Middle Stone Age starch acquisition in the Niassa Rift, Mozambique     

Julio Mercader  Tim Bennett 《Quaternary Research》2008,70(2):283-300

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.  相似文献   

Age estimates of coastal terraces in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and their tectonic implications     

Kusala Rajendran  C.P. Rajendran  Anil Earnest  G.V. Ravi Prasad  K. Dutta  D.K. Ray  R. Anu 《Tectonophysics》2008,455(1-4):53-60

The great Indian Ocean earthquake of December 26, 2004 caused significant vertical changes in its rupture zone. About 800 km of the rupture is along the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, which forms the outer arc ridge of the subduction zone. Coseismic deformation along the exposed land could be observed as uplift/subsidence. Here we analyze the morphological features along the coast of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, in an effort to reconstruct the past tectonics, taking cues from the coseismic effects. We obtained radiocarbon dates from coastal terraces of the island belt and used them to compute uplift rates, which vary from 1.33 mm yr^− 1 in the Little Andaman to 2.80 mm yr^− 1 in South Andaman and 2.45 mm yr^− 1 in the North Andaman. Our radiocarbon dates converge on  600 yr and  1000 yr old coastal uplifts, which we attribute to the level changes due to two major previous subduction earthquakes in the region.  相似文献   

牙鲆种群动态及其资源管理     

朱鑫华 《海洋与湖沼》1992,23(3):270-279

本文根据1980—1986年间鱼类生物学参数测定,结合体长分布资料的模拟分析,研究黄、渤海区牙鲆种群年龄结构、死亡动态以及在不同年龄和死亡率条件下世代资源生物量变化的规律。模型分析结果表明,当F=1.0和t_c=6.0a时,单位补充量最大群体产量为1492g。由此认为,现阶段牙鲆资源利用的最佳策略是通过增殖放流,增加资源补充;同时应适当控制捕捞压力,减少渔具对幼鱼资源的破坏并增设繁殖保护区,以追求最大持续产量。  相似文献   

Relative abundance, age, growth, and fecundity of grubby Myoxocephalus aenaeus in Niantic River and Niantic Bay, Long Island Sound     

Edward F. Roseman  Christine A. Tomichek  Tracy Maynard  Jennifer A. Burton 《Journal of Sea Research》2005,53(4):309-318

Grubby (Myoxocephalus aenaeus, Cottidae) is a common benthic fish of inshore waters and estuaries of eastern Long Island Sound; however, little information exists on their life history or population demographics. This study utilised a long-term data series (1976–2002) to assess grubby life history and population demographics and explores trends in the Niantic River and Niantic Bay populations. In addition, we examined the age, size, and fecundity of adult grubby in 2001–02 to determine the population characteristics in the region. Mean grubby catch per unit effort (CPUE) in Niantic Bay ranged from 0.4 per trawl in 1976 to 2.9 per trawl in 1984 while river CPUE ranged from 0.4 per trawl in 1977 to 7.6 per trawl in 1989. Catch of grubby in bottom trawls varied seasonally with highest CPUE occurring in winter. Highest entrainment of grubby larvae occurred in 2001 while the lowest entrainment observed was in 1991. Four age classes, 0+ through III+, were derived from otolith analysis (N = 51) although length frequency analysis suggested the possibility of older fish in the population. The total number of eggs in ovaries ranged from 286 to 16 451 for grubby (N = 64) between 52 mm and 155 mm TL. Results of this study indicated a decline in abundance of adult grubby over the 26-year period, possibly related to concurrent declines in eelgrass (Zostera marina) abundance and/or increased water temperature.  相似文献   

Spatial variability in growth and reproduction of the Pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas (Thunberg, 1793) along the west European coast     

Joana F.M.F. Cardoso  Denis Langlet  Jos F. Loff  Ana R. Martins  Johannes IJ. Witte  Paulo T. Santos  Henk W. van der Veer 《Journal of Sea Research》2007,57(4):303-315

The Pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas was introduced in Europe for commercial purposes in the mid 1960s. It was initially thought that low winter temperatures would restrain this species' reproduction and settlement; however, its present distribution in areas where no introduction has taken place suggests that natural invasion and expansion has occurred. Along the European coast, wild populations of Pacific oysters are already found from northern Germany to southern Portugal. Whether C. gigas will continue to further expand through northern waters will depend on its physiological performance. In this study, the performance of wild oyster populations has been studied in terms of growth and reproduction at three stations: La Rochelle (France; 46°N), Yerseke (Oosterschelde estuary, The Netherlands, 51°N), and Texel (Wadden Sea estuary, The Netherlands, 53°N). The French population had the lowest somatic-shell mass ratio and an increase in maximum shell length, somatic and gonadal mass was observed from France to the Netherlands. In addition, mean oocyte diameter decreased significantly from south to north. The combination of increasing gonadal mass and decreasing oocyte volume suggests an increasing reproductive output in terms of egg numbers from France to The Netherlands. Differences in temperature between locations will at least be partly responsible for the observed patterns; however, other environmental factors (such as food availability, predation pressure, sediment type and/or seston concentration) cannot be excluded. Since smaller eggs (oocytes) are thought to have a longer development time, the environmental conditions along the Dutch coast may result in increased larval dispersal and possibly in further population expansion.  相似文献   

Growth and reproduction of the bivalve Spisula subtruncata (da Costa) in Dutch coastal waters     

