micromorphlogy of recent and buried soils in a semi arid region of northwestern india abstract profiles of four recent soils and of eleven soils buried under archaeological sites of known ages were investigated in an area between the ghaggar valley and the northern piedmont of the arawalli hills in northwestern india the principal approach was through study of micromorphology data were also obtained on mineralogies of several size fractions characteristics shared by the recent and buried soils indicate that essentially the same processes operated in their formation the oldest soils are buried under protohistoric sites and thus were formed at least 5000 years ago they are developed on sediments rich in sand sized mica flakes which indicate an alluvial origin others are buried beneath historic sites with ages ranging from 500 b c to 1500 a d these soils and the recent ones have a silt fraction low in mice major features of both buried and recent soils are attributed to biological activity reflected in extensive channeling and additions of excrements throughout profiles local distribution of clay silt and carbonates indicates translocation of these components furthermore the forms of calcitic features indicate modifications of various kinds evidence of biological activity as expressed in characteristics of the soils becomes progressively weaker from older to younger profiles soil development seems to have weakened over that period as well these changes are correlated with the decline with time in the proportions of mica flakes in coarse fractions the decline is attributed to lack of alluvial sedimentation since the protohistoric period and to greater transport and winnowing of sediments by wind we believe this has reduced fertility of the soils formed during the last 4000 years

red mediterranean soils in jordan new insights in their origin genesis and role as environmental archives it is disputed whether terrae rossae form mainly out of the bedrock residue from allochthonous material like aerosols or by isovolumetric replacement furthermore whether they are mainly relic soils or are still forming is subject to debate these questions were addressed by comparing the geochemistry of several limestone and basalt based red mediterranean soils with lithosols on sandstone and limestone in jordan the bedrock residue was included at all test sites paleosols and initial soils on the limestone regolith of historic ruins delivered insights into the possible time frame of soil development a major reduction of elements in the soils compared to bedrock could be observed for cao in carbonaceous sio2 in arenaceous and fe2o3 and mgo in basaltic rocks all terrae rossae however are characterised by a significant increase of sio2 al2o3 tio2 fe2o3 k2o and a range of mainly metallic minor elements that cannot be derived from the bedrock a reasonable explanation could be input via aeolian transfer of minerals with clay minerals as the major carrier plus quartz this input probably originates in egypt and sudan and has remained largely unchanged over long periods growing aridity during the holocene has apparently increased the share of silt while clay deposition and soil development has been reduced at some sites metasomatic processes have contributed to soil development and might help to explain the depth of some profiles however formation of red soils during the holocene seems very limited and the red mediterranean soils may represent remains of a paleolandscape

stable carbon and oxygen isotopes of terra rossa in guizhou province of china and their relationship to climate and ecology this paper analyzed stable carbon and oxygen isotopic changes in organic matter 13csom and disseminated carbonate 13csc and 18osc in four terra rossa profiles in gouzhou southwestern china the objectives were to understand more information about climate change in this area and to determine whether the isotope values of disseminated carbonate in terra rossa preserved a record of environmental change and to distinguish environmental sources that may have influenced the isotopic chemistry results suggested that carbonate in terra rossa is mainly pedogenic carbonate and its formation is closely associated with root activities the 13csom variations indicate a climate change into warmer and drier conditions at about 6000 8000 a bp 12000 14000 a bp and 28000 a bp plants were more depleted in 13c when carbonate precipitated compared with the 13csom the 13csc tends to reflect more average climate change information most large variations of the 13csc and 13csom between adjacent sampling layers are accompanied with the change in soil color and texture suggesting a certain connection between the 13c and the soil properties this study found a positive linearity between 13csc and 18osc a striking different value and correlation coefficient in different sites may provide a meaningful signal of regional climate change

fracture abundance and strain in folded cardium formation red deer river anticline alberta foothills canada abstract the folded and thrusted mesozoic clastic sequence of the canadian rocky mountain foothills forms important hydrocarbon reservoirs however the generation of fractures and their timing relative to folding and thrusting have remained unclear understanding the distribution and evolution of natural fractures especially their timing of formation relative to the evolution of the fold and thrust system could potentially improve exploration and development outcomes in these otherwise tight low permeability reservoirs we investigated the relation between folding and fracture formation in the upper cretaceous cardium formation by combining field structural observations and kinematic modeling of the fold and thrust belt evolution we evaluated the effects of structural position and strain on the formation of predominantly opening mode fractures by analyzing fracture intensity and aperture in the backlimb the shallow forelimb close to the crest and the steep forelimb away from the crest of a reservoir scale anticline the red deer river anticline fracture strain determined from both outcrop and microscanlines varies little across the three structural domains of the fold although somewhat lower fracture strain was measured in the forelimb close to the crest these fracture strain measurements are qualitatively consistent with calculated horizontal strain in the tectonic transport direction obtained from kinematic numerical models that simulate fold development associated with slip along the underlying burnt timber thrust the kinematic models predict similar magnitudes of horizontal extension in both the back and forelimbs and somewhat lower extension in the upper forelimb during early development of the red deer river anticline predicted early fracture formation during fold development is consistent with field structural observations of shear reactivation during later stages of folding this combined kinematic modeling and field structural study demonstrates that deforming fold and thrust belts can undergo a complex evolution of bed parallel extension in both space and time resulting in spatially variable fracture formation in structurally complex subsurface reservoirs

coupled micromorphological and stable isotope analysis of quaternary calcrete development pedogenic calcretes are widespread in arid and semi arid regions using calcrete profiles from four river terraces of the rio alias in southeast spain this study explores the potential of using detailed micromorphological and stable isotopic analysis to more fully understand the impacts of quaternary environmental change on calcrete development the four profiles increase in carbonate complexity with progressive age reflecting calcretisation over multiple glacial interglacial cycles since mis 9 c 300 ka calcrete profiles contain a mixture of alpha non biogenic and beta biogenic microfabrics alpha fabrics have higher 13c and 18o values the profiles contain a range of crystal textures but there is little difference between the 13c and 18o values of spar microspar and micrite cements strong positive covariance between 13c and 18o suggests that both isotopes are responding to the same environmental parameter which is inferred to be relative aridity the study reveals that the detailed co analysis of calcrete micromorphology and stable isotope signatures can allow patterns of calcrete formation to be placed into a wider palaeoclimatic context this demonstrates the potential of this technique to more reliably constrain the palaeoenvironmental significance of secondary carbonates in dryland settings where other proxy records may be poorly preserved

provenance and formation of the red palaeosol and lithified terra rossa like infillings on the island of susak a high resolution and chronological approach abstract red palaeosol rp covering the carbonate basement exposed at the bottom of the loess section and lithified terra rossa like materials situated in cavities ltr1 and karstified fissures ltr2 in cretaceous limestones were investigated by means of high resolution approach to give a systematic and deeper palaeopedological insight into reddish materials and the exposed red palaeosols on the island of susak both selected geochemical indicators of weathering al si na k al and fed fet and provenance la ce as well as detailed mineralogical analysis clearly showed differences among ltr1 ltr2 and rp respectively ltr1 and ltr2 represent erosional remains of different soils that existed on the surface of the limestone bedrock prior to the formation of the rp ltr2 has the highest ztr zircon tourmaline rutile index index and contains bauxite minerals gibbsite and boehmite clays kaolinite and mixed layer clay minerals and haematite ltr2 bears characteristics of reworked bauxitic materials mixed with other soils that existed on the surface of the carbonate basement those materials might have been mixed and transported until they were captured in the karstified fissure and subsequently interlocked with calcite veins and lithified this might have happened from the eocene age on our attempt to resolve the age of ltr2 formation more precisely using palaeomagnetic investigations did not give unambiguous results because the extremely viscous behaviour of the ltr2 samples hinders the acquisition of a stable remanent magnetisation if we exclude the secondary calcite ltr1 bears typical mineralogical and geochemical characteristics e g fed fet ratio similar to those of istrian terra rossa insoluble residues of cretaceous limestone might have been the main parent materials for the ltr1 formation while the most likely additional fluxes influencing terra rossa formation on the island of susak were aeolian dust and flysch the erosion remains ended in limestone cavities and were mixed with cm to dm sized angular and subangular limestone clasts and subsequently interlocked with calcite veins and lithified the investigated rp profile comprised the following mineral horizons bwb1 bwb2 bwb3 r the rp formed in a lithologically uniform material that dominantly presents a mixture of loess and partly remains of older soils e g rounded clay coatings not related to macrovoids that existed on the surface of the cretaceous limestone fed fet ratio in rp reflects a low degree of weathering of fe containing primary silicates therefore we can conclude that the rp does not fit a rather limited variation of selected fe oxide characteristics typical for terra rossa the investigated rp was classified independently of the overlying material the full name of the palaeosol that we classified is as follows hypereutric chromic cambisol episiltic endoloamic since no reversal of the emf was recorded in the rp we concluded that the rp formed during the brunhes epoch luminescence dating was applied to establish the age of the rp based on the acquired data we assume that the rp very likely formed during the penultimate interglacial ois7

floodplain palaeosols of the cenomanian dunvegan formation alberta and british columbia canada micromorphology pedogenic processes and palaeoenvironmental implications

geometric and seismic interpretation of the perdido fold belt northwestern deep water gulf of mexico we interpret the perdido fold belt to be composed of detachment folds flanked by megascopic scale kink bands the two previous principal fold models for the perdido fold belt incorporated components of large scale faulting an imbricate fault bend fold model and a high angle reverse faulted detachment fold model we interpret the perdido fold belt to be fold dominated the belt consists of detachment folds overlying a ductile decollement layer the detachment fold crests are bounded by kink bands which are narrow zones of angularly folded strata the low reflectivity low signal to noise zones seen in seismic profiles across the perdido fold belt are poorly imaged sections of the folds that result from steeply dipping bedding in the kink bands the substantial width of these low reflectivity zones their subparallel edges in cross section and their orientation at a high angle to layering as well as their organized spacing and conjugate geometry support a kink band interpretation propagating reverse faults are unlikely in the folds because of the absence of backlimbs overlying the locations of hypothetical faults improved seismic imaging efforts have illuminated steeply dipping bedding that is not cut by faulting in many of the low reflectivity zones in the perdido fold belt

the iron content of some red mediterranean soils from northeast spain and its pedogenic significance abstract alfisols cover 18 of the surface of the ne edge of the garraf massif se of barcelona catalonia most of these are mediterranean red soils some representative pedons especially over mesozoic limestones are discussed in this paper climate of the zone is littoral mediterranean mean temperature 16 c precipitation 650 mm pedoclimatic regimes are xeric and thermic vegetation is quercetum ilicis galloprovinciale horizon b is 5yr and 2 5yr in munsell hue with a phw of 7 2 to 8 6 all of them are base saturated and the majority recarbonated organic matter content is 2 5 some have an isohumic character the illuviation clay index ranges from 0 37 to 0 87 and the mean value of the illuviation fe index is 0 76 the nearly constant fed clay ratio indicates co illuviation values for fed are between 0 40 and 2 81 the mean feo is 0 057 and it ranges between 0 to 0 14 generally redness rating rr increases with fed values of fed fe1 vary from 0 22 to 0 82 and the mean is 0 54 rubefaction according to redness rating is moderate taxonomically calcic haploxeralfs predominate and are located at 50 70 m above sea level calcic palexeralfs at 70 80 m and again at 150 m and petrocalcic palexeralfs at 80 130 m are also found typic haploxeralfs are frequent over limestones at higher altitudes 260 m or overlying silicic rocks found at 35 65 m according to the 1967 french classification system they are red fersialitic and brown fersialitic soils and some are integrades with cinnamotnic soils marron encroute

