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

Mihaela Carmen Melinte-Dobrinescu  Ana-Voica Bojar 《Cretaceous Research》2008,29(5-6):1024

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.  相似文献   

Impacts of at-site wastewater disposal systems on the groundwater aquifer in arid regions: case of Sfax City, Southern Tunisia     

Ibticem Chamtouri  Habib Abida  Hafedh Khanfir  Salem Bouri 《Environmental Geology》2008,55(5):1123-1133

Groundwater in Sfax City (Tunisia) has been known since the beginning of the century for its deterioration in quality, as a result of wastewater recharge into the aquifer. An average value of 12 × 10⁶ m³ of untreated wastewater reaches the groundwater aquifer each year. This would result not only in a chemical and biological contamination of the groundwater, but also in an increase of the aquifer piezometric level. Quantitative impacts were evaluated by examining the groundwater piezometric level at 57 surface wells and piezometers. The survey showed that, during the last two decades, the groundwater level was ever increasing in the urban area with values reaching 7 m in part; and decreasing in Sidi Abid (agricultural area) with values exceeding −3 m. Groundwater samples for chemical and microbial analysis were collected from 41 wells spread throughout the study area. Results showed significantly elevated levels of sodium, chlorides, nitrates and coliform bacteria all over the urban area. High levels (NO₃: 56–254 mg/l; Na >1,500 mg/l; Coliforms >30/100 ml) can be related to more densely populated areas with a higher density of pit latrine and recharge wells. Alternatively results showed a very variable chemical composition of groundwater, e.g. electrical conductivity ranges from 4,040 to19,620 μs/cm and the dry residual varies between 1.4 and 14 g/l with concentrations increasing downstream. Furthermore a softening of groundwater in Set Ezzit (highly populated sector) was observed.  相似文献   

Integrating diverse methods to understand climate-land interactions in East Africa   总被引：3，自引：0，他引：3  

Jennifer M. Olson  Gopal Alagarswamy 《Geoforum》2008,39(2):898-911

The questions of how land use change affects climate, and how climate change affects land use, require examination of societal and environmental systems across space at multiple scales, from the global climate to regional vegetative dynamics to local decision making by farmers and herders. It also requires an analysis of causal linkages and feedback loops between systems. These questions and the conceptual approach of the research design of the Climate-Land Interaction Project (CLIP) are rooted in the classical human-environment research tradition in Geography.This paper discusses a methodological framework to quantify the two-way interactions between land use and regional climate systems, using ongoing work by a team of multi-disciplinary scientists examining climate-land dynamics at multiple scales in East Africa. East Africa is a region that is undergoing rapid land use change, where changes in climate would have serious consequences for people’s livelihoods, and requiring new coping and land use strategies. The research involves exploration of linkages between two important foci of global change research, namely, land use/land cover (LULC) and climate change. These linkages are examined through modeling agricultural systems, land use driving forces and patterns, the physical properties of land cover, and the regional climate. Both qualitative and quantitative methods are being used to illustrate a diverse pluralism in scientific discovery.  相似文献   

Beyond the numbers: Understanding the value of vegetation to rural livelihoods in Africa     

Thembela Kepe 《Geoforum》2008,39(2):958-968

Different types of vegetation found in local environments are of value to rural livelihoods of many African households. However, the dominant way of expressing this value, which is mainly through economic valuation studies, is potentially limiting this knowledge’s usefulness in policy and research, due to the inability to present full picture. Using literature review and insights from field work, the paper argues that realized and notional values of vegetation to rural livelihoods are socially constructed and contested, and - in addition to understanding local livelihood context, which include social difference, and ecological dynamics - a focus on social institutions as terrains of negotiation is crucial. This means that resource value in rural livelihoods can be realized through contested and negotiated access arrangements that are mediated by complex institutions at local and external levels.  相似文献   

Effective livelihood adaptation to climate change disturbance: Scale dimensions of practice in Mozambique   总被引：2，自引：0，他引：2  

Henny Osbahr  Chasca Twyman  W. Neil Adger  David S.G. Thomas 《Geoforum》2008,(6):1951-1964

