The impact of vegetation on REE fractionation in stream waters of a small forested catchment (the Strengbach case)

Previous studies on waters of a streamlet in the Vosges Mountains (Eastern France) have shown that strontium and rare earth elements (REE) mainly originate from preferential dissolution of apatite during weathering. However, stream water REE patterns normalized to apatite are still depleted in the light REE (LREE, La-Sm) pointing to the presence of an additional LREE depleting process. Vegetation samples are strongly enriched in LREE compared to stream water and their Sr and Nd isotopic compositions are comparable with those of apatite and stream water. Thus, the preferential LREE uptake by vegetation might lead to an additional LREE depletion of surface runoff in the forested catchment. Mass balance calculations indicate, that the yearly LREE uptake by vegetation is comparable with the LREE export by the streamlet and, therefore, might be an important factor controlling LREE depletion in river water. This is underlined by the observation that rivers from arctic and boreal regions with sparse vegetation appear to be less depleted in LREE than rivers from tropical environments or boreal environments with a dense vegetation cover.     

Lake Neor reveals how mountain vegetation responded to 7000 years of hydroclimate variability in northwestern Iran

Palynological and geochemical analyses provide valuable information about modern and past climatic regimes and vegetation. The impact of climate and humans on past vegetation in the semi-arid areas of northwestern Iran has received increased interest in the wake of warming temperatures in the Middle East. Palynological and down-core XRF elemental abundances from a peat core from Lake Neor enabled a reconstruction of vegetational changes of the past 7000 years over the highlands of northwestern Iran. Periods of increased arboreal pollen (AP) types and high (Artemisia + Poaceae)/Chenopodiaceae ratios along with low titanium abundances, high percentages of total organic carbon, more negative δD values, and higher carbon accumulation rates suggest a relatively wet climate. These conditions have persisted during the periods 6700–6200, 5200–4450 and 3200–2200 cal a bp. The overall low AP values, substantial rise of Chenopodiaceae, high Ti abundances and low values of palaeo-redox proxies, are all evidences of a drier climate, as has been reconstructed for the periods 6200–5200 and 4030–3150 cal a bp and the last 2200 years. An important feature of the last centuries is the increase of anthropogenic and pastoral indicator pollen types. Our results may provide basic data to predict future trends in vegetation dynamics under future climate change in western Asia.     

A diverse Pleistocene marsupial trackway assemblage from the Victorian Volcanic Plains,Australia

A diverse assemblage of late Pleistocene marsupial trackways on a lake bed in south-western Victoria provides the first information relating to the gaits and morphology of several megafaunal species, and represents the most speciose and best preserved megafaunal footprint site in Australia. The 60–110 ka volcaniclastic lacustrine sedimentary rocks preserve trackways of the diprotodontid Diprotodon optatum, a macropodid (probably Protemnodon sp.) and a large vombatid (perhaps Ramsayia magna or ‘Phascolomys’ medius) and possible prints of the marsupial lion, Thylacoleo carnifex. The footprints were imprinted within a short time period, demonstrating the association of the taxa present, rather than the time-averaged accumulations usually observed in skeletal fossil deposits. Individual manus and pes prints are distinguishable in some trackways, and in many cases some digital pad morphology is also present. Several parameters traditionally used to differentiate ichnotaxa, including trackway gauge and the degree of print in-turning relative to the midline, are shown to be subject to significant intraspecific variation in marsupials. Sexual dimorphism in the trackway proportions of Diprotodon, and its potential for occurrence in all large bodied, quadrupedal marsupials, is identified here for the first time.     

Contribution à la surveillance de l'activité de l'Etna à partir de l'étude des zones fumerolliennes

Resume La convection de la vapeur d'eau formée en profondeur dans une zone fumerollienne crée en surface une anomalie hydrique, thermique et électrique, cette dernière pouvant être la plus sensible à une variation de l'activité thermique profonde. L'amplitude des anomalies dépend de la position du site par rapport à la configuration de l'activité magmatique, mais aussi des conditions hydrogéologiques locales. La surveillance spatiale et temporelle des éruptions à partir du phénomène convectif hydrique doit tenir compte de ces conditions.

---

The water steam convection existing below a fumarolic area creates hydraulic, thermal and electric anomalies, the electric anomaly being probably the most correlated to a change of the deep thermal activity. The anomaly range depends on the position of the site connected with the configuration of the magmatic activity, but also on the local hydrogeologic conditions. The spatial and temporal surveillance of the eruptions based on these convective data should take into consideration these conditions.

     

Oceanic area's influence on the range of multi-annual variations of the earth's magnetic field in France

The pluri-annual variations of the earth's magnetic field in France increase their range of influence from East to West. This leads to presume a discontinuity of electric conductivities at the transition from the continental to the oceanic area.     

The challenge of dating early pleistocene fossil teeth by the combined uranium series–electron spin resonance method: the Venta Micena palaeontological site (Orce,Spain)

The palaeontological site of Venta Micena (Orce, Andalusia, Spain) lies in the eastern sector of the Guadix–Baza basin, one of the best documented areas in Europe for Plio‐Pleistocene biostratigraphy. The combination of biochronological and palaeomagnetic results, combined with the radiometric data obtained for Atapuerca Sima del Elefante, indicated that the Venta Micena stratum was formed between the Jaramillo and Olduvai palaeomagnetic events, most likely between 1.22 and 1.77 Ma. Five fossil teeth from two outcrops (sites A and B) were selected to assess the potential of combined uranium series–electron spin resonance (US‐ESR) dating of Early Pleistocene sites. Although the US‐ESR results of the first outcrop showed a large scatter between the three teeth, the mean age of 1.37 ± 0.24 Ma can be considered a reasonable age estimate for Venta Micena. The mean ESR age of 0.62 ± 0.03 Ma obtained for site B seems to be a severe underestimation when compared with the independent age control. This underestimation is attributed to a relative recent U‐mobilization event that led to some U‐leaching. The results show that any ESR age calculations of old samples are extremely sensitive to variations in the measured ²³⁰Th/²³⁴U ratios in dental tissues. Although the results demonstrate that ESR can in principle be applied to Early Pleistocene sites, they also reveal the complexity of dating such old teeth. It is necessary to continue research in several directions, such as study of the behaviour of ESR signals in old teeth and understanding recent U‐mobilization processes, to improve the reliability of the combined US‐ESR dating method applied to Early Pleistocene times, a period for which the number of available numerical dating techniques is very limited. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.