theory of radar imaging of internal waves radar images taken over ocean areas in particular those obtained by the synthetic aperture radar sar onboard the american seasat satellite in 19781 2 sometimes show features that seem to be surface manifestations of oceanic internal waves3 11 here i present a theory explaining the large radar signatures of internal waves in which the imaging is attributed to variations in the short scale surface roughness induced by current variations associated with internal waves

paleopedology of terrae rossae rodoxeralfs from quaternary calcarenites in nw morocco abstract selected terrace rossae or rhodoxeralfs from calcarenites in all probability of mid pleistocene age in the vicinity of rabut show a strong mineral weathering and a considerable to extensive formation of clay minerals especially of kaolinites main sources of pedogenic kaolinites mostly of a disordered structure and poor cristallinity are primary feldpars 2 m and smectites 2 0 2 and

origin of a thrust related fold geometric vs kinematic tests abstract geometric tests to determine the origin of fault related folds are common but as is typical in structural geology more than one fold origin may yield the final natural geometry thus the results of geometric tests are usually non unique in contrast kinematic tests of origin which employ both geometry and data about deformation commonly yield more constrained if not unique results unfortunately the necessary data collection requires much more work than for a geometric test in this study the thrust related barclay anticline is analyzed both geometrically and kinematically to determine which test is more effective geometric tests using angular relationships indicate three possible origins fault bend fault arrest and break thrust for the kinematic test predicted deformations for interlayer and flexural slip flexural flow simple shear and bending strains are compared to micro and mesostructural distributions solution strain and finite strain from the anticline strain measurements indicate that microscale deformation is uniformly distributed through the structure and is lithification dominated the microscale deformation does not match kinematic predictions and did not accommodate fold formation fold growth was achieved primarily through layer parallel slip restricted mostly to the forelimb and absent in the hinge which eliminates fault bend and fault arrest origins that require material transport from forelimb to backlimb the barclay anticline is therefore interpreted to be a break thrust structure interestingly a suite of contraction faults in the forelimb and hinge indicates material transport from forelimb to backlimb such transport has been discounted for break thrust folds the most important result of this study is that a kinematic test was a necessary step for distinguishing fold origin geometric testing alone was insufficient given that the barclay anticline has geometric characteristics typical of many thrust related folds kinematic testing appears necessary to determine their structural origin

structural and sedimentological development of footwall growth synclines along an intraforeland uplift east central bighorn mountains wyoming structural sedimentological and provenance data from paleogene synorogenic deposits of the east central flank of the bighorn mountains provide new information about the development of footwall growth synclines the evolution of fault related folds and the erosional unroofing history of intraforeland uplifts three conglomerate units the upper conglomerate member of the fort union formation and the kingsbury and moncrief members of the wasatch formation are incorporated within an asymmetric east verging growth syncline in the footwall of the main range bounding thrust system three stages of footwall deformation are recorded within these conglomerates analysis of mapped progressive unconformities retrodeformed balanced cross sections and conglomerate clast composition data define these stages as part of a continuum of deformation associated with the development of footwall growth synclines development of an anticline syncline pair marked the earliest stage of growth syncline formation stage i rotation of the shared fold limb resulted in amplification of the growth syncline fine grained synorogenic sediment derived from easily eroded mesozoic mudstone bypassed the growth syncline during this stage by the end of lebo shale deposition an average of 12 1 of shortening and 6 46 km of uplift had occurred along the range margin continued growth syncline development was marked by the deposition of the kingsbury conglomerate the kingsbury conglomerate was derived from resistant middle and lower paleozoic carbonate strata in the uplifted source terrane intraformational unconformities recording as much as 55 of bed rotation were developed within the kingsbury conglomerate as fold limb rotation occurred coeval with deposition cross sections indicate that during this early stage of fault related folding an average of 16 9 shortening and 8 12 km of uplift occurred along the eastern flank of the bighorn mountains end of stage i the intermediate stage stage ii of footwall growth syncline development involved partial truncation of the growth syncline by the advancing thrust faults and deposition of the moncrief conglomerate the lower portion of the moncrief conglomerate was rotated basinward in the developing growth syncline the final stage of deformation stage iii was dominated by the thrust faulting of middle and lower paleozoic strata eastward over steeply dipping mesozoic strata and rotated eocene synorogenic conglomerate during this stage of deformation the moncrief conglomerate was deformed as the initially blind thrusts propagated into the near surface conglomerate deposits truncated the entire footwall syncline and overrode the synorogenic conglomerate package cross sections in areas where this final stage of deformation is well developed indicate that an average of 24 1 shortening and 9 7 km of uplift had occurred along the eastern margin of the bighorn mountains the caliber of synorogenic deposition in the powder river basin was linked directly to the lithologic composition of the bighorn mountains approximately half of the 3 6 km thick source stratigraphic section of the eastern bighorn mountains was eroded prior to accumulation of conglomerate the majority of this eroded material was derived from mesozoic mudstone and poorly indurated sandstone that were incapable of generating coarse detritus the first paleogene conglomerates deposited along the east central bighorn mountains therefore do not represent the initiation of laramide uplift but instead represent the exposure of coarse clast forming rock types from the lower half of the hanging wall stratigraphic section i e the mississippian madison limestone and ordovician bighorn dolomite

sediment soil sequences in the granada basin as evidence for long and short term climatic changes during the pliocene and quaternary in the western mediterranean abstract since the tortonian the carbonate dominated granada basin has received various terrestrial sediments late miocene pliocene early and mid pleistocene alluvial fans and late pleistocene slope deposits and loesses these deposits include many paleosols two hundred and forty samples of paleosols and sediments in 20 representative pliocene and pleistocene profiles were analysed by standard methods the long sequences with up to 85 paleosols indicate climatic cycles over at least 5 ma erosion and sedimentation occurred under dry conditions without vegetation cover during periods of geomorphodynamic activity soil formation occurred under wet conditions with closed vegetation during periods of geomorphodynamic stability the pedogenetically effective climate has been subtropical mediterranean since the early pliocene decreasing soil formation intensity indicates decreases of humidity in the mid late pliocene and late pleistocene

illuviation intensity and land use change quantification via micromorphological analysis abstract among soil processes governing the clay size fraction distribution with depth illuviation is not only widespread but also particularly poorly understood using a micromorphological approach this study aims at i quantifying the intensity of illuviation independently of all other competing soil processes ii testing the sensitivity of illuviation to different land uses and iii assessing the relative contribution of illuviation to the genesis of textural differentiation two luvisols developed from loess in northern france were selected the first under a deciduous forest and the second under conventional agricultural management both with no change in land use for at least 100 years in addition to classical mass balance calculations clay illuviation features such as limpid and dusty clay coatings were used as diagnostic features of the illuviation process and were quantified by a point counting approach in large thin sections in the two luvisols under study illuviation was found to be responsible for 75 and 86 of the textural contrast respectively in the cultivated soil and the forested one illuviation was thus by far the dominant factor causing textural differentiation even if accessory processes involving the clay size fraction were also at play such as lithological discontinuity clay neoformation or biological and physical reworking the recognition of dusty clay coatings considered as an indicator of cultivation in the soil under forest underlines the sensitivity of illuviation to past periods of cultivation and the legacy of anthropedogenesis on the present soil properties a qualitative change in the nature of the translocated particles without significant changes in the intensity of illuviation was identified in the soil under cultivation in comparison with the soil under forest these results support the conclusion that illuviation is an active process in soils under present climatic conditions and must no more be considered as a fossil soil process

holocene rock varnish on the messak plateau libyan sahara chronology of weathering processes abstract rock varnish coats subaerially exposed rock surfaces on the messak settafet plateau se libya central sahara holocene surfaces host three microlayers formed by different accretion processes that record a climatic transition from a wet environment to progressively more arid conditions sem eds and optical investigations shed light on the processes leading to the formation of microlaminae while direct ams 14c dating on microlayers and relative radiocarbon dating on dark varnished pastoral neolithic stone monuments suggest a reliable chronology for varnish development the innermost microlayer includes illuvial clay and calcite incorporated during the early to middle holocene 9200 to 5500 uncal ybp under wet environmental conditions the second microlayer is more typical mn rich rock varnish biomineralized during a phase of growing aridity in the middle holocene 6000 to 4000 uncal ybp the upper microlayer is composed of mostly aeolian dust and it dates back to the last hyperarid millennia a positive correlation between varnish chronological development and climate changes in the sahara reflects also broad regional control on microlamination deposition

soils in the mediterranean region what makes them different mediterranean climates are characterized by winter rains with some months of excess rainfall over evatranspiration warm and dry summer months with moisutre deficits drying out soils and their annual vegetation xeric moisture regime they are found on western parts of all continents between the cooler temperature zone and the hot dry desert zone the largest mediterranean region surrounding the mediterranean sea extends over 4 300 000 km2 and exhibits a wide variety of soils and geo ecosystems characteristics landscape attributes are the high proportion of mountains with sleep slopes significant additions of saharan desert dust to practically all soils of the region and a large proportion of limestone and other calcareous rocks as soil parent materials characteristics soil behavior features are moderate weathering with pervection leaching lessivage of mostly 2 1 clays into b horizons xeralfs luvisols hematite induced reddening of the clays due to summer dehydration of free iron oxyhydroxides carbonate dissolution and reprecipitation with prevalence of calcic horizons xerolls calcisols in semiarid regions and development of vertisols mostly in lowlands where deep layers of swelling cracking clays have sedimented shallows soils on nearly bare slopes mostly a result of erosion subsequent to deforestation are frequent leptosols cambiosols inceptisols entisols red or brown mediterranean soils are no longer used as a separate classification group in modern well defined soil property controlled taxonomies soil taxonomy fao system but were partially replaced by duchaufour s term fersiallitic soils in some classification systems terra rossa continues to be used in some classification for hard limestone derived red soils mostly shallow the effects of man s past and current interference with the lanscape are pervasive in most regions and predictions for possible future effects on the soils and ecosystems due to greenhouse gas induced warming and rainfall change are partly negative partly still too uncertain

from spatial variation of fracture patterns to fold kinematics a geomechanical approach 1 a vertical compression parallel joint set apparently formed at sheep mountain anticline sma during the early laramide orogeny prior to significant folding field data indicate that these joints occur in fewer locations in the forelimb than in the hinge and backlimb using three dimensional elastic dislocation models we show that early slip along an underlying thrust fault can locally perturb the surrounding stress field inhibiting joint formation above the fault thus we are able to constrain the forelimb kinematics finding that the forelimb was originally located in the hangingwall above the thrust fault furthermore the mode of folding at sma is constrained the anticline developed with a fixed hinge and rotating limbs while the underlying basement rocks deformed internally

diatom response to the last glacial interglacial transition in the ioannina basin northwest greece implications for mediterranean palaeoclimate reconstruction uncertainty as to the pattern of lateglacial and early holocene climate change in the western balkans and greece has persisted despite extensive investigation of the ioannina i 284 lake sediment sequence northwest greece here we present a new diatom record from i 284 for this time period after dominance by eurytopic small fragilariales the lateglacial interstadial ca 14 9 12 7 cal kyr bp is marked clearly by a relative increase in planktonic cyclotella ocellata a return to small fragilariales from ca 12 7 to 11 6 cal kyr bp approximately coincides with the younger dryas chronozone it is followed by a major transition to dominance by cyclotella spp at the pleistocene holocene boundary we interpret these shifts as a response to both lake level and productivity change induced by shifts in effective moisture and temperature demonstrating that the diatom record provides the first strong evidence for a younger dryas event in northwest greece and for both warming and wetting during the lateglacial interstadial and early holocene we also present clear evidence for an abrupt phase of catchment instability during the early holocene in this case we must await the results of further research to test whether it was driven by climatic or tectonic forcing