Natural resource-dependent societies in developing countries are facing increased pressures linked to global climate change. While social-ecological systems evolve to accommodate variability, there is growing evidence that changes in drought, storm and flood extremes are increasing exposure of currently vulnerable populations. In many countries in Africa, these pressures are compounded by disruption to institutions and variability in livelihoods and income. The interactions of both rapid and slow onset livelihood disturbance contribute to enduring poverty and slow processes of rural livelihood renewal across a complex landscape. We explore cross-scale dynamics in coping and adaptation response, drawing on qualitative data from a case study in Mozambique. The research characterises the engagements across multiple institutional scales and the types of agents involved, providing insight into emergent conditions for adaptation to climate change in rural economies. The analysis explores local responses to climate shocks, food security and poverty reduction, through informal institutions, forms of livelihood diversification and collective land-use systems that allow reciprocity, flexibility and the ability to buffer shocks. However, the analysis shows that agricultural initiatives have helped to facilitate effective livelihood renewal, through the reorganisation of social institutions and opportunities for communication, innovation and micro-credit. Although there are challenges to mainstreaming adaptation at different scales, this research shows why it is critical to assess how policies can protect conditions for emergence of livelihood transformation.  相似文献   

Pb-Pb age of sedimentary phosphorite reworking in Lower Riphean carbonate sediments,the Satka Formation of Southern Urals     

G. V. Ovchinnikova  A. B. Kuznetsov  I. M. Vasil’eva  I. M. Gorokhov  M. T. Krupenin  A. V. Maslov  T. L. Turchenko 《Stratigraphy and Geological Correlation》2008,16(2):138-142

The mineral composition and U-Pb and Rb-Sr systematics of phosphorites from the Satka Formation of Lower Riphean carbonates, the Burzyan Group of Southern Urals, are studied. Phosphorites occurring as small lenses between stromatolite layers are composed largely of fluorapatite with admixture of detrital quartz, feldspars, illite, and chlorite. Phosphorite samples have been subjected to stepwise dissolution in 1 N (fraction L-1) and 2 N (fraction L-2) HCl. As is established, the maximum apatite content is characteristic of fraction L-1, while fraction L-2 is enriched in products of dolomite and sulfide dissolution and in elements leached from siliciclastic components. The Sr content in the Satka apatites (280–560 ppm) is substantially lower as compared with that in unaltered marine apatite. The ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr “initial ratio in the phosphorites studied (0.71705–0.72484) and host dolomites from the lower part of the Satka Formation is significantly higher than in the Early Riphean seawater that indicates a reset of the Rb-Sr original systems in sediments. The Pb-Pb age of 1340 ± 30 Ma (MSWD = 6.4) estimated based on 7 data points characterizing fractions L-1 and L-2 is younger than the formation time of overlying Burzyan sediments, being consistent, within the error range, with date of the Mashak rifting event recorded at the Early-Middle Riphean boundary. The comparative U-Pb characteristics of two soluble fractions (L-1 and L-2) and silicate residue of phosphorites show that epigenetic redistribution of Pb and U was characteristic of the phosphorite horizon only. The initial Pb isotope composition and μ (²³⁸U/²⁰⁴Pb) estimated according to model by Stacey and Kramers for the early diagenetic fluids in carbonate and phosphate sediments of the Satka Formation suggest that they were in isotopic equilibrium with erosion products of the Taratash crystalline complex.  相似文献   

Peace Parks and jaguar trails: transboundary conservation in a globalizing world   总被引：1，自引：0，他引：1  

Brian King  Sharon Wilcox 《GeoJournal》2008,71(4):221-231

An increasingly utilized strategy for expanding conservation in the developing world has been the promotion of protected areas that supersede national borders. Alternatively known as transfrontier biosphere reserves, transfrontier or transboundary conservation areas, or Peace Parks, these protected areas are aggressively advanced by conservation agencies for their purported ecological and economic benefits. This article provides a comparative assessment of two case studies to understand the various impacts of transboundary conservation. The Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park, which unites protected areas in South Africa, Mozambique and Zimbabwe, is contrasted with efforts to protect jaguars along the United States–Mexico border. We argue that while these cases are promising for the purposes of biodiversity protection, they demonstrate that transboundary conservation can minimize political context, contributes to the hegemony of international conservation agendas, and remains closely linked to economic neoliberalism and decentralization in the developing world.

