a high resolution pollen and geochemical analysis of late holocene human impact and vegetation history in southern cumbria england the historic era which in cumbria begins with the roman invasion of ad 71 is a frequently neglected period in palaeoecological research but its study can bring benefits in improving knowledge of landscape history and in understanding the significance and limitations of palaeoecological records pollen and geochemical data are presented for late holocene records from deer dyke and hulleter mosses in southern cumbria the records show initially low levels of anthropogenic impact followed by a phase of forest clearance and mixed agriculture from the 7th to 11th centuries ad the timing of these clearances suggests that they were initially anglo saxon in origin rather than norse further clearances in the 16th century ad are interpreted as a response to monastic dissolution and late tudor population pressures the landscapes reached their contemporary form following extensive clearances in the 17th century ad silicon and titanium concentrations at deer dyke moss were used to reconstruct past levels of atmospheric dust loading which is broadly related to soil erosion geochemical influx was found to peak during periods of landscape transition rather than from established land use this relationship with pollen data is thought to reflect the predominantly low levels of anthropogenic impact in the region which changes as substantial woodland clearances during the 16th century ad and continuous land use pressure since then have greatly increased the supply of airborne dust

u th dating of freshwater travertine from middle velino valley central italy paleoclimatic and geological implications abstract six travertine bodies outcropping along the middle velino valley central italy have been studied and dated using the u th method in order to obtain new chronological constraints for the recent geological evolution of the area the lithological and sedimentological characteristics of travertines have been described showing that such deposits can be referred to waterfall pool terraces and gentle slopes environment travertines have formed during warm periods and can be referred to marine oxygen isotope stages 5 3 and 1 travertine deposition seems to stop around 5 ka bp according to other european and italian sites pollen stratigraphy and ostracod assemblages from the close sequence of valle di castiglione characterized by the same climatic conditions of velino valley have confirmed that periods of velino valley travertine deposition were effectively characterized by warm and wet climatic conditions seismic activity strongly active in the area since the middle pleistocene has deeply influenced the location and the discharge of springs which have deposited the travertines influencing in turn the shape and size of travertine bodies

using gis for modelling the impact of current climate trend on the recharge area of the s susanna spring central apennines italy though the s susanna spring system is one of the biggest water sources in the central apennines its hydrogeological dynamics have been scarcely investigated this study tried to clarify some of the factors controlling the recharge discharge processes of this spring by modelling the available climate series water balance equations and new isotopic and quantitative data using statistical and raster overlay functions embedded in a geographic information system gis oxygen and hydrogen isotopic data were recorded monthly over a 2 year period at the spring itself and in eight rain gauges in reatini mountains the effective infiltration rate was calculated using the kennessey coefficients and the turc equation finally the recharge area was identified with the help of an expert evaluation procedure local 18o and d versus altitude regression curves were used to validate the digital recharge model by comparing their expected values with the values actually measured recharge process was framed within the perspective of the ongoing local climate trends the current discharge rate of 4 1 m3 s 1 is significantly lower than the average value of 5 5 m3 s 1 measured up to the 1980s confirming the fall in the recharge discharge rate the hydrogeological system shows a delayed response due to an average groundwater residence time in the aquifer which is estimated to be about 15 20 years on the basis of the offset between calculated and observed isotope data at the main spring for this reason the system is presently not equilibrated and is gradually changing towards a final equilibrium discharge estimated in about 3 4 m3 s 1 copyright 2009 john wiley sons ltd

itrax description and evaluation of a new multi function x ray core scanner a new automated multi function core scanning instrument named itrax has been developed that records optical radiographic and elemental variations from sediment half cores up to 1 8 m long at a resolution as fine as 200 m an intense micro x ray beam focused through a flat capillary waveguide is used to irradiate samples to enable both x radiography and x ray fluorescence xrf analysis data are acquired incrementally by advancing a split core via a programmable stepped motor drive through the flat rectangular section x ray beam traditional xrf determination of element composition in sediments provides high quality data but it takes a considerable time and normally consumes gram quantities of material that is often only available in limited quantities the itrax core scanner non destructively collects optical and x radiographic images and provides high resolution elemental profiles that are invaluable for guiding sample selection for further destructive detailed sampling this paper presents a description of the construction characteristics and capabilities of the itrax system high resolution itrax data obtained from sediment cores are also presented and compared with results from traditional wavelength dispersive xrf analysis at lower resolution finally some recent technical developments linked to the second generation itrax are presented