pedosedimentary division rock magnetism and chronology of the loess palaeosol sequence at roxolany ukraine abstract the loess mantle of the viii dniestre terrace at roxolany in the black sea area of ukraine is subdivided into six units which encompass the following palaeosol taxons pedocomplexes pk with evidence for several soil forming and sedimentary episodes incipient monogenetic palaeosols and horizons of carbonate concretions these cyclical loess palaeosol units provide a depositional record from the end of the matuyama chron through the holocene the detailed pedosedimentary subdivision of loesses at roxolany is generally consistent with magnetic susceptibility depth functions and seems to reflect global climatic variations earlier chronologies guidebook of the international geological congress xxvii session 1984 are re estimated on the basis of a revised position of the matuyama brunhes boundary and by detailed rock magnetic and micromorphological studies the strongly developed chernosem of pk 4 at approximately 22 m depth showing features of rubefication and the highest magnetic susceptibility value is viewed as a good stratigraphic marker of the late cromerian and seems to represent the climatic optimum of the brunhes chron oxygen isotope stage 13 the uppermost pk 2 is represented in the lower part by a chernosem analogous to surface soils of the area and is argued to be no younger than the last interglacial oxygen isotope stage 5e the poor preservation of pk 2 seems to result from processes of soil degradation and deflation at the time of interglacial glacial transition the closely spaced palaeosols between pk 2 and pk 4 seem to relate to three independent interglacials highest resolution of the palaeoclimatic record is found at the final matuyama chron from pk 9 to pk 8 and in incipient soils that contain either humic horizons with enhanced magnetic susceptibility or only horizons of large carbonate concretions

red mediterranean soils in some karstic regions of taurus mountains turkey abstract red soils are found along fractures and between bedding surfaces in karstic regions of both mediterranean and aegean regions of turkey these soils are very unique and information on pedogenesis in karstic regions are rather limited detailed field works were carried out at 17 locations soil profiles were examined at 14 sites and 7 of these were reported here soil samples from thea and b horizons of these soils are used to detailed characterization analyses in the laboratory occurrence of normal soil profiles were unusual in the study regions the fractured structure of limestone leads to unusual water and air circulation when water penetrates into rock fissures and holes and diffuses into sedimentary layers in situ weathering processes take place rock fissures and holes may also be filled in by the transport of soil materials from higher elevations sedimentary petrology and mineralogy of limestones are the factors that control the course of the pedogenesis oxidation of fe especially sulfides pyrite accelerates the soil formation in limestones soils are not present on massive an fractured or fissured limestones and thin and stony red soils are common only at the bottom parts of v shaped dolines however soils are thick and common within the materials that have alternating marl and sandy silty layers vertical movement of soil particles towards the deeper parts of te limestone tkes place as a result of the widening of the lapies which are mostly formed along the fractures most of the red soils in the studied karstic regions were likely developed during the tertiary and ot and humid periods of the quaternary epochs large body of soils which are found in deep limestones suggest their formation under paleochimatic environments

major controls on architecture sequence stratigraphy and paleosols of middle pleistocene continental sediments qc unit eastern central italy abstract middle pleistocene continental sediments in central italy qc unit record the oldest fluvial accumulation along the uplifting margin of the peri adriatic basin the architecture of the sediment body can be divided into two unconformity bounded fining upward cycles interpreted as genetically related depositional sequences these sequences highlight the systematic adjustment of the fluvial system to changes in the ratio between accommodation space and sediment supply a s ratio and from base to top comprise the following surfaces and stratal components i a regionally correlative sequence boundary resulting from an a s ratio 0 ii a low accommodation systems tract characterized by conglomerate rich amalgamated channel fills and recording an a s ratio 1 and v a mature red argillic paleosol to constrain the climatic signal for paleosols formation the two sequence capping mature paleosols have been investigated the results of these studies suggest that they were developed under humid and warm climatic conditions associated with interglacial phases which have been correlatively attributed to marine oxygen isotope stages 11 and 9

sequential limb rotation and kink band migration recorded by growth strata almazan basin north spain abstract the geometry of growth strata in the almazan monocline demonstrates that limb rotation and kink band migration can coexist as folding mechanisms the almazan basin showing an overall synclinal geometry was one of the most actively subsiding areas during the tertiary in the inner part of the iberian plate with more than 3500 m of preserved tertiary non marine sediments they are arranged in five tectonosedimentary units tsu a1 to a5 bounded by unconformities at the basin borders the southern basin border is defined by the wnw ese trending almazan monocline that can be followed for 25 km along strike with a maximum structural relief of about 2500 m the maximum changes in thickness on both limbs of the monocline occur in units a2 and a3 which constrains the maximum deformation period to between the middle upper eocene headonian top of a1 and upper oligocene lower miocene agenian base of a4 the detailed geometry of the mesozoic pre growth and the tertiary growth strata of the almazan monocline was determined from the analysis of six seismic reflection sections at high angles or perpendicular with the fold axis the average dip of the monocline changes from 15 in the east to more than 45 in the western sector being replaced westwards by a north verging steeply dipping thrust in some sections growth strata in the dipping limb show rotational offlap onlap syntectonic unconformities with progressively decreasing dips from bottom to top indicating that limb rotation took place during the first stages of folding at the limits of the dipping limb anticline and syncline two kink bands appear in some of the sections the one located on the syncline being more developed within each kink band beds show a constant dip of 30 40 the axial surfaces of each kink band converge upwards in the third and fourth tecto sedimentary units being parallel in the older units the fixed axial surface occurs in a down dip position with respect to the active axial surface the geometry of growth strata indicates that the mechanism of folding followed a sequence of i a first stage of large scale limb rotation wavelength larger than 5 km with minor development of kink bands in some sections and ii a second stage of more localised kink band migration probably favoured by fault propagation in the basement

pedosediments of karstic sinkholes in the eolianites of ne yucatan a record of late quaternary soil development geomorphic processes and landscape stability abstract the pedogenetic and geomorphic processes controlling soil development in tropical karstic landscapes are still poorly understood we have discovered and studied thick pedosediments in karst pockets developed in late pleistocene lithified calcareous dunes eolianites in the ne coast of the yucatan peninsula the morphological geochemical and mineralogical characteristics of the pocket fills were interpreted as a record of pedogenesis and geomorphic dynamics that shaped the soil mantle during the holocene sand fraction mineralogy and the zr ti ratio indicated a mixed origin of the soil parent material volcanic and granitic metamorphic components redeposited in the lithoral and coastal environments were identified within the soil matrix primary minerals were transformed by weathering and caused desilicification accumulation of clay hydroxy interlayered vermiculite and kaolinite and dithionite citrate bicarbonate extractable iron oxides fed reworked pedofeatures indicative of clay illuviation and redoximorphic processes were observed this set of processes points to a continuous phase of humid pedogenesis several thousand years long in the early middle holocene however the development of thick recalcified pedosediments in the pockets contrasting with the thin background rendzinas requires active soil redeposition during a late phase of geomorphic activity the available accelerator mass spectrometry ams radiocarbon date indicates that the switch of the erosion sedimentation processes could be related to ancient maya land use impact

genesis and climatic interpretation of paleosols and calcretes in a plio pleistocene alluvial fan of the costa blanca se spain abstract a plio pleistocene alluvial fan near la regia in the southeast coast of spain contains a vertical series of 7 fossil soils and 7 calcrete complexes the soil stratigraphy reflects recurring alternation of sedimentation and soil formation suggesting numerous pedogenically effective cyclical climatic changes during the late pliocene and early pleistocene the differentiated composition of calcretes near la regia is a polygenetic product surface erosion and sedimentary fossilization were followed by secondary carbonatization and subsequent induration at least 15 stages of soil formation are reconstructed red paleosols and pedogenic calcretes are well developed and reflect humid subtropical and mediterranean conditions during soil genesis with geomorphodynamic stability in contrast the accumulation of sediments and synsedimentary calcretes correlates with geomorphodynamic activity under considerably drier mediterranean conditions

fault propagation ductile strain and displacement distance relationships abstract displacement distance analysis of fault related fold structures can reveal important information about the distribution of fault displacement and in some cases the history of fault propagation this method is commonly used to 1 determine the ratio of displacement rate to propagation rate s p ratio 2 predict the location of unconstrained fault tips 3 determine the location of fault nucleation points and 4 evaluate structural interpretations although the displacement distance approach represents a potentially useful method for gaining information about displacement parallel fault propagation histories of natural fault related fold structures the theoretical relationship between s p and relative stretch er that forms the basis of this method remains essentially untested because displacement rates and propagation rates are generally unknown for natural structures these relationships can only be objectively tested by analysing model structures with known geometries strain distributions and fault propagation histories displacement distance analysis of different fault related fold models reveals that 1 displacement distance relationships are highly dependent on the nature of the hanging wall strain 2 relative stretch is not related to s p in any general way 3 fault tip locations cannot always be predicted by linear extrapolation of displacement distance trajectories 4 displacement maxima are not necessarily indicative of fault nucleation points in all cases and 5 although calculation of s p ratios from observed relative stretch magnitudes may not be appropriate the use of displacement distance relationships can nonetheless be useful in comparing structures and improving structural interpretations

matuyama brunhes boundary in key sections of the loess paleosol glacial formations on the east european plain abstract multidisciplinary studies of two key sections parastratotypes of the loess soil glacial formation strelitsa and sebryakovo mikhailovka sections located in the central part of the east european plain placed the matuyama brunhes reversal well below the lower pleistocene till the till attributed to the don glaciation maximum glaciation on the east european plain is separated from the m b reversal by several units as follows 1 a horizon of humified loam of still uncertain stratigraphic position 2 a loess horizon and 3 a paleosol complex rzhaksa the polarity reversal is within a transitional zone which includes the base of the lower bobrov loess and the upper portion of the underlying soil complex balashov the primary constituent of remanent magnetization has been identified using two methods demagnetization by heating and by alternating magnetic field such a technique ensures a high degree of reliability

the lateglacial and holocene environmental history of the ioannina basin north west greece this study centres on palaeoenvironmental analysis of the upper part of a long core from the partially drained tectonic ioannina basin north west greece the data span the lateglacial and holocene and comprise pollen mollusc magnetic susceptibility loss on ignition and particle size analyses these augment previously published ostracod and stable isotope data from the same sediment sequence the age model for the sequence is based on 19 ams dates five of which were obtained using a novel procedure for the separation of microcharcoal from sediment the pollen data suggest that although temperate woodland expanded at the beginning of the lateglacial only limited woodland contraction occurred during the younger dryas chronozone despite strong evidence for a sharp drop in sea surface temperature in the neighbouring adriatic at this time in contrast large scale vegetational and sedimentological changes occur in concert during the holocene some of which may be ascribed to human impact comparison with other records from the ioannina basin suggests that previous more littoral pollen sequences did not constitute a wholly representative record of lateglacial and holocene vegetational change

factors affecting the magnitude of post glacial hillslope incision in japanese mountains abstract in japanese mountains increased post glacial rainfall triggered gullying in bedrock and thousands of shallow failures in regolith resulting in widespread hillslope incision to identify factors influencing the areal extent of the post glacial incision fifteen rugged river basins in central and northeast japan were surveyed topographical and geological properties of hillslopes were measured on geomorphological maps digital elevation data and geological maps analyses of ca 3 000 0 5 0 5 km morphometric samples have shown that the magnitude of regolith failure depends mainly on slope inclination and geology and subordinately on local storm intensity the magnitude of bedrock gullying also depends on these three factors but with greater dominance of storm intensity these observations reflect the differential stability of hillslopes with varying inclination erodibility of bedrock and sensitivity of regolith and bedrock to change in storm intensity the three factors also exert control on alluvial fan development in the lower reaches because they affect the amount of hillslope sediment supply and in turn the type of fluvial processes