Joana F.M.F. Cardoso  Johannes IJ. Witte  Henk W. van der Veer 《Journal of Sea Research》2007,57(4):316-324

The bivalve Spisula subtruncata is usually abundant in shallow coastal waters along the Dutch coast. However, its biomass has been decreasing since 1995. In order to assess whether reproductive failure may be the cause of the observed decline over the last decades, the energy investment in reproduction of a population of S. subtruncata from central Dutch coastal waters was studied. The population studied consisted of individuals of up to four years old. Shell length reached maximum values of around 32 mm and individual total body, somatic and gonadal ash-free dry mass reached maximum values of about 278 mg AFDM, 252 mg AFDM and 76 mg AFDM, respectively. A clear seasonal cycle in somatic and gonadal mass was observed. Somatic and gonadal mass indices increased in early spring and reached maximum values during summer, followed by a decrease to minimum values at the beginning of the following year. Spawning was in June–July and settlement of spat seems to have occurred in July–August. Mean oocyte diameter was 57.43 ± 0.03 μm, corresponding to a volume of 98972 μm³. These results suggested that reproductive failure was not the cause of the current population decline. Most likely, unsuccessful settlement of spat and/or severe predation during the first months of life were responsible for the observed patterns.  相似文献   

青岛文昌鱼的生活史──年龄、生长和死亡研究   总被引：17，自引：1，他引：17  

吴贤汉  张士璀  王永元  张宝录  曲艳梅  江新霁 《海洋与湖沼》1995,26(2):175-178

于１９８９年８月－１９９０年７月对青岛文昌鱼的生活史进行研究。结果表明：（１）青岛文昌鱼种群由４个齿组组成，它至少生产４ａ以上，甚至可达６ａ左右。（２）在Ⅰ、Ⅱ齿时生长较快，平均年生长１３－１５ｍｍ，Ⅲ龄后生长速度减慢，即使同一年龄组的文晶鱼，在不同季节其生长速度也不同。（３）在冬春采集的文昌鱼中Ⅲ龄组的峰值较小。（４）繁殖季节过后，老龄文昌鱼因衰老而死亡。  相似文献   

广西佛子冲铅锌矿田成岩成矿时代研究   总被引：3，自引：0，他引：3  

翟丽娜  王建辉  韦昌山  江河  蔡锦辉 《华南地质与矿产》2008,(3):46-49

广西佛子冲铅锌矿田位于桂东南博白-岑溪多金属成矿带的NE端,区内发育燕山期花岗岩、花岗闪长岩、二长花岗斑岩和英安质凝灰熔岩等;其中花岗闪长岩和二长花岗斑岩与铅锌成矿关系密切,成矿岩体形成时代分别为156Ma和127Ma。  相似文献   

The age of the Kagenfels granite (northern Vosges) and its bearing on the intrusion scheme of late Variscan granitoids     

J. C. Hess  H. J. Lippolt  B. Kober 《International Journal of Earth Sciences》1995,84(3):568-577

In the Saxothuringian part of the Vosges (France), a first series of Variscan plutonic rocks (diorites to granites) has been intruded by several younger granites. Rocks of both the older generations have been cross-cut by the late orogenic Kagenfels granite. The averages of the hitherto published mineral ages of the earlier rock generations are 331 and 334 Ma, respectively, whereas Rb-Sr and K-Ar dates around 290 Ma have been reported for the Kagenfels granite. Because of the unlikely large age hiatus, a redetermination of the intrusion age of the Kagenfels granite formation appeared to be irrevocable. The newly obtained mineral ages on the Kagenfels granite (K-Ar and ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar biotite ages as well as single zircon radiogenic ²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁶Pb data: 331 ± 5 Ma) are about 40 Ma older than the previous results. They are interpreted as giving the time of emplacement of the Kagenfels granite during the latest Visan. The mineral ages of the earlier plutonic rocks in this part of the Variscan Orogeny in all probability are not significantly different from their ages of intrusion. Therefore the age concordance of all three granitoid generations constrains a rather narrow time interval of orogenic magmatism close to the Lower-Upper Carboniferous boundary.  相似文献   

Paleoenvironmental records of water level and climatic changes from the middle to late Holocene at a Lake Erie coastal wetland, Ontario, Canada   总被引：2，自引：0，他引：2  

Sarah A. Finkelstein  Anthony M. Davis 《Quaternary Research》2006,65(1):33-43

Pollen and diatom assemblages, and peat stratigraphies, from a coastal wetland on the northern shore of Lake Erie were used to analyze water level and climatic changes since the middle Holocene and their effects on wetland plant communities. Peat deposition began 4700 cal yr B.P. during the Nipissing II transgression, which was driven by isostatic rebound. At that time, a diatom-rich wild rice marsh existed at the site. Water level dropped at the end of the Nipissing rise at least 2 m within 200 yr, leading to the development of shallower-water plant communities and an environment too dry for most diatoms to persist. The sharp decline in water level was probably driven primarily by outlet incision, but climate likely played some role. The paleoecological records provide evidence for post-Nipissing century-scale transgressions occurring around 2300, 1160, 700 and 450 cal yr B.P. The chronology for these transgressions correlates with other studies from the region and implies climatic forcing. Peat inception in shallow sloughs across part of the study area around 700 cal yr B.P. coincides with the Little Ice Age. These records, considered alongside others from the region, suggest that the Little Ice Age may have resulted in a wetter climate across the eastern Great Lakes region.  相似文献