mapping the lateral development of lightning flashes from orbit optical lightning measurements from the lightning imaging sensor lis are used to map the lateral development of lightning flashes and produce statistics that describe their motion through the electrified cloud this is accomplished by monitoring the frame by frame group level evolution of the optical signals produced during each flash while the optical flash properties recorded by lis gravitate towards the most exceptional optical signals produced during the flash group level data describe the evolution and lateral development of the flash resulting from physical lightning process that emits enough light out of the top of the cloud to be detected from orbit the groups that comprise lis flashes constitute examples of complex lateral flash structure that can extend 80 km in length with dozens to hundreds of visible branches the lateral development of individual flashes is described in terms of its speed and direction of motion whether the development extends the overall length of the flash or reilluminates an existing segment and whether it is directed inbound or outbound with respect to the origin sixty five percent of propagating groups are directed outbound from the origin 22 extend the length of the flash and 3 5 reilluminate an existing branch lis flashes are commonly oriented from east to west and develop at speeds ranging from 104 to 106 m s consistent with large scale leader development these results provide evidence that lightning imagers may be used in conjunction with lightning mapping array systems to document physical lightning phenomena across global domains

late holocene alluvial events in the central apennines italy a stratigraphic sequence wasidentified inthegransassomassif central apennines italy consisting ofalluvial sediments andburied soils thesoils dated bytheradiocarbon method enabled various alluvial phases that haveoccurred inthelast 2500years tobechronologically framed these phases werethencorrelated withthefrequency ofthetiber floods atromeandwiththeprogradation ofits delta thephases ofsoil burial byalluvial sediments coincide withtheperiods ofintense flooding ofthetiber at rome between thesecond century bc andthesecond century ad between thesixth andtheninth centuries ad andbetween thefifteenth andthenineteenth centuries ad andwithperiods ofstrong progradation oftheriver delta onthebasis ofthechronological correlation between alluvial phases glacial variations andoscillations inthelevels oflakesfucino andtrasimeno itwasthenpossible to establish that corresponding tothealluvial phases thehydrological balance ofthelakes waspositive and intwoofthethree cases theincreased flood frequency coincided withthephases ofadvance oftheonly glacier located intheapennines

persistent positive north atlantic oscillation mode dominated the medieval climate anomaly the medieval climate anomaly mca was the most recent pre industrial era warm interval of european climate yet its driving mechanisms remain uncertain we present here a 947 year long multidecadal north atlantic oscillation nao reconstruction and find a persistent positive nao during the mca supplementary reconstructions based on climate model results and proxy data indicate a clear shift to weaker nao conditions into the little ice age lia globally distributed proxy data suggest that this nao shift is one aspect of a global mca lia climate transition that probably was coupled to prevailing la nina like conditions amplified by an intensified atlantic meridional overturning circulation during the mca

the natural and cultural landscape of naples southern italy during the graeco roman and late antique periods the landscape around the graeco roman town of neapolis was reconstructed through morphostratigraphic methods and pollen analysis of the sediments filling the bay hosting the ancient harbor this was discovered in 2004 thanks to excavations for two new lines of the naples metro network the harbor s sedimentary record spans the period between the late 4th century bc and the 6th century ad the main changes occurring in the marine and terrestrial landscape surrounding the ancient town are highlighted through the reconstruction of a detailed geological cross section and four 3d palaeogeographic models pollen analysis suggested the presence of mixed oak woods on the slopes surrounding the town and of vegetable gardens around the harbor area the tree crops mainly consisted of walnut and to a lesser extent chestnut and grapevines the horticultural varieties were dominated by brassicaceae most likely representing cabbage cultivation which was rather common in roman times comparison with reference pollen material reinforces this hypothesis during the 3rd century ad a drastic decrease in horticultural activity in concurrence with an increase in wild vegetation and tree crops suggest reduced maintenance due to a phase of abandonment historical data imply for the same period a phase of economic and social decline which involved the whole empire from the end of the 3rd century ad the growth of a spit bar at the port entrance gave rise to the establishment of a lagoon and then to the final closure of the bay