morphology mineralogy and magnetic susceptibility of epikarst terra rossa developed in late quaternary aeolianite deposits of southeastern saurashtra india the nature and development of epikarst and soil development in aeolianites under a monsoonal climatic regime has not yet been described late quaternary aeolianites of the southeastern coast of saurashtra in western india show a wide array of epikarst and red soil formation and serve to typify the character of aeolianite weathering under a monsoonal climate three varieties of epikarst are identified that represent down profile increase in groundwater flow five types of terra rossae represent a transition from the karstified limestone to soil development terra rossae differ in the content of residual aeolianite and show both simple and complex profiles the latter at places shows ped development the results show that an ontogenetic growth sequence exists from incipient epikarst to complex palaeosols this ontogenetic sequence represents an incremental increase in the groundwater budget of the region in response to changing intensification of the indian monsoon rainfall magnetic properties of the terra rossae formed under a monsoonal climate are described for the first time the magnetic susceptibility together with its frequency dependent and anhysteretic remanent magnetization arm represents both the concentration of single domain and ultrafine superparamagnetic sp magnetite the formation of single domain and superparamagnetic magnetite and hematite are linked genetically to weathering of the aeolianite that leads to the formation of terra rossa

role of weathering of pillow basalt pyroclastic input and geomorphic processes on the genesis of the monte cerviero upland soils calabria italy abstract in this paper we present new data on weathering and soil formation processes affecting alkaline pillow basalts on the summit of mt cerviero calabria southern italy we investigated two representative soil profiles using an integrated approach including pedological petrographic mineralogical and geochemical investigations we distinguished the main features inherited from the hydrothermal alteration of the pillow basalts in a submarine environment from the chemical weathering processes under meteoric conditions irregular geochemical patterns and chemical index of alteration values across the soil profiles indicate a lithological discontinuity between the bedrock and the upper soil horizons as a response to soil rejuvenation in turn controlled by erosive processes and an allochthonous pyroclastic input the soil profiles display poor horizonation and an incipient to intermediate degree of weathering in line with the clay mineralogy chlorite or hydroxy interlayered vermiculite illite kaolinite and varying mixed layers the degeneration microtextures of clay and iron manganese coatings in one soil profile suggest their relict genesis with an emplacement under warm humid conditions during the last interglacial a late pleistocene to holocene age of soil development is supported by the trachytic composition of volcanic micropumices correlated to explosive eruptions from the campania province or the aeolian islands in both soil profiles geochemical indices obtained from selective extractions of pedogenetic al fe and si pools point to poor andic properties with humus al complexes prevailing over short range order minerals nonetheless the latter are consistent with the presence of volcanic glass an optically isotropic pedogenic matrix and the andosol like field features of the soil profiles even if they developed in a non volcanic area this should lead to a partial reassessment of the volcanic versus non volcanic origin of certain andosols worldwide and claims a good field work as a basis for choosing the best suited laboratory methods to fill the gap between ordinary lab and field results

the great sumatra andaman earthquake of 26 december 2004 the two largest earthquakes of the past 40 years ruptured a 1600 kilometer long portion of the fault boundary between the indo australian and southeastern eurasian plates on 26 december 2004 seismic moment magnitude mw 9 1 to 9 3 and 28 march 2005 mw 8 6 the first event generated a tsunami that caused more than 283 000 deaths fault slip of up to 15 meters occurred near banda aceh sumatra but to the north along the nicobar and andaman islands rapid slip was much smaller tsunami and geodetic observations indicate that additional slow slip occurred in the north over a time scale of 50 minutes or longer

natural radioactivity of some red mediterranean soils abstract seventeen samples of b horizon of pleistocene terra rossa soils from carbonate rock were collected in different countries of the mediterranean regions spain italy and southern turkey the concentration of naturally occurring radionuclides 238 u 232 th k nat was measured in all samples using gamma ray spectrometry at the gran sasso national laboratory of infn italy the uranium content in terra rossa paleosols ranges from 1 to 5 ppm for thorium the concentration ranges from 3 ppm up to 30 ppm whereas for potassium it goes from 0 13 up to 1 3 the results indicated that soils characterised by absence or scarcity of 2 1 clay minerals are poor in uranium whereas soils with illite smectite as the dominant minerals in clay fraction are noticeably richer then it is suggested that uranium occurring in traces in the calcite lattice of carbonate rocks after it is the released by weathering migrates in solution as uo 2 2 and can be adsorbed by the soil exchange complex mainly by clay minerals of terra rossa soils

effect of initial fault geometry on the development of fixed hinge fault propagation folds abstract this paper describes how a model of fixed hinge basement involved fault propagation folds may be adapted to apply to thin skinned thrust faults to generate footwall synclines fixed hinge fault propagation folding assumes that the fold axial surfaces diverge upwards fold hinges are fixed in the rock the fault propagated through the forelimb thickness changes occur in the forelimb and the forelimb progressively rotates with increasing displacement on the underlying fault the original model for fixed hinge fault propagation folds was developed for the case of a planar fault in basement with a tip line that was at the interface between basement and the overlying sedimentary cover rocks the two geometries applicable to thin skinned thrusts are for the cases where a fixed hinge fault propagation fold develops above an initial bedding parallel detachment and an initial fault ramp of constant dip which flattens down dip into a bedding parallel detachment

occurrence and transformations of iron and manganese in a colluvial terra rossa toposequence of northern italy abstract a soil toposequence in ne italy was studied which consists of a terra rossa on cretaceous limestone on the upper slope grading downwards into a colluvial fan with terra rossa material and finally into alluvial river sediments it is postulated that the red colluviated terra rossa material has come under a moister hydroregime which provided reducing conditions because hematite of the terra rossa dissolved preferentially over goethite as shown by quantitative fe oxide mineralogy soil color changed from 2 5yr to 7 5yr the soils contained two types of concretions red ones with a low feo fed ratio and a high content of hematite and low content of mn oxides and black ones with a high feo fed ratio a small amount of hematite and abundant mn oxides the red concretions are therefore considered as inherited from an earlier period of pedogenesis whereas the black ones are neoformed in the present pedoenvironment this is further supported by the lower al for fe substitution of goethite in the black concretions as compared to a higher al substitution in the goethite inherited from the terra rossa

climatic and tectonic controls on pedogenesis and landscape evolution in a quaternary intramontane basin val d agri basin southern apennines italy abstract paleopedological studies of alluvial systems in intramontane valley settings provide useful tools for understanding the interaction of tectonics climate and local base level changes in controlling alluvial dynamics an example is reported from the quaternary alluvial deposits of the val d agri basin in southern italy which were accreted in response to cycles of deposition pedogenesis and erosion several buried weathering profiles representative of the main stratigraphic unconformities were characterized by field description and micromorphological analyses the profiles appear to be truncated at the top by intense erosion the main pedological features and their formative processes occurred polycyclically attesting to different and relict pedogenetic phases that are not in equilibrium with present day environmental conditions we interpret the weathering profiles as paleosols that developed mainly during pleistocene interglacial periods the peri glacial phases mainly caused erosion of devegetated slopes and soil truncation processes all of the paleosols in the val d agri basin offer useful information on the chronological reconstruction of climatic phases and the associated sequence of pedogenetic events during the quaternary in the mediterranean region

paleosols derived from loess and loess like sediments in the basin of persepolis southern iran abstract in the basin of persepolis late quaternary basin fills consist of loess loess like sediments and fine or coarse textured alluvium the loess and its derivatives are divided by various paleosols which consist of well developed fbw t horizons weakly developed fbwc and fbwgc horizons as well as fah horizons strongly developed fbtk horizons occur in stony alluvial fan deposits or superimpose residual loams of carbonate bedrock mixed with loess the different types of paleosols result from various degrees of soil development as evidenced by micromorphological features such as the birefringence fabrics and less clearly by pedochemical properties based on the stratigraphy and different degrees of soil development various phases of soil formation and sediment deposition can be distinguished infrared optically stimulated luminescence irsl thermoluminescence tl and radiocarbon dating methods are consistent with the stratigraphy and yielded except for one sample age estimates of less than about 30 ka the strongly developed fbw t and fbtk horizons reflect soil forming periods prior to the last glacial maximum lgm and probably during marine isotope stage 5 mis 5 with climatic conditions comparable to the present day the upper loess deposits likely formed under considerably cooler and drier climatic conditions during the lgm however poor bleaching of sediments prior to final deposition as indicated by greater tl than irsl dates suggest fluvial reworking of these loesses the weakly developed fah fbwc and fbwgc horizons may indicate interstadial periods of mis 3 and short phases of climate amelioration during the early holocene the formation of the modern soil probably did not start before 7 9 ka

iron oxide mineralogy of terra rossa and its genetic implications abstract fe d fe d fe t hematite geothite ratios and al substitution in hematite and goethite were found to vary to a rather limited extent in 48 terra rossa samples from various locations around the world this seems to indicate a rather specific pedoenvironment in which terra rossa is formed it is suggested that this pedoenvironment is characterized by an association of mediterranean climate high internal drainage due to the karstic nature of a hard limestone and neutral ph conditions under those conditions relatively high amounts of fe are released fe d fe t ca 0 7 from autochthonous and or allochthonous primary fe sources followed by preferential formation of hematite over goethite both having a medium level of al substitution the close association between terra rossa and the underlying limestone must therefore be seen in the role the rock plays for the water and air regimes of the soil rather than in its material characteristics except for soil ph neither an fe content in the limestone insufficient to explain the fe content of the solum nor the addition of eolian or alluvial material can therefore be used as an argument against a genetic relationship between terra rossa and its underlying limestone

manifestations of the indian ocean tsunami of 2004 in satellite nadir viewing radar backscatter variations 1 the paper reports on the first experimental evidence for space observed manifestation of the open ocean tsunami in the microwave radar backscatter in c and ku bands electromagnetic wave lengths 6cm and 2 cm respectively significant a few db variations of the radar cross section synchronous with the sea level anomaly were found in the geophysical data record of the altimetry satellite jason 1 for the track which crossed the head wave of the catastrophic tsunami of 26 december 2004 the simultaneous analysis of the available complementary data provided by the satellite three channel radiometer enabled us to exclude meteorological factors as possible causes of the observed signal modulation a possible physical mechanism of modulation of short wind waves due to transformation of the thin boundary layer in the air by a tsunami wave is discussed the results open new possibilities of monitoring tsunamis from space

fault displacement distance relationships as indicators of contractional fault related folding style we present a method of using fault displacement distance profiles to distinguish fault bend shear fault bend and fault propagation folds and use these insights to guide balanced and retrodeformable interpretations of these structures we first describe the displacement profiles associated with different end member fault related folding models then provide examples of structures that are consistent with these model based predictions natural examples are imaged in high resolution two and three dimensional seismic reflection data sets from the niger delta sichuan basin sierras pampeanas and cascadia to record variations in displacement with distance updip along faults termed displacement distance profiles fault bend folds exhibit constant displacement along fault segments and changes in displacement associated with bends in faults shear fault bend folds demonstrate an increase in displacement through the shearing interval and fault propagation folds exhibit decreasing displacement toward the fault tip more complex structures are then investigated using this method demonstrating that displacement distance profiles can be used to provide insight into structures that involve multiple fault related folding processes or have changed kinematic behavior over time these interpretations are supported by comparison with the kinematics inferred from the geometry of growth strata overlying these structures collectively these analyses illustrate that the displacement distance approach can provide valuable insights into the styles of fault related folding

