Paleosols and prehistoric populations in the high plains

Excavations in 1980–1981 at sites (32MZ319 and 32MZ380) along Cinnamon Creek Ridge in the Little Missouri River Badlands of McKenzie County, North Dakota, unexpectedly revealed at each locality the presence of one or more deeply buried paleosols with associated cultural materials. At both sites, 32MZ319 and 32MZ380, multiple paleosols are present, each of which is terminated by an episode of aeolian deposition. Fifteen radiocarbon dates on these paleosols establish an incipient chronology for paleosol development in the study area and permit correlation with other High Plains archaeological complexes. Geological and archaeological data for the two multiple paleosol sites are summarized.     

On the properties of very young massive infrared sources (Mitteilungen der Universitäts-Sternwarte zu Jena Nr. 169)

The data compiled for 34 very young massive compact infrared source (Becklin-Neugebauer objects) in a separately published catalogue serve as the basis for an investigation of their general properties. First, the correlations of the strength of the ice and silicate bands at 3.1 μm and 10 μm, resp., with each other and with other parameters of the sources are investigated. In accordance with theoretical expectations the strengths of both bands are not well correlated with each other. The ratio τ₁₀/τ₃ of their optical depths veries from 0.85 to 8 (and possibly up to 22). That implies for the number densities of the grains that (naked) silicate grains always are considerably more abundant than ice grains (grains with ice mantles). It follows from the discussion of the relationships between τ₁₀, the temperature parameter of the sources, and their luminosity that relations between τ₁₀ and temperature and possibly between τ₁₀ and the luminosity exist. Stellar wind models for the ionized region around the embedded star are favoured after the analysis of the intensities of the hydrogen infrred emission lines and the radio continuum. The limited observational data do not yet allow a decision on a correlation between the silicate band depth and energy content and/or the velocity of the bipolar outflow detected in a number of sources. The BN objects are clearly more frequently associated with H₂O masers than OH masers. The linear separations of the infrared peaks from the masers are compatible with models where the H₂O masers are situated near the edges the gas-dust shells of the BN objects.     

Morphosedimentary features and recent depositional architectural model of the Cantabrian continental margin

Multibeam bathymetry, high (sleeve airguns) and very high resolution (parametric system-TOPAS-) seismic records were used to define the morphosedimentary features and investigate the depositional architecture of the Cantabrian continental margin. The outer shelf (down to 180–245 m water depth) displays an intensively eroded seafloor surface that truncates consolidated ancient folded and fractured deposits. Recent deposits are only locally present as lowstand shelf-margin deposits and a transparent drape with bedforms. The continental slope is affected by sedimentary processes that have combined to create the morphosedimentary features seen today. The upper (down to 2000 m water depth) and lower (down to 3700–4600 m water depth) slopes are mostly subject to different types of slope failures, such as slides, mass-transport deposits (a mix of slumping and mass-flows), and turbidity currents. The upper slope is also subject to the action of bottom currents (the Mediterranean Water — MW) that interact with the Le Danois Bank favouring the reworking of the sediment and the sculpting of a contourite system. The continental rise is a bypass region of debris flows and turbidity currents where a complex channel-lobe transition zone (CLTZ) of the Cap Ferret Fan develops.The recent architecture depositional model is complex and results from the remaining structural template and the great variability of interconnected sedimentary systems and processes. This margin can be considered as starved due to the great sediment evacuation over a relatively steep entire depositional profile. Sediment is eroded mostly from the Cantabrian and also the Pyrenees mountains (source) and transported by small stream/river mountains to the sea. It bypasses the continental shelf and when sediment arrives at the slope it is transported through a major submarine drainage system (large submarine valleys and mass-movement processes) down to the continental rise and adjacent Biscay Abyssal Plain (sink). Factors controlling this architecture are tectonism and sediment source/dispersal, which are closely interrelated, whereas sea-level changes and oceanography have played a minor role (on a long-term scale).     

Crustal transect across the North Atlantic

Two dimensional crustal models derived from four different ocean bottom seismographic (OBS) surveys have been compiled into a 1,580 km long transect across the North Atlantic, from the Norwegian Møre coast, across the extinct Aegir Ridge, the continental Jan Mayen Ridge, the presently active Kolbeinsey Ridge north of Iceland, into Scoresby Sund in East Greenland. Backstripping of the transect suggests that the continental break-up at ca. 55 Ma occurred along a west-dipping detachment localized near the western end of a ca. 300 km wide basin thinned to less than 20 km crustal thickness. It is likely that an east-dipping detachment near the present day Liverpool Land Escarpment was active during the late stages of continental rifting. A lower crustal high-velocity layer (7.2–7.4 km/s) interpreted as mafic intrusions/underplating, was present beneath the entire basin. The observations are consistent with the plume hypothesis, involving the Early Tertiary arrival of a mantle plume beneath central Greenland and focused decompression melting beneath the thinnest portions of the lithosphere. The mid-Eocene to Oligocene continental extension in East Greenland is interpreted as fairly symmetric and strongly concentrated in the lower crustal layer. Continental break-up which rifted off the Jan Mayen Ridge, occurred at ca. 25 Ma, when the Aegir Ridge became extinct. The first ca. 2 m.y. of oceanic accretion along the Kolbeinsey Ridge was characterized by thin magmatic crust (ca. 5.5 km), whereas the oceanic crustal formation since ca. 23 Ma documents ca. 8 km thick crust and high magma budget.     

