Review of tufa deposition and palaeohydrological conditions in the White Peak,Derbyshire, UK: implications for Quaternary landscape evolution

This review considers the geological and geomorphological context of tufa barrages that occupy buried valley settings in the Wye catchment, Derbyshire. It describes the potential relationship of the tufa with locations of hypothesised river captures and inception horizon-guided groundwater flow paths. Tufa barrage development is associated with steps in the bedrock, which may be related to knick-point recession during river capture. Broad estimates of valley incision have been calculated from previously dated deposits. These support current interpretations of particularly significant effective base-level lowering during the Anglian and Devensian stages of the Quaternary and have the potential to add to the knowledge of regional uplift histories.     

PAH transport by sinking particles in the open Mediterranean Sea: a 1 year sediment trap study

One year time series of sinking particles were collected at two depths in the open Mediterranean Sea and analysed for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH). Average total PAH concentrations were 593+/-284 ng g(-1) at 250 m and 551 +/- 198 ng g(-1) at 2850 m. Total PAH fluxes averaged 73 +/- 58 ng m(-2) d(-1) at 250 m and 53 +/- 39 ng m(-2) d(-1) at 2850 m. Contamination levels and, thus, exposure of marine organisms to PAH are comparable in surface and deep waters. Deep waters appear as a significant, yet overlooked, PAH sink. PAH temporal patterns show noticeable seasonality. This is partly due to varying levels of specific components such as the winter increase of pyrolytic PAH. Downward transport processes and the nature of sinking particles also impact on PAH fluxes, as inferred during periods of increasing productivity. Different phase-associations and interactions with particulate organic carbon for low-MW fossil PAH and high-MW pyrolytic PAH influence their downward transport efficiency.     

Geoarchaeological evidence of a Chola‐period tsunami from an ancient port at Kaveripattinam on the southeastern coast of India

Literature of the ancient Chola Dynasty (A.D. 9th–11th centuries) of South India and recent archaeological excavations allude to a sea flood that crippled the ancient port at Kaveripattinam, a trading hub for Southeast Asia, and probably affected the entire South Indian coast, analogous to the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami impact. We present sedimentary evidence from an archaeological site to validate the textual references to this early medieval event. A sandy layer showing bed forms representing high‐energy conditions, possibly generated by a seaborne wave, was identified at the Kaveripattinam coast of Tamil Nadu, South India. Its sedimentary characteristics include hummocky cross‐stratification, convolute lamination with heavy minerals, rip‐up clasts, an erosional contact with the underlying mud bed, and a landward thinning geometry. Admixed with 1000‐year‐old Chola period artifacts, it provided an optically stimulated luminescence age of 1091 ± 66 yr and a thermoluminescence age of 993 ± 73 yr for the embedded pottery sherds. The dates of these proxies converge around 1000 yr B.P., correlative of an ancient tsunami reported from elsewhere along the Indian Ocean coasts. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Reconstructing Phreatic Palaeogroundwater Levels in a Geoarchaeological Context: A Case Study in Flanders,Belgium

The complex debate on prehistoric settlement decisions is no longer tackled from a purely archaeological perspective but from a more landscape‐oriented manner combined with archaeological evidence. Therefore, reconstruction of several components of the former landscape is needed. Here, we focus on the reconstruction of the groundwater table based on modeling. The depth of the phreatic aquifer influences, for example, soil formation processes and vegetation type. Furthermore, it directly influences settlement by the wetness of a site. Palaeogroundwater modeling of the phreatic aquifer was carried out to produce a series of full‐coverage maps of the mean water table depth between 12.7 ka and the middle of the 20th century (1953) in Flanders, Belgium. The research focuses on the reconstruction of the input data and boundary conditions of the model and the model calibration. The model was calibrated for the 1924–1953 time period using drainage class maps. Archaeological site data and podzol occurrence data act as proxies for local drainage conditions over periods in the past. They also served as a control on the simulated phreatic palaeogroundwater levels. Model quality testing on an independent validation data set showed that the model predicts phreatic water table levels at the time of soil mapping well (mean error of 1.8 cm; root mean square error of 65.6 cm). Simulated hydrological conditions were in agreement with the occurrence of archaeological sites of Mesolithic to Roman age at 96% of the validation locations, and also with the occurrence of well‐drained podzols at 97% of the validation locations.