A New Genus and Species of Rhynchonellid (Brachiopoda, Recent) from Submarine Caves in the Mediterranean Sea

Abstract. A new rhynchonellid brachiopod genus Tethyrhynchia , with type species Tethyrhynchia mediterranea n. sp., is described from specimens discovered in dark zones of submarine caves along the Mediterranean coast of France between Marseille and La Ciotat, and also at Zembra Island, off the Gulf of Tunis, Tunisia. Other brachiopods occurring with this diminutive rhynchonellid are also small and include the megathyridids Argyrotheca cistellula and Megathiris detruncata . This is the first recorded occurrence of a rhynchonellid from the Mediterranean Sea. The new form is apparently neotenous, in that the lophophore in adults never develops beyond the trocholophous stage. A new type of rhynchonellid crus, crescentic in profile and here named the lunifer type, is described. The new genus is assigned to the new family Tethyrhynchiidae , and comparisons are made with other extant rhynchonellid genera.     

旅游溶洞内氡污染和从业人员的辐射防护

在我国南方许多已辟为旅游景区(点)的溶洞中,氡及其子体浓度严重偏高,有的甚至超过放射性矿区坑道作业面上最大容许浓度,危害旅游从业人员和游客的健康,应引起有关部门的重视。     

Occurrence of hypogenic caves in a karst region: Examples from central Italy

The caves of the Umbria and Marche regions in central Italy are made up of three-dimensional maze systems that display different general morphologies due to the various geological and structural contexts. At the same time, the internal morphologies of the passages, galleries, and shafts present some similarity, with solutional galleries characterized by cupolas and blind pits, anastamotic passages, roof pendants, and phreatic passages situated at different levels. Some of these caves are still active, as is the case for Frassassi Gorge, Parrano Gorge, and Acquasanta Terme, with galleries that reach the phreatic zone, where there is a rising of highly mineralized water, rich in hydrosulfydric acid, and with erosion of limestone walls and the formation of gypsum. Elsewhere there are fossil caves, such as Monte Cucco and Pozzi della Piana, where large speleothems of gypsum are present 500 m or more above the regional water table. In all of these important karst systems it is possible to recognize basal input points through fracture and intergranular porosity networks at the base of the oxidizing zone in the core of the anticline, where mineralized water rises up from the Triassic evaporitic layers in small hydrogeological circuits. Different underground morphologies can derive from the presence of a water table related to an external stream or from the confined setting of the carbonate rocks, underlying low permeable sedimentary cover, where artesian conditions can occur.     

彭县塘坝子—葛仙山景点石灰岩溶洞景观及旅游资源开发前景

塘坝子-葛仙山景点,地处举世瞩目的龙门山推覆-滑覆构造带上,已成为拟建中的“龙门山地质公园”的重要组成部分。其独特的石灰岩岩溶地貌和溶洞景观,是成都旅游区和彭县景区内宝贵的旅游景观配套资源,除旅游开发价值较高外,亦是离成都市区较近较理想的人防各战疏散基地,因而具有一定的资源综合开发潜力。对该景点的尽早开发,还可缓解邻区旅游热点的人满之患。     

Middle-Late Pleistocene polycyclic evolution of a stable coastal area (southern Apulia, Italy)

The Otranto–Leuca coastal tract is marked by the presence of numerous sea caves placed close to present sea level. They are located generally at the back of a shore platform covered by a sequence of breccia deposits, marine sediments and speleothems. At Grotta di Masseria dell'Orte, marine cemented sands rest on a narrow shore platform at about 6.2 m above mean sea level and are covered by speleothems older than 185 ka. At Grotta del Diavolo, which is mostly filled by breccia deposits, three beach levels have been detected at about 3.0, 3.5 and 5.9 m above msl. They are either covered by or overlie speleothems that yield an U/Th age of 340, 78 ka and between 170.3 and 146.5, respectively. Geomorphological evidence and radiometric ages indicate that the area after a period of uplift has been tectonically stable since the last part of the Middle Pleistocene so that marine landforms close to the present shoreline underwent a polycyclic evolution. The sedimentary fills of sea caves formed during Middle-Late Pleistocene glacial stages, when arid or semiarid conditions promoted the removal of regolith and the development of thick breccia deposits. During Marine Isotope Stages (MIS) 9.3, 5.5 and 5.1, cave sediments were partially eroded whereas beach layers and related speleothems developed. These are, in fact, the only marine isotope stages marked by a sea level position which in this Mediterranean region was either close to, or slightly higher than, the present one.     

