Geoarchaeological simulation of meandering river deposits and settlement distributions: A three‐dimensional approach

Fluvial processes have the potential to obscure, expose, or even destroy portions of the archaeological record. Floodplain aggradation can bury and hide archaeological features, whereas actively migrating channels can erode them. The archaeological record preserved in the subsurface of a fluvial system is potentially fragmented and is three‐dimensionally complex, especially when the system has been subjected to successive phases of alluviation and entrenchment. A simulation model is presented to gain insight into the threedimensional subsurface distribution, visibility, and preservation potential of the archaeological record in a meander‐floodplain system as a function of geomorphic history. Simulation results indicate that fluvial cut‐fill cycles can strongly influence the density of archaeological material in the subsurface. Thus, interpretation of floodplain habitation based solely upon features visible in the shallow subsurface (through traditional techniques such as aerial photography and geophysical prospection) can be misleading. In the examples, the loss of archaeological record by channel migration ranges between 45% and 90% over 12,000 years for channel belt‐dominated systems, decreasing to 10 to 30% for rivers where the floodplain width is a multiple of channel belt width. The modeling presented can be used to test excavation strategies in relation to hypothesized scenarios of stratigraphic evolution for archaeological sites. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

A detailed paleomagnetic and rock-magnetic investigation around Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary: the Autlan (Western Mexico) volcanic sequence revisited

We present a detailed rock-magnetic and paleomagnetic survey from Autlan volcanic succession in western Mexico. The principal aim of this study is to extend paleomagnetic data from Autlan lavas in order to confirm vertical-axis rotation observed in reconnaissance study and to evaluate long-term variation of the geomagnetic field strength based on existing and global data. The mean inclination (44.7°) is in agreement with the expected inclination for 60 and 70 Ma, as derived from available reference poles for the North American craton. The declination (333.6°), however, is significantly different from those expected, which suggests a statistically significant counterclockwise tectonic rotation ranging between 10° ± 6° and 14° ± 7°. As a measure of paleosecular variation (PSV), we obtained a geomagnetic field dispersion of 9.6° (upper and lower limits: 7.2°–11.9°) in perfect agreement with the previously published PSV compilation of selected Cretaceous data from lavas. The mean virtual dipole moments available for Autlan lavas are about 65% of the present geomagnetic axial dipole but are in reasonably good agreement with other comparable quality determinations between 5 and 90 Ma. This reinforces the hypothesis that low geomagnetic field strengths persisted for the entire Jurassic extending into the Upper Cretaceous.     

Rock-magnetic and paleomagnetic survey on dated lava flows erupted during the Bruhnes and Matuyama chrons: the Mascota Volcanic Field revisited (Western Mexico)

A rock magnetic and paleomagnetic investigation was performed on some selected, radiometrically dated lava flows from the Mascota Volcanic Field (MVF), western Trans- Mexican Volcanic Belt. A set of rock-magnetic experiments and standard paleomagnetic analysis were carried out on 19 sites spanning the time interval from 2268 to 72 kyr. The paleomagnetic directions are anchored to absolute radiometric ages while no such information was available in previous studies. This makes possible to correctly evaluate the fluctuation of Earth’s magnetic field from Pliocene to Pleistocene and reveal the firm evidence of possible Levantine excursion. Both Ti-poor and Ti-rich titanomagnetites seem to carry the remanent magnetization with Curie temperatures ranging from 350°C to 537°C. Thirteen flows correspond to the Brunhes chron, one of them exhibits transitional directions, while the remaining six sites belong to the Matuyama chron. New and existing dataset for MVF were used to estimate the paleosecular variation parameters. The selected data include 35 Plio-Quaternary lava flows. After excluding the poor quality data, as well as the transitional directions, the mean paleodeclination is 356.1° and oaleoinclination 39.9°, which agree well with the geocentric axial dipole (GAD) and the expected paleodirections for the Plio-Pleistocene, as derived from the reference poles for the stable North America. The corresponding mean paleomagnetic poles are paleolongitude 226.7° and paleolatitude 86.0°. The virtual geomagnetic pole scatter for the MVF is 15.2°, which is consistent with the value expected from model G at latitude of 20° (this model provides an interpretation of the paleosecular variation at different latitudes for the time of interest). The combined paleomagnetic data, supported by positive reversal test, indicate no paleomagnetically detectable vertical-axis rotations in the study area. The evidence of one transitional directions was detected, which may correspond to the Levantine excursion (360-370 kyr) or unnamed event between 400-420 kyr.     