Momentum and gravity effects during the constant velocity water entry of wedge-shaped sections

Computational fluid dynamics analysis was used to investigate the added mass momentum, flow momentum and gravity effects during the constant velocity water entry of wedge-shaped sections with deadrise angles from 5° to 45°. It is shown that the added mass continues to increase for a time after chine immersion and that added mass can be estimated in terms of a constant added mass coefficient and an effective wetted width. A momentum theory is presented in which the water entry force is explained as the sum of the rate of change of added mass momentum, which becomes zero at immersion to chine depth ratios greater than about three, and the rate of change of flow momentum, which continues at deep immersions. The effect of gravity on the water entry force is given as the hydrostatic force together with the force necessary to create the potential energy in the water pile up. Hydrodynamic forces are not significantly changed by the effect of gravity on the flow fields.     

Habitat continuity effects on gradients of fish biomass across marine protected area boundaries

Marine protected areas (MPAs) could be useful as fisheries management tools for the exportation of pelagic eggs, larvae and adult fish. A decreasing gradient of fish biomass across MPAs boundary may indicate export. We determine whether gradients of decreasing biomass of fish assemblage occurred in Tabarca Marine Reserve over two habitats with different continuity across the boundaries, to test if the patchy nature of the marine environment might act as a barrier for the fish export. In general, significant decreasing gradients in total fish biomass and biomass of some species were observed on P. oceanica and rocky substrates, independently of their different continuity through the reserve boundaries. Changes in the multivariate structure of the fish assemblage were correlated with the distance from integral reserve. All of these results support the hypothesis that the exportation of adult fish from Tabarca Marine Reserve occurs, and this process may influence the surrounding fished areas.     

Low reproductive success for copepods during a bloom of the non‐aldehyde‐producing diatom Cerataulina pelagica in the North Adriatic Sea

Egg production rates and/or hatching success in the copepods Acartia clausi, Calanus helgolandicus and Temora longicornis were negatively affected by a late spring (May–June 2003) phytoplankton bloom in the North Adriatic Sea, dominated mainly by the large diatom Cerataulina pelagica. Highest total concentrations of 3.3·10⁴ cells·ml^?1 were located in the vicinity of the Po River, which also corresponded to the area where the highest numbers of phaeophorbides were measured (0.779, 0.528 and 0.419 μg·l^?1, respectively, compared to an average of the remaining stations of 0.183 ± 0.049 SD), suggesting some grazing on the bloom. Phytoplankton biomass in terms of carbon was dominated by diatoms, representing on average 42% of total phytoplankton carbon and more than 80% at several stations. Cerataulina pelagica, Cyclotella spp., Chaetoceros spp. and small unidentified centric diatoms dominated the diatom community numerically but C. pelagica was by far the dominant diatom in terms of carbon due to its large cell size. This species represented more than 60% of the diatom biomass at nine of the 14 stations sampled, and was absent only at one station, which was the most offshore station sampled during the cruise. Although polyunsaturated aldehydes (PUAs) were not detected, other oxylipins which are hydroxy and keto derivatives of eicosapentaenoic and docosahexaenoic acids that affect copepod reproduction were found in these samples. Hence, we can attribute the negative impact of diatoms not only to PUAs, as previously believed, but also to these compounds. This is the first direct evidence of the presence of oxylipins other than PUAs in marine blooms dominated by diatoms.     

Assessing the extent of mangrove change caused by Cyclone Vance in the eastern Exmouth Gulf, northwestern Australia

Changes in mangal area were quantified in the eastern Exmouth Gulf over six years (1999–2004) after Cyclone Vance using Landsat TM satellite imagery and aerial photography. Vance was the strongest tropical cyclone ever to impact the Australian mainland before 2006 and produced wind gusts of more than 280 km h⁻¹. Image data were processed using ENVI™ and IDRISI™ software. Three sets of Landsat TM images from 1999 (a few days before the cyclone), 2002 and 2004 were used, along with 2004 digital aerial photography. A ‘common’ subset of 904 km² was selected from all images and classification was developed using ISODATA™ unsupervised classification to identify spectrally distinct areas followed by principal component analysis (PCA), vegetation indices and supervised classification. Some 12,800 ha of mangrove habitat was present before the cyclone and approximately 5700 ha (44%) was removed by it. Most mangroves lost (74%) between 1999 and 2004 were converted either to bare sediment or to live saltmarshes and this occurred mostly between 1999 and 2002. Five basic categories of damage were conspicuous from imagery and field observations, and evidence suggests that much of the loss was due to the longer term consequences of sediment deposition or smothering, rather than the immediate effects of wind or waves. Mangroves exhibited accelerated recovery between 2002 and 2004, and around 1580 ha regenerated during this time, amounting to a return of 68% of their former coverage. At this recovery rate we estimate that they should have returned to their pre-cyclone area by 2009. Over half of the saltmarsh habitats (54%) were removed by the cyclone (4060 ha) but their recovery has been far more rapid than mangroves. After 5 years, saltmarshes had returned to 87% of their previous area. The 5700 ha of mangrove habitat damaged by Cyclone Vance exceeds any anthropogenic impact that has ever taken place in Western Australia by several orders of magnitude.