Tetrapods from the Upper Cretaceous (Turonian–Maastrichtian) Bauru Group of Brazil: a reappraisal

An updated, annotated list of all tetrapods from the Adamantina, Uberaba and Marília formations (Bauru Group), which constitute some of the best studied Upper Cretaceous units in Brazil, is presented. Tetrapod diversity in the Bauru Group is remarkable, including an admixture of typically austral Gondwanan taxa (e.g., abelisaurids, notosuchians) and boreal Gondwanan forms (e.g., carcharodontosaurids). Of note is the absence of Laurasian taxa in the upper portion of the Bauru Group. With the exception of some turtles, an anuran, mesoeucrocodylians and one titanosaur, most taxa from the Bauru Group are based on fragmentary and isolated bones, and as such many specimens can be identified only to a higher taxonomic level. Fishes, turtles, anurans, mesoeucrocodylians, dinosaurs, birds and mammals from the Adamantina and Marília formations resemble the latest Late Cretaceous vertebrate faunas from southern South America, except for the absence of ornithischian dinosaurs.     

Belowground decomposition of mangrove roots in Florida coastal everglades

Mangrove root decomposition rates were measured by distributing mesh bags containing fine root material across six sites with different soil fertility and hydroperiod to compare ambient differences to substrate quality. Roots from a site with lower soil phosphorus concentration were used as a reference and compared to ambient roots at five other sites with increased phosphorus concentration. Four mesh bags of each root type (ambient versus reference), separated into four 10-cm replicate intervals, were buried up to 42 cm depth at each site and incubated for 250 d (initiation in May 2004). Mass loss of ambient mangrove roots was significant at all study sites and ranged from 17% to 54%; there was no significant difference with depth at any one site. Reference decomposition constants (−k) ranged from 0.0012 to 0.0018 d⁻¹ among Taylor Slough sites compared to 0.0023–0.0028 d⁻¹ among Shark River sites, indicating slower decomposition rates associated with lower soil phosphorous and longer flood duration. Reference roots had similar decomposition rates as ambient roots in four of the six sites, and there were no significant correlations between indices of root substrate quality and decomposition rates. Among these distinct landscape gradients of south Florida mangroves, soil environmental conditions have a greater effect on belowground root decomposition than root substrate quality.     

Direct evidence of imbalanced seagrass (Posidonia oceanica) shoot population dynamics in the Spanish Mediterranean

Direct census of shoots tagged in permanent plots was used to assess the present (2000–2002)Posidonia oceanica population dynamics in 25 meadows along the Spanish Mediterranean Coast. Shoot density ranged from 154±8 to 1,551±454 shoots m⁻², absolute shoot mortality from 5±0 to 249±53 shoots m⁻² yr⁻¹, and absolute shoot recruitment from <5 ±1 to 62±42 shoots m⁻²yr⁻¹. Specific shoot mortality and recruitment rates, which are mathematically and statistically (p>0.05) independent of shoot density, varied from 0.015±0.006 to 0.282±0.138 yr⁻¹ and 0.018±0.005 to 0.302±0.093 yr⁻¹, respectively. Absolute shoot mortality rate was scaled to shoot density (Pearson correlation, r=0.78, p<0.0001), and variability in specific shoot recruitment rate was partially due to differences in the percentage of growing apexes, which produce most of the recruits within the population (Pearson correlation, r=0.50, p<0.001), demonstrating the existence of structural constraints on shoot demography. Shoot half-life was estimated to range from 2.5 to 60.4 yr and meadow turnover times between 6.7 yr and more than a century, provided current estimates of shoot mortality, recruitment rates, and density remain uniform. There were differences in shoot mortality and recruitment at the regional scale, with the meadows developing along the coast of the Spanish mainland experiencing the highest shoot mortality (Tukey test, p<0.05) and tending to exhibit the highest shoot recruitment. The low shoot recruitment did not balance shoot mortality in most (60%) of the meadows, showing a prevalence of declining populations among the 25 meadows studied (Wilcoxon ranked sign test, p<0.0005). This study demonstrates the power of direct census of seagrass shoots in permanent plots to evaluate the present status of seagrass meadows, to detect on-going population decline, and to provide some insight onto the possible factors involved. The incorporation of direct census of seagrass meadows to monitoring programs will help provide the early-warning signals necessary to support management decisions to conserve seagrass meadows.     