Model sensitivity experiments on data assimilation,downscaling and tides for the representation of the Cape São Tomé Eddies

Ocean Dynamics - The impacts of data assimilation, downscaling, and tidal forcing were investigated with focus on the representation of the Cape São Tomé Eddy (CSTE). Sea level anomaly...     

Scenarios in tropical forest degradation: carbon stock trajectories for REDD+

Background

Human-caused disturbance to tropical rainforests—such as logging and fire—causes substantial losses of carbon stocks. This is a critical issue to be addressed in the context of policy discussions to implement REDD+. This work reviews current scientific knowledge about the temporal dynamics of degradation-induced carbon emissions to describe common patterns of emissions from logging and fire across tropical forest regions. Using best available information, we: (i) develop short-term emissions factors (per area) for logging and fire degradation scenarios in tropical forests; and (ii) describe the temporal pattern of degradation emissions and recovery trajectory post logging and fire disturbance.

Results

Average emissions from aboveground biomass were 19.9 MgC/ha for logging and 46.0 MgC/ha for fire disturbance, with an average period of study of 3.22 and 2.15 years post-disturbance, respectively. Longer-term studies of post-logging forest recovery suggest that biomass accumulates to pre-disturbance levels within a few decades. Very few studies exist on longer-term (>10 years) effects of fire disturbance in tropical rainforests, and recovery patterns over time are unknown.

Conclusions

This review will aid in understanding whether degradation emissions are a substantial component of country-level emissions portfolios, or whether these emissions would be offset by forest recovery and regeneration.

     

Comparing Beerkan infiltration tests with rainfall simulation experiments for hydraulic characterization of a sandy‐loam soil

Saturated soil hydraulic conductivity, K _s , data collected by ponding infiltrometer methods and usual experimental procedures could be unusable for interpreting field hydrological processes and particularly rainfall infiltration. The K _s values determined by an infiltrometer experiment carried out by applying water at a relatively large distance from the soil surface could however be more appropriate to explain surface runoff generation phenomena during intense rainfall events. In this study, a link between rainfall simulation and ponding infiltrometer experiments was established for a sandy‐loam soil. The height of water pouring for the infiltrometer run was chosen, establishing a similarity between the gravitational potential energy of the applied water, E _p , and the rainfall kinetic energy, E _k . To test the soundness of this procedure, the soil was sampled with the Beerkan estimation of soil transfer parameters procedure of soil hydraulic characterization and two heights of water pouring (0.03 m, i.e., usual procedure, and 0.34 m, yielding E _p  = E _k ). Then, a comparison between experimental steady‐state infiltration rates, i _sR , measured with rainfall simulation experiments determining runoff production and K _s values for the two water pouring heights was carried out in order to discriminate between theoretically possible (i _sR  ≥ K _s ) and impossible (i _sR  < K _s ) situations. Physically possible K _s values were only obtained by applying water at a relatively large distance from the soil surface, because i _sR was equal to 20.0 mm h^?1 and K _s values were 146.2–163.9 and 15.2–18.7 mm h^?1 for a height of water pouring of 0.03 and 0.34 m, respectively. This result suggested the consistency between Beerkan runs with a high height of water pouring and rainfall simulator experiments. Soil compaction and mechanical aggregate breakdown were the most plausible physical mechanisms determining reduction of K _s with height. This study demonstrated that the height from which water is poured onto the soil surface is a key parameter in infiltrometer experiments and can be adapted to mimic the effect of high intensity rain on soil hydraulic properties.     

