Preliminary data on a new Albian flora from the Valle del Río Martín, Teruel, Spain

A newly discovered plant fossil assemblage in the Albian Escucha Formation, located at Valle del Río Martín (Teruel, Spain), shows similarities with the classic early Cretaceous flora of the Potomac Group in the USA. This is the first time that a flora of this age and composition has been found in Spain. It comprises representatives of ferns, Ginkgoales, Bennettitales, Caytoniales, conifers and angiosperms and suggests a possible mixing of the European and Potomac provinces in the early Cretaceous within the Iberian Peninsula, in a subtropical, semi-arid climate.     

Tectonic, sea-level, and climatic controls on Late Paleozoic sedimentation in the western basins of Argentina

Tectonic activity, sea-level changes, and the climate controlled sedimentation in Late Paleozoic basins of western Argentina. The role of each factor is investigated from the geologic record of the Río Blanco and Paganzo basins using three hierarchical orders of stratigraphic bounding surfaces. First-order surfaces correspond to regional unconformities, second-order ones to local unconformities with a lesser regional extent, and third-order surfaces represent locally extended sedimentary truncation. Using this methodology, the Carboniferous–Permian record of the Paganzo and Río Blanco basins may be divided into two megasequences, four sequences, and 12 stratigraphic sections. Megasequences are bounded by regional unconformities that result from tectonic events important enough to cause regional paleogeographic changes. Sequences are limited by minor regional extension surfaces related to local tectonic movements or significant sea-level falls. Finally, stratigraphic sections correspond to extended sedimentary truncations produced by transgressive events or major climatic changes. Sequence I is mainly composed of marine deposits divided into basal infill of the basin (Section 1) and Tournaisian–Visean transgressive deposits (Section 2). Sequence II is bounded by a sharp erosional surface and begins with coarse conglomerates (Section 3), followed by fluvial and shallow marine sedimentary rocks (Section 4) that pass upward into shales and diamictites (Section 5). The base of Sequence III is marked by an extended unconformity covered by Early Pennsylvanian glacial sedimentary rocks (Section 6) that represent the most important glacial event along the western margin of Gondwana. Postglacial deposits (Section 7) occur in the two basins and comprise both glaciolacustrine (eastern region) and transgressive marine (central and western regions) deposits. By the Moscovian–Kasimovian, fluvial sandstones and conglomerates were deposited in most of the Paganzo Basin (Section 8), while localized volcanic activity took place in the Río Blanco Basin. Near the end of the Carboniferous, an important transgression is recorded in the major part of the Río Blanco Basin (Section 9), reaching the westernmost portion area of the Paganzo Basin. Finally, Sequence IV shows important differences between the Paganzo and Río Blanco basins; fluvial red beds (Section 10), eolian sandstones (Section 11), and low-energy fluvial deposits (Section 12) prevailed in the Paganzo Basin whereas volcaniclastic sedimentation and volcanism dominated in the Río Blanco Basin. Thus, tectonic events, sea-level changes and climate exerted a strong and complex control on the evolution of the Río Blanco and Paganzo basins. The interaction of these allocyclic controls produced not only characteristic facies association patterns but also different kinds of stratigraphic bounding surfaces.     

A MILP model for design of flotation circuits with bank/column and regrind/no regrind selection

A method for the design of flotation circuits is presented. The design problem is represented by several superstructures. The first superstructure represents separation tasks (STS), which include: feed processing superstructure (FPS), concentrate processing superstructure (CPS), and tail processing superstructure (TPS). The FPS commonly uses a single stage, i.e., rougher. The CPS represents the circuit needed to carry out the cleaner task, and the TPS represents the circuit needed to carry out the scavenger task. These superstructures are flow networks between several separation stages. In each separation stage two kinds of cells are allowed, bank and column. In several streams in the CPS and TPS, the incorporation of regrind mills is also included.     

