Tephrochronology and tephrostratigraphy of two Pleistocene continental fossiliferous successions from central Italy

The stratigraphical context of two Middle Pleistocene fossiliferous palaeosols from Central Italy (Abruzzo and Tuscany) have been studied. Small mammals and molluscs occur in both palaeosols, which are covered by tephra layers that were analysed using an interdisciplinary approach. Application of fission‐track dating to apatites separated from the Case Picconetto tephra (Pescara, Abruzzo), yielded an age of 0.48 ± 0.04 Ma, indistinguishable from those previously determined for the Campani Quarry (Lower Valdarno, Tuscany) (0.46 ± 0.05 Ma and 0.48 ± 0.05 Ma). Geochemical and petrographic investigations indicate that these tephra originated from different volcanoes, the Alban Hills Volcanic Complex and the Vico Volcano (Latium) respectively. Small mammal and mollusc assemblages indicate different palaeoclimatic and palaeoenvironmental conditions for the Case Picconetto and Campani Quarry palaeosols. Warm and humid conditions can be inferred for the Campani Quarry site, whereas open and cold conditions can be inferred for Case Picconetto. On the basis of faunal data, fission‐track dates and attribution of tephra to specific volcanic eruptions, we suggest a correlation of these faunas with marine oxygen isotope stage 14 (Case Picconetto) and with marine oxygen isotope stage 11 (Campani Quarry), respectively. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Rift-related Jurassic basaltic phreatomagmatic volcanism in the central Transantarctic Mountains: precursory stage to flood-basalt effusion

 The Middle Jurassic Kirkpatrick flood basalts and comagmatic Ferrar intrusions in the Transantarctic Mountains represent a major pulse of tholeiitic magmatism related to early stages in the breakup of Gondwana. A record of the volcano-tectonic events leading to formation of this continental flood-basalt province is provided by strata underlying and only slightly predating the Kirkpatrick lavas. In the central Transantarctic Mountains, the lavas rest on widespread (≥7500 km²) tholeiitic pyroclastic deposits of the Prebble Formation. The Prebble Formation is dominated by lahar deposits and is an unusual example of a regionally developed basaltic lahar field. Related, partly fault-controlled pyroclastic intrusions cut underlying strata, and vents are represented by the preserved flanks of two small tephra cones associated with a volcanic neck. Lahar and air-fall deposits typically contain 50–60% accidental lithic fragments and sand grains derived from underlying Triassic – Lower Jurassic strata in the upper part of the Beacon Supergroup. Juvenile basaltic ash and fine lapilli consist of nonvesicular to scoriaceous tachylite, sideromelane, and palagonite, and have characteristics indicating derivation from hydrovolcanic eruptions. The abundance of accidental debris from underlying Beacon strata points to explosive phreatomagmatic interaction of basaltic magma with wet sediment and groundwater, which appears to have occurred in particular where rising magma intersected upper Beacon sand aquifers. Composite clasts in the lahar deposits exhibit complex peperitic textures formed during fine-scale intermixing of basaltic magma with wet sand and record steps in subsurface fuel-coolant interactions leading to explosive eruption. The widespread, sustained phreatomagmatic activity is inferred to have occurred in a groundwater-rich topographic basin linked to an evolving Jurassic rift zone in the Transantarctic Mountains. Coeval basaltic phreatomagmatic deposits of the Mawson and Exposure Hill Formations, which underlie exposures of the Kirkpatrick Basalt up to 1500 km to the north along strike in Victoria Land, appear to represent other parts of a regional, extension-related Middle Jurassic phreatomagmatic province which developed immediately prior to rapid outpouring of the flood basalts. This is consistent with models which assign an important role to lithospheric stretching in the generation of flood-basalt provinces. Received: 28 August 1995 / Accepted: 18 April 1996     

康古尔塔格缝合带的变形机制

北天山东段康古尔塔格带是晚古生代塔里木板块和准噶尔板块碰撞的结果。它是一条复杂的、强烈的高应变带．并具有独特的变形机制、应变序列以及构造变形。本文运用构造－地层研究方法对该碰撞带的构造特征加以分析和研究。     