First integrals for the Kepler problem with linear drag

In this work we consider the Kepler problem with linear drag, and prove the existence of a continuous vector-valued first integral, obtained taking the limit as \(t\rightarrow +\infty \) of the Runge–Lenz vector. The norm of this first integral can be interpreted as an asymptotic eccentricity \(e_{\infty }\) with \(0\le e_{\infty } \le 1\). The orbits satisfying \(e_{\infty } <1\) approach the singularity by an elliptic spiral and the corresponding solutions \(x(t)=r(t)e^{i\theta (t)}\) have a norm r(t) that goes to zero like a negative exponential and an argument \(\theta (t)\) that goes to infinity like a positive exponential. In particular, the difference between consecutive times of passage through the pericenter, say \(T_{n+1} -T_n\), goes to zero as \(\frac{1}{n}\).     

Seismic response of multi-layered basins with velocity gradients upon incidence of plane shear waves

A boundary integral scheme based on boundary-integral discrete-wave-number approach has been developed to compute the seismic response of two-dimensional irregular-shaped basins with horizontal soil layers. Each layer exhibits a linear gradient of shear wave velocity with depth. The approach combines the boundary-integral representation of the seismic wave field outside the basin with plane wave representation of the seismic wave field inside the basin. The propagation throughout the layers is performed by matrix propagators in which the effect of the vertical variation of the velocity is incorporated by using confluent hyper-geometric functions of the Whittaker type. Our method is tested against otherwell-accepted solutions for the case of a circular basin with excellent agreement. Test of the ground response for a semi-circular basin with radius a shows that stable solutions are obtained if the chosen model parameters satisfy following conditions: (1) the distance from the sources to the interface is greater than 0·1a; (2) the distance between the sources is smaller than a quarter of the incident wavelength; and (3) the discrete wave-number step is smaller than 2π/4a. The computation of ground response of basins with a sharp interface and several horizontal deposits leads to the following main results: (1) the amplification of a basin with velocity gradients is larger than that of a basin with homogeneous layers; (2) the frequencies of the second- and third-order harmonics for a basin with velocity gradients are lower than those of a basin with homogeneous layers; and (3) the response amplitude of the basin with velocity gradients attenuates more slowly in time domain than when layers are homogeneous. Since these results have been obtained for realistic values of basin geometrical and mechanical consideration, they should find some interest in earthquake engineering or seismic microzonation studies. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The latitudinal and bathymetric ranges of marine fishes: a global analysis to test the application of Rapoport′s Rule

We evaluated the applicability of Rapoport’s Rule (RR) to the marine bony fishes of the world. The biogeographical pattern predicted by RR has been the subject of a large number of studies, some supporting it and some not. In this exercise, we attempted to generate results free of biases from taxonomy or geographic scale. The study area encompassed all world oceans. Our analysis was based on secondary data. We tested the relationship of the geographic range and the bathymetric range to the latitude gradient, using the method of Stevens (American Naturalist 1989, 133 , 240–256) . We compared all known species of marine bony fishes together, and performed a second analysis limited to the non‐pelagic species. Our results were generated from a databank including 13,957 species. The results indicated that RR (latitudinal range) is valid for 11 regions. However, there were exceptions for the northern part of the Eastern Atlantic and Pacific, the northern part of the Western Indian, and the Arctic Oceans. The analyses of RR (bathymetric range) were supported for 13 regions. We found only one exception, for the northern part of the Western Indian Ocean. The applicability of RR and its relationship to energy supply, represented here by the temperature variability of the marine water masses, was clear. The exceptions appeared when some feature associated with the distribution of water masses was superposed on the latitudinal gradient, or when some life trait characteristic of a taxon, for instance body size, was confounded with the effect of climate variability.