http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1674987111001113

The Rheic Ocean was one of the most important oceans of the Paleozoic Era.It lay between Laurentia and Gondwana from the Early Ordovician and closed to produce the vast Ouachita-Alleghanian -Variscan orogen during the assembly of Pangea.Rifting began in the Cambrian as a continuation of Neoproterozoic orogenic activity and the ocean opened in the Early Ordovician with the separation of several Neoproterozoic arc terranes from the continental margin of northern Gondwana along the line of a former suture.The rapid rate of ocean opening suggests it was driven by slab pull in the outboard lapetus Ocean.The ocean reached its greatest width with the closure of lapetus and the accretion of the periGondwanan arc terranes to Laurentia in the Silurian.Ocean closure began in the Devonian and continued through the Mississippian as Gondwana sutured to Laurussia to form Pangea.The ocean consequently plays a dominant role in the Appalachian-Ouachita orogeny of North America,in the basement geology of southern Europe,and in the Paleozoic sedimentary,structural and tectonothermal record from Middle America to the Middle East.Its closure brought the Paleozoic Era to an end.     

Paleozoic northward drift of the North Tien Shan (Central Asia) as revealed by Ordovician and Carboniferous paleomagnetism

Three new Middle–Late Ordovician and two new Early Carboniferous paleomagnetic poles have been obtained from the North Tien Shan Zone (NTZ) of the Ural–Mongol belt in Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. Paleolatitudes for the Carboniferous are unambiguously northerly and average 15.5°N, whereas the Ordovician paleolatitudes (6°, 9°, and 9°) are inferred to be southerly, given that a very large (180°) rotation of the NTZ would be necessary during the middle Paleozoic if the other polarity option was chosen. Thus, the NTZ drifted northward during much of the Paleozoic; east–west drift cannot be determined, as is well known, from paleomagnetic data. In addition, detailed thermal demagnetization analysis reveals two overprints, one of recent age and the other of Permian age, which is a time of strong deformation in the NTZ. The paleolatitude of the combined Permian overprint is 30.5+2°N. The paleolatitudes collectively track those predicted for the area by extrapolation from Baltica very well, but are different from those of Siberia for Ordovician times. This finding is compatible with Sengör and Natal'in's [Sengör, A.M.C., Natal'in, B.A., 1996. Paleotectonics of Asia: fragments of a synthesis. In: Yin A., Harrison, M. (Eds.), The Tectonic Evolution of Asia. Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge, pp. 486–640] model of tectonic evolution of the Ural–Mongol belt and disagrees with the models of other researchers. Declinations of the Ordovician and Early Carboniferous results range from northwesterly to northeasterly, and are clearly affected by local relative rotations, which seem characteristic for the entire NTZ, because the Permian overprint declinations also show such a spread. Apparently, the important latest Paleozoic–Triassic deformation involved shear zone-related rotations as well as folding and significant granitic intrusions.     

Assessing stone degradation using an integrated database and geographical information system (GIS)

An integrated database and geographical information system (GIS) for the recording and monitoring of stone degradation are outlined. GIS requirements for stone degradation are summarized and a simple classification system for weathering forms identified and applied. The potential use of the system for identifying change in weathering forms using historic imagery is illustrated using an example from Oxford. Combining information from imagery of different buildings at different time periods, it is possible to put forward a possible scenario of weathering form evolution.     

Late Quaternary vegetation dynamics in a biodiversity hotspot, the Uluguru Mountains of Tanzania

Late Quaternary vegetation history and environmental changes in a biodiverse tropical ecosystem are inferred from pollen, charcoal and carbon isotope evidence derived from a ∼ 48,000-yr sedimentary record from the Uluguru Mountains, a component of the Eastern Arc Mountains of Kenya and Tanzania. Results indicate that Eastern Arc forest composition has remained relatively stable during the past ∼ 48,000 yr. Long-term environmental stability of the Eastern Arc forests has been proposed as a mechanism for the accumulation and persistence of species during glacial periods, thus resulting in the diverse forests observed today. The pollen and isotope data presented here indicate some marked changes in abundance but no significant loss in moist forest taxa through the last glacial maximum, thereby providing support for the long-term environmental stability of the Eastern Arc. Anthropogenic activities, including burning and forest clearance, were found to play a moderate role in shaping the mosaic of forest patches and high-altitude grasslands that characterise the site today; however, this influence was tempered by the inaccessibility of the mountain.     

Numerical modelling of depositional sequences in half-graben rift basins

ABSTRACT A three‐dimensional numerical model of sediment transport and deposition in coarse‐grained deltas is used to investigate the controls on depositional sequence variability in marine half‐graben extensional basins subject to eustatic sea‐level change. Using rates of sea‐level change, sediment supply and fault slip reported from active rift basins, the evolution of deltas located in three contrasting structural settings is documented: (1) footwall‐sourced deltas in high‐subsidence locations near the centre of a fault segment; (2) deltas fed by large drainage catchments at fault tips; and (3) deltas sourced from drainage catchments on the hangingwall dip slope. Differences in the three‐dimensional form and internal stratigraphy of the deltas result from variations in tilting of the hangingwall and the impact of border fault slip rates on accommodation development. Because subsidence rates near the centre of fault segments are greater than all but the fastest eustatic falls, footwall‐sourced deltas lack sequence boundaries and are characterized by stacked highstand systems tracts. High subsidence and steep bathymetry adjacent to the fault result in limited progradation. In contrast, the lower subsidence rate settings of the fault‐tip and hangingwall dip‐slope deltas mean that they are subject to relative sea‐level fall and associated fluvial incision and forced regression. Low gradients and tectonic tilting of the hangingwall influence the geometry of these deltas, with fault‐tip deltas preferentially prograding axially along the fault, creating elongate delta lobes. In contrast, broad, sheet‐like delta lobes characterize the hangingwall dip‐slope deltas. The model results suggest that different systems tracts may be coeval over length scales of several kilometres and that key stratal surfaces defining and subdividing depositional sequences may only be of local extent. Furthermore, the results highlight pitfalls in sequence‐stratigraphic interpretation and problems in interpreting controlling processes from the preserved stratigraphic product.     

Palaeolithic archaeology of the Bytham River: human occupation of Britain during the early Middle Pleistocene and its European context

The Early and early Middle Pleistocene archaeological record in Britain from c. 900 to 500 ka marks a critical shift in human occupation of northwest Europe, from occasional pioneer populations with simple core and flake technology to more widespread occupation associated with the appearance of Acheulean technology. Key to understanding this record are the fluvial deposits of the extinct Bytham River in central East Anglia, where a series of Lower Palaeolithic sites lie on a 15 km stretch of the former river. In this paper we present the results of new fieldwork and a reanalysis of historical artefact collections of handaxes and scrapers to: 1) establish the chronostratigraphic context of the Bytham archaeological record; 2) examine variability in lithic artefact typology and technology through time; and 3) explore the implications for understanding variation in lithic technology in the European record. Six phases of occupation of Britain are identified from at least marine isotope stage (MIS) 21 to MIS 13, with the last three phases characterised by distinctive lithic technology. We argue that this relates to the discontinuous occupation of Britain, where each phase represents the arrival of new groups derived from different European populations with distinctive material culture.