2700 years of mediterranean environmental change in central italy a synthesis of sedimentary and cultural records to interpret past impacts of climate on society abstract abrupt climate change in the past is thought to have disrupted societies by accelerating environmental degradation potentially leading to cultural collapse linking climate change directly to societal disruption is challenging because socioeconomic factors also play a large role with climate being secondary or sometimes inconsequential combining paleolimnologic historical and archaeological methods provides for a more secure basis for interpreting the past impacts of climate on society we present pollen non pollen palynomorph geochemical paleomagnetic and sedimentary data from a high resolution 2700 yr lake sediment core from central italy and compare these data with local historical documents and archeological surveys to reconstruct a record of environmental change in relation to socioeconomic history and climatic fluctuations here we document cases in which environmental change is strongly linked to changes in local land management practices in the absence of clear climatic change as well as examples when climate change appears to have been a strong catalyst that resulted in significant environmental change that impacted local communities during the imperial roman period despite a long period of stable mild climate and a large urban population in nearby rome our site shows only limited evidence for environmental degradation warm and mild climate during the medieval warm period on the other hand led to widespread deforestation and erosion the ability of the romans to utilize imported resources through an extensive trade network may have allowed for preservation of the environment near the roman capital whereas during medieval time the need to rely on local resources led to environmental degradation cool wet climate during the little ice age led to a breakdown in local land use practices widespread land abandonment and rapid reforestation our results present a high resolution regional case study that explores the effect of climate change on society for an under documented region of europe

a regional archeomagnetic model for europe for the last 3000 years scha dif 3k applications to archeomagnetic dating 1 the available european database of archeomagnetic field values and instrumental data has been used to produce a regional model for the geomagnetic field in europe for the last 3000 years from 1000 b c to 1900 a d connecting with the epoch covered by the igrf models this new model scha dif 3k constitutes an improvement with respect to the previous regional archeomagnetic model scha di 00 f which used relocated values and was only valid for the last 2000 years the new model has been obtained by least sums of absolute deviation inversion of paleomagnetic data using spherical cap harmonics for the spatial representation of the field and sliding windows in time an algorithm has been developed to jointly model the three archeomagnetic elements declination inclination and intensity the resulting model provides the direction and intensity of the earth s magnetic field over the european continent northern africa and western asia for the last 3000 years the fit to the european archeomagnetic database is more accurate than that provided by global archeomagnetic models in addition this model represents a step forward in archeomagnetic dating studies since the relocation error is avoided and can also be used to study the rapid changes of the geomagnetic field archeomagnetic jerks that have been recently proposed

the holocene record of environmental changes in the stagno di maccarese marsh tiber river delta central italy the stratigraphic study of the stagno di maccarese carried out on the sediments exposed in about 7 km of trenches excavated in an area of approximately 1 5 km2 has shown that in the course of the holocene many environmental variations have taken place the complex evolution of the marsh is demonstrated by the variations in water salinity and the presence of erosion surfaces and soils between the sediments in the early holocene the area studied was an isolated marsh with water having variable salinity and it was only about 6000 cal yr bp that it was encompassed in the system of inner delta marshes in the delta environment the water of the marsh was oligohaline until about 9th 8th centuries bc brackish from 9th 8th centuries bc to about 600 yr bp and later oligohaline until the 19th century drainage a number of environmental variations are connected with local phenomena such as erosion of the beach ridges and tiber floods but the others can be correlated chronologically with climatic events rec

three millennia of directional variation of the earth s magnetic field in western europe as revealed by archeological artefacts directional secular variation of the geomagnetic field over the last 2000 years has been defined in western europe from numerous archeomagnetic studies however the number of archeomagnetic results for older periods is much more limited for this reason we present new data obtained from fired archeological structures found in two french sites loupiac and aspiran dated within the first millennium b c latest bronze earliest iron age transition 850 700 b c and iron age 525 475 b c respectively from a compilation of archeomagnetic results from western europe great britain italy and france and northern africa tunisia we propose a directional secular variation curve for western europe that covers the entire first millennium b c this curve exhibits a large clockwise motion with rapid changes during the first half of the millennium while the last four centuries b c are characterized by weak variations