Brian KingEmail:

  相似文献   

Drought events in Southern Portugal from the 12th to the 19th centuries: integrated research from descriptive sources     

Afonso Do Ó  Maria J. Roxo 《Natural Hazards》2008,47(1):55-63

  相似文献   

Soil erosion susceptibility assessment and validation using a geostatistical multivariate approach: a test in Southern Sicily   总被引：2，自引：0，他引：2  

Christian Conoscenti  Cipriano Di Maggio  Edoardo Rotigliano 《Natural Hazards》2008,46(3):287-305

A certain number of studies have been carried out in recent years that aim at developing and applying a model capable of assessing water erosion of soil. Some of these have tried to quantitatively evaluate the volumes of soil loss, while others have focused their efforts on the recognition of the areas most prone to water erosion processes. This article presents the results of a research whose objective was that of evaluating water erosion susceptibility in a Sicilian watershed: the Naro river basin. A geomorphological study was carried out to recognize the water erosion landforms and define a set of parameters expressing both the intensity of hydraulic forces and the resistance of rocks/soils. The landforms were mapped and classified according to the dominant process in landsurfaces affected by diffuse or linear water erosion. A GIS layer was obtained by combining six determining factors (bedrock lithology, land use, soil texture, plan curvature, stream power index and slope-length factor) in unique conditions units. A geostatistical multivariate approach was applied by analysing the relationships between the spatial distributions of the erosion landforms and the unique condition units. Particularly, the density of eroded area for each combination of determining factors has been calculated: such function corresponds, in fact, to the conditional probability of erosion landforms to develop, under the same geoenvironmental conditions. In light of the obtained results, a general geomorphologic model for water erosion in the Naro river basin can be depicted: cultivated areas in clayey slopes, having fine-medium soil texture, are the most prone to be eroded; linear or diffuse water erosion processes dominate where the topography is favourable to a convergent or divergent runoff, respectively. For each of the two erosion process types, a susceptibility map was produced and submitted to a validation procedure based on a spatial random partition strategy. Both the success of the validation procedure of the susceptibility models and the geomorphological coherence of the relationships between factors and process that such models suggest, confirm the reliability of the method and the goodness of the predictions.  相似文献   

藏南地区中生代硅质岩的地球化学特征及其成因意义   总被引：6，自引：1，他引：5  

周永章  付伟  杨志军  何俊国  聂凤军  李文  赵文霞 《岩石学报》2008,24(3)

藏南地区中生代硅质岩包括蛇绿岩套硅质岩(与蛇绿岩共生)和非蛇绿岩套硅质岩两大类.本文重点分析日喀则地区彭错林、夏鲁以及泽当地区的罗布莎、江孜盆地宗卓组及四个剖面的硅质岩.其中,彭错林、夏鲁和罗布莎硅质岩与蛇绿岩共生,江孜盆地宗卓组为非蛇绿岩套硅质岩.分析表明:(1)藏南地区硅质岩剖面地球化学特征鲜明,具有一致性和多样性特点;(2)与蛇绿岩共生的彭错林、夏鲁、罗布莎硅质岩普遍具有高Si、高Fe、低Al特征,大部分微量元素相对于克拉克值亏损,稀土元素总量低,经北美页岩标准化后,Ce异常明显或不明显,重稀土相对轻稀土富集.硅质泥岩的∑REE要明显高于硅质岩;(3)非蛇绿岩套宗卓组硅质岩SiO2含量稍低,Al2O3、TiO2则相反.V、Th、Hf、Ta等不相容元素上亏损程度较小,部分样品含量可接近克拉克值.稀土总量相对较高,页岩标准化配分模式上体现为弱Ce正异常,负Eu异常,轻重稀土分异不明显的平坦型曲线图;(4)地球化学特征指示了,藏南地区硅质岩多数具有明显的热水沉积成因属性,同时有正常陆源组分的加入.其中,夏鲁硅质岩的热水沉积地球化学特征较为典型,而宗卓组硅质岩则表现出受陆源物质加入的影响显著的地球化学特点.  相似文献