The middle pleistocene deposits of Waverley Wood Pit,Warwickshire, England

A complex of channels underlying the Baginton-Lillington Gravel (Baginton Formation) at Waverley Wood Quarry, Warwickshire is described. Fossil pollen and plant macrofossils, Coleoptera, Ostracoda, Mollusca and Mammalia are described from the channel-fill deposits. Consideration of all the evidence allows the identification of four separate stages of channel fill which largely occurred under a cool temperate climate. At the top of Channel 2 evidence for a cold, continental climatic episode can be recognised, suggesting that the whole complex was deposited under a fluctuating climate at the end of a temperate stage. At two levels in the channels human artefacts were recovered confirming the presence of Palaeolithic people in Warwickshire during the deposition of the sediments. Amino-acid geochronology suggests an age within the ‘Cromerian Complex’ Stage for the channels. The small vertebrate and molluscan faunas indicate that the deposits are no older than the latter part of the ‘Cromerian Complex’ Stage of East Anglia. The regional stratigraphic significance of the Waverley Wood succession is outlined.     

Middle Stone Age starch acquisition in the Niassa Rift, Mozambique

The quest for direct lines of evidence for Paleolithic plant consumption during the African Middle Stone Age has led scientists to study residues and use-wear on flaked stone tools. Past work has established lithic function through multiple lines of evidence and the spatial breakdown of use-wear and microscopic traces on tool surfaces. This paper focuses on the quantitative analysis of starch assemblages and the botanical identification of grains from flake and core tools to learn about human ecology of carbohydrate use around the Niassa woodlands, in the Mozambican Rift. The processing of starchy plant parts is deduced from the occurrence of starch assemblages that presumably got attached to stone tool surfaces by actions associated with extractive or culinary activities. Specifically, we investigate starch grains from stone tools recently excavated in northern Mozambique at the site of Mikuyu; which presumably spans the middle to late Pleistocene and represents similar sites found along the Malawi/Niassa corridor that links East, Southern, and Central Africa. Starch was extracted and processed with a diverse tool kit consisting of scrapers, cores, points, flakes, and other kinds of tools. The microbotanical data suggests consumption of seeds, legumes, caryopses, piths, underground storage organs, nuts, and mesocarps from more than a dozen families. Our data suggest a great antiquity for starch use in Africa as well as an expanded diet and intensification.     

Biostratigraphic and isotopic record of the Cenomanian–Turonian deposits in the Ohaba-Ponor section (SW Haţeg, Romania)

The middle Cenomanian–lower Turonian deposits of Ohaba-Ponor section (Southern Carpathians) were studied from biostratigraphic and isotopic points of view. Both the qualitative and semiquantitative nannofloral analyses, as well as the stable isotope (δ¹³C and δ¹⁸O) data support significant palaeoenvironmental changes in the investigated interval. Two δ¹³C positive excursions were recognized: (1) an excursion up to 1.8‰ (PDB) within the middle/late Cenomanian boundary; (2) an excursion up to 2.2‰ (PDB) in the Cenomanian/Turonian boundary interval. The oldest δ¹³C positive excursion recorded (placed within the Acanthoceras jukes-brownei/Eucalycoceras pentagonum Ammonite Zone boundary interval, and in the NC11 Calcareous Nannofossil Zone respectively) could be assigned to the middle Cenomanian Event II (MCEII). During the above-mentioned event, significant increase in abundance of Watznaueria barnesae, followed by successive blooms of Biscutum constans and Eprolithus floralis, were observed. The youngest δ¹³C positive excursion was identified in the Cenomanian/Turonian boundary interval (in the NC12 and lower part of the NC13 Calcareous Nannofossil Zones). Even the amplitude of this δ¹³C positive excursion is lower in the Ohaba-Ponor section, as generally reported, this may represent the regional record of the OAE2. The successive peaks of the nannofossils Biscutum constans, Zeugrhabdotus erectus and Eprolithus floralis indicate episodes of cooler surface water and high fertility, which preceded and lasted the Cenomanian/Turonian boundary event. Additionally, fluctuations of δ¹⁸O values between −2 and −6‰ suggest also cooler conditions within the Cenomanian/Turonian boundary interval.     

