Volume 4, Issue 3

This study of Durance River terrace morphologies in the lower 200 km of the valley shows that terrace ages, elevations and heights above the river generally all increase upstream. It is based on extensive fieldwork checked against geological maps and memoirs. Subdivision of the valley, based on gorges and former tectonic blockages, is relevant because there are no Durance terraces downstream of Mallemort and there are considerable differences between each reach. For most of the Pleistocene, the river was diverted through the Crau Plains to the sea. Below the Mirabeau gorge, there are a few narrow low and middle terraces. The best terrace development is between Mirabeau and the Sisteron defile. Upstream of that barrier there is glacial dominance. Changes in terrace continuity are illustrated by means of height-range diagrams and their rates of dissection have been quantified approximately, based on cosmic ray exposure age modelling. Climate forcing cannot explain all the changes found. The influence of tectonic activity was found to increase in an upstream direction and also with age on the southwestern flanks of the Alps.

Earth surface processes and landforms are modified through the actions of many microorganisms, plants and animals. As organism-driven landform modifications are sometimes to the advantage of the organism, some of these landform features have become adaptive functional components of ecosystems, concurrently affecting and responding to ecological and evolutionary processes. These recent eco-evolutionary insights, focused on feedback among geomorphologic, ecological and evolutionary processes, are currently leading to the emergence of what has been called an ‘evolutionary geomorphology’, with explicit consideration of feedbacks among the evolution of organisms, ecosystem structure and function and landform organization at the Earth surface. Here we provide an overview in the form of a commentary of this emerging sub-discipline in geosciences and ask whether the use of the term ‘evolutionary geomorphology’ is appropriate or rather misleading.

High soot contents have been reported in Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary (KPB) clays worldwide. One of the interpretations suggests this material comes from combustion of fossil fuels such as crude oil, coal or oil shales near the Chicxulub impact site. Combustion was triggered by the KPB impactor. In this Note, I show that the estimated mass of crude oil (or fossil hydrocarbons in general) burned (ca. 1017–1019 g), based on the average amount of soot (0.0022–0.012 g cm−2) or elemental carbon (0.011 g cm−2) found at the marine KPB sites, contradicts the fossil hydrocarbons hypothesis.

In this study, specific development of empirical models for estimation of laboratory thermal conductivities from wire line log thermal conductivity within the ambience of locally oriented wells located in the Niger Delta have been established. The laboratory thermal conductivity is characterised with high fidelity compared to wire line log thermal conductivity whose values vary as the dependence of lithology of the subsurface geomaterials, well effects, as well as the effects of the limited bed thickness of the adjacent lithological units of the Niger Delta where the study was stationed. The generalised equation kleff = 0.709 kweff + 0.188 is an empirically estimated model based on site variables (porosity, permeability and temperature) and constants (cementation factor, formation factor and tortuosity) of the locally oriented wells in the Niger Delta. It can be used to set bounds on the unstable wire line log thermal conductivity values within the 1-2.5 km depths where the oil-rich geomaterials in the Niger Delta are usually found. Equations have been established which show inter-convertibility between laboratory and wire line log thermal conductivity. These equations are considered useful in converting the available wire line log thermal conductivity data of nearby wells in the area to the usually desired and stable laboratory thermal conductivity. Various diagrams in 2-D and 3-D have been established to show the distribution of the parameters considered, and this could help the operating companies in the zone to predict the density of oil.

The location of the Late Cretaceous paleoshoreline in the Leonese Area (Iberian Trough, Spain) has been investigated by seismic analysis through isobath and isopach maps. The succession can be divided into two depositional sequences: DS-1 and DS-2. These sequences are composed of fluvial systems at the base, with paleocurrents that flowed eastward and north-eastward. The DS-1 sequence (Late Albian-Middle Turonian) shows intertidal to subtidal and offshore deposits at the top, while the DS-2 sequence (Late Turonian-Campanian) presents intertidal to subtidal, tidal flat and shallow marine and lacustrine deposits at its top. The stratigraphic cyclicity based on systems tracts shows that these two depositional sequences exhibit remarkable eustatic control. Both sequences start at the base with a significant sedimentary supply from fluvial systems, related to eustatic fall episodes, and conclude at the top with transgressive periods. The evolution of the basin reveals the history of base-level changes and associated shifts in depositional trends during successive stages. The deeper sectors of the DS-1 sequence are located towards the northeastern part of the study area while the proximal portion of the basin-margin is located to the southwest. The paleoshoreline is placed in a direction oriented at 120. The variations in thickness are elongated in orientations between 030 and 050 and are mainly related to paleovalleys and tributary fluvial networks that supply sediment through the shoreline. It is possible that these variations may be related to active synsedimentary faults. Depocenters move toward the northeast and east during the DS-2 sequence while the proximal portion of the basin-margin moves to the southwest. The paleoshoreline has an orientation of 155 direction and moves basinward. The isopach maps show a group of corridors oriented at 130–140 and 165–170, interpreted as result of accumulation of sandy bodies such as inter and subtidal bars. The fluvial systems are transversal to the paleoshoreline direction.