Major Ion Chemistry in a Freshwater Coastal Lagoon from Southern Brazil (Mangueira Lagoon): Influence of Groundwater Inputs

This paper characterizes major ion distributions and investigates whether groundwater exerts a major control on the chemical functioning of Mangueira Lagoon, a large (90 km long), shallow (∼4–5 m deep), and fresh coastal lagoon in southern Brazil. Water volumes equivalent to ∼80% of the total annual input are used in the summer for irrigating nearby rice plantations, the most important regional economic activity. While Na⁺ and Cl⁻ are the major ions in local groundwater, Na⁺ and HCO₃⁻ are the most enriched ions in lagoon water. The ion concentrations measured in Mangueira Lagoon were homogeneous, except for a few samples affected by rainwater and groundwater inputs. A shore-normal transect starting at the pump house of a rice irrigation canal indicated strong groundwater input at this canal. In spite of the small volume contribution (∼2% of precipitation), groundwater discharge accounts for 50–70% of major ion inputs into the lagoon, with ∼70% of the groundwater inputs being anthropogenically derived (e.g., from the rice irrigation canals). This may have serious implications for the management of the coastal water resources from Mangueira Lagoon and other similar areas as groundwater associated with agricultural systems may be contaminated by fertilizers and pesticides. The results imply that groundwater should not be neglected in dissolved species’ budgets even when its volume contribution is small.     

Impact ejecta and carbonate sequence in the eastern sector of the Chicxulub crater

The Chicxulub 200 km diameter crater located in the Yucatan platform of the Gulf of Mexico formed 65 Myr ago and has since been covered by Tertiary post-impact carbonates. The sediment cover and absence of significant volcanic and tectonic activity in the carbonate platform have protected the crater from erosion and deformation, making Chicxulub the only large multi-ring crater in which ejecta is well preserved. Ejecta deposits have been studied by drilling/coring in the southern crater sector and at outcrops in Belize, Quintana Roo and Campeche; little information is available from other sectors. Here, we report on the drilling/coring of a section of 34 m of carbonate breccias at 250 m depth in the Valladolid area (120 km away from crater center), which are interpreted as Chicxulub proximal ejecta deposits. The Valladolid breccias correlate with the carbonate breccias cored in the Peto and Tekax boreholes to the south and at similar radial distance. This constitutes the first report of breccias in the eastern sector close to the crater rim. Thickness of the Valladolid breccias is less than that at the other sites, which may indicate erosion of the ejecta deposits before reestablishment of carbonate deposition. The region east of the crater rim appears different from regions to the south and west, characterized by high density and scattered distribution of sinkholes.     

Seismic response analysis of structure–equipment systems with non-classical damping effects

A method is presented to obtain the exact complex-valued eigenproperties of a classically damped structure and equipment system. The non-classically damped character of the combined system as well as the effect of dynamic interaction between primary structure and equipment are properly included in the calculation of these eigenproperties. It is necessary only to know the classical modal properties of the structure and, of course, the equipment characteristics. The eigenvalues are obtained as the solution of a non-linear equation which can be easily solved by the Newton–Raphson algorithm. Once the eigenvalues are known, the corresponding eigenvectors are obtained from simple closed-form expressions. The method can be used equally effectively with light as well as heavy equipment. Numerical results demonstrating the effectiveness of the method are presented. A procedure which utilizes the complex-valued eigenproperties is developed for calculating the floor response spectra directly from the ground spectra. Numerical results of floor response spectra obtained from this procedure are presented. The floor spectra calculated by this approach include the structure–equipment interaction effect.     

Metamorphic facies series of the crystalline basement of Chile

The main rock types and mineral assemblages of the metamorphic rocks of the territory of Chile are described, and the metamorphic facies are identified. The crystalline basement of Chile consists of predominantly low-grade, semipelitic metamorphic and granitic rocks, exposed mostly along the coastal area of Central and Southern Chile, and in isolated areas of Northern Chile. Radiometric ages of both metamorphic and igneous rocks indicate Late Paleozoic. Three metamorphic series were recognized in Central Chile and used for a tentative classification of the metamorphic rocks from the remaining areas. The series correspond to intermediate-high pressure, intermediate-low pressure, and low pressure conditions of metamorphism, respectively. The formation of these series, their relation toMiyashiro's circumpacific paired belts, and the role of the basement during the Andean orogeny, are briefly discussed.