vegetation and fire history of the euganean hills colli euganei as recorded by lateglacial and holocene sedimentary series from lago della costa northeastern italy we reconstruct the vegetational and fire history of the colli euganei and northeastern po plain from c 16 500 cal bp to the present using ams dated sedimentary pollen microscopic and macroscopic charcoal records our study site lago della costa is the only natural water basin with an undisturbed late quaternary sediment accumulation in the northeastern po plain mixed coniferous deciduous forests occurred since at latest 14 500 cal bp gradual expansion of e g alnus glutinosa and carpinus betulus is documented after c 11 000 cal bp a further expansion of abies alba and alnus at 9200 cal bp coincided with a population buildup of these species in the insubrian region c 200 km northwest of our site a further increase of alnus about 6400 cal bp was accompanied by an expansion of castanea sativa and juglans regia as well as meadow and field plants this vegetational change was contemporaneous with a huge increase of regional and local fire activity our data suggest that fire disturbance favoure

the holocene climatic evolution of mediterranean italy a review of the continental geological data we present a synthesis of geological stratigraphic geomorphological and stable isotope data collected from continental archives to highlight the environmental and climatic differences between the first and second half of the holocene of central and southern italy the beginning of the holocene is marked by rapid environmental change in mediterranean italy between c 9500 cal bp and c 6000 5500 cal bp average temperatures were probably higher and environmental conditions were generally stable between c 9000 and 7000 cal bp meteoric precipitation was at its highest the end of the wetter period seems to occur later at c 6000 5000 cal bp since c 6000 5000 cal bp rapid climatic excursions are apparent in different palaeoclimate proxies with both variability in meteoric precipitation and temperature evident of particular relevance is the event occurring at c 4200 cal bp this event heralds a period of significant environmental change in the apennines and more generally in central italy

natural and human induced environmental changes preserved in a holocene sediment sequence from the etoliko lagoon greece new evidence from geochemical proxies abstract a key feature of greece is the large amount of historical and archaeological records the sedimentary record of the etoliko lagoon aetolia western greece offers an ideal opportunity to study human environment interaction and to disentangle natural and anthropogenic imprints in the sedimentary record by applying an interdisciplinary approach of combining geoscientific methods xrf loi grain size analysis with archaeological and historical records the 8 8 m long sedimentary sequence eto1c reveals the palaeoenvironmental history of the lagoon and its catchment since 11 670 cal bp with a thorough chronology based on 14 c age depth modelling including varve counting different evolutionary stages were put in a chronological context these stages include a lake period 11 670 8310 cal bp followed by a period of sporadic saltwater intrusion 8310 1350 cal bp as a result of continuing transgression phases of limnic predominance associated with freshwater inflow of episodically activated distributaries around 5230 cal bp still occurred by 1350 cal bp ongoing sea level rise had connected the lagoons of etoliko and messolonghi and freshwater influence had ceased with the onset of settlement activity in the late helladic 1700 1100 cal bc humans took advantage of the prevailing environmental landscape a sudden increase in coarse sedimentation correlates with the history of human occupation with its peak of prosperity from the late helladic until the end of the hellenistic period 30 cal bc

a new flow cytometry method enabling rapid purification of fossil pollen from terrestrial sediments for ams radiocarbon dating radiocarbon 14c accelerator mass spectrometry ams dating has played a significant role towards improving our understanding of the timing of events and rates of change in archaeological and environmental records over the last 50 000 years although it is not always possible to find suitable macrofossils for 14c dating microfossils notably plant pollen are a viable alternative obtaining preserved pollen samples of known provenance and of sufficient quantity for dating by 14c ams is however challenging because of time consuming methods of extraction and purification and possible contamination from other organic material here we report a new rapid and straightforward method using flow cytometry fcm to distinguish sort and collect sufficient quantities of fossil pollen with minimal contamination from lake sediments for radiocarbon dating using this approach we demonstrate 14c ams ages that date back to at least 40 ka bp while future work may be required to refine purification methodologies for different sample types and to precisely quantify the dating limit of this approach fcm dating of microfossils shows considerable promise in generating robust geochronological frameworks for sequences that have previously proved problematic copyright 2013 john wiley sons ltd