In the context of the present study the structural pattern in the Western Thessaly Basin (Greece) has been examined, based on structural data collected from the entire study area that were further correlated to the hydrographic network. The structural pattern of the area was revealed from tectonic analysis. Additionally, the topography, stratigraphy and sedimentology of the study area were taken into account. GIS techniques were used to map the spatial distribution of the geological and tectonic features on the topographic relief of the area. The oldest structures are contractional in nature, deformed by normal faulting related to the extensional episodes initiated in Serravallian times. It is inferred that the orientation of the stress field in the area has changed several times: the N-S stress field which was dominant during Late Serravallian times changed to NW-SE (Messinian-Zanclian) up to E-W in Zanclian and subsequently to roughly NNW-SSE (in late Piacencian). The NE-SW stress that was dominant in Pleistocene became N-S in later times. In addition, some changes in orientation are also indicated for the transitional periods of the pre-mentioned extensional episodes, possibly related to local events, or as a block-related deformation. The development of the 7th order streams is probably related to the N-S extensional faulting initiated in Pliocene times, while the dominant direction of the 6th, 5th and 4th order streams is possibly connected with the presence of the NNE-SSW and NW-SE extensional faults. Finally, the lower order streams are probably related to the most recent E-W striking normal faults.

Late Pliocene Procynocephalus subhimalayanus from the Upper Siwaliks, India is known from only three specimens. The dietary proclivities of this taxon have implications for reconstructing the paleoecology of the Upper Siwaliks. The dental microwear texture properties of Procynocephalus are compared to those from extant tropical forest primates including Alouatta palliata (n = 11), Cebus apella (n = 13), Gorilla gorilla (n = 9), Lophocebus albigena (n = 15) and Trachypithecus cristatus (n = 12). Dental microwear textures are generated by scanning the surface enamel of Facet 9 using white-light confocal microscopy at 100x. Four variables were extracted from scale-sensitive fractal analysis, and the data were ranked before ANOVA with post-hoc tests of significance and multivariate analyses were performed. Procynocephalus clusters closest to Lophocebus, Cebus and some Gorilla specimens suggesting hard-object feeding characterized a portion of its diet. The dental microwear texture of Procynocephalus supports interpretations of widespread grasslands of the Late Pliocene Kansal Formation (Pinjor zone). The extreme enamel complexity characterizing Procynocephalus may derive from consumption of underground storage organs, or other foods with high grit loads. Foods consumed near ground level carry a heavy load of abrasive minerals possibly contributing to greater enamel surface complexity and textural fill volume.

Recent archeological and geoarcheological investigations have corroborated the notion of close interaction between man and environment in our study area during historical times. The riparian Sárköz, forming an interface between two major geographical regions of Transdanubia and the Great Hungarian Plains, has been continuously inhabited for the past 8000 years. Settlements were generally confined to areas above 90.5–91m ASL, with the exception of a few drier periods. This elevation can therefore be regarded as the margin of human settlement. The lower-lying areas correspond to the actual floodplain inundated for the major part of the year from which lag-surfaces stand out as island-like natural highs hosting the settlements themselves. The endowments and settlement pattern persisted from the Neolithic onwards until the terminal Modern Age, when measures aimed to ordain the area substantially altered the natural landscape.