the interplay of geomorphic processes and soil development in an upland environment calabria south italy abstract five representative soil profiles outcropping in the area around the cecita lake calabria south italy were characterised by field work chemical and mineralogical analyses optical and scanning electron microscopy interactions among weathering pedogenesis and geomorphic processes are emphasised in an attempt to link the results obtained at different scales of observation the important role of topography in controlling soil development or removal by erosive processes is discussed in relation to the natural geomorphological context and the effects of human pressure both present day and relict features were recognised in the studied soils and discussed in terms of environmental conditions and climatic changes the chemical composition of volcanoclastic components identified in some soil horizons with andosol like field appearance coupled with pedogenetic features contributed useful chronological constraints for the reconstruction of late quaternary geomorphic events

a review of lamellae lamellae bands of increased silicate clay and iron are globally ubiquitous in quaternary sands and have been studied for almost a century however their study is hampered by confusion in the literature a researcher who only reads a single case study may be misled into thinking that these features form in only one way this paper reviews recent research on these confusing features outlining three general formation pathways pedogenic petrogenic and pedo petrogenic and within these numerous specific evolutions the review will be useful to geomorphologists that have lamellae in their field areas but whose research is focused elsewhere and those interested in determining local lamellae genesis it will help quaternary scientists understand that lamellae are confusing features and should not be assumed to have climatic significance or indicate buried soils when encountered at depth

sediment accumulation on top of the andean orogenic wedge oligocene to late miocene basins of the eastern cordillera southern bolivia a large volume of tertiary synorogenic sediment accumulated on top of the eastern cordillera of southern bolivia as the andean orogenic wedge was shortened thickened and uplifted oligocene to upper miocene strata were deposited in five basins that were separated by active north trending fold thrust structures of the then frontal part of the orogenic wedge these coarse grained deposits recorded accumulation in the most proximal sector of the andean foreland basin system the wedge top depozone analyses of depositional systems sediment dispersal patterns and clast provenance of 0 6 2 3 km thick oligocene to upper miocene wedge top successions demonstrate that faultpropagation and fault bend folds commonly isolated individual basins while serving as primary sediment sources growth strata which formed by progressive fold limb rotation indicate thrust fault displacement and related folding concurrent with deposition alluvial fans defined most basin margins whereas braided streams or small lakes occupied basin axes diagnostic stratigraphic units confined to individual basins suggest that streams were rarely able to cut across growing folds to connect adjacent basins growth strata and crosscutting and onlapping relationships between contractional structures and wedge top strata delineate the chronology of fold thrust deformation in the eastern cordillera five new 40 ar 39 ar dates and previously published k ar dates ranging from 30 to 8 ma define an oligocene phase of west vergent backthrusting followed by primarily east vergent thrusting during miocene time timing of displacement on two east vergent thrusts is determined by 40 ar 39 ar ages of tuffs within adjacent growth strata sequences of the tupiza formation conglomerate 16 14 0 06 ma and oploca formation 13 33 0 15 ma 15 7 2 4 ma these ages combined with basin depositional histories demonstrate synchronous and out of sequence thrust displacement during miocene shortening upper crustal contractional deformation and wedge top deposition terminated in the eastern cordillera during late miocene time as the thrust front propagated eastward into the subandean zone continued thrust front migration produced the present day configuration in which eastern cordillera wedge top basins originally developed above the toe of the orogenic wedge at relatively low elevations are now 250 km west of the active thrust front and at 3 km elevation the modern wedge top depozone overlies the active frontal part of the orogenic wedge and consists of strata in thrustbounded subandean zone basins and sediment overlying blind structures beneath the westernmost chaco plain in general wedge top deposits become highly susceptible to erosional recycling as the orogenic wedge propagates forward and the wedge surface is uplifted nevertheless eastern cordillera wedge top deposits have been preserved for 10 30 m y in southern bolivia such long term preservation may reflect the inability of drainage systems to remove sediment mass from this low precipitation region of the central andes retention of sediment mass within the orogenic belt may promote critical thrust wedge conditions in which propagation of the thrust front is favored

quartz grain surfaces a potential microarchive for sedimentation processes and parent material identification in soils of jordan abstract using sem supported microsurface and analytical methods we studied quartz and rare feldspar grains of the sand fraction 250 m from three soil profiles in jordan the soils including a lithosol are of different maturity and diagenetic alteration of their bed rocks which are sandstone limestone and basalt the profiles had been investigated during projects on the environmental history of the region whereas the quartz grain surface analysis qgsa that has been applied for the first time to jordan soils is an essential part of a supplementary study that was initiated when findings of unusual mineral components in a red basalt soil raised questions of their source and the history of this soil the major transport processes and environments that were reconstructed for the sandstone regosol and the red mediterranean soil rms on early tertiary limestone are documented by successions and types of grain morphological features that apparently reflect varying water dynamics partly alternating with aeolian motion a result which matches with the known sedimentary history of their bedrocks and supports the reliability of the quartz grain surface analysis qgsa the microtexture pattern for the exotic quartz grain community in the basalt soil on an early quaternary basaltic rock showed a high similarity to those of the limestone samples part of the quartz grains from the basalt soil turned out to be chert as is present in the rms profile and was an essential indication for the source of quartz a sufficient explanation for the presence of quartz is that the outcropping weathered eocene umm rijam chert limestone formation among them chert nodules was reworked and transported to the top of the weathering basalt while a feldspar grain from the sandstone regosol shows a conformable pattern to the quartz grains plagioclase single grains from the red basalt soil in contrast are primary mineral components of the source rock these preserved plagioclases exhibit only minor features of chemical weathering corresponding to the young non diagenetic bedrock the size of the grains and situation of the basalt cap in the landscape as well as preliminary dating suggest a period of heavy storms in jordan at some time during the pleistocene

the role of fractures in the structural interpretation of sheep mountain anticline wyoming the development of fractures in the sedimentary layers of sheep mountain anticline a laramide asymmetric fault cored fold of the bighorn basin is documented and interpreted to constrain the kinematic evolution of the fold the fracture pattern is interpreted to identify five main fracture sets a fracture set striking 110 set i oblique to the future fold trend is interpreted as a regional fracture set that predates laramide compression a joint set set ii striking 045 and present in the hinge and backlimb is related to the ne oriented laramide compression just prior to and during initial anticline growth joints striking 135 set iii parallel to the fold trend are found within the hinge and are interpreted to have developed in response to the bending of layers the two youngest fracture sets are attributed to a late stage of fold growth a joint set set iv in the backlimb striking parallel to the set i fractures but vertical and a fracture set in the forelimb consisting of set i fractures reactivated as reverse faults the relative chronology mode of formation opening vs shearing and structural locations of these fractures suggest the following kinematics of folding at sheep mountain anticline little or no lateral fold propagation no hinge migration and limb rotation with only minor limb flexure and stretching

mineralogical and geochemical indicators of the polygenetic nature of terra rossa in istria croatia abstract terra rossa in istria is situated on the jurassic cretaceous paleogene carbonate plain and is considered a polygenetic reddish soil which bears typical terra rossa fe oxide characteristics e g fe d and fe d fe t the difference in particle size mineralogy and geochemistry observed between terra rossa and the insoluble residue of limestones and dolomites clearly indicates that the additions of external materials might have diminished the influence of insoluble residue of limestones and dolomites as the primary parent material of terra rossa in istria terra rossa is clay and silty clay composed of quartz plagioclase k feldspar micaceous clay minerals illitic material and mica kaolinites kl d and kl chlorite vermiculite low charge vermiculite or high charge smectite mixed layer clay minerals other than illitic material hematite goethite and xrd amorphous inorganic compound calcite dolomite and boehmite are sporadically present and are of local importance kaolinites and illitic material are dominant clay mineral phases in the clay fraction of all terra rossa from istria kaolinite which does not form intercalation compounds with dimethylsulfoxide dmso is the dominant mineral phase in fine clay and is considered predominantly authigenic rather then inherited from parent materials neither the content and particle size distribution nor the bulk and clay mineralogy of the insoluble residue of limestone and dolomite support development of terra rossa entirely by dissolution of carbonate rock if terra rossa has developed only from the insoluble residue of limestone and dolomite its clay content due to weathering should be higher than that in the insoluble residues which is not the case plagioclase was found only in one insoluble residue while all terra rossa samples contain this mineral moreover insoluble residues do not contain vermiculite which was observed in small amounts in clay fraction of all terra rossa samples na 2 o k 2 o 100 zr nb and zr ti 1000 ratios in the majority of terra rossa samples are much higher than in the insoluble residue of limestones and dolomites which also supports external material influence in the genesis of terra rossa materials other than the insoluble residue of limestones and dolomites which might have contributed to terra rossa are loess sediments whose deposition was very important recurrent process in istria probably since the early middle pleistocene and flysch sediments which extended much more southwards from its present position analyses performed indicate that both loess older than that of the upper pleistocene age and flysch might have contributed in the genesis of terra rossa

paleosols provide sedimentation relative age and climatic information about the alluvial fan of the river tirso central western sardinia italy four representative paleosols in the plio pleistocene alluvial fan of the river tirso central western sardinia italy were studied for paleoenvironmental information to describe the sedimentology of the alluvial fan and to define a relative chronological framework for the fan the representative depositional units and associated paleosols were characterised by fieldwork physical chemical and mineralogical analyses pedogenesis was mostly driven by the time and climate factors in the proximal fan location pedogenesis was initially influenced by a warm subtropical tropical climate of the late pliocene and subsequently by warm and humid interglacial phases of the pleistocene these phases were also responsible for soil formation in the middle fan in the distal reaches of the fan pedogenesis was driven by the different climatic pulses of the late pleistocene tyrrhenian interglacial mis 5 pleistocene eustatic sea level changes directly influenced the lowest elevations of the middle fan and the distal fan erosion and soil truncation mainly occurred in the proximal fan and at the highest elevations of the middle fan during glacial phases

the effect of land parameters on vegetation performance and degree of erosion under mediterranean conditions important land parameters such as soil texture soil depth topography parent material and climatic conditions were studied in a semi detailed soil survey conducted in the island of lesvos and were related to the vegetation performance and degree of erosion rainfall data indicated that the island could be divided into two major climatic zones a semi arid western part and a dry sub humid eastern part a 45 rainfall gradient has been recorded in the above two climatic zones the great reduction in rainfall combined with the higher evapotranspiraton demands in the semi arid zone has significantly affected vegetation performance and degree of erosion in the area due to the general lack of available water the semi arid part of the island is dominated by poor maquis vegetation while olive trees oak and pine forests prevail in the dry sub humid part under similar topographical and geomorphological conditions vegetation cover increases with increas ing rainfall and soil depth slope grade has a variable effect on soil erosion in the various climatic zones erosion is decreasing with increasing rainfall for the same slope classes severely eroded soils prevail in the semi arid zone with slopes greater than 12 while slightly to moderately eroded soils are found in the dry sub humid zone under similar slope classes the highest rates of land degradation have been measured in areas with soils formed on pyroclastic formations areas with soils formed on basic igneous rocks shale and lava are well vegetated and protected from

using petrophysics and cross section balancing to interpret complex structure in a limited quality 3 d seismic image a study was done to characterize deep prolific ellenburger gas reservoirs at lockridge waha west waha and worsham bayer fields in pecos ward and reeves counties in west texas a major effort of the study was to interpret a 176 mi2 3 d seismic data volume that spanned these fields well control defined the depth of the ellenburger the principal interpretation target to be 17 000 21 000 ft 5200 6400 m over the image area ellenburger reflection signals were weak because of these great target depths additionally the top of the ellenburger had a gentle ramp like increase in acoustic impedance that did not produce a robust reflection event a further negative influence on seismic data quality was the fact that a large portion of the 3 d seismic area was covered by a variable surface layer of low velocity tertiary fill that was in turn underlain by a varying thickness of high velocity salt anhydrite these complicated near surface conditions attenuated seismic reflection signals and made static c