unmasking the 1349 earthquake source southern italy paleoseismological and archaeoseismological indications from the aquae iuliae fault abstract the 9th september 1349 earthquake was one of the most catastrophic events experienced along the apennines at least three main shocks struck a vast area of the molise latium abruzzi regions and damage was even sustained by the distant monumental buildings of rome the southern most shock mw 6 7 occurred at the border between southern latium and western molise razing to the ground the towns of isernia venafro and cassino amongst others and devastating montecassino abbey as with other medieval catastrophic sequences e g in december 1456 mw 6 5 7 0 this earthquake has not yet been associated to any seismogenic source thus it still represents a thorn in the flesh of earthquake geologists we have here carried out a reappraisal of the effects of this earthquake and through an interpretation of aerial photographs and a field survey we have carried out paleoseismological analyses across a poorly known n130 normal fault that crosses the molise campania border this structure showed repeated surface ruptures during the late holocene the last one of which fits excellently with the 1349 event both in terms of the dating and the rupture dimension on the other hand archaeoseismic analyses have also indicated the faulting of an augustean aqueduct the amount of apparent offset of the aqueduct across the fault traces shows that there were other surface faulting event s during the roman high middle age period therefore in trying to ascertain whether these events were associated with known potentially of 346 ad or 848 ad or unknown earthquakes in the area it became possible that this 20 km long fault here named the aquae iuliae fault is characterized by high slip rates and a short recurrence time this is in agreement with both the similar behaviour of the neighbouring northern matese fault system and with recent gps analyses showing unexpectedly high extension rates in this area

high resolution x ray fluorescence core scanning analysis of les echets france sedimentary sequence new insights from chemical proxies the les echets sediment sequence has recently been the subject of a high resolution multi proxy study which revealed shifts in lake productivity linked to greenland stadials and interstadials over the last 40 ka wohlfarth et al 2008 rapid ecosystem response to abrupt climate changes during the last glacial period in western europe 40 16 ka geology 36 407 410 here we present new elemental data for this sequence as acquired using an x ray fluorescence core scanning system which provides in situ high resolution continuous multi element analyses it was found that the strength of associations between the studied elements ti rb k zr si ca sr mn and fe varied over time with changes in lake status which are ultimately driven by changes in climate increases in fine grained detrital input as indicated by ti rb k and zr rb overlap with independently established periods of lower lake productivity and are interpreted to represent more arid conditions several of these arid periods are coincident with low diatom concentrations and the timing of heinrich events h4 h3 and h2 the duration of the environmental impacts linked to the h events varied by proxy with elemental data ti and zr rb estimating shorter events than the diatom data periods of lower detrital input and coarser grain sizes agreed in time with periods of higher lake productivity the elemental data provide new insights into hydrological changes and related sediment processes within the catchment and highlight the need for multi element and multi proxy approaches when reconstructing climate change using lacustrine sediment sequences copyright 2011 john wiley sons ltd

the upper quaternary sedimentary sequence at the rieti basin central italy a record of sedimentation response to climatic changes abstract lithostratigraphy chronology and depositional environments of sixteen holocene alluvial fill sediment cores from the southern part of the conca of rieti central italy was established by sedimentological palaeontological and 14 c analyses the study area experienced a lacustrine or palustrine conditions and the water level was effectively controlled by a natural damming of the valley due to intermitted travertine deposition at le marmore site apart from cores s10 s13 s14 and s8 which at their bottom cored sediments referable to upper pliocene and middle pleistocene which are not the object of this paper as a rule the drilled sediments can be referred bottom to top to the following four episodes interval a corresponding to freshwater lacustrine palustrine environment affected by alluvial fan progradations from the edges of the valley and active by middle late pleistocene to early holocene in this interval several hiatuses are supposed but are not evidenced by the bad state of preservation of the sediment cores interval b from 361 to 371 376 m a s l recording a decrease of the water level bracketed between the 14 c ages of 6000 and 2700 yr b p which produced the formation of distinct shallow ponds bogs rich in aquatic vegetation interval c from 381 to 384 m a s l indicating a further rise of the water level recorded by sediments containing abundant molluscs and ostracods interval d the upper part of the cores records an almost continuous drying up the area as shown by abundant hydrophilic land molluscs and interval e the top of all sediment cores representing the present day soil it has been found that the water level fluctuations occurring in the ancient conca are chronologically consistent with the postglacial climate pattern it is further noticed that the episodes of water highstand correspond to the boreal atlantic and subatlantic climatic ameliorations respectively and that the water level dropped during the global cooling episodes recurred from ca 6000 to 2100 yr b p the resulting palaeoenvironmental history agrees with that previously reported for the northern reach of the conca of rieti thus suggesting a common setting for the whole area