Measurement and prediction of sediment production from unpaved roads,St John,US Virgin Islands

Excess delivery of land‐based sediments is an important control on the overall condition of nearshore coral reef ecosystems. Unpaved roads have been identified as a dominant sediment source on St John in the US Virgin Islands. An improved understanding of road sediment production rates is needed to guide future development and erosion control efforts. The main objectives of this study were to: (1) measure sediment production rates at the road segment scale; (2) evaluate the importance of precipitation, slope, contributing area, traffic, and grading on road sediment production; (3) develop an empirical road erosion predictive model; and (4) compare our measured erosion rates to other published data. Sediment production from 21 road segments was monitored with sediment traps from July 1998 to November 2001. The selected road segments had varying slopes, contributing areas, and traffic loads. Precipitation was measured by four recording rain gauges. Sediment production was related to total precipitation and road segment slope. After normalizing by precipitation and slope, the mean sediment production rate for roads that had been graded within the last two years was 0·96 kg m^?2 cm^?1 m m^?1 or approximately 11 kg m^?2 a^?1 for a typical road with a 10 per cent slope and an annual rainfall of 115 cm a^?1. The mean erosion rate for ungraded roads was 42 per cent lower, or 0·56 kg m^?2 cm^?1 m m^?1. The normalized mean sediment production rate for road segments that had been abandoned for over fifteen years was only about 10 per cent of the mean value for ungraded roads. Sediment production was not related to traffic loads. Multiple regression analysis led to the development of an empirical model based on precipitation, slope to the 1·5 power, and a categorical grading variable. The measured and predicted erosion rates indicate that roads are capable of increasing hillslope‐scale sediment production rates by up to four orders of magnitude relative to undisturbed conditions. The values from St John are at the high end of reported road erosion rates, a finding that is consistent with the high rainfall erosivities and steep slopes of many of the unpaved roads on St John. Other than paving, the most practical methods to reduce current erosion rates are to minimize the frequency of grading and improve road drainage. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Updating the Probabilistic Seismic Hazard Values of Northern Algeria with the 21 May 2003 <Emphasis Type="Italic">M</Emphasis> 6.8 Algiers Earthquake Included

The occurrence of the Algiers earthquake (M 6.8) of May 21, 2003, has motivated the necessity to reassess the probabilistic seismic hazard of northern Algeria. The fact that this destructive earthquake took place in an area where there was no evidence of previous significant earthquakes, neither instrumental nor historical, strongly encourages us to review the seismic hazard map of this region. Recently, the probabilistic seismic hazard of northern Algeria was computed using the spatially smoothed seismicity methodology. The catalog used in the previous computation was updated for this review, and not only includes information until June 2003, but also considers a recent re-evaluation of several historical earthquakes. In this paper, the same methodology and seismicity models are utilized in an effort to compare this methodology against an improved and updated seismic catalog. The largest mean peak ground acceleration (PGA) values are obtained in northernmost Algeria, specifically in the central area of the Tell Atlas. These values are of the order of 0.48 g for a return period of 475 years. In the City of Algiers, the capital of Algeria, and approximately 50 km from the reported epicenter of this latest destructive earthquake, a new mean PGA value of 0.23 g is obtained for the same return period. This value is 0.07 g greater than that obtained in the previous computation. In general, we receive greater seismic hazard results in the surrounding area of Algiers, especially to the southwest. The main reason is not this recent earthquake by itself, but the significant increase in the m_max magnitude in the seismic source where the city and the epicenter are included.     

A Pulsed Laser Photolysis-Resonance Fluorescence Kinetic Study of the Atmospheric Cl Atom-Initiated Oxidation of Propene and a Series of 3-Halopropenes at Room Temperature

Absolute rate coefficient measurements have been carried out for the reactions of Cl atoms with propene and a series of 3-halopropenes, at room temperature (298 ± 2) K using a newly constructed laser photolysis-resonance fluorescence (PLP-RF) system. The rate coefficients obtained (in units of cm³ molecule^–1 s^–1) are: propene (1.40± 0.24) ×10^–10, 3-fluoropropene (4.92 ± 0.42) ×10^–11, 3-chloropropene (7.47 ± 1.50) × 10^–11, 3-bromopropene (1.23± 0.14) ×10^–10 and 3-iodopropene (1.29± 0.15) ×10^–10. In order to test this new system, the reactions of Cl atoms with acetone and isoprene have also been studied and compared with data previously reported. The rate coefficients determined at room temperature for these last two reactions are (2.93 ± 0.20) ×10^–12 cm³ molecule^–1 s^{– 1} and (3.64± 0.20)×10^–10 cm³ molecule^–1 s^–1, respectively. The measured values were independent of pressure over the range 20–200 Torr. The influence of the different halogen atoms substituents on the reactivity of these alkenes with Cl atoms as well as the atmospheric implications of these measurements are studied and discussed for the first time in this work and compared with the reactivity with NO₃ and OH radicals.     