the role of african dust in the formation of quaternary soils on mallorca spain and implications for the genesis of red mediterranean soils abstract african dust additions explain the origin of terra rossa soils that are common on the carbonate platform island of mallorca spain mineralogical and geochemical analyses indicate that quaternary carbonate eolianites on mallorca have a very high purity usually composed of more than 90 carbonate minerals calcite dolomite and aragonite in contrast terra rossa soils developed on these eolianites have lower carbonate contents and contain higher concentrations of quartz and other silicates analyses of immobile trace elements indicate that the non carbonate fractions of the eolianites have distinctive zr hf la yb cr sc and th ta values that differ from the superjacent terra rossa soils these observations indicate that even if sufficient dissolution of the eolianite had taken place to create the soils by residual accumulation immobile element ratios in the soils require an external source however zr hf la yb cr sc and th ta values in the soils fall within the range of values for these element ratios in african dust collected on barbados and mainland spain we conclude that the silicate fractions of terra rossa soils on mallorca are derived mainly though not wholly from far traveled african dust and this process may explain the origin of other terra rossa soils found in southern europe

the changing maltese soil environment evidence from the ancient cart tracks at san pawl tat tarġa naxxar the historic cart ruts of malta are incised into the underlying bedrock topography anomalous relationships between their routeways and the uneven terrain beneath suggest that they originated on a land surface different from that of today an exposure close to a cart rut location near naxxar reveals evidence of limestone terrain development and its role in the evolution of the cart rut patterns specifically it reveals that cart trackways were most probably superimposed from a soil cover onto an underlying bedrock surface topographically different from the former soil surface a model is developed demonstrating likely relationships between human activity soil erosion and trackway evolution leading to the incision of the trackways into the bedrock

late quaternary climatic reconstruction for the maghreb north africa abstract the paleoclimatic evolution of the maghreb since 40 000 yr b p is not yet known in great detail for that purpose data from more than 35 sites have been collected although only about 11014c dates and a few prehistoric remains can be used to correlate these data however the sites are well distributed over the maghreb and the convergent results from paleosoils paleolakes alluvian or eolian deposits pollen analysis etc induce one to draw up a certain pattern in climatic evolution for the period between 40 000 and 20 000 yr b p the data are still fragmentary but are concordant in indicating wetter environments generalized as far as the northern sahara the effect of dropping temperatures on the increasing water budget and soil moisture is not yet clear but rainfall could have been more regular and more abundant as a consequence of the shifting of middle latitude cyclone paths towards the south in both summer and winter the environmental indicators show that between about 20 and 18 000 yr b p rainfall progressively became more irregular however proofs of aridity in the south maghreb and the northern sahara is evident only for the period between 12 10 000 yr b p at that time the saharan high pressure belt was reinforced and well established at higher latitudes than at present this dry climate lasted more or less until the thermal optimum after 6000 yr b p there is some evidence that the climate became wetter again but the environmental conditions were rather different from those of before 20 000 yr b p for instance the middle holocene dark humic sois are the result of a pedogenesis different from that of the late pleistocene reddish paleosoils for the last two millennia it is not easy to distinguish between a natural trend towards aridification and desertification through man s intervention

karst depressions as geoarchaeological archives the palaeoenvironmental reconstruction of zominthos central crete based on geophysical prospection sedimentological investigations and gis abstract sediment filled karst depressions e g dolines have rarely been used as geoarchives in greece due to an uncertainty about the thickness of accumulations and their vague suitability for palaeoenvironmental research however such terrestrial proxy data sources can yield important records for the analysis of the holocene landscape history a multi method approach was applied in order to evaluate the potential of colluvial fillings for reconstructing the geoarchaeological landscape in mount ida central crete subsequent to an area wide survey of appropriate karst hollows through remote sensing and gis analyses geophysical prospection refraction seismics earth resistivity tomography was conducted at the most promising archive locations selective percussion drilling within the sinkholes provided vibra cores for mineralogical and sedimentological investigations grain size distribution heavy and light minerals x ray diffraction thin sections as well as ams 14 c dates as demonstrated by the results the dolines are partially filled by loose material up to 20 m b s and thus offer valuable information about the environmental history the diversified sediment constitution indicates several geomorphodynamic oscillations and a polygenetic nature of the colluvial fills xrd spectra of clay minerals and quartz grain morphology both indicate a significant aeolian dust contribution to soil formation and pedo sediments glass shards and substantially heterogeneous heavy mineral compositions point to supra regional origin and external volcanogenic deposits minoan eruption of santorini 3 6 ka regarding the hitherto discussed distribution of z2 tephra in the mediterranean the spatial fallout must be revised as great amounts have also been deposited in the high mountains of crete moreover the redeposition of the sedimentary fills proves to be comparatively young since most materials were accumulated within the dolines post eruptively huge and previously unknown subsurface archaeological remains strongly suggest that year around settlement in the mid holocene might have been possible under better climatic conditions the results imply that karst depressions serve as suitable geoarchives particularly when investigated within a multi method approach

tsunami detection by satellite altimetry we present what is to our knowledge the first direct observation of the deformation of the surface of the ocean upon passage of a tsunami wave on the high seas far from the influence of shorelines and continental shelves we use satellite altimetry data from the ers 1 and topex poseidon programs complemented by spectrogram techniques and synthetic maregrams to examine the case of seven recent tsunamigenic earthquakes we make a positive identification of the tsunami wave field in the case of the 1992 nicaraguan tsunami which we detect at 15 s 106 w five hours after origin time we model the observed spectrogram by injecting a synthetic of variable amplitude into the signal of a repetitive cycle of the satellite along the same track concluding that the nicaraguan tsunami had a zero to peak amplitude of 8 cm in that region in the case of the 1995 chilean tsunami a large scatter in the spectral properties of the reference tracks renders the detection tentative we fail to detect the tsunamis of five other large events including the 1996 biak and 1996 peru earthquakes primarily on account of unfavorable source directivity in the geometry of existing satellite tracks and of the strong and incoherent noise produced by large current systems such as the kuroshio in the northwest pacific

petrographic and geochemical features of sinkhole filling deposits associated with an erosional unconformity on grand cayman abstract on grand cayman exposures of dolostones belonging to the cayman formation miocene represent an erosional unconformity that has been developing since the late pliocene 3 6 ma sinkholes that developed during this time have remained open or become partly to fully filled with various combinations of rootcrete breccias loose limestone and dolostone lithoclasts and white red and orange limestones these sinkhole filling deposits have different geochemical attributes to the neogene and pleistocene marine carbonates that form the bedrock of the island the deposits in the sinkholes formed in response to the variations of sea level climate exposure and vegetation that developed during the period when the erosional unconformity was developing the rootcrete oncoids red and orange limestones are terrestrial in origin whereas the limestone and dolostone lithoclasts and white limestones are derived from marine deposits on the erosional unconformity intense root activity led to the formation of rootcrete and terrestrial oncoids but also selectively blackening reworked marine carbonates the red and orange limestone matrices which formed under more arid conditions contrast with the other sinkhole filling deposits that formed during periods when the climate was semi arid to humid the distinctive ree signatures of the sinkhole filling deposits which are different from those of the bedrock limestones and dolostones can probably be attributed to trace amount of terra rossa and or airborne saharan derived dust that are present in those deposits

pedogenesis of red soils overlaid coral reef terraces in the southern taiwan abstract red soils developed above the reef limestones are commonly observed in the world their characteristic properties of high contents in clays and iron oxides reddish hue are usually classified themselves as inceptisols alfisols ultisols or mollisols in soil taxonomy the genetic contexts between the soils and beneath limestone have been revealed for gauging paleo landform surface processes relating to paleoclimatic shifts since the late pleistocene there are levels of reef marine terraces in altitude in the hengchun peninsula of taiwan their surfaces are covered by thick reddish soil enriched with iron oxides however these terra rossa like soils distributed on the reef limestone are actually developed from heterogeneous detrital materials instead of developing from the insoluble residue of the limestone according to the soil taxonomy the soils on the higher terraces are classified as the typic paleudults or typic kandiultults they are equivalent to the alisols in wrb system the soils on the lower terraces are classified as typic udipsamments and lithic eutrudepts and they are equivalent to the arenosols and cambisols respectively this study suggests that the terra rossa like soils in the study are developed from the parent materials of fluvial deposits which are subject to the landform surface processes during the interglacial

application of laser ablation icp ms and traditional micromorphological techniques to the study of an alfisol sardinia italy in thin sections insights into trace element distribution abstract an innovative methodological approach is proposed in this study based on the chemical analysis of different portions of soil horizons illuvial pedofeatures pedogenic matrix and skeletal parent rock fragments by laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry la icp ms associated with traditional micromorphological optical and scanning electron microscopy techniques validation of the la icp ms technique provides in situ accurate and reproducible rsd 13 18 analysis of low concentration trace elements and rare earth elements ree in soil samples 0 001 0 1 ppm analyses were carried out on thin sections prepared from undisturbed soil samples collected from three different bt argillic i e clay illuviated horizons in an alfisol from the muravera area southeastern sardinia italy the main aims were i to develop and test the reliability of a la icp ms analytical method on soil thin sections and ii to explore the idea that concentrations of trace and rare earth elements in the different portions of a soil profile can be used to investigate their distribution as a response to pedogenetic processes the three horizons show similar features particularly in terms of element concentrations and patterns by comparing the concentration of ree and other trace elements in the clay coatings the soil matrix and the skeletal rock fragments in the same horizon a general enrichment trend is observed from the parent rock to the pedogenic matrix up to the illuvial pedofeatures suggesting a prominent role of pedogenetic processes in element fractionation and distribution during weathering in particular the highest concentration of trace elements and specifically ree in clay coatings which represent the most mobile solid phase in the soil profile indicates that the former can be used as a reliable indicator of soil weathering if a preliminary assessment of the presence of clay coatings is achieved in addition the discontinuous trend of some trace elements among soil features of different horizons is consistent with field evidence of slope dynamics marked by an erosive and depositional discontinuity along the soil profile

multiple geometries and modes of fault propagation folding in the canadian thrust belt abstract a multitude of fold models have been proposed to explain the variety of fold geometries which develop in front of thrust faults detailed field fabric and photogrammetric studies of 4 fault cored asymmetrical folds in the thin skinned canadian thrust belt were used to test models of fault propagation folding fold geometries include combinations of angular and rounded fold surfaces highly contorted anticlinal hinge areas and minimal penetrative deformation or changes in bedding thickness interlimb angles generally decrease with increasing shortening indicating progressive fold tightening about fixed anticlinal hinges extensive flexural slip thrusting toward the anticlinal axes of angular folds suggests that kink folding in thin skinned thrust belts is aided by material transfer from both fold limbs into hinge areas fold geometries change dramatically along the strike of individual structures demonstrating the non uniqueness of fault propagation fold geometries no single mode of fault propagation folding can explain the diverse fold geometries seen in the canadian thrust belt this geometric variability can be ascribed to the complex interplay of multiple modes of folding in strata near the causal thrusts oblique shear and flexural slip in triangular shear zones distribute thrust displacements into both rounded and angular folds simultaneous angular folding of overlying strata commonly occurs by progressive kink folding where folds tighten by flexural slip on all fold limbs until the thrust breaks through the fold regional and local differences in the amount of pervasive top to the craton shear needed for progressive kink folding may be partially responsible for the variability of fault propagation fold geometries in thin and thick skinned orogens world wide

