipitates on encountering basic conditions at depth.     

Fractionnement isotopique dans l'eau de cristallisation du sulfate de calcium

Résumé Le fractionnement isotopique (¹⁸O) entre l'eau de solubilisation et l'eau de cristallisation du gypse a été déterminé expérimentalement. La différence de l'ordre de 4 semble indépendante de la température. La connaissance de la composition isotopique de l'eau de solubilisation donne des indications paléoclimatiques et paléogéographiques.

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The¹⁸O fractionation between mother water and crystallisation water of the gypsum was determined by experiments. The difference, about 4 seems independent of temperature. The knowledge of the isotopic composition of mother water gives paleoclimatic and paleogeographic informations.

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Zusammenfassung Der¹⁸O-Gehalt im Porenwasser und Konstitutionswasser im Gips wurden experimentell bestimmt. Der Unterschied von 4 scheint unabhängig von der Temperatur zu sein. Die Kenntnis der Isotopenzusammensetzung des Porenwassers gibt paläoklimatische und paläogeographische Informationen.

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Oxygen,sulfur, and strontium isotope and fluid inclusion studies of barite deposits from the Iglesiente-Sulcis mining district,Southwestern Sardinia,Italy

This paper deals with barite from stratiform, karst, and vein deposits hosted within Lower Paleozoic rocks of the Iglesiente-Sulcis mining district in southwestern Sardinia. For comparison sulfates from mine waters are studied. Stratiform barite displays ³⁴S=28.8–32.1, ¹⁸O=12.7–15.6, and ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr=0.7087, in keeping with an essentially Cambrian marine origin of both sulfate and strontium. Epigenetic barite from post-Hercynian karst and vein deposits is indistinguishable for both sulfur and oxygen isotopes with ³⁴S=15.3–26.4 and ¹⁸O=6.6–12.5; ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios vary 0.7094–0.7140. These results and the microthermometric and salinity data from fluid inclusions concur in suggesting that barite formed at the site of mineralization by oxidation of reduced sulfur from Cambrian-Ordovician sulfide ores in warm, sometimes hot solutions consisting of dilute water and saline brine with different ¹⁸O values. The relative proportion of the two types of water may have largely varied within a given deposit during the mineralization. In the karst barite Sr was essentially provided by carbonate host rocks, whereas both carbonate and Lower Paleozoic shale host rocks should have been important sources for Sr of the vein barite. Finally, ³⁴S data of dissolved sulfate provide further support for the mixed seawater-meteoric water composition of mine waters from the Iglesiente area.     

18O and 34S in the Upper Bartonian gypsum deposits of the Paris basin

Isotopic analyses (¹⁸O and ³⁴S) of the Eocene gypsum from the Paris basin show a range beyond the normal Tertiary marine values. The possibility of a reduction process during diagenesis is discussed.A hypothesis of continental origin by leaching of Permotriassic deposits is proposed for this formation on the basis of a comparison of the isotopic contents recorded from Germany and eastern France.     

Isotope palaeohydrology and the prediction of long-term repository behaviour

There are considerable, well-recognized difficulties involved in the investigation of very low permeability rocks by conventional measurements of water potentials and spatial distribution of hydrological parameters such as permeability and effective porosity. Therefore, most studies of predictive behaviour are based on models which, when unconstrained by data, are often worse than no model at all. Geochemistry and environmental isotope geochemistry are techniques well suited for hydrological investigations of potential sites of nuclear waste isolation and for constraining predictive models. Stable isotopes constitutive of the water molecule (²H and ¹⁸O) may give information on the origin of the water, especially ²H which is practically uninvolved in isotope exchange with rock-forming minerals. Variations in stable isotope contents can be related to palaeohydrological and palaeoclimatic conditions whereas ³H is indicative of recent recharge. The ¹³C content of dissolved carbon is related to its origin(s) and the ¹⁴C activity gives a time-scale. However, the initial carbon isotope contents can be modified by various diagenetic effects such as precipitation/dissolution of secondary calcite and oxidation of reduced carbon. The heavy isotope content of the Total Dissolved Inorganic Carbon (TDIC) cannot be interpreted without a detailed knowledge of the carbon chemistry and of the mineralogy and isotope contents of secondary carbonates. Species of Dissolved Organic Carbon (DOC), with high molecular weights (HMW) can generally be attributed to soil derived compounds. Their ¹⁴C content may be measured by AMS (Accelerator Mass Spectrometry) thus providing an estimate of the time elapsed since recharge took place. Chlorine-36 is an interesting potential tool for dating old ground waters because of its long half-life (301 kyr) and its hydrophilic behaviour. It can be also produced in situ in significant amount if the rocks are rich (some tens of ppm) in U and Th. In such cases, this time dependent build-up provides a more systematic radiochronometer of CI^- residence time in the rock than the decay of cosmic input ³⁶CI, provided no Cl^- is leached from the rock. The isotopic composition of aqueous sulphur compounds depends on their origin and on their diagenetic evolution. The redox reactions of SO^2-₄ reduction or of S^2- oxidation are marked by strong isotope effects especially when generated by bacteria. Sulphate reduction by organic matter is a potential source of dissolved inorganic carbon and may thus interfere with ¹⁴C age interpretations. After discussion of the possible age and origin of waters and solutes, some scenarios of evolution of local and regional palaeohydrological conditions are proposed. Examples are given with special emphasis on detailed results from the Fennoscanian shield (Stripa project), and from northern Switzerland.