The aim of the present work is to evaluate the stress direction and the tectonic trends of the study area using magnetic anisotropy and potential field data interpretations (Bouguer and aeromagnetic). The specific objective of the gravity and aeromagnetic interpretation is to establish the trend and depth of the structural configuration of the basement rocks. Horizontal gradient techniques could to delineate directions of deep sources and enabled tracing several faults, lineaments and tectonic boundaries of basement rocks. The trend analysis shows N40°–50°W, N10°–20°W and N10°–20°E which may be related to the Gulf of Suez, Red Sea and Gulf of Aqaba stresses. However, Euler Deconvolution technique was applied using the aeromagnetic data to provide reliable information about penetrated source depth (100 m and ∼10.0 km) and trends of the subsurface sources (principally in NW and NE directions). Moreover, representative 72 oriented rock samples have been collected from seven sites in the study area. The rock magnetic properties and magnetic anisotropy analysis have been determined for all the studied samples. The interpretation clearly defined magnetic lineation at all sites and anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) parameters. The stress direction of the studied area has been evaluated using magnetic anisotropy and geophysical analysis. Generally the estimated geophysical data analysis (Bouguer and aeromagnetic) are well consistent with the AMS interpretations of this study. The results indicated that the directions of predominant faults and foliations are NW-SE (related to the Gulf of Suez and Red Sea rifting) which indicate that the main stress and tectonic trend is NE-SW, which is more predominant in southern Sinai region. Moreover, it is clear that, the studied area was affected also by less predominant sources trended in NE-SW direction, which related to the tectonic activity of Gulf of Aqaba. The least predominant is north 40°–50° east that is probably due to the Syrian Arc system. Finally, our results are extremely coincided with the previous stress directions derived from geological, seismological and tectonic analysis in northern Red Sea rift, Gulf of Suez and Sinai regions.

Modern sand samples were collected from the Vertiskos Unit of the Serbomacedonian Massif, northern Greece, and were examined for their texture and mineralogical composition. They were collected from active channels and torrents. The textural study demonstrated that these modern sands are moderately to very-poorly sorted, often polymodal in grain size distribution, texturally and mineralogically immature to submature, and consist of coarse-grained gravelly sands to slightly-gravelly muddy sands. The dominant composition is quartzofeldspathic. All samples contain detrital minerals of metamorphic origin, mainly amphibole and garnet, in addition to minor amounts of pyroxene and detrital calcite. These sediments were deposited rapidly and close to their source, the metamorphic basement of the Vertiskos Unit. The mineral constituents of the samples indicate that the Vertiskos Unit is undergoing rapid physical weathering due to the temperate and seasonal climate. The results of this study suggest that these modern sands constitute one sedimentary petrologic province comprised of primarily of amphibole-garnet.

Although the Úrkút manganese ore deposit in western placecountry-regionHungary has been exploited for at least 90 years, there are still numerous open questions concerning ore genetics as well as structure and geometry of the ore body. A large set of available archive data for the deposit have been reviewed and evaluated in order to solve some of the most crucial problems. For processing, besides diverse GIS approaches, univariate and multivariate statistical methods were used on the created unified database. The main aims of the mathematical treatment were giving a classification scheme for the wide spectrum of Mn-ores based on their chemical composition (Mn, Fe, Si, P) as well as evaluation of their spatial distribution. For the ore characterization and understanding the genetic processes, cluster and discriminant function analyses were used. Results of the multivariate treatment verified the existence of different ore types and provided an exact chemical definition for all of them. It alsoinferred that the main geochemical processes that took place in ore genesis were similar for all sample groups (ore types) with significantly different weights in each case. A 3D evaluation of the Úrkút mine heading map system shows that the ore body covers the footwall surface as a stratiform sheet throughout the study area. Palaeo-relief studies suggest a significant difference between the footwall and hanging wall morphologies which clearly implies tectonic activity following ore deposition. The deposit was affected by an E-W compression stress field near the Aptian-Albian transition causing folding of the Mn deposit.

Chirotherid footprints of Synaptichnium, Chirotherium and Isochirotherium appeared during the late Early (Aegean) to early Late (Carnian) Triassic in central Europe. These taxa are partly revised herein, using both perfect and variably preserved tracks, and very long trackways from an upper Pelsonian intertidal-flat megatracksite of the Germanic Basin coast Pelsonian (Karlstadt Formation). The global Middle Triassic distribution of those footprints suggests seasonal migrations across Pangaea of possible archosauriform reptile trackmakers, such as Euparkeria, Ticinosuchus, Arizonasaurus and Batrachotomus, caused by horseshoe-crab mass migrations into tidal-flat beach reproductive zones in the Germanic Basin. Such seasonal migrations may even suggest a Pangaea-wide food-chain reaction, possibly including the mobilization of fish, marine and terrestrial reptiles, and of which situation the Germanic Basin intertidal-flats is a globally unique example.