the last interglacial pedocomplexes in the litho and morpho stratigraphical framework of the central northern apennines central italy recently in italy a great deal of effort has been devoted to the mapping of quaternary continental deposits several unconformity bounded stratigraphic units ubsu have been defined the unconformities indicate important phases of changing dynamics linked to quaternary climatic changes and have been related to valley downcutting simultaneous with paleosol formation during interglacials however glacial periods are characterised by deposition of thick continental sequences we suggest that the ubsu s belonging to the late middle pleistocene mis 6 and late pleistocene can also be defined under a pedostratigraphic point of view locally at the top of the ubsu attributed to mis 6 buried or relict paleosols are preserved the paleosols developed in calcareous fluvial and moraine gravels with minor flints the pedocomplexes are made of three paleosols separated by erosion surfaces and or stonelines the older paleosol mis 5e is severely truncated and is characterised by a ck horizon overlain by strongly leached reddish bt horizons with flinty rock fragments with a diagnostic wavy lower boundary in some sites subsequent secondary precipitation of carbonates transformed this horizon into a btk this paleosol is buried by a younger paleosol mis 5c with less leached reddish btk horizons quartz of aeolian origin and very small and scarce calcareous clasts the main pedofeatures are associated with colluvial processes biological activity and carbonate precipitation this paleosol is also truncated and buried under a similar paleosol mis 5a therefore the lower paleosol of the pedocomplex can be attributed to the eemian and constitutes a valid marker for the definition and mapping of the underlying and overlying sedimentary units in other parts of the apennines no sedimentary units have been found that correspond to the unconformities separating different pedostratigraphical units in order to map the different ubsu s due to the poor lateral continuity of the preserved paleosols morpho and litho stratigraphical investigations and correlation are always recommended

red palaeosols sequence in a semiarid mediterranean environment region in this work we study one of the most palaeopedological sequence formed in central spain which is located on the pliocene pleistocene erosional surface in the madrid basin we also analyse its relationship to erosive and sedimentary pleistocene events in order to obtain new data for a correct interpretation of the origin and evolution of forms at the top of tabular lands in this site the geomorphic features and the properties of a sequence of very red palaeosols that developed on this old surface can help us in the understanding of the palaeoclimatic evolution of central spain in a mediterranean climate they were examined to identify pedologic and climatic changes during the quaternary the soil sequence comprises intercalated palaeoargillic and palaeopetrocalcic horizons the clay minerals are mainly illite kaolinite smectite and sepiolite the alternation of argillic and calcic horizons limestone debris cryoclastic colluvions and aeolian sands suggests succeeding periods of phytostability and phytoinstability biostasis rhexistasis argillation rubification and calcium carbonate accumulation were repeated throughout the pleistocene and it is hypothesised that climatic conditions during numerous stages of this period were not very different from the present conditions

vetusols and paleosols natural versus man induced environmental change in the atlantic coastal region of morocco abstract surface terrae rossae rhodoxeralfs and a terra fusca petrocalcic palexeralf developed on mid quaternary calcarenites in the moister region of rabat show substantial pedogenic formation of clay minerals particularly kaolinite mainly in the fraction m for the most part the pedogenic kaolinites show poor crystallinity of the fireclay type they are mainly formed from feldspars and perhaps also amphiboles and pyroxenes in the fractions 2 m and from smectites inherited from the calcarenite residual loam in the coarse 2 0 2 m and fine clay fractions m in one terra rossa soil formation was interrupted twice by deposition of eolian materials and it is regarded as a polycyclic pedocomplex eolian input was much less important during development of the other surface terrae rossae on younger calcarenites 100 ka near the coast three rendzinas typic calcixerolls show only slight mineral weathering and pedogenic clay formation in spite of a varied spectrum of primary minerals in one example kaolinite formation has just started the calcixerolls were probably recalcified by addition of eolian material as a result of anthropogenic thinning of the vegetation and or due to the vicinity of the coast these results suggest that at least in this region the younger terrae rossae of the coastal area were formed over much of the brunhes epoch in areas farther from the coast they have been developing for almost all of the brunhes epoch because climatic fluctuations in the quaternary were generally slight in this region the direction of soil formation was constant therefore we regard the rhodoxeralfs in the northern part of our study area as vetusols according to our expanded definition vetusols are surface soils which underwent almost constant processes of soil formation under an almost constant constellation of soil forming factors especially climate and vegetation over a long period of time including at least some part of the pleistocene consequently the present patchy distribution of terrae rossae is hardly a result of climatically induced periods of geomorphological activity and stability but the result of the removal of an earlier dense forest cover followed by severe soil erosion the human impact on the ecosystem is much more serious than any climatic fluctuations in the southwestern part of the study area between el jadida and agadir the soil moisture regime is dry xeric to aridic and terrae rossae occur only in small areas mostly in depressions however two selected rhodoxeralfs in the vicinity of tamanar show considerable pedogenic mineral weathering and clay mineral formation though hardly any kaolinite the strong weathering and clay illuviation must have been preceded by decalcification implying a distinctly moister climate here in the past however micromorphological features of recent recalcification are common in these rhodoxeralfs suggesting that their main properties are not in equilibrium with the present climate and the soils should be regarded as nonburied paleosols or relict paleosols

a key site for inferring the timing of dispersal of giant deer in sardinia the su fossu de cannas cave sadali italy abstract su fossu de cannas sfc cave is one of several known cavities in the sadali plateau in sardinia italy the evolution of the cave is the result of complex erosional and deposital processes that occurred during the neogene and quaternary a fossiliferous cemented conglomerate containing various deer remains now forms the ceiling of a cavity tunnel the faunal remains belong to a large cervid which show some morphological affinity with large deer that have an endemic sardinian lineage praemegaceros sardous praemegaceros cazioti palaeoecological data based on some peculiar features and the large size of the sfc deer suggest that it is the most primitive megacerine found in sardinia to date and the first representative of the endemic lineage the 450 ka u th age for the flowstone capping the fossiliferous layer defines the end of sedimentation in which sadali deer remains are preserved and the dispersal from the mainland of the ancestor of the endemic sardinian megacerini stratigraphic and micromorphological analyses of the cave deposits allow the reconstruction of the timing of the cave s development throughout the pliocene to the holocene

clay illuviation in red mediterranean soils abstract theories regarding pedogenesis in red mediterranean soils have undergone several stages of development the concept of clay illuviation in these soils was not a part of early theories and it is not yet unanimously accepted as a leading soil forming process a methodology is presented for studying the illuviation of clay in these soils emphasizing typology of textural features and fabrics the problem of age determination is also addressed through the use of radiometric dates and correlation with archaeological artifacts clay illuviation in red mediterranean soils under present day environmental conditions suggests that it occurs presently only on humid and sub humid margins of the mediterranean basin elsewhere illuvila clay accumulations are inherited from interglacial periods red mediterranean soils during glacial periods were eroded coluviated aggraded with aeolian dust calcitic fraction of which was redistributed in form of calcitic features and eventually were affected by water logging an example of water logging of red mediterranean soils mamora morocco which took place during the last glacial cycle consists of yellow illuvial clays accompanied by a yellowing of the ground mass during earlier cycles water logging resulted in whitish grey stains in which hydromorphic textural features were deposited

can terra rossa become water repellent by burning a laboratory approach abstract fire usually induces water repellency wr in soils reduction in infiltration rates increase of runoff and erosion are some of the consequences of wr in fire affected soils most forest soils can develop wr by burning however some previous observations in burned terra rossa soils have shown little changes in wr laboratory controlled experiments have been done with samples of terra rossa from 14 different sites the objectives are to confirm whether the observed is a common behaviour of terra rossa and to explore the factors controlling the wettability of this soil type after burning samples from the upper 2 5 cm of terra rossa were collected from 12 forest sites of the alicante province spain and from 2 sites in the mt carmel haifa israel with similar environmental conditions laboratory burning of samples at 250 c 300 c and 350 c was performed with and without the addition of litter of pinus halepensis the results confirm that all soils have a very low susceptibility to become water repellent by burning without the addition of litter wr was not detected in any soil sample at any temperature of burning with the addition of litter wr was present only in six of the soils after some of the heating treatments although all soils had enough soil organic matter som to develop wr by heating the ratio between som and clay content was considerably lower compared to other types of forest soils of the region in which wr has been found after forest fires this could explain in part the lower susceptibility of terra rossa to become water repellent by burning since as some authors have indicated fine textured soils are less prone to develop soil wr due to their high specific surface area from mineralogical analysis of the clay fraction we found that the dominant clay types in the studied terra rossa were kaolinite and illite with the exception of one soil where ca montmorillonite content is higher than kaolinite and illite ca montmorillonite was present in only three of the soils comparing the soil properties between the group of terra rossa that in no case become water repellent wettables with the group that in some cases developed wr potentially water repellents some differences were found the kaolinite content is higher in the wettables group p vs kaolinite contents the kaolinite content being the main factor contributing to this separation these results are in agreement with those obtained in experiments with clay additions to water repellent soils in order to reduce the wr and also with some studies which found that kaolinite is one of the most effective clay minerals for this purpose

factors that control the development of fault bend versus fault propagation folds insights from mechanical models based on the discrete element method dem abstract we investigate the role and relative importance of a range of geometric and mechanical factors in the development of contractional fault related folds with an emphasis on defining the factors that promote the development of fault bend and fault propagation folds we construct a series of discrete element mechanical models in order to test the effects of fault dip bulk material strength mechanical layer anisotropy and spacing sedimentation rate and boundary conditions on the style of fault related fold that develops we find that fault bend folding is most favored at low fault ramp dips with thinly spaced mechanical layers and strong layer strength contrasts in contrast conditions that inhibit slip on a potential upper detachment surface such as increased friction and a fixed foreland boundary encourage the development of fault propagation folds additionally steeper fault dips more widely spaced mechanical layers and decreased layer strength contrast favor the increased localization of shear during the growth of structures this leads to structures that deform by a mixture of fault bend and fault propagation folding styles observations of the distortional strains that develop in the model provide insight into the relationship between the different deformation mechanisms such as flexural slip and localized shear which accommodate structural growth and ultimately determine fault related folding style thus these models provide a context for understanding how rock and fault properties influence whether structures evolve as fault bend or fault propagation folds or as combinations of these end members we apply these insights to interpret two natural examples from the offshore niger delta outer fold and thrust belt that exhibit changes in structural style through time as a result of changes in fault properties and syntectonic sedimentation

soil chronosequences on quaternary marine terraces along the northwestern coast of calabria southern italy abstract two soil chronosequences representative of four orders of marine terraces from early to late pleistocene have been studied along the tyrrhenian coast of northern calabria in southern italy all soil profiles show a high degree of weathering although the degree of soil evolution varies according to the age of each terrace the soils are characterized by reddish to reddish brown colors clayey textures abundant clay coatings slickensides fe mn features or calcium carbonate concretions the dominance of kaolinite and illite among phyllosilicate clay minerals in all soil horizons the intense depletion in caco 3 na and k and the severe etching of quartz crystals in the older soils all record a highly leached pedogenic environment that is progressively more intense from younger to older soils despite the carbonate bedrock quartz feldspar and mica minerals also occur suggesting a partly allochthonous eolian origin of the parent material the major pedogenic features and their formative processes occurred polycyclically on the different orders of marine terraces and we interpret the soils to have mainly developed during repeated quaternary interglacials some surface a and bw horizons show quite different features suggesting a clear change in pedogenetic processes and possibly in climate and duration of soil formation these horizons have the typical field appearance of volcanic soils with andic properties brown colors loamy textures high porosity low bulk density high water retention thixotropy the occurrence of very small volcanic glass fragments and the possible presence of short range order aluminosilicate minerals confirmed some pyroclastic supply during soil formation