The largest karst cave discovered in a tunnel during motorway construction in Slovenia’s Classical Karst (Kras)

Karst researchers of the Karst Research Institute ZRC SAZU are regularly consulted during the planning of Slovenia’s motorways and invited to observe and monitor construction in the karst areas. More than 350 caves have been discovered in the course of building 60 km of new motorways over the past decade. Access to the most important caves is preserved by concrete tubes closed with metal covers at the roadside. The largest cave system in a tunnel, named LC-S647, is almost entirely preserved. The protection of this cave will serve as a good example for the preservation of natural heritage in the future. Construction work for the motorway uncovered a high degree of karstification. In particular, the discovery of this cave in the Kastelec tunnel LC-S647 showed the existence of a major cave system in the geological and speleological past. A number of unconnected passages have also been found. Caves discovered during highway construction have brought new knowledge about the cavernosity and the geological history of this part of the karst.     

People and large carnivores as biostratinomic agents in Lateglacial cave assemblages

Biostratinomic analysis (processes acting between death and burial) of Lateglacial mammal bone assemblages from three caves in northern England demonstrates the value of re‐examining archived assemblages. With AMS radiocarbon dating of key specimens, these assemblages shed light on the ecology of a region at the northern limit of Lateglacial human activity in Britain. During the Lateglacial Interstadial bears, wolves and humans expanded into the region, bears by around 12 500 ¹⁴C yr BP, and the earliest evidence for human presence is around 12 300 ¹⁴C yr BP. At Victoria Cave, wolf activity included predation and scavenging of large ungulates and scavenging bear carcasses apparently resulting from hibernation deaths. The scavenging of bear carcasses is possibly confined to the first part of the Lateglacial Interstadial, whereas evidence for wolf scavenging large ungulates increases later in the Interstadial, after about 11 800 ¹⁴C yr BP, perhaps reflecting changes in the productivity of the Lateglacial ecosystem, and in human subsistence patterns. The assemblage from Sewell's Cave is wolf den debris from the very end of the Lateglacial Interstadial around 10 800 ¹⁴C yr BP, whilst that from Kinsey Cave is dominated by large‐bodied carnivores, and is argued to have a quite different taphonomic history. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

模糊评判法在公路黄土洞穴发育程度分区中的应用

阐述了影响黄土洞穴形成的黄土湿陷性、崩解性、地质构造、节理裂隙、微地形地貌和水文及气候条件等工程地质特性和地质因素;在公路沿线地区,公路工程质量及人类活动也是黄土洞穴形成的影响因素。洞穴发育程度分区预测和评价极具复杂性、随机性和模糊性,为此,在对各影响因素分析的基础上,借助模糊综合评判法,对黄土区公路沿线洞穴发育程度分区进行了研究。与实际情况对比分析表明,预测评价结果合理可靠,可作为黄土区已建公路洞穴灾害的防治依据。     

山东省东平县大洪顶山地区岩溶洞穴景观资源评价

东平县大洪顶山岩溶地貌类型属岩溶山地地貌单元,山坡顶部及陡峭坡段岩石裸露,岩溶裂隙发育,岩体切割破碎,边坡陡立。区内岩溶洞穴发育,岩溶景观资源众多。目前已发现的溶洞有6处,大洪顶山南坡3处,北坡3处,溶洞口出露位置呈NWW向展布,北部九仙洞已探测长度1 862 m,南部神仙洞已探测长度2 052.50 m,溶洞内岩溶景观发育不均匀,发育有石笋、石钟乳、石幔、石帽、边石等。区内岩溶洞穴发育规模宏大,景观资源丰富,属鲁西地区发育规模最大的溶洞,在北方地区具代表性、典型性、稀有性,属我国北方地区不可多得的地质自然遗产,具有良好的开发前景及旅游价值。