Semi-Classical Cosmological Models with Scalar, Dirac and Electromagnetic Fields

Exact solutions of the semi-classical Einstein equations for conformally invariant free quantum fields in an homogeneous and isotropic space-time, with cosmological constant and containing a classical scalar field, dust matter, an unquantised Dirac field and electromagnetic radiation are found. The initial behaviour of the semiclassical models is investigated. Some of the solutions found avoid the singularity and do not have particle horizons. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Vertical Distribution of Meiobenthos in Bathyal Sediments of the Eastern Mediterranean Sea: Relationship with Labile Organic Matter and Bacterial Biomasses

Abstract. Quantitative information on the vertical distribution of meiofaunal abundances and biomass were obtained from samples collected at 3 bathyal stations in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea located at the same depth but characterized by different food supply. Vertical distribution patterns of nieiofauna were investigated in relation to the biochemical composition of the sediment organic matter (proteins, carbohydrates, and lipids) and compared to benthic bacterial standing stocks. No significant relationship between bacteria and meiofauna was found, whereas a significant relationship between protein and lipid concentrations and total meiofauna density was observed. These data suggest that labile organic matter. considered as material readily aVdihbk to benthic consumers, may be an important factor regulating meiofaunal abundance and vertical distribution in deep-sea sediments.     

Morphology of the Itapeva to Tramandai transgressive dunefield barrier system and mid‐ to late Holocene sea level change

The surface morphology of the transgressive dunefield barrier extending from Itapeva to Tramandai along the northern littoral of Rio Grande do Sul, is examined and an attempt is presented to link morphological changes across the barrier to Holocene sea level changes. The 4·5 km wide Holocene barrier displays two typical morphologies: an inner part dominated by large‐scale, continuous alongshore, overlapping dunefield phases comprising sand sheets, dunes, deflation plains and precipitation ridges; and an outer part dominated by discontinuous, medium‐ to small‐scale, triangular to lobate transgressive dunefield phases, cut by both active and relict (palaeo‐) creeks or washouts. Holocene sea level in the region rose to c. +1 to +3 m above present reaching a maximum around 5100 years bp and then progressively fell to the present level. We argue that the effect on barrier development was to suppress the development of a drainage system during the rising and maximum stages, and encourage the development of an organized drainage system in the form of regularly spaced washouts during the falling period, and that this change in sea level from rising to falling therefore produced the large‐scale differences in barrier morphology. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Bacterial response to seasonal changes in labile organic matter composition on the continental shelf and bathyal sediments of the Cretan Sea

Bacterial abundance, biomass and cell size were studied in the oligotrophic sediments of the Cretan Sea (Eastern Mediterranean), in order to investigate their response to the seasonal varying organic matter (OM) inputs. Sediment samples were collected on a seasonal basis along a transect of seven stations (ranging from 40 to 1570 m depth) using a multiple-corer. Bacterial parameters were related to changes in chloroplastic pigment equivalents (CPE), the biochemical composition (proteins, lipids, carbohydrates) of the sedimentary organic matter and the OM flux measured at a fixed station over the deep basin (1570 m depth). The sediments of the Cretan Sea represent a nutrient depleted ecosystem characterised by a poor quality organic matter. All sedimentary organic compounds were found to vary seasonally, and changes were more evident on the continental shelf than in deeper sediments. Bacterial abundance and biomass in the sediments of the Cretan Sea (ranging from 1.02 to 4.59 × 10⁸ cells g⁻¹ equivalent to 8.7 and 38.7 μgC g⁻¹) were quite high and their distribution appeared to be closely related to the input of fresh organic material. Bacterial abundance and biomass were sensitive to changes in nutrient availability, which also controls the average cell size and the frequency of dividing cells. Bacterial abundance increased up to 3-fold between August '94 and February '95 in response to the increased amount of sedimentary proteins and CPE, indicating that benthic bacteria were constrained more by changes in quality rather than the quantity of the sedimentary organic material. Bacterial responses to the food inputs were clearly detectable down to 10 cm depth. The distribution of labile organic compounds in the sediments appeared to influence the vertical patterns of bacterial abundance and biomass. Cell size decreased significantly with water depth. Bacterial abundance and biomass were characterised by clear seasonal changes in response to seasonal OM pulses. The strong coupling between protein flux and bacterial biomass together with the strong bacterial dominance over the total biomass suggest that the major part of the carbon flow was channelled through the bacteria and the benthic microbial loop.     

Meiofauna of the deep Eastern Mediterranean Sea: distribution and abundance in relation to bacterial biomass, organic matter composition and other environmental factors

Quantitative information on the abundance and biomass of metazoan meiofauna was obtained from samples collected at 15 deep-sea stations in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea (533–2400m). Meiofaunal abundance was compared to bacterial biomass and other environmental factors such as the total sedimentary organic matter content, the concentrations of the main biochemical classes of organic compounds (i.e. proteins, carbohydrates and lipids) and to ATP. To estimate the sedimentation potential of primary organic matter, sediment bound chloroplastic pigment equivalents (CPE) were assayed. Meiofaunal density was very low ranging from 4 ind.10cm⁻² (Station A4, 1658m depth) to 290 ind.10cm⁻² (Station A12, 636m depth). Nematodes were the numerically dominant taxon (68% of total meiofauna) and were usually confined to the top 6cm of the sediments. Total meiofaunal biomass ranged from 2.78μgC 10cm⁻² (Station A4) to 598.34μgC 10cm⁻² (Station 15A). There was a significant decrease in the density of metazoan meiofauna with water depth. Bacterial biomass largely dominated the total biomass (as the sum of bacterial and meiofaunal biomass) with an average of 73.2% and accounted for 35.8% of the living biomass (as ATP carbon) whereas meiofaunal biomass accounted only for 6.56%. Bacterial biomass was significantly related to the DNA concentrations of the sediment. A significant correlation between ATP concentration and CPE content was also found. No correlations were found between meiofauna, ATP and CPE, or between meiofauna and bacterial parameters. The significant relationship between meiofaunal density and the ratio of labile organic matter/total organic matter indicates that deep-sea meiofauna inhabiting an extremely oligotrophic environment (such as the Eastern Mediterranean) may be more nutritionally dependent upon the quality than on the quantity of sedimentary organic matter.     

The Temporal Climatic Variability in the ‘Río De La Plata’ Basin Displayed by the River Discharges

Streamflows have a direct dependence on precipitation and these are directly linked to the climate. Then, in this paper the temporal climatic variability in the Río de la Plata Basin is analysed through the changes in the river's discharges. These are the reflection of the climatic inputs areally integrated, and in consequence, contain more information on climate variability than that provided by the scarce punctual records of precipitation and temperature. The time series of streamflows correspond to monthly and annual means in stations selected in the basin for the period 1931–1992. However, in the present paper, the period 1901–1992 was considered in all cases whenever possible. The following changes and tendencies in the flow series were detected: 1. An important change of tendency between 1970 and 1972, and another not so significant before that date were detected in 1917–1918 and 1943–1944. 2. The jumps in the means in several sub-periods were detected using different methods. They showed jumps mainly in the period 1970–1972 in the annual streamflows series. The jumps in the annual streamflow series consist of an abrupt change in climatic variables affecting temporarily the averages of such variables during a certain period of time (years). The results are consistent with the conclusions obtained by other authors for the same region, both in precipitation and in the general circulation of the atmosphere. Keeping in mind this analysis of the series of streamflows, indicators of normal variability of tendencies relative to natural regional causes were detected, although the local causes were not anthropogenically analysed, and so no other manifestations of randomless in the zone of the Basin under study because of the lacking of data.     

Seasonal changes and biochemical composition of the labile organic matter flux in the Cretan Sea

Downward fluxes of labile organic matter (lipids, proteins and carbohydrates) at 200 (trap A) and 1515 m depth (trap B), measured during a 12 months sediment trap experiment, are presented, together with estimates of the bacterial and cyanobacterial biomasses associated to the particles. The biochemical composition of the settling particles was determined in order to provide qualitative and quantitative information on the flux of readily available organic carbon supplying the deep-sea benthic communities of the Cretan Sea. Total mass flux and labile carbon fluxes were characterised by a clear seasonality. Higher labile organic fluxes were reported in trap B, indicating the presence of resuspended particles coming from lateral inputs. Particulate carbohydrates were the major component of the flux of labile compounds (on annual average about 66% of the total labile organic flux) followed by lipids (20%) and proteins (13%). The biopolymeric carbon flux was very low (on annual average 0.9 and 1.2 gC m⁻² y⁻¹, at trap A and B). Labile carbon accounted for most of the OC flux (on annual average 84% and 74% in trap A and B respectively). In trap A, highest carbohydrate and protein fluxes in April and September, corresponded to high faecal pellet fluxes. The qualitative composition of the organic fluxes indicated a strong protein depletion in trap B and a decrease of the bioavailability of the settling particles as a result of a higher degree of dilution with inorganic material. Quantity and quality of the food supply to the benthos displayed different temporal patterns. Bacterial biomass in the sediment traps (on average 122 and 229 μgC m⁻² d⁻¹ in trap A and B, respectively) was significantly correlated to the flux of labile organic carbon, and particularly to the protein and carbohydrate fluxes. Cyanobacterial flux (on average, 1.1 and 0.4 μgC m⁻² d⁻¹, in trap A and B, respectively) was significantly correlated with total mass and protein fluxes only in trap A. Bacterial carbon flux, equivalent to 84.2 and 156 mgC m⁻² y⁻¹, accounted for 5–6.5% of the labile carbon flux (in trap A and B respectively) and for 22–41% protein pool of the settling particles. These results suggest that in the Cretan Sea, bacteria attached to the settling particles represent a potential food source of primary importance for deep-sea benthic communities.     

The nautiloid Family Eothinoceratidae from the Floian of the Central Andean Basin (NW Argentina and South Bolivia)

A single confidently dated species of cephalopod is so far known in the Tremadocian of the southern Central Andean Basin (NW Argentina and southern Bolivia). This species belongs to the Eothinoceratidae and has a strong affinity mainly with Avalonia. During the Floian, a notable increase in diversity took place, with the appearance of a variety of families represented by several genera, in particular, within the Family Eothinoceratidae. In addition to the previously described species from southern Bolivia, we evaluate the other records of that family from the Central Andean Basin, and propose the following new taxa: Saloceras sikus sp. nov., Saloceras quena sp. nov., Mutveiceras gen. nov., and Mutveiceras cienagaensis sp. nov. We also describe Margaritoceras diploide, Margaritoceras sp., and Mutveiceras sp. From a palaeogeographic perspective, the cephalopod fauna shows affinities mainly with those of England, Wales, and the Montagne Noire (cold water Gondwana and peri‐Gondwana). As with other cephalopod faunas of mid to high palaeolatitudes, eothinoceratids occur along with other cephalopods forming assemblages of low morphological diversity. We interpret the forms described here as demersal with a subvertical poise, but capable of making rapid buoyancy changes, living in a wide spectrum of shallow offshore to shoreface settings. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Self-consistent solutions of the semi-classical back-reaction equations with cosmological constant spatial curvature and perfect fluid

Exact solutions of the semi-classical Einstein equations with cosmological constant for conformally invariant free quantum fields in a general Robertson-Walker metric are found when a classical perfect fluid is present. There exist a one-parameter family of time-symmetric bouncing solutions that avoid the singularity and a one-parameter family which does not have particles horizons. The de Sitter solution is found to be stable, while the Einstein universe is unstable.     

K–Ar dating of authigenic minerals in siliciclastic sequences: an example from the south Sanfranciscana Basin (Western Minas Gerais,Brazil)

K–Ar dating was applied on authigenic potassic minerals which are abundant in sandstones from the south of the Sanfranciscana Basin, Western Minas Gerais State, central Brazil. The Quintinos Member fluvial sandstones (Três Barras Formation, Areado Group) contain significant amounts of authigenic K‐feldspar as microcrystals of adularia and sanidine habits. The ages of these microcrystals cluster into three groups: 106.1 ± 2.2, 89.9 ± 1.9 and 88.8 ± 1.8 Ma (from Albian to Coniacian). The older age of 106.1 ± 2.2 Ma was obtained from the coarse fraction analysed (10–20 µm) that can contain a mixture of detrital potassic minerals (K‐feldspar, muscovite, biotite and illite) and different authigenesis of K‐feldspar (overgrowths and microcrystals). Thus, only the younger ages were interpreted as precipitation of K‐feldspar microcrystals during the Late Cretaceous into the Quintinos Member sandstones. Moreover, these ages can document the formation of microcrystals within a few million years after deposition of the sandstones. The ages of authigenic illite from the Capacete Formation epiclastic sandstones (Mata da Corda Group) range from 88.5 ± 1.9 to 71.5 ± 1.9 Ma (Coniacian–Campanian). These results suggest the timing of the illitization event in these sandstones as well as a synchrony with K‐feldspar authigenesis in the Quintinos Member sandstones. These results are well constrained and are in agreement with stratigraphic, biostratigraphic and radiometric ages previously reported for the Sanfranciscana Basin. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.