fault related folding a review of kinematic models and their application abstract folding that is directly related to fault activity is an important deformation feature that occurs all over the world in mountain belts accretionary wedges fold and thrust belts and intra plate settings in either strike slip compressional or extensional regimes due to their widespread occurrence knowledge about the development of these structures is important to a broad spectrum of geoscience sub disciplines such as structural geology seismology geomorphology petroleum geology and quaternary geology fault related folding has been analyzed intensively over the last 140 years for the sake of this review we divide the folds according to the way the faults and the folds form that is into detachment fault bend and fault propagation folds all fault related folds are caused by changes in fault parameters the simplest method to produce folds is to transport material along faults that have stepped flat ramp flat geometries fault bend fold alternatively the slip can decrease along the length of the fault and depending on whether the fault remains within a detachment layer or steps up through mechanical stratigraphy either a detachment fold or a fault propagation fold is formed respectively detachment folding was first investigated in the early 20th century whereas the full significance of fault propagation folds was recognized quite late in the 1980s seminal work on fault related folding was carried out in the 1930s but quantitative kinematic models have only been available in the last 30 years these models are extremely valuable because they allow a comprehensive understanding of the evolution of fault related folds and lead to more accurate predictions of the sub surface structure from the mid 1990s onwards numerical simulations have been used to identify how fault parameters such as dip and fault bend angle propagation to slip ratio and shape of the trishear zone influence the geometry of the related folding this is directly applicable to the analysis of the shape of anticlines produced however this does not mean that fold geometry is uniquely related to fault geometry on the contrary different kinematic approaches can lead to a similar fold shape

toposequence of sandy soils in the northern coastal plain of israel polygenesis and complexity of pedogeomorphic development abstract catenary relationships of surface soils in the vicinity of kibbutz shomrat in the galilee coastal plain of israel were studied including optically stimulated luminescence osl the research provides new insights into the local pedogeomorphic history and confirms that the study area is of different age than the central coastal plain of israel the soil toposequence is composed of polygenic red hamra rhodoxeralf on the hilltop a calcareous rhodoxeralf husmas on the middle slope both older than 250 ka and a complex pedosedimentary sequence in a lower position spanning middle pleistocene holocene osl ages the hilltop red hamra is strongly reworked by soil burrowing animals magnetically enhanced and contains aged clay coatings and a few petrocalcic nodules micromorphology revealed a relict nature of cemented carbonate nodules and allowed us to establish a sequence of pedogenic episodes e g rubification and clay illuviation that intermittently affected nodule growth and re crystallization all soils are dominated by interstratified illite smectite whose amount and expandability increase downhill in the lowest topographic positions soil development was compounded by additional fine grained accumulation via eolian and slope processes which may have intensified during periods of geomorphic instability our data and interpretations suggest that to the north of haifa bay coastal geomorphic surfaces are formed by late mid pleistocene exhumed paleosol toposequences which are sporadically overprinted by younger paleosols and continue to function as presently active soils

pedogenic carbonate crusts calcretes in karstic landscapes as archives for paleoenvironmental reconstructions a case study from yucatan peninsula mexico abstract in the northeastern margin of the yucatan peninsula which is located in southeastern mexico three levels of compact carbonate crusts calcretes interlayered with indurated coastal calcareous sediments calcarenites are discernible since both the calcretes and calcarenites form a continuous carbonate sequence a combined methodology macro and micromorphology geochemistry and mineralogy is used to differentiate them additionally the calcrete layers are dated using the uranium thorium method in order to establish a chronological framework the carbonate differentiation and chronology are then used to establish the paleoenvironmental conditions that prevailed during calcrete formation as well as to reconstruct the coastal landscape evolution and its relation to pleistocene sea level changes during marine isotope stages mis 6 and 5 samples of calcrete layers and calcarenites were taken from two sections in the cancun tulum corridor the lowest level of calcrete underlies a sequence of calcarenites and the two younger levels cap the sequence in calcretes the micromorphology provides evidence of the presence of a relict soil with subangular blocky microstructure root traces and needle fiber calcite associated with soil fungi interactions in contrast the micromorphology of the calcarenites shows ooids and bioclasts typical of a coastal environment geochemically calcretes are depleted in 13c compared to calcarenite with values ranging between 2 and 10 and they have a lower proportion of rare earth elements calcrete mineralogy consists mainly of calcite over aragonite with a low proportion of mg calcite u th dating indicates that the oldest calcrete was formed during the penultimate glacial maximum pgm in mis 6 and the two younger calcretes correspond to the last interglacial period in mis 5c the calcarenite formation occurred earlier also during mis 5 soil formation strong karstification and soil erosion have occurred on younger calcretes this study suggests that these processes developed between mis 4 to mis 1

micromorphology of a mousterian paleosol in aeolianites at the site habonim israel abstract a paleosol with mousterian tools in aeolianites at the habonim site carmel coastal plain israel is a complex pedosedimentary sequence which records a succession of soil forming episodes and stages of coastal dune instability we identified three strong soils and one accretionary soil within mousterian pedocomplex via micromorphological techniques coupled with ftir and sem edax in the lowermost red sandy soil hamra in unit iv decalcification led to the formation of micritic coatings disrupted by faunal churning while rubefication resulted in red ferric segregations illuviation of ferruginious clay in the form of clay coatings is lacking probably due to its strong incorporation into the matrix redox features were intensified in the pseudogley of the next stage unit iii polyphase calcitic features here indicate that illuviation of clay pre dates illuviation of micrite and its later recrystallization into sparitic calcite further deterioration of drainage conditions and increased accumulation of fine particles led to the formation of vertisol unit ii paleovertisol is characterized by a maximum of clay stress originated microfabric abundant mn precipitates and calcitic pseudomorphs the peak of landscape instability occurred later and is recorded in the upper unit i in which micromorphological signs of colluvial and aeolian processes are juxtaposed with various ferric accumulations associated with gleying the final episode occurred at a time of climatic instability devegetation and probably a simultaneous groundwater rise in the littoral zone

multibend fault bend folding this paper shows how slightly complex but angular fault shapes with only a few bends lead to broadly curved and or highly complex folds a common perception exists that simple angular fold geometries are a necessary consequence of the normal assumptions of fault bend fold theory namely angular fault bends straight faults and flexural slip to the contrary it is shown here that exact application of these low level assumptions produces great complexity from simple fault shapes this complexity is caused by the combination of 1 generation of new axial surfaces by displacement of hangingwall cut offs past successive fault bends and 2 fragmentation of axial surfaces by mutual interference the result is entwined arrays of fold axial surfaces that produce quasi curved and or complex folds from discrete angular fault bends fold complexity grows in a highly non linear way in the most extreme case the number of fold axial surface segments grows as the fourth power of the number of fault bends this paper presents examples of the immense variety of complex fold geometries that are thus generated 0 1997 elsevier science ltd all rights reserved

palustrine wetland formation during the mis 3 interstadial implications for preserved alluvial records in the south african karoo abstract dryland alluvial successions across interior south africa are a focus of pedosedimentary research because they provide insights into past hydrogeomorphic changes and improve our understanding of allogenic and autogenic controls on fluvial system behaviour this paper focuses on an alluvial succession preserved within the wilgerbosch river on the great escarpment south africa the pedosedimentary architecture of a calcretized palaeosol formed within an abandoned mis 3 51 39 ka floodplain was investigated using grain size micromorphological xrd and mineral magnetic analyses the primary controls on pedogenesis are inferred and the impacts of their products on subsequent landscape development outlined the biologically dominated calcrete micromorphology is consistent with the rhizogenic calcrete variety which together with xrd grain size and soil magnetic data provides evidence for a palustrine palaeowetland system palustrine wetland systems have been documented across interior south africa but the formation of rhizogenic calcretes in association with these systems has to our knowledge not been reported previously we interpret these palaeowetlands to have resulted from basin wide hydrogeomorphic adjustments rather than localised discontinuous channel and floodout processes magnetic enhancement of the soil column overlying the calcrete compared to the overlying floodplain deposits is indicative of moister climate conditions at 51 ka relative to 39 ka we hypothesise that the longevity of geomorphic quiescence coupled with relatively moist climate conditions in early mis 3 resulted in enhanced soil caco3 accumulation the resultant cementation of this abandoned floodplain deposit accounts for an alluvial record that is dominated by older rather than younger e g holocene deposits despite the narrow valley context

pedogenetic processes and pedostratigraphy of the quaternary on the balearic islands and in the granada basin spain abstract sediment soil sequences are suitable geoarchives and may contribute to resolving palaeoclimate conditions and reconstructing the according stratigraphy we highlight the characteristics of holocene soils pleistocene palaeosols aeolianites loess slope debris and calcretes on the balearic islands at 17 new locations on mallorca ibiza and menorca their stratigraphy is correlated with sedimentary and pedogenetic processes and compared to sequences in the granada basin southern spain on the balearic islands surface soils are mainly brunified and loamy while underlying palaeosols have different features due to clay illuviation iron weathering and intense reddening as emphasized by higher iron indices feindex fed feo fet clay and their close correlation to redness intermediate sediments appear as aeolianites silty loess calcretes and silt clay dominated slope debris and may reflect rather dry cool climates and scarce vegetation the increase of palaeosol redness with depth underlines a successive development in respect of polygenesis while the palaeoclimate is humid mediterranean the declined pedogenetic intensity refers to gradual transition to less pronounced humidity and lower temperatures the palaeosols of the granada basin are comparatively less developed surface soils are brunified and loamy and underlying palaeosols show features connected to clay illuviation and reddening while a distinctly smaller feindex is evidence of less intense weathering soil properties indicate declined pedogenetic intensity upon time soil formation is influenced by distinct sea level oscillations and a seasonal humid climate close correlations between feindex and rrvisual r2 0 89 highlight hematite formation as particularly intense in the early pleistocene it followed a more arid late pliocene with intense erosion and sedimentation as underlined by distinctly lower values of both feindex and rrvisual during this time quaternary processes of pedogenesis and sedimentation therefore not only substantiate a distinct climatic cyclicity in the western mediterranean but also reflect advanced development of palaeosols with depth and thus with time

air sea interaction and feasibility of tsunami detection in the open ocean 1 recent observations of tsunami shadows i e extended darker strips on the ocean surface along a front of a weak tsunami off oahu hawaii suggest that tsunamis in the deep ocean may be remotely detected through changes in ocean surface roughness in this paper physical mechanisms responsible for the formation of tsunami shadows are considered the hypothesis that the change in surface roughness is due to an air sea interaction is examined using an eddy viscosity model for the average reynolds stresses in turbulent flow a theory is developed to model tsunami induced perturbations in the atmospheric boundary layer it is demonstrated that in the lowest tens of centimeters of the atmosphere tsunami induced perturbations of the mean wind velocity are much greater than current velocities in the water and can be comparable to the unperturbed wind velocity enhancement of tsunami induced wind velocity perturbations compared to currents in the tsunami wave occurs because of a generation of a viscous wave in the air by a coherent elevation of large expanses of the ocean surface in the tsunami wave the ratio of the maximum wind velocity perturbation to the amplitude of the current velocity approximately equals d 4 2 ln2 u 2 cz0 where is the von karman constant u is the friction velocity of a background wind z0 is the roughness length of the ocean surface d is ocean depth and and c are the tsunami wavelength and velocity respectively the results are shown to be robust with respect to a choice of a closure model for reynolds stresses dependence of the tsunami induced atmospheric perturbations on background wind velocity and direction tsunami period and amplitude and ocean depth is studied implications of the theoretical predictions on the feasibility of a satellite based system relying on radars and or microwave radiometers for early tsunami warning are discussed

distribution of fault slip in outcrop scale fault related folds appalachian mountains abstract current kinematic models of ramp related folds predict a direct relationship between ramp angle and fold shape and imply specific sequences of deformation analyses of outcrop scale structures in the valley and ridge province of the appalachians reveal configurations that depart from model predictions the models fail to account for the presence of footwall synclines and are inconsistent with measured displacement distributions on some natural faults observations support the interpretation that faults can grow by propagation both up and down dip from a nucleation point fault propagation in either direction may result in the formation of folds primarily on the side of the fault that is displaced in the direction of fault propagation