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Zusammenfassung Die Haupttypen der metamorphen Gesteine Chiles und deren Mineralzusammensetzung werden beschrieben und deren metamorphe Fazies charakterisiert. Das chilenische kristalline Grundgebirge besteht in der Hauptsache aus Graniten und semipelitischen Gesteinen, die unter den Bedingungen der niedriggradigen Metamorphose umgewandelt wurden. Die Gesteine sind in der Regel in der Küstenzone Süd- und Zentral-Chiles aufgeschlossen; in Nord-Chile treten sie isoliert auf. Radiometrische Altersbestimmungen ergaben sowohl für die Tiefenwie für die metamorphen Gesteine ein spätpaläozoisches Alter. In Zentral-Chile wurden drei metamorphe Serien erkannt und für eine erste Klassifizierung der metamorphen Gesteine dieses Gebietes herangezogen. Die Serien entstanden in der Hauptsache durch Metamorphoseprozesse, die unter mittleren bis hohen, mittleren bis tiefen und tiefen Drücken abliefen. Die Bildung dieser Serien, ihre Beziehung zuMiyashiro's zirkumpazifischen Gürtelpaaren und die Rolle des Grundgebirges während der Anden-Orogenese werden kurz diskutiert.

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Resumen Se describen los principales tipos de rocas y asociaciones minerales del basamento cristalino del territorio chileno. Este basamento consiste predominantemente de rocas metamórficas semipelíticas de bajo grado y de rocas graníticas, expuestas de preferencia a lo largo de la región costera de Chile Central y Austral y en áreas aisladas de Chile Septentrional. La edad radiométrica de las rocas metamórficas y graníticas indica Neopaleozoico. En Chile Central se encontraron tres series metamórficas, las que fueron empleadas para la clasificación provisoria de las rocas de otras partes del país. Estas series corresponden a condiciones de metamorfismo a presiones intermedia-alta, intermedia-baja, y baja, respectivamente. Se discuten brevemente la formación de las series, su relación a los arcos circumpacíficos apareados deMiyashiro, y el papel del basamento durante la orogénesis andina.

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CONSTAnT – A Conceptual Data Model for Semantic Trajectories of Moving Objects

Several works have been proposed in the last few years for raw trajectory data analysis, and some attempts have been made to define trajectories from a more semantic point of view. Semantic trajectory data analysis has received significant attention recently, but the formal definition of semantic trajectory, the set of aspects that should be considered to semantically enrich trajectories and a conceptual data model integrating these aspects from a broad sense is still missing. This article presents a semantic trajectory conceptual data model named CONSTAnT, which defines the most important aspects of semantic trajectories. We believe that this model will be the foundation for the design of semantic trajectory databases, where several aspects that make a trajectory “semantic” are taken into account. The proposed model includes the concepts of semantic subtrajectory, semantic points, geographical places, events, goals, environment and behavior, to create a general concept of semantic trajectory. The proposed model is the result of several years of work by the authors in an effort to add more semantics to raw trajectory data for real applications. Two application examples and different queries show the flexibility of the model for different domains.     

Geoarchaeology and Construction of the La Chabola de la Hechicera Megalithic Tomb,Elvillar, Northern Spain

La Chabola de la Hechicera, a Neolithic collective tomb which was first used at ca. 3850 B.C., has been re‐excavated for interpretation and stabilization. Information about the sources, handling, and placement of building materials allowed determination of the methods used to construct the dolmen monument. All of the rocks used in the structure are local Miocene sandstones, and the slabs were probably taken directly from the base of natural slopes near the monument. The chamber slabs were not carved, but some passage slabs were retouched to level the cover slabs. Fragments for the tumulus were obtained by mechanical fracturing. All of the slabs are imbricated, making it possible to determine the order in which they were placed. Thus, the identification of building materials and their mode of placement allows for the reconstruction of each stage of the building of the monument, providing unusually rich data for understanding the geoarchaeology and building archaeology of a dolmenic structure.