西天山达巴特火山岩的形成环境及对斑岩型矿化的制约

本文通过对西天山地区比较典型的达巴特斑岩铜钼矿床矿区范围内出露上的英安岩和花岗斑岩进行了系统的岩石地球化学分析,对英安岩和流纹斑岩中的锆石进行了SHRIMP U-Pb定年研究,分别获得了315.9±5.9Ma和278.7±5.7Ma。岩石化学、微量以及稀土元素特征表明从英安岩到花岗斑岩,岩体具有明显的分异演化特征和很好的继承性。火山岩和次火山岩的精确定年为准确厘定火山岩形成的时限和地球动力学背景提供了依据。结合已有的Re-Os法获得的矿化年龄,表明晚石炭世末-早二叠世初（278.7±5.7Ma）,西天山地区进入板块碰撞-板内伸展阶段,由于板内幔根的部分熔化,造成深源斑岩岩浆侵位,在达巴特矿区形成了由花岗斑岩、流纹斑岩和流纹质凝灰熔岩组成的椭圆形火山机构,并导致相关矿床的形成。     

Timing of UHP metamorphism in the Hong’an area,western Dabie Mountains,China: evidence from zircon U–Pb age,trace element and Hf isotope composition

The Hong’an area (western Dabie Mountains) is the westernmost terrane in the Qinling-Dabie-Sulu orogen that preserves UHP eclogites. The ages of the UHP metamorphism have not been well constrained, and thus hinder our understanding of the tectonic evolution of this area. LA-ICPMS U–Pb age, trace element and Hf isotope compositions of zircons of a granitic gneiss and an eclogite from the Xinxian UHP unit in the Hong’an area were analyzed to constrain the age of the UHP metamorphism. Most zircons are unzoned or show sector zoning. They have low trace element concentrations, without significant negative Eu anomalies. These metamorphic zircons can be further subdivided into two groups according to their U–Pb ages, and trace element and Lu–Hf isotope compositions. One group with an average age of 239 ± 2 Ma show relatively high and variable HREE contents (527 ≥ Lu_N ≥ 14) and ¹⁷⁶Lu/¹⁷⁷Hf ratios (0.00008–0.000931), indicating their growth prior to a great deal of garnet growth in the late stage of continental subduction. The other group yields an average age of 227 ± 2 Ma, and shows consistent low HREE contents and ¹⁷⁶Lu/¹⁷⁷Hf ratios, suggesting their growth with concurrent garnet crystallization and/or recrystallization. These two groups of age are taken as recording the time of prograde HP to UHP and retrograde UHP–HP stages, respectively. A few cores have high Th/U ratios, high trace element contents, and a clear negative Eu anomaly. These features support a magmatic origin of these zircon cores. The upper intercept ages of 771 ± 86 and 752 ± 70 Ma for the granitic gneiss and eclogite, respectively, indicate that their protoliths probably formed as a bimodal suite in rifting zones in the northern margin of the Yangtze Block. Young Hf model ages (T _DM1) of magmatic cores indicate juvenile (mantle-derived) materials were involved in their protolith formation. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

A transdisciplinary analysis of water problems in the mountainous karst areas of Morocco

Water management and engineering in the karstic High Atlas of Morocco are difficult tasks under the prevailing geological, hydrogeological, geomorphological, vegetational and climatic conditions. It is important to be able to understand and predict the characteristics and availability of water for future water planning in the region under changing climatic and agricultural conditions. An interdisciplinary analysis of problems and adequate hydrological modelling tools developed by geologists, hydrologists and biologists are necessary. The karst areas of the High Atlas Mountains are characterised by impermeable triassic basalt underlying substantial subsurface reservoirs with high potential discharge rates. The karst groundwater aquifers are extensive but largely unknown in dimension, probably with a hierarchical network of groundwater flow paths. It is estimated that approximately 70% of the surface water is directly lost to groundwater. Steep landslide- and debris flow prone slopes exist next to coarse-grained, highly porous river beds. Infrequent, high intensity rainfall or snowmelt causes a particularly high flood risk to these karst areas. In addition, agriculture and land use changes have degraded the karst areas. The most important driving forces for degradation include permanent overgrazing even during droughts and the use of firewood by a continually growing population. Large scale degradation of vegetation has occurred in the oro-mediterranean (mountainous Mediterranean) zone, between 2600 and 3400 m which coincides with the most important zone for karstic groundwater creation. The combination of high amounts of groundwater flow and rapid surface flow due to sparse vegetation has increased the problems of flood flow.