Seismic Vulnerability of Historical Constructions: A Contribution

Earthquakes are known to be natural hazards that have affected tremendously historical constructions. Unfortunately, as far as earthquake impacts are concerned, there are no world statistics to compare the suffering of populations or of the building stock and their evolution in time, with the damage inflicted to the stock of historical constructions. Lately, a great effort has been placed on engineering developments: (i) to better understand the seismic behaviour of historical construction and (ii) to assess the benefits of different techniques for reinforcing these structures. However, a great deal of discussion is still going on the type of reinforcement that should be applied, how effective it is and how much it costs. Research is needed for helping in these decisions, by providing a more precise framework in this field. The aim of this review is to make an overall insight on some of the available methods for assessing seismic vulnerability of historical constructions and on how to use them in the case of occurrence of an earthquake. Given this occurrence, the objective is to minimize the effects of aftershocks, avoid hurried demolition made under extreme pressure and help shore-up parts in risk of falling. The final aim is also to help in the definition of strategies for the repair of the damaged patrimony, or as a measure to prevent damage in future earthquakes for the most vulnerable cases. The paper is illustrated with the presentation of several examples published in the literature where the author participated. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Catastrophic floods as a possible cause of organic matter accumulation giving rise to coal, Paraná Basin, Brazil

Gondwana coals of the Rio Bonito Formation (Paraná Basin) in Southern Brazil have generally large ash yields, so they could be better called coaly siltstones than coal. In addition, hummocky cross stratification (HCS) was found in several coal beds of the Rio Bonito Formation throughout the basin. In this formation, the frequent and close relationship between facies involving rocks generated by subaqueous gravity flows (diamictites) and coal itself provides an excellent depositional model based on resedimentary processes acting during deposition, as well as a stratigraphic rearrangement of the present units.In the State of Rio Grande do Sul (southern part of Paraná Basin), coals are actually prodelta deposits related to delta-front diamictite and conglomeratic sandstone with sigmoidal bedding. Coal-forming organic sediments would come from trees plucked by the floods, as indicated by the wood logs floating in the diamictite, and reworking of previous peat accumulations. Every coal layer is covered generally by paleosoil siltstones, which represent colonization at the top of the catastrophic flood deposit, ending a sedimentary cycle.In case of Brazilian coal settings, several authors recognized deltas (fan deltas or braid deltas). Here is particularly considered the general environment as a salted interior sea (lago mare, Hsü et al. sense).The present study will refer to three important lithostratigraphic units in the Carboniferous–Early Triassic cycle: the Itararé Group, the Rio Bonito Formation, and the Palermo Formation.Although the preferential mode of occurrence of HCS in shallow marine environments indicates a genesis attributed to storm action, other causes, such as catastrophic flooding, have been advanced. Mutti et al. [Mem. Sci. Geol. 48 (1996) 233] described flood-dominated deltaic systems with thick conglomerate, sandstone, and pelitic deposits, derived from small- to medium-scale fluvial systems and mountain-bordered drainage basins adjacent to the sea. In such settings, seaward sediment flow can increase dramatically when weather conditions can supply water in such amounts to produce catastrophic floods. Thick and laterally extensive sandstone lobes with HCS are the fundamental depositional elements of fan deltas and other river-dominated delta systems.Diamictites and coal together could be a result from Jökullhlaups—an Icelandic term for glacial outburst flood—in case of catastrophic floods coming from a melting mountain glacier, similar to the Columbia River Valley Scablands (15,000 BP) and in modern Iceland examples.     

Evidence of direct particle trapping by a tropical seagrass meadow

The capacity of seagrass canopies to directly retain sestonic particles was tested by quantifying the rate at which suspended fluorescent tracer particles were retained within a tropical Philippine seagrass meadow and by examining whether the test particles lost from the water column were later bound to seagrass leaves or inside epibionts. The particle loss rates in the presence of seagrass canopies were up to 4 times higher than those in unvegetated and plankton controls. The seagrass canopies trapped particles with a maximum rate of 0.73 (±0.24) h^?1. As much as 5% of the particles trapped by the seagrass leaves were physically adhered to the leaf surfaces following rinsing. Particles were also observed to be ingested by protozoa (ciliates and amoeba-like organisms), residing on the surface of the leaves, and may be the dominant particle trapping mechanism by seagrass leaves. These processes should provide an efficient mechanism for the transfer of planktonic production to the benthos, adding to the high organic carbon input maintained by the high